Joyfully Retired

Sunday is the day I like to share with you some of the place we’ve visited in our travels. No matter where we go, I usually like to check in on two places – local bookshops and yarnshops. I consider books and yarn legitimate tourist attractions.

Today I want to concentrate on the places that love yarn. In the past I didn’t think to take pictures of my favorite yarn stores. I made up for that recently by bringing my camera with me to a shop in Sebastopol, California.

Visiting at local shops lets me know what is important in that area and I often find new and unusual yarns. Once in a little shop in Whitehorse, Yukon Province in Canada I “discovered” an incredibly soft yarn made from musk ox. I wanted it so badly but it was $60 a ball. Later I saw the same yarn for as much as $125 a ball! I also like it when shops have samples of various items knit in their yarns.

The best yarnshops have chairs and couches and tables for their customers to come and knit. A few years ago my daughter Cerrin and I spent a fun day in a very sweet shop in Minneapolis. One section of the store was a cafe and we had lunch and sat there knitting for hours. We wanted to stay for their all-night pajama party but the tickets were sold out.

And of course, a good knit shop should have plenty of books, magazines and pattern books.

For me the heart of a yarn shop is the people who work there. The best shops have employees who love both people and the process of knitting, crocketing and lace making. You’ve seen this picture before. It’s our teacher Bonnie helping Genevieve learn how to knit gloves. We had fun, learned a new skill and, of course, bought more yarn. We’ll be back again.

I hope you’ll join me again next Sunday for more Favorite Places. If you’d like to join in, just grab the button at the top of this post, put it on your blog along with info about one of your Favorite Places. Come back and leave a link in the comment section and we’ll all come and visit you.