Just got back from Alaska

jess_hawk · 08-26-2007, 12:47 PM

So, I've been in AK all summer and on my way home stopped in the lys in Ketchikan. I had been debating all summer as to what yarn I wanted to get, and my addiction to luxury fibers won out. I just bought the world's most expensive ball of yarn: a one ounce ball of qiviuk for almost $90

. But it is SO SOFT... I'm going to make a hat for me once I find a suitably delicate/elegant/non-frilly pattern. To tell the truth all summer I had been trying to convince myself I wasn't going to buy it, it was too expensive, while saving up money so that I could buy it.

Anyways,

for new yarn!

KnittingNat · 08-26-2007, 06:34 PM

I'm sure Alaska is beautiful in the summer and i hope you had fun

! I've read about this yarn and it's supposed to be the warmest yarn ever, isn't it? It's so expensive because the can only brush the musk ox, which gives sufficiently less fiber. Now you have to find a pattern that will do it justice

Please share a pic of Alaska and of the yarn of course...

beckyrhae · 08-26-2007, 07:44 PM

Ooo... I have used quivik before... NICE stuff.

Try poking around on the Sheeps Tale a bit... she sells it and has some wonderful patterns too.

Lady Violet · 08-27-2007, 01:55 AM

was the lys inside a building that had all sorts of shops in it? last time i was up there, one of the buildings almost right off the water had a (mostly) quilt shop, but i don't remember seeing any yarn. of course, this was in the days before my addiction. yes, it was indeed a very dark time.

Quiltlady · 08-27-2007, 09:19 AM

I lived in Anchorage for 14 yrs. and just LOVED it there. Did you get to see any moose?? I miss seeing them.

I did not knit while I lived there but before we moved back to the "lower 48" I did stop in the shop that sells the Qiviut and bought myself a scarf. I knew I'd never have another chance to do that once we moved.

Were you able to get to Anchorage and visit that shop in town?

http://www.qiviut.com/store/index.cf...FTOKEN=4019316

Their book on lace knitting is wonderful!!

SabrinaJL · 08-27-2007, 09:48 AM

How lucky you are! I would love to go to Alaska.

jess_hawk · 08-29-2007, 09:24 PM

Yeah, Qiviut is supposed to be about the warmest as far as I've heard. the shop was upstairs by a quilt shop, I got the impression that they've only added the yarn section in the past few years. LOL a woman I met from town told me not to go there b/c they jack the prices, to go to a different store which carries "exactly the same stuff." I guess she doesn't knit because the store she recommended carried Red Heart SS along with a few other varieties of synthetic fiber, and while I don't discount the value of those yarns (and the store was great, tons of stuff in all different craft areas), not QUITE "exactly the same stuff" as qiviuk, Lorna's Laces, and the other fancy yarns. Not that the prices aren't jacked, but her reference is faulty.

I didn't get up to Anchorage, unfortunately, I was on Prince of Wales Island with no transportation off the island except to and from Ketchikan when I arrived and left again. I wish I could have seen more of the state, but POW is GORGEOUS (I miss the weather... it rained alot but never hit ninety).

Lady Violet · 08-30-2007, 04:32 AM

that sounds like the place i went to. they must have added the yarn after i was there. it wouldn't really have mattered much if they had added it before i went because that was before my serious knitting days. now, on the other hand....