Knitting Through Alaska

TGIF... although I can't believe how fast this week has flown by.  I'm still in recovery mode from our Alaskan family cruise and yes, still playing catch up (read: I just threw my first post-vacation load of laundry in).  I promise pictures soon (read: I haven't even downloaded files from the cameras yet, but you'll probably get an Instagrammed Wordless Wednesday), as well as some great reviews, including a Cloud Star dog treat giveaway.

I did bring along on my usual vacation knitting... socks!  In fact, I had picked Matt helped me pick out a skein of Mad Color Fiber Arts "Wicked" at the NH Sheep & Wool Festival (original post linked if you missed the cuteness) in May that we felt best represented Alaska.  The colorway is Canyon and minus all the green we saw, I really do think it's quite fitting. 

Doesn't everyone watch Who's Line Is It Anyway while knitting on a cross country flight?

I only wish I actually made more progress on my first sock while cruising, but I guess that just means we were having too much fun doing other things, right? 

Here you see said sock in progress, I believe somewhere over North Dakota.  One of our flight attendants was fascinated that Matt raced and after bringing him a little Jack "on the house," she then noticed my knitting and insisted I enjoy one too.  Um, what's that you say... start a vacation off with complimentary drinks, well okay, if you insist!

Do you have a go-to vacation knitting project?  I started the socks thing a few years ago with my "Trekking to Charlotte" socks.  They seem to make great little, portable projects and if you choose a no-brainer pattern, I find it quite relaxing. 

While I didn't exactly get a lot of knitting done, I did purchase some gorgeous souvenir yarn! Several weeks before the cruise, I did a quick yarn shop search on google of the ports we were visiting and was pleasantly surprised to find Seaside Yarns in Juneau.  The shop is literally right on the docks in port, so I knew it was going to be among my first stops on this trip (Juneau was our first port).

I was not disappointed at all!  Seaside Yarns is a quaint little shop, full of beautiful yarns and great notions.  The staff was very welcoming and quite helpful in pointing me to their local stuff.  Although my pocket book couldn't afford the uber soft qiviut yarn and I was too worried about one of the gorgeous locally made yarn bowls breaking on the way home, I did indulge in two skeins of sock yarn! 

Both skeins are hand dyed by A Tree Hugger's Wife Yarns in Juneau.  The one of the left is "Soft Sock" in colorway Juvenile Bald Eagle and on the right is "Basic Sock" in Glacier.  Aren't they gorgeous... especially against the open seas background?!  My goal was to bring home some locally dyed yarn, but it was even cooler to get such perfectly named yarns to remember this vacation by. 

Do you buy souvenir yarn when you go on vacation?  I always try to, so long as I can find something that's local to that area.