From The Craft Room

Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category

So, I had this brilliant idea for my vacation this year. Because of the abundance of wonderful knit shops relatively close to where I live, I figured there had to be tons of them between here and Tennessee, especially since we were taking that detour to Indianapolis to get Marcus’ computer and to see the Harlot.

Since I had just purchased the pattern for Noni’s Medallion Travel Bag (It’s under Fall 2007 - I would link to the pattern itself, but their stupid site is all javascript), wouldn’t it be great to make said bag from a skein of yarn purchased at each shop I visited? I even made myself a Google map of all the shops close to our destinations.

Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans.

The first shop we visited was Knitorious in Southern St. Louis, MO, picked because it was very close to Ted Drewes Frozen Custard (on historic Route 66) and a Lion’s Choice (home of the most wonderful roast beef sandwiches ever). The women I met in this shop were so nice (fellow Ravelers) and even encouraged Marcus to go hang out on the couch in the back while I browsed around. Since I was fairly low on funds and the govt. rebate check had yet to be direct deposited to the old bank account, I decided to go with Cascade 220 for the bag. I wish I had had it in my budget to buy some local yarn — there was a particularly pretty green sock yarn from the St. Louis area I wanted &mash; but it was not meant to be this time around. I figured the Cascade was a safe choice because just about everyone carries it, right? I decided that I was going to go with a yellow/black color scheme for the bag and found the most beautiful shade of yellow (7828). I even decided that it was OK if I couldn’t find all the same color lot, it would add character.

The second place we hit was called Knitty Couture. The owner was really nice, but I really wasn’t impressed with the store. I’m starting to learn that if stores tout themselves as “Premier”, “Modern” or “Hip”, then they’re going to be too foofy and have too narrow a selection for my tastes. It’s just not a climate I feel comfortable in. That being said, she did have some Cascade 220, but of course not the yellow I wanted. This should’ve been the first sign that things were not going to go as planned. I broke down against my better judgment and bought a skein of black. The owner made some comment about buying a yarn I could’ve bought at home. Once again, not the point of the bag. Hmph.

Even though there were a couple of other places I wanted to hit in the St. Louis area, time just wouldn’t allow it on this trip. Believe me, I was really bummed. I didn’t even make it to The Loopy Ewe or Myers House, two places I really wanted to go.

We took off for Indianapolis and made it to see the Yarn Harlot about five minutes late (why can’t every state have a 75mph speed limit?). There was a store North of there I wanted to go to, but didn’t have time. After breakfast and on our way to Louisville, KY, I stopped in at a place close to the Indianapolis Apple Store we visited called Knit Stop. It was a nice looking store, but no Cascade. Also, since not a single employee said boo to me, I left empty-handed (it’s a personal policy of mine - if you can’t at least say hello, I guess you don’t want my money). The next stop was Mass Ave Knit Shop. They had Cascade (not the yellow, but a hank of black). I was even contemplating a skein of alpaca I was fancying. Once again, though, two times around the store and not one person in there uttered a peep to me. It really is a pet peeve of mine and may sound lame, I admit, but I was really put off and once again left empty handed.

The final shop of the day was Grinny Possum in Jeffersonville, IN (right across the state line from Louisville). The woman that owned the shop was most friendly and I really did want to purchase something there, but alas, no Cascade 220 in any color and nothing else that I just had to have. Then we ended up lost in icky downtown Louisville during rush hour on Derby weekend because I wrote down the wrong address for the Apple Store in Louisville that morning in the hotel. I’ll be honest, this day of our vacation put a really bad gloom on me. I was at at the point where I wished I didn’t have to go to Tennessee and could just go home. I knew the next two days would offer absolutely no chance of getting anything for my bag. Clarksville doesn’t have a proper yarn store and we wouldn’t have time to get down to Nashville. The quilt store they have had a small selection of yarn (some Cascade but neither of the colors I chose) and I broke down in a moment of weakness and spent $8 on a skein of 100% acrylic that I probably could’ve paid $2 for anywhere else. Don’t know what I’m going to do with that.

I’ll be honest, by the time we got to Kansas City Friday to spend our last night on the road, I was literally in tears. Leaving late from his mom’s coupled with the bad weather meant a no go on the yarn shop I wanted to hit in Charleston, Mo. I think I need 12 skeins for this stupid bag and so far I’d found 2. Yeah, great. Going back to work and all the stupid drama going on there looming in my near future only made me feel worse. I hadn’t had a vacation in 4 years and this one, with the exception of Tuesday (St. Louis, Ted Drews, seeing the Yarn Harlot), was pretty much sucking some major butt.

Thankfully, Saturday kind of saved the week from being a total loss. Since it was already apparent that we weren’t going to make it back to Denver in time for me to go to Movie Night with some women from my SnB, I told Marcus we could go ahead and find the Apple Store in Kansas City, Mo. First we had a really yummy breakfast at a Bob Evans Restaurant (they have some really good food) and the area where the Apple store was was really cool. While there, I went ahead and looked up the addresses of a couple of knit shops in the immediate area on a Mac and programmed the Garmin. One store, The Studio, was quite close. I met a lovely fellow Raveler that worked there who, in addition to knowing yarn, could speak to Marcus about computers. Anybody that notices the character on his hat is Tux the Linux mascot and not just a cute little penguin is okay in Marcus’ book. I got a skein of black Cascade and some really neat green yarn that is to be my first pair of socks soon.

