I hope your week is going well. We started off the week running and we are still going strong with our busy schedules. Our past weekend was so busy it was a blur and then came Monday. On Saturday, I had a baby shower to attend in Wausau, Wi. I figured if I was going to be in town, why not check out a new knitting store. I am so glad I did. I stopped by the Black Purl.
When walking into a new place, I am always nervous. I believe that is the social awkward side of myself. Questions go through my head, will they be friendly, knowledgeable or snobby like some knitting stores. Well, I arrived in Wauasu early, really early, so I had a lot of time to pass. However, after opening the door and seeing six people sitting at a table knitting, saying hi and ask what I was knitting, I was no longer nervous. You could tell this knitting group was made of close friends. The women there, meet constantly to sit, chat and knit together. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming. I love these types of knitting communities. Their own safe place of support, love and respect. You could tell these women cared for one another and became each others allies and that community was maintained through knitting.
The store owner showed me a variety of yarns. While visiting new stores, I always try to find yarn dyed locally. The Black Purl had yarn that was dyed right in Wausau. I picked out a skein for my knitting partner:
I shared my recent projects with them. Currently, I am working making beer mitts for Oktoberfest.
This is made with a variety of colors with Knit Picks Palette Yarn. These finger less mittens by Silly Jane Knits are fast and fun. All the ladies at Black Purl loved them. The owner even found a pattern from the 1950s to share with me. She said they would be perfect for Oktoberfest. They were these cute socks with beer steins and pretzels. Overall, I highly recommend visiting the Black Purl. I know I will return soon with more time to just relax and knit. You can find their Facebook page here and see all their events.
That is all I have for now knitters. I cannot wait to see what everyone else has on the needles! Have a great week. Linking up with Frontier Dreams and Ginny (tomorrow).
I make it to Wausau about once a year but haven't checked out the Black Purl yet. I'll have to add it to my list for my next visit.
ReplyDeleteOh that does sound like a lovely yarn shop - what a treat - and I love the mittens! I have a Spilly Jane sock kit waiting for me in the stash and I'm definitely looking forward to knitting it up, the patterns are so much fun!
ReplyDeleteSounds fun and looks nice. I was in a group that met at Borders and it fell apart when they went out of business. It was like the group you describe. I'm glad you went in. I feel the same way going places. My husband lived in Wisconsin for a few years after college. We enjoy it when we visit there.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the encouragement to check out new yarn places. I'm still intimidated at the thought of going to any LYS - the closest one is a half hour away, so that seems a safe enough reason to not bother, but really...the reason I don't go is I don't want to risk finding out the owner/employees have any sort of snobbery. I love my craft too much to invite that into my life. That said, I'm stronger than that. My intimidation is ridiculous. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteI love to go into new yarn stores and I've been lucky that all of them have had nice friendly staff :) Beautiful yarn!!
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