A roadtrip to Knitting Today

It has been another busy week. Things never seem to slow down. Some days I feel like a hamster on a treadmill. :-)

On Monday, I took Solitaire to the vet. Dr. Reese verified our suspicion that she has a thyroid problem. She's also lost 3/4ths of a pound. That's a lot for a little kitty. She's down to a little over 8 pounds. White Kitty (who died last year) had this same problem so we recognized the symptoms and the weight loss that goes along with it. This is a common illness in older cats. We've started Solitaire on medication to stabilize her. So far we've been successful in hiding the pills in pill pockets. It's much easier on us (and her too) if she will take them this way. We'll take her back in a few weeks for testing. If everything is ok, she will be scheduled for thyroid surgery.

Tuesday morning, hubby scheduled me to take our car in for servicing. I took my knitting along with me to pass the time. I tried to find a quiet corner out of the ear shot of the huge TV in the lounge. {{{Shudder!}}} I had a headache and I don't watch those kinds of shows.

Wednesday, I stayed home not feeling well probably due to allergies. The mold and mildew have been awful around here since we had the 11" of rain several weeks ago. I've been taking allergy meds on a regular basis lately. I caught up on some home chores and got a little knitting done.

Thursday, hubby was off. Need I say more?

Friday, I went on a road trip to a not-so-local yarn shop, Knitting Today in Wolcottville, Indiana. The shop is on the corner of SR3 and 500S in the northeastern part of Indiana (east and a little south of Shipshewanna and north of Fort Wayne). This is the heart of Amish country---very rural and scenic. The shop appears out of nowhere as you're driving the highway between cornfields. I first discovered the shop online several years ago when I was looking for sock yarn. [She does mail orders from her website.] I visited the first time in the fall of 2005.

This shop is a little jewel and is well stocked with good brands. Leann carries Noro, Elsebeth Lavold, Cascade, Brown Sheep, Mountain Colors, Smooshy, and lots more. Here's a pic of the Noro display. She has more Noro pattern books than I've ever seen in one store.

Recently, I'd gotten a postcard in the mail from Leann advertising a sale from Tuesday to Saturday. With the lure of discounts up to 50%, I called a friend and asked if she would like to ride along with me to the shop. She said yes! (It's so much more fun to go with a friend!)

We started out early on Friday morning while there were still traces of fog hanging by the sides of the road. Burning off, the sun came out. It was a very pleasant September day for a drive in the country. Our trip took us just over 1 hour from South Bend. We arrived just minutes after the shop opened for business.

I browsed the entire shop before I could make up my mind what would come home with me. It was tough. I had to decide what I really wanted versus what my budget would allow. I settled on a couple of balls of sale yarn for scarves and splurged on some turquoise blue Silky Wool (love the color), Hempathy (this is nice stuff!), Cotton Fleece (to supplement some already in my stash), and a ball of the new Silk Garden sock yarn. How could I resist the colors in the Silk Garden? It's the first time I've seen the sock version of this yarn. It is already on the needles testing out a possible new shawlette design. LOL!

These pictures should give you a hint of what the shop is like. There's more than is shown. Some of the pictures I took turned out too dark to use. That's Leann at the cash register and my friend checking out. She was more restrained than I was. She almost succumbed to the lure of yarn. She finally settled for a book of Elsebeth Lavold designs. One of them may already be on her needles from yarn in her stash. LOL! I'll ask her the next time I see her.

If you're ever in the Wolcottville area, please stop and visit. The shop is charming and the staff are very friendly.