Yarn Crawl
Yesterday Nicole ( nicknits) and I spent the day in Columbus to shop for yarn. The timing could not have been better; I had one of the worst weekends at work, which nearly ended with my walking out during my Sunday shift. Following all that, it was great to spend a day just enjoying the company of a fellow knitter and friend, and exploring endless aisles filled with one of my favorite things.
I woke up at seven, got ready, and was out my door by eight-fifteen. I had hoped to leave earlier then that, yet hadn't accounted for having to scrap my car's windows (It was a whopping 10 degrees outside). Despite the setback, I arrived in Dublin with fifteen minutes to spare. I was thrilled, until I got lost trying to find the Wendy's where we were to meet. I totally passed by it, turned around, then passed it again. After finally pulling over at the next exit, I pulled out my trusty atlas, only to discover it didn't have a map of Columbus in it. :(
I should have called Nicole, yet wanted to give it one more go. However, I got mixed up and ended up going the wrong direction. It felt like another five to ten minutes before the next exit. By then it was about five after ten, ten being our meeting time, so as I drove I reached for my phone. Unfortunately when I had turned around, my bag tipped over, so my phone was on the floor. About the time I realized this, it began ringing. I knew it had to be Nicole, yet there was no way I was about to drive and reach for it.
After finally making my way back to the original spot, and being stopped at a light, I picked up my phone and called Nicole. While explaining to her what happened, I realized that I had just passed High Street, where the first yarn shop is located. I told her this was where I was, and we agreed to meet at the shop. I pulled over at the next light, and there was the darn Wendy's I had been looking for! The location was behind a small row of trees, and the road sign was only slightly elevated from the ground; no wonder I had missed it!
The ironic thing was that even if I had found the Wendy's right off, we wouldn't have found each other anyway. There are two locations on either side of the highway; Nicole was at the one going east, I was on the one going west. Ha.
It was about ten thirty when we both arrived at our first stop, Temptations in Dubin. Nicole had brought her daughters, Kiersten and Elena. I will vey quickly say right off that they both were absolute angels. They did have one moment each, yet nothing seriously horrible. In fact, Kiersten was super excited as we went into each shop, looking around at everything in awe. (She's going to be a knitter one day.) Elena, too, was happy to play with any yarn she was able to grab while in her stroller.
Temptations is located within a house, and is absolutely crammed with yarn. The organization is done quite nicely, with each type of yarn being seperated in the various rooms. There's even a closet-sized area full of needles. Everything is stored in a beautiful way, from shelves lined floor-to-ceiling, to baskets and bowls on the tables. The only real downside was how small it is; Elena's stroller kept getting stuck in various spots. Right by the entrance there is a table where folks can sit and knit; two ladies were sitting there when we came in. They and the employees were very friendly.
Our next stop was Knitter's Mercantile. I got lost going here too, having been confused when the road marked "Graceland Signal" also bared another name below. Had I looked up, I would have seen the sign for the Graceland stip mall and turned, yet I didn't, so kept going. Opps. As I came inside, I began to think that I would be getting lost at every place we were going.
KM reminded me most of my favorite shop in Cincinnati, Yarns & Fabrications, although a bit larger. The front side is completely windows, which makes it sunny and inviting. Towards the front are couches with books, along with a table with plates of cookies, and in the back was a large table where a knitter's group seemed to be having a wonderful time. It was so tempting to pull out my knitting and join right in, yet I was enjoying myself too much looking at sock yarn. Kiersten found herself a kid's knitting book, and was ever so excited when her mom agreed to buy it, so much so that she carried it with her into every shop and place following.
After walking through all the aisles, I ended up going back to the sock yarn for one last look. I bought a skein of Berroco Comfort Sock in the Hari Hari colorway. Am pretty excited to try it out now. The lady at the front counter also seemed excited by my purchase, saying it was something she has been wanted to try out, too. I promised her thatI would send a picture of the finished result via email.
