Last Wednesday, Las and I packed up all our spinning wheels, knitting needles, yarn, and spindles, kissed our darling husbands goodbye and beat it to Eugene, OR for the Black Sheep Gathering. Knowing that I was going to have to drive every minute of the way (Las is the world’s most amazing road sleeper. If she ain’t asleep by mile marker 20, something is horribly wrong), I insisted we stop in Ontario, OR for the knit. Which just happens to be the home of White House Yarn and Fiber, a charming shop ran by the lovely Gail and owned by Sweetie the cat.
Sweetie Hurt That We Left Her at White House Yarn and Fiber
Sweetie insisted on showing around the shop, including her stash of wonderful spinning fibers and dyes. Las had to get some merino/cashmere/angora fiber and some amazing Landscape dyes (I didn’t even know they existed before now) and dpn wip tubes followed me out of the store. But no yarn. Honest, hun, I swear it.
Sweetie had a sister named Ditto who was out on the back porch with her litter of charming kittens. We nearly brought one home but from experience we knew kittens and fiber generally don’t mix.
Once we finally and reluctantly left Sweetie and Ontario, we sent off across the wide openness (okay, read a bit boring) of Central Oregon. Unfortunately, we hit Bend, OR at rush hour and between finding a gas station that would take credit cards (What crazy soul decided you can’t pump your own gas in Oregon?), spending 25 minutes waiting in line to buy gas at the only gas station in town that accepted credit cards, traffic and trying to find a park to sit down and eat, we somehow left Bend without finding any of it’s yarn stores. We finally found gas, found a cute little park along the river to eat and see something besides bug splatters on the windshield.
It was quiet, the sun was shining, it was pretty and it had no bug splatters.
Once we left Bend, we tried to stop at Baabaara’s Wild and Wooly Shop in Sisters, OR, but she has since moved her shop back to the ranch in Bend, OR. Down and disappointed, as we were leaving down, I noticed a spinning wheel in a shop window! Now stores don’t have spinning wheels in their windows just for decoration (unless they are an antique shop). And where there are spinning wheels, there is usually fiber! Las scored some Pygora/silk fiber from Desert Charm. Believe it or not, I still had not bought any yarn.
From there it was on to Eugene through the beautiful central Cascade Mountains. Construction was a pain, and the scenic route I wanted to take was closed for road repairs but we made it to Eugene, rested and ready for Black Sheep.
Next: Las reveals the extent of the fiber we purchased.
Landscape Dyes are made in Victoria [Australia]. The factory was completely destroyed in the bushfires in February. However, I heard last week at the Guild meeting that they are now back in production. They are the dyes I use. Great range of absolutely gorgeous colours.