Finally, I hit Misknits on our way our of town. *sigh* No Cascade and the women there were really nice. Again, wanted to buy something but couldn’t find something I had to have. I was also not feeling very well and just wanted to hit the road. I don’t think the morning coffee I had liked me very well. I had to laugh, though, because the women in the shop were obviously (to me) having a SnB and talking about Ravelry and such. When we got to the car, Marcus says, “Is Ravelry all you knitting types can talk about?”

Anyway, we drove through Kansas and by the time we were anywhere close to where other knit shops were on my list, it was after 5pm and no chance any of them would be open by the time we found them. I was really bummed about the whole bag project being a total fiasco.

Well, I’ve decided it will still be a bag from many stores. I’ll keep my eye out for those two colors as I hit different shops, both in metro Denver and elsewhere. Eventually I’ll acquire enough to make my bag, it just won’t be a memento from this particular trip as I had planned.

The Yarn Harlot was in town last night and I had an amazing time. She was so funny — I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. I’d share the pictures I took last night, but THEY SUCK! Once again my crappy camera decided it was going to be unable to focus. Also, I must’ve accidentally changed a setting, because the pictures are SMALL! I am so done with that thing. I also closed my eyes in the picture I had taken with Stephanie. I really wished I had asked Marcus to borrow his for the evening. I hope she comes back next year after her new book is released and I can try it again. By the next time, I will be making socks!

I made some good progress on my Mistake Rib Scarf I’m working on. I’m into the 2nd skein, so over 50% complete! I tried working on a dishcloth, too, but trying to follow the pattern with so much fun and excitement around me was impossible.

I’m so glad I finally decided to get off my duff and join the knitting world. Of course, Ravelry has been a huge help to entice me to leave my comfort zone and put myself out there.

Today I need to do some housecleaning and some much-needed web work so I can get Domestic Geek back up and finally finish the header I’ve been working on for this blog. I’ll try to sneak in some time on my clogs, though, and read a little bit of Things I Learned From Knitting (Whether I Wanted To or Not) that I got signed last night.

I didn’t fall off the planet, just been busy and so not in a blogging mood. We got insanely busy the last few weeks at work and I was putting in some much needed OT. Also, my wrist got all jacked up and I had to try to stay off the internet and let it heal.

I’ve got tons of projects on the needles and hooks. I need to buckle down and actually finish something so I can show it off. I’ve got another knit bag in progress, a scarf, knit clogs, a crocheted hat and a dishcloth. There is also a couple of afghans in my closet I’d like to finish and the good old crocheted popcorn garland that I will finish before next Christmas. Lined up right behind is a crocheted top that I really want to get started on (I even dreamed out it last night) and I got a kit of Booby Socks at the SnB at Purls of Wisdom down in Parker last Sunday. I am finally going to make myself learn to knit socks because these are so cute! The proceeds of the kit are being donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Center. Kelly wrote up a nice post about the Booby Sock Kits over on her blog if you’d like to read more about them.

The Yarn Harlot engagement at Tattered Cover is only two days away! I’m excited because I’ve actually got some knitting friends now and it’s going to be a blast. I even bought a Yarrrn! t-shirt at Jinx for the occasion.

I’m really wishing I had gotten back into my yarn crafting a long time ago. I am having so much fun hanging out at yarn shops and going to Stitch ‘n’ Bitches. Starting next Monday, I also moving to 2nd shift at work (3-11pm), so the days will be filled with creative pursuits. I can’t wait!

Since I was accepted to Ravelry, I’ve been finding out about some new (to me) LYSs in the area and have been checking out about one new one a week. I’m seeing a definite trend that would hinder me coming back to some of these shops: too much merchandise in too little of a space and no price tags.

I know there is all sorts of reasons for this. Marking merchandise takes time that a shop owner would probably rather spend doing something else (like knitting samples or something). Honestly, though, if I come into your shop to browse and nothing is priced, I’m not buying. I don’t have time to seek out the owner or an employee every time something I see strikes my fancy. I’m also on a pretty tight budget, so I need to know right away if the shop is too pricey for me.

As far as the tight, cramped conditions, I realize that retail space is expensive and that they’re trying to offer as much as possible to their customers. I am, however, a big woman and if I’m browsing an “aisle” and I’m knocking down yarn behind me as I’m two inches from the stuff in front of me, it’s too cramped. I’m also claustrophobic, so I probably won’t take time to browse the store when that desire to escape overcomes me. Some of these shops also want people to come hang out and knit, but where?

Oh, and one final thing. Being ignored. I battled a snowstorm to go into one shop on my way home from work only to be ignored the whole half hour I was in there. Even if you’re busy with another customer, take a moment to greet me and let me know you’ll be available to help me as soon as you are able. If you can’t do at least that, I guess you don’t want my business after all.

All that being said, I’ve gone into some shops where I have nothing but good things to say. I’ll share some of these good experiences later because I want to highlight some of these shops so that my few readers can check them out, too. I was warmly welcomed, merchandise is marked, well-defined areas for knitters to gather and work, etc. One shop owner even took the time to write out a quick scarf pattern for me to use with her yarn. See, that’s the kind of stuff that will keep me coming back.

Hello, everyone! Those of you that know me from my other site, Domestic Geek, or in real life, know that I love making stuff.

Ever since I got let go from the screen printing job in November 2005 and then laid off from the coupon magazine in July 2006, I’ve really been down on myself and not feeling very creative whatsoever.

I’m hoping that by making this little crafty part of LaDonna’s World will help me get back into doing some fun projects.