On the “Road” Again

After all the fun that was had during last year’s Yarn Social Bingo, how could I pass up on another summer yarn adventure?!

This year, Yarn Social is doing a Summer Vacation. It is a little more confusing than bingo, but it’s not too bad: you pick a “trip,” and the number of miles on the trip equals the number of yards you use from June 1 to August 31 (you can take multiple trips, if you’re able). Finish that trip, earn some loyalty points! Along the way, you have “stops,” which are akin to the prompts that were on the bingo cards. So it does require a bit of planning before you kick off your adventure!

I’m planning out an “expedition,” because go big or home, as I always (sometimes to my detriment) say. I picked the Slow Fashion Cannonball, New York City to San Francisco, for a total of 3,226 miles/yards. “No problem!” I thought. “Three months, and I pick the projects and prompts. 3000+ yards will be easy!”

This is when a narrator would voice over my cheeky face saying “It was not easy.” It’s probably going to take me eight projects to use that many yards… However, I was able to give myself a little wiggle room with the prompts. Here’s my current plan (the projects may change, but the prompts cannot):

1. New York City, NY – Gauge experiments. Where better to start a yarn journey than with a swatch, am I right? Marci of Th’red Head Designs will have a new cotton base soon, and I got some with the hope of making a banging summer top.
2. Bald Eagle State Forrest – Use a local yarn. The plan is the top will count for this stop as well.
3. Cleveland, OH – Monster Mash of patterns. This project I will not share because…
4. Cedar Point, OH – Make a gift. It’s a gift!
5. Chicago, IL – Hat. My sister currently lives in Chicago, and…
6. Des Moines, IA – Two yarns held together. My mom is from Iowa. The project for these two prompts is also a gift. I’ll let you deduce what you can from these!
7. Lincoln, NE – Use a new-to-me yarn. I have already purchased it for a….
8. Denver, CO – Homey thing, that is also a gift! For friends who met in Colorado! Deduce what you can!
9. Arches National Park, UT – Shawl. Long, long ago, I took a road trip to Utah. I bought some yarns on my trip that I decided would be my “Utah Shawl.”
10. Salt Lake City, UT – Project inspired by trip. So, it’s only fair that I make it for the Utah stops, right?
11. Lamoille Canyon, NV – Socks. I have a pair of sunflower socks that are my oldest WIP…
12. Reno, NV – Finish oldest WIP. So I’ll tackle those, too!
13. Lake Tahoe, NV – Write my own pattern. Here is where the project plan loosens a bit. I’m not sure which design in my head it will be, but I resolved this year to design again. So, it made the list.
14. Sacramento, CA – Attend a social hour. Because who doesn’t love meeting up with yarny friends?!
15. San Francisco, CA – Take gorgeous FO photos. Where better to end a yarn journey than with a gorgeous FO photo, am I right?

I’m so thrilled Yarn Social put together another event like this. If this is of interest to you, I hope you’ll join us!! Whether or not you do, I’d love for you to follow along with my adventure on Instagram!