Road trip to Greensboro, NC

We visited friends and family in Greensboro, North Carolina over the weekend, spending some wonderful time over terrific food . . . so much food . . . too much food! Wow, can my sister-in-law COOK.

I worked on the Stars project I'm designing and stopped by LYS Yarns Etc. on Elm Street in downtown Greensboro. It's one of my faves for its very nice selection of European yarns and amazing spinning section. Spinning wheels, raw wool, dyed roving, felting boards, and more take up half the floor space in the shop. The look is thrifty (I don't think they did anything after renting the space but put a sign on the door), but the yarns and supplies are wonderful and the prices are surprisingly reasonable, considering the high-end brands.

A nice guy with a beard was relaxing on one of the shop's seen-better-days chairs, chatting with a few knitters. But he welcomed me cheerfully and pointed me to some new stock they'd received.

Which reminds me of T's experience with an Atlanta LYS when he was shopping for my Christmas present. The guy knows nothing about knitting other than that it's occupying WAY too much of my time (in his mind - not mine, of course!). But he gamely decided to obtain a ball winder AND swift. He remembered my frequent visits to Cast-On Cottage, so he started there. They didn't have both items, so they very nicely called around to other LYS and found one (not to be named here) that could help. (Note: I love Cast-On Cottage!)

HOWEVER, it was 4:30. The shop would close at 5. T raced the 30 minutes from Cast-On Cottage, heading down 400 and racing to beat the clock. He arrived a breathless 5 minutes before closing time.

His greeting? Very grumpy shop-persons, who made sure he understood just how irritated they were that he was shopping so close to their "gettin' off time." Lots of huffing and eye-rolling. He made his expensive purchase and got a belligerent thank-you in return.

I'm thinking about returning the thing I wanted so much because the price was too dear. And I'm not talking about the sticker price. I suggested as much to T, but he knows how much I wanted it and is all "mighty hunter fight big-time for woman" so the LYS is getting more than it deserves.

LYS Alert: if a big guy comes in, clearly doesn't know what he's looking for, but is ready to drop mega-bucks on a knitting tool he neither understands nor appreciates, would you PLEASE give him some validation? I'm betting this is the last time T will step into a LYS. Thanks ever so much!

Five Projects I'm Working On This Month

1. Mukluks for AG from Folk Style by Mags Kandis using Patons Classic Merino Wool in turquoise with pink, purple, and chartreuse embroidered accents.
2. Jaywalker socks.
3. "The Stars Project" - more to come on that in the near future.
4. Ballband Dishcloth to replace the one I wore out (it lasted a really, really long time!).
5. Prayer shawl - multi-textural design using a bunch of stash remnants in cream and brown.