The Yarn Shop was our third stop, and this time *gasp* I didn't get lost. :P This was the largest shop we visited, once again very sunny and inviting. It also seemed to be the most open, since almost all of the yarn shelves were against the walls. The first thing I noticed was the small table of toys and books for kids; Kiersten was there right after setting down her coat and hat (she had a routine by then; find chair, put coat on it, start looking around). Elena was most pleased as well, being able to finally get out of the stroller.
We spent the most time here I think, looking around. Nicole was on a hunt for needles by then, while I looked through the sock yarn. I also sat for awhile flipping through the wonderful collection of books they hosted. There was a selection of Lorna's Laces and other nice yarns that I searched through, petted, and considered future projects. The employees were once again super nice, even helping keep an eye on Elena's wear abouts.
Our final stop, Heavenly Creations, was the smallest shop of the four. Like Temptations, it seemed this was once a small house, yet it was more open and sunny. Nicole later pointed out that it was the only shop to house a Ravelry sign, too. :)
Once again Kiersten and Elena went straight for the toys. Such lovely yarn, and yet again, such a nice staff. The lady chatted with Kiersten for awhile, and talked with Elena a little too. Everything in stock was 25% off, not what Nicole or I needed to hear. :P By then, Nicole had let me know that she was looking for Lite Lopi in a golden color in order to make some scarves, which they had, so she snatched it up right away. Don't know how I walked away without anything. It seemed as though they were growing thin on their inventory, yet what they had was gorgeous. I eyed both (again) the Lorna's Laces sock yarn, and some Euroflax. Very tempting.
We ended our day with eating lunch at Wendy's, then spending a couple of hours at a local mall where there was a play area. Nicole pulled out a skein of her newly-acquired yarn to begin a pair of Fetching for Kiersten, while I worked on a lace hat for a coworker of mine (More about that and other WIPs to come). It was such a nice way to end the day. At some point, we will really need to do it again.
Now if I can only keep myself from making socks from my new yarn until the rest of these WIPs are done. Meanwhile, Nicole also wrote an account of the day at her blog, which you can find here. She also included pictures of the lovely purchases she made.
I woke up at seven, got ready, and was out my door by eight-fifteen. I had hoped to leave earlier then that, yet hadn't accounted for having to scrap my car's windows (It was a whopping 10 degrees outside). Despite the setback, I arrived in Dublin with fifteen minutes to spare. I was thrilled, until I got lost trying to find the Wendy's where we were to meet. I totally passed by it, turned around, then passed it again. After finally pulling over at the next exit, I pulled out my trusty atlas, only to discover it didn't have a map of Columbus in it. :(
I should have called Nicole, yet wanted to give it one more go. However, I got mixed up and ended up going the wrong direction. It felt like another five to ten minutes before the next exit. By then it was about five after ten, ten being our meeting time, so as I drove I reached for my phone. Unfortunately when I had turned around, my bag tipped over, so my phone was on the floor. About the time I realized this, it began ringing. I knew it had to be Nicole, yet there was no way I was about to drive and reach for it.
After finally making my way back to the original spot, and being stopped at a light, I picked up my phone and called Nicole. While explaining to her what happened, I realized that I had just passed High Street, where the first yarn shop is located. I told her this was where I was, and we agreed to meet at the shop. I pulled over at the next light, and there was the darn Wendy's I had been looking for! The location was behind a small row of trees, and the road sign was only slightly elevated from the ground; no wonder I had missed it!
The ironic thing was that even if I had found the Wendy's right off, we wouldn't have found each other anyway. There are two locations on either side of the highway; Nicole was at the one going east, I was on the one going west. Ha.
It was about ten thirty when we both arrived at our first stop, Temptations in Dubin. Nicole had brought her daughters, Kiersten and Elena. I will vey quickly say right off that they both were absolute angels. They did have one moment each, yet nothing seriously horrible. In fact, Kiersten was super excited as we went into each shop, looking around at everything in awe. (She's going to be a knitter one day.) Elena, too, was happy to play with any yarn she was able to grab while in her stroller.
