What is the most important thing to do when you plan a vacation? Well, after figuring out where to go, who to go with, and where to sleep, my mind started wandering to where I can find good roving and yarn.  (I MAY have a bit of a problem!)

If you are traveling with another knitter or spinner, then you are set!  If you are traveling with non-knitters, you might need to disguise your itinerary a little.  Get your groceries at a farmers market that just so happens to sell wool too.  Go to a farm (that sells fleece and roving) to see the animals sheep and goats.  Find a good restaurant that might be across the street from a yarn store.  All of this takes quite a bit of planning…

Here’s my approach

Step 1:  Check on Ravelry to find local yarn stores near where you are staying.  Search the “people” section for people from the area, and ask them where they get the best quality yarn.

Step 2:  Search for local farms.  I found farmfresh.org to be very helpful.  Search by the product (veggies, honey, roving etc), or search by the town.  Maps and websites and farmers market details are all listed.

Step 3:  Ask on Twitter to see if anyone has recommendations of area farms to visit, markets or sheep and wool festivals to go to, or local yarn stores that are not to be missed.

Step 4:  Put all the locations on a Google map.  It is a great way to keep all the information in one place.  Link to websites, keep track of business hours or market days.  Use streetview where available so you know what the yarn store looks like when you “stumble upon it by chance”.

So far my plans include visiting alpacas on Martha’s Vineyard, pygora goats near Providence Rhode Island, llamas at Journey’s End Ranch in Middleboro MA, and sheep at River Valley Farm in Lennox MA.

If you know of anywhere in the Cape Cod Area that’s worth a visit, let me know.