On April 21–22, a group of guild members enjoyed a trip to Galena, Illinois, stopping at several yarn shops along the way.

The first shop we visited was Knit One Purl Two in Rockford, Illinois. If you are ever in the Rockford area, this is a must-visit. In addition to a wide range of yarns, they shop features a nice warm fireplace and couches to sit and knit. They were having a sale on kits, which many guild members took advantage of.
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Next on our list was Wall of Yarn in Freeport, Illinois. A centerpiece of that shop was a rack of self-striping sock yarn by Biscotte, with a large banner showing how each colorway knits up. If there was a skein you missed, check out www.biscotteyarns.com. The two men who own the shop were so kind and helpful — they recommended a great local restaurant for lunch, and then ran over with some of our purchases.
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Over lunch at Wagner House in Freeport, we decided to add one more yarn shop to the schedule. Several shoppers we ran into on our trip mentioned Yarn Soup in Dubuque, Iowa, just twenty minutes past Galena. This was another great shop, which we kept busy until closing time.

We ended the day with a bit of shopping around Galena, but saved the last shop for Sunday morning. April 22 was FiberWild’s very last day of business, but there was still plenty of yarn left and great deals to be had. The sales are still going on at www.fiberwild.com.

Cars packed to the brim with yarn, we made our way back home on Sunday afternoon. I think only a few of us had the stamina for the last stop at Elgin Knit Works, so maybe another day trip in that direction is in order!

At our May 8th, 2018 meeting, we’ll be learning one-color brioche, and at our June 12th, 2018 meeting, we’ll be learning two-color brioche.

We’ll have easy knit-a-long scarf projects for each of these techniques, and KAL knit nights at the library as a follow-up to our lessons and to support each other on this adventure.
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Grab a ball of worsted, your size 7 or 8 dpns or circs, and join the fun May 8, 2018 and June 12, 2018.