Temptations is located within a house, and is absolutely crammed with yarn. The organization is done quite nicely, with each type of yarn being seperated in the various rooms. There's even a closet-sized area full of needles. Everything is stored in a beautiful way, from shelves lined floor-to-ceiling, to baskets and bowls on the tables. The only real downside was how small it is; Elena's stroller kept getting stuck in various spots. Right by the entrance there is a table where folks can sit and knit; two ladies were sitting there when we came in. They and the employees were very friendly.
Our next stop was Knitter's Mercantile. I got lost going here too, having been confused when the road marked "Graceland Signal" also bared another name below. Had I looked up, I would have seen the sign for the Graceland stip mall and turned, yet I didn't, so kept going. Opps. As I came inside, I began to think that I would be getting lost at every place we were going.
KM reminded me most of my favorite shop in Cincinnati, Yarns & Fabrications, although a bit larger. The front side is completely windows, which makes it sunny and inviting. Towards the front are couches with books, along with a table with plates of cookies, and in the back was a large table where a knitter's group seemed to be having a wonderful time. It was so tempting to pull out my knitting and join right in, yet I was enjoying myself too much looking at sock yarn. Kiersten found herself a kid's knitting book, and was ever so excited when her mom agreed to buy it, so much so that she carried it with her into every shop and place following.
After walking through all the aisles, I ended up going back to the sock yarn for one last look. I bought a skein of Berroco Comfort Sock in the Hari Hari colorway. Am pretty excited to try it out now. The lady at the front counter also seemed excited by my purchase, saying it was something she has been wanted to try out, too. I promised her thatI would send a picture of the finished result via email.
The Yarn Shop was our third stop, and this time *gasp* I didn't get lost. :P This was the largest shop we visited, once again very sunny and inviting. It also seemed to be the most open, since almost all of the yarn shelves were against the walls. The first thing I noticed was the small table of toys and books for kids; Kiersten was there right after setting down her coat and hat (she had a routine by then; find chair, put coat on it, start looking around). Elena was most pleased as well, being able to finally get out of the stroller.
We spent the most time here I think, looking around. Nicole was on a hunt for needles by then, while I looked through the sock yarn. I also sat for awhile flipping through the wonderful collection of books they hosted. There was a selection of Lorna's Laces and other nice yarns that I searched through, petted, and considered future projects. The employees were once again super nice, even helping keep an eye on Elena's wear abouts.
Our final stop, Heavenly Creations, was the smallest shop of the four. Like Temptations, it seemed this was once a small house, yet it was more open and sunny. Nicole later pointed out that it was the only shop to house a Ravelry sign, too. :)
Once again Kiersten and Elena went straight for the toys. Such lovely yarn, and yet again, such a nice staff. The lady chatted with Kiersten for awhile, and talked with Elena a little too. Everything in stock was 25% off, not what Nicole or I needed to hear. :P By then, Nicole had let me know that she was looking for Lite Lopi in a golden color in order to make some scarves, which they had, so she snatched it up right away. Don't know how I walked away without anything. It seemed as though they were growing thin on their inventory, yet what they had was gorgeous. I eyed both (again) the Lorna's Laces sock yarn, and some Euroflax. Very tempting.
We ended our day with eating lunch at Wendy's, then spending a couple of hours at a local mall where there was a play area. Nicole pulled out a skein of her newly-acquired yarn to begin a pair of Fetching for Kiersten, while I worked on a lace hat for a coworker of mine (More about that and other WIPs to come). It was such a nice way to end the day. At some point, we will really need to do it again.
Now if I can only keep myself from making socks from my new yarn until the rest of these WIPs are done. Meanwhile, Nicole also wrote an account of the day at her blog, which you can find here. She also included pictures of the lovely purchases she made.