A friend who will know who she/he is when they read this left a comment here that got me to thinking about what I expect from a yarn store. She (as I tend to use the female for singular people) mentioned her new knitting group wasn't crazy about her lys and prefered a store I haven't been to. I love my friend's lys; it is small, packed with yarn and it is the first place I bought yarn.
The women at this store remember me even though I live 4 hours away and haven't been in that often. The selection of yarn is great and the needles are good. However, I understand why other people would not be fond of the store. There is one woman in particular who is very disparaging of the internet. I was shopping for yarn for a pattern off of Knitty.com and it was almost like I was asking for Red Heart. Another time I mentioned the Tilly Tomas contraversy and she didn't believe that internet retailers had as much expense as brick and morter retailers. The other reason the knitters may avoid this store is it is a bit of a drive for them from their town.
This past weekend I was in Boulder, CO. I finally visited Shuttles, Spindles... I picked up another drop spindle (I think I have found one I really like), Mountain Colors Barefoot sock yarn, and No Sheep for You. The store is nice I LOVED the needle selection and pointed out some needles that would give Sean some private rewards later if he happened to purchase them ever (Lantern Moon size 19s and their DPNs). The store was larger with a great book selection Amazon last time I checked had No Sheep for You as a presale still. I casted on the Tuscany Shawl with some bamboo I had scrapped from another project. I'm loving this pattern. The sock yarns were fabulous they had the Mountain Colors, Koigu, and the Cascade one. They sold Manus(?) del Uruguay, and an entire room full of millends but overall the colors weren't really my taste. Sean as always did math while I shopped.
I was looking for Shaefer Anne to make a shawl out of Victorian Lace today. I had bought some purple lace weight baby alpacha and started a shawl that will be given to one of the mothers, but I quickly realized I don't like purple. The Boulder store sold Schaefer but not Anne. I had earlier found some Anne I loved at www.theloopyewe.com; they have free shipping on orders of $50 or more. I didn't get it because I knew that I was already going to a yarn store and if I found something I liked better then Sean would lecture. I ordered two skeins of the Anne in midnight blues, and a sock blocker keychain. I placed the order Friday night, and Monday received my yarn. I quickly wound it up and e-mailed a thank you to the owner of the store who included a handwritten note of thanks, and wondering what I was making with two skeins of Anne. When I told her she asked for a photo and understood why it will take two years to possibly make. I am a slow lace knitter. The lesson I've learned on this particular project is don't buy yarn just because it's the prettiest in the store. It may not be a color you personally like.
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