Last Weekend (and a Contest!)

For many years I have traveled the road south out of Salt Lake, up Highway 6 in Spanish Fork Canyon, through Castle Country and onto I-70 toward southeastern Utah’s natural wonders.  Usually we turn south and head to Moab, the slickrock wonderland.  But this trip included many ‘firsts’.  It was the first time I had traveled this road alone, the first time I passed on by the road to Moab, and headed to Grand Junction (for the first time) AND, it was the first time meeting Jean.  We met years ago through an online newsletter, The Sampler Band and one year we stitched a sampler together through daily emails. We have been writting almost everyday since.
Here is Jean’s wonderful sampler  framed and on the wall (mine is in a box). Jean stitches beautifully.  It is difficult to tell the front from the back of her work and her incredible needlework adorns the walls of her home.

In just 24 hours we had so much fun.  Jean took me to no less than 3 LYS!  The first shop was the best.  The Cozy Knit and Purl in Palisade was just that…cozy and full of wonderful yarns.  Rowan, Jo Sharp, Manos, luxurious cashmeres, novelty yarns galore and then…what to my wondering eyes should appear? It is sock yarn that I can use to knit Stephanie’s “Tiptoe” socks from Knitty!  This has been on my ‘want’ list for some time.  Also purchsed was some fun multi-colored yarn to help use up the leftovers. 
The other LYS's were little better than duds, but I did find some purple Saucy for a Chickami. Mostly they were too full of novelty yarns or the other yarns that we 'Wool Snobs' don't care for.

Downtown Grand Junction is such a quaint and beautiful place.  The streets are lined with trees and flower boxes while sculptures appear on every corner. We enjoyed many fun shops and great places to eat.   At the Quilter’s Corner I found some bright and happy fabrics that will become a fun bag.
And here is another shop we enjoyed.  (You MUST to go into a shop that has a great sculpture above the door and a name like “Girlfriends”, heh?) We also had lovely meals...especially a breakfast of an omelet with mushrooms, spinach and Boursin cheese at the Crystal Café & Bake Shop. The pastries were to live for! Thank you Jean for a wonderful time! We promised to meet more frequently from now on as it was a delight to be together.

Now onto the contest.
The crown jewels of southeastern Utah are just to the south of I-70 and you can catch just a gimpse as you drive.  It was a treat to travel through this incredible country, the Bookcliffs to the north and the Cowboy Junkies maudlin ballads to serenade me.  So, here it is...brush up on your Utah geography and see if you can name 3 of the many parks/monuments that share this natural landscape just to the south of the Bookcliffs off I-70.  There are several and some are not very well known.   If you win you will receive this lovely sport weight Lorna’s Lace’s, Tuscany which will make a quick, fun pair of Making Waves socks for the Six Sock Along (or any sock you wish).  The colors remind me of this beautiful area in our State and we do have 'waves' made of sand frozen by time.
   

You have until August 1st at 3:00 p.m. to get your entry in and the winner will be announced on Monday August 2nd. Please use the email on my side bar.
Good luck!

Comments

[Cathy]

Wow it sounds like you had a great time. I just loved that sampler, makes me want to do a x-stitch project.

[Eilene]

I love being in the Six Sox Knitalong. It gives me the incentive to make beautiful socks that I love to wear (in winter usually) while I'm knitting other beloved projects! I will say that Koigu and Lorn's Laces are my favorite sock yarns I have Apple Butter and Mountain colors but have not tried them yet. Have you?
Happy knitting!

[Susan]

Oh, darn, I was hoping you would bring that "green" LL to SnB tomorrow for the swap. Guess I better enter the contest.

[Susan (LabMom)]

This was a fun contest. . . I might just steal the idea if I ever do a contest on my blog. I had some fun, learned a bit, and found a new place to put on my vacation list. Cowboy Junkies sound just perfect for the ride, and the LYS situations makes it even better.

[Mary Beth]

Well the only way I could have a hope of winning would be to cheat! So, instead, I'll just say that I enjoyed your post, LOVE to hear of other's yarn shopping adventures - sounds like you have a great friend, too. Thanks for the nice comment about the Granny Sweater. Good news - I'm a couple inches into Kersti!

[Kathleen]

Lovely yarn! Guess I need to do a little research. Thanks for the happy wishes. :)