Southern Yarn Crawl: Florida

With our fabulous Florida Destination as Gainesville, we were excited to find out that this Gator infested city was the home to two Local Yarn Shops (LYS). And as is often the case, the day we went in search of places to abuse our credit cards, one of the shops was closed. Fortunately, we went back a second day to include the closed shop. I thought it was universal that all yarn shops were closed on Monday, not Tuesday. Obviously, like so many things, I was way wrong on that one too.

The first shop we visited was Yarnworks ( http://www.yarnworks.com/ ). The lot was packed when we pulled up so we were a little concerned that some crazy sale was going on, but no it was the delivery service next door that was hogging up the lot. The sign promised to have needlepoint supplies and imported yarn, and I am here to say yes it did have some imported yarn. In a very small space, they had a significant amount of yarn. I was especially impressed with the variety of cotton yarns I saw there. The Egyptian cotton from the Great Adirondack Yarn Company and Blue Heron were just too tempting. The colorways were very similar, but I didn't care I had to have them.

I liked this shop, please don't get me wrong, and I spent some money there, but it did have a few problems. I found the staff there, a little older and reserved. They were not rude, just not nearly as excited by my visit. The shop was also very crowded with yarn and it was a little difficult to get around without running into things. We went back a second time and bought more yarn, but the ladies there never really warmed up to us.

The second time we went to Hanks, Yarn and Fiber ( http://www.hanksyarn.com/ ) they were open. Almost immediately I saw a difference between the two shops, sitting on couches with their kids in car seats and knitting on their laps, were women with tattoos and cool haircuts. The proprietors were very welcoming and glad to see us. I noticed a little kids area with a little girl working on giving herself some temporary tattoos on her arm.

The sock yarn selection was very nice, with Lorna Laces dominating the selection. Some beautiful colorways called my name, but I decided on the one called "Rainbow" and even picked out a cute little (okay not on my feet) sock pattern to make with the yarn. I even bought a hank of hand dyed yarn that sported the shop label. Hanks had supplies for dying yarn and spinning yarn. I was impressed by the selection of spinning wheels, but not enough to want to spin myself.

As much as I liked the feel of this shop, it did have a flaw. The yarn side was a little weak. The selection just could not compare to that of the other Gainesville shop. I just kept thinking these two shops were like meant for this location. What one lacked the other excelled at and vice/versa. Finally, as a strange bit of trivia both yarn shops were across the street tattoo parlors.

Kaelob

So I spent the last week in Florida visiting my adopted baby sis, Dora, and her new little guy, Kaelab. Kaelab was as most month old babies are, really into sleeping, eating, and filling up his diapers. He is especially fond of formula, as in he is addicted to the stuff. And the boy can hang with the best of the knitters, he went to string stores and charmed knitters through out the Gainesville area. The trip was definitely worth its weight in yarn.

Kaelab got to meet his Ankle Drew. The two of them hit it off like needles and string. They talked about knit theory and whether it was okay to buy acrylic. In the end they mostly agreed on everything with Ankle Drew only having a few fussy moments.

Kaelab was so excited by our visit he started to consider rolling over as an option for his daily routine. His parents, Dora and Gene, and his Grandparents, Poppa T and Nona, were very impressed. We were just impressed that the boy had possum toes that latched onto anything he could find. It was hard to say goodbye and know the next time we see him, he will be bigger and much more adept at charming everyone into doing his bidding.

Funny, I remember when his momma was a little girl, all arms and legs with a big smile. And now she is all grown up and raising her own family. Time flies and my knitting is always behind. Still got one more bib to knit for the boy.