Mountain Colors was my first “sin yarn”;  those  budget-busting beautiful yarns from small independent dyers.  The ones that make you realize that the stuff your local craft store is second-rate.   I fell in love with it just after I started knitting.  Their Mountain Goat is my favorite…the sheen and the depth of color just make  want you to fondle it and smell it and immerse yourself in it.  That’s why you knit it–so you can wrap yourself in it. (not to mention, of course, that their colors are named after things I love:  mountain thunderstorms, osprey, redtailed hawks,…)

For the first time in 15 years, I’m on a road trip by myself.  Wolfie & I decided to go see where the magic happens.  The staff of Mountain Colors was wonderful, and they just let us hang and watch.  Wolfie got to hide in all of his favorite places and we both reveled in the color.  Everywhere you look the colors have left their mark–it’s as if a slightly deranged mother nature had learned how to use her wand by  practicing on the studio.

And if it couldn’t get any better–tonight I get to go back for a dyeing workshop!  Wheeeee!

(addendum:  the dyeing workshop was wonderful fun–I have 2 custom skeins of yarn and met a really nice new group of knitters, 3 of whom were escapees from the DC area-smart people!)

Click on each individual pic to see it full-size or go to my flickr site

It usually takes a few days to get used to driving out here.  70 mph on two lanes roads feels “not right”  initially. After a few hundred miles it begins to feel right.  The top down; the wind in your hair; your newly short hair just barely wisping into your face; the tug of the breeze on your baseball cap…absolutely wonderful. And then you notice the big rig ahead of you on the road.  The gap between the two of you slowly diminishes and you realize that you need to pass it.  The road is clear and you gently apply a little pressure  on  the accelerator. The car responds without a momen’ts hesitation..   Before you realize it, you’re doing 90.  You’re flying down the road–this must be what a little bit of heaven feels like.  Your heart says “just stay here” but slowly your more rational self takes control again and you slow back down….and begin to wonder when you will get to do it again.

I LOVE my car!