Yarn Shopping

She knits on trains:

I finished the first sleeve, binding off on the drive home from the train station in the wee hours of Saturday morning.  No knitting since.

Despite my lack of productive creativity this week, I have been thinking about yarn, knitting projects, and yarn stores.

A yarn store in Poughkeepsie closed its doors.  Yarn Swift was a nice store and the owner was very nice.  I never really spoke with her enough, although I did shop in the store periodically.  I have been plagued with guilt.  I have a highly developed guilt reflex you know.  Still, I shopped regularly and dropped a good bit of cash but never really stayed long enough to form a relationship with the owner.  I am not immensly outgoing and it takes me a while to overcome my hesitancy. Now I feel I should have made more of an effort.

I went to Yarn Swift on Wednesday and came out with two rather large shopping bags full of yarn.  Here is a good sampling:

Some Kureyon in the back; some Euroflax linen, which I love even though it is rough to knit;  another Noro yarn called Tidiori, some Debbie Bliss Cathay, and some LaLuz.  There is enough of each to knit a sweater so you know I will be busy.  It’s not like I don’t already have enough yarn to keep me knitting for some time, but even too little too late is better than nothing at all.

At least I am not one of those people who bought patterns and yarn at Michaels and then came to Yarn Swift looking for help and direction. 

In my general sense of "support your local yarn store" ennui, I also went back up to Bead & Purl, the new yarn store in Rhinebeck, actually a trifle closer to my house.  I am determined to make an effort to buy local, not to fall back on the tried and true internet sources — you know, the ones where you can shop late at night when you are feeling tired and have packages miraculously appear at your door a few days later.

Here is what I bought at Bead and Purl:

The merlot Cotton STria is for another baby sweater.  The lovely Kidsilk night will be a cardigan.  This was a total impulse purchase, inspired by some soft gray 4 ply silk with which I just made a pair of evening pants.  The combination was obviously meant to be.

I am determined to get to the other local yarn store that I have supported, but not enough lately, Yarn Central, during the upcoming week.  I had hoped there would be a yarn party, but I might have missed that.  Still, I must go.  I have been remiss.