Jimmy Beans

This past weekend, Neill had a function to attend in Reno, NV. When he originally started planning his trip, he suggested that Daniel and I make the drive with him and turn it into a family excursion. Now, I will admit that this did not sound super appealing at first. It was going to be a very quick trip (about 32 hours total, including the two 4 hour drives), so not enough time to explore in the mountains or do much hiking, and Neill was going to be busy....so what was I going to do alone with a rowdy 2.5 year old in such a short time that we couldn't do at home? It's not like they let toddlers play the slots. But then I realized:

1. Hotels with casinos seem to be subsidized by the casinos, so you often (depending on the place) get a massive, nice room (that a certain toddler would love to explore) for an awfully decent price.

2. The Nevada terrain is stunning, even if you don't have any time to explore it.

and 3. Reno is the home of Jimmy Beans Wool.

Sold.

So we packed up the car and made the drive through the valley, then through the mountains to Reno, and I'm so glad we did because we had a blast. My main goal was to hit up Jimmy Beans Wool for a few minutes some time in the morning of our second day before we had to leave, but Daniel totally surprised me. Not only did we manage to shop for yarn and get a tour of the huge Jimmy Beans warehouse, but we also visited not one, but two exhibitions at the Nevada Museum of Art.  (I will admit that, though D seemed to enjoy* the Toulouse-Lautrec, he started crying, "Mama, I don't wanna look at these pictures!!" half way through the Frida Kahlo photographs. Hey, I'll take what I can get.)

And I kinda fell down hard at Jimmy Beans. It started with some Madelinetosh Chunky in Lepidoptera...

Then some Baah Yarns Sonoma in Peacock...

And ended with some Fibre Company Road to China Light in Sapphire...

New yarn friends, all lined up. Guess I was in a purpley blue mood.

I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do with all of this...but whatever it is, it's sure to be pretty!

And we had to take a requisite dip in the Jimmy Beans Wool hot tub o' yarn (even if someone was a little skeptical). This thing is so cool.

And I knit an entire hat in the car. All in all: happy fun times!

* And by "enjoy", I mean that he realized he could slide his feet around on the slippery floor and didn't get bored until just a minute before I was done going through the exhibition anyway. Maybe next year he'll appreciate my art history lessons...

P.S. Happy almost-Thanksgiving to all my friends in the US!