Gadget Crawl on the way to The Maryland Sheep and Wool

Yes, I have left New Orleans, was home a week and now I am heading for Knoxville, TN.

Before I tell you what is up with me...enjoy this video if you have not already seen it.

I take vacation every year to go to the Maryland Sheep and Wool. I do not always buy anything but I love going to fondle the fiber and talk to vendors.

On the way home from New Orleans, I decided to stop at a few yarn stores that I have not been to in search of the perfect an unique knitting gadget.

In Alabama, I stopped at In The Making. The shop is in a strip mall but there is not a lot of parking. The shop itself has fabric as well as yarn and patterns. The shop samples had me buying two patterns and a pattern booklet. This is a shop worth stopping at if you are in the Birmingham area. Just look at the shop window.

Another Alabama shop I visited was Serendipity Needleworks in Tuscaloosa. It is also in a strip mall but there is plenty of parking. I did not buy anything since I was only looking for knitting gadgets. The shop is well laid out and the staff friendly. I would stop again if in the area.

Don't you think that this is such an inviting entrance.The shop is brighter than my picture and as you can see, it has lots of yarn but does not feel cluttered.

In Tennessee, I went to The Yarn Haven in Knoxville, TN. This shop is in a strip mall with plenty of parking. I did not find any unique gadget but they did have a nice selection of yarn. They carry handmade project bags that was very cute. However, the pattern that I wanted, had been made for a retreat and they did not have any for sell. I did not need to buy anything anyway.

I also went to Loopville in Knoxville. I stop there everytime I go through the area. I only purchased a magazine this time but now that I will be working there, no telling what I will be coming home with.

There is one shop in Bristol, TN, that you should avoid unless you like JoAnne and Michael's yarn. That is all that they carry. It is called Skeins & Things.

My very favorite shop in my travels this time is in Abingdon, VA, called A Likely Yarn. As soon as I drove up, I knew I would love it. The shop is in a house, the landscaping and front porch or so inviting. The staff, was friendly and very helpful. In fact, there was one that is a true enabler. I left not only with the cutest stitch markers but enough yarn for a project. I will show pictures in my next post when I get further along.

I did make it to the Maryland Sheep and Wool on the Saturday. Had a wonderful time as always. I only spent the money I took with me. Sorry,I did not take pictures of my purchases. I got some bluish silver mohair roving that is going to be so pretty when it is spun up. I never buy kits but this time I did buy a shrug kit that takes a trillion beads, and some yarn for either a shawl or socks. The shrug is suppose to be for our cruise in December, it will look so nice with a slinky black dress. Okay, maybe not slinky but a nice black dress.

My daughter and son-in-law went with me to check on our place in KY. My son-in-law, will take us anywhere we want to go and never complains when we have him turn around because we passed a shop we just had to see.

He loves Makers Mark bourbon so we decided to go to the distillery since it is only about an hour and half from the our place. This is really pretty property and the restaurant on sight has some excellent bourbon pulled pork. After the tour, my son-in-law brought us bottles of Makers Mark that we got to dip to make the distinctive trade mark red cap cover. Mine was not that good. I would never make a bottle dipper.

And I end with this unbelievable knitting feat