Wow... wow. And wow. Did I remember to say wow?
Um, let's start off with Webs.
First off, there's the fabulous employees.
I, uh, either forgot to ask her name, or forgot her name. (Once again, I blame yarn fumes.) She was awesome, and loved Swatchy! She took Swatchy behind the scenes for some up-to-the-minute yarn action... yarn that just arrived, and isn't in the books yet! Swatchy won't spill the beans, but gave me a clue about a "new twist on a great merino". I can't wait! (My bank account, however, probably can. ;) )
Here I am looking stunned:
Did you know that just anyone can wander back into the warehouse?
This reminds me, I should give you an idea just how big Webs is. So, my favourite LYS, Ram Wools, is probably 3-6 times the size of your average yarn store. (Yes, I plotzed the first time I went there.) The Webs showroom, however, is at least three times the size of Ram wools! But that's not all... I'd say the warehouse in the back (did I mention anyone can go there?!?) *triples* the size of Webs! Whoa.
I somehow managed to escape without buying anything, but I think that's only because I couldn't make up my mind! There was *so much* I wanted to buy! My big hairy Russian friend, however, left with a crochet stitch pattern book.
We stayed and fondled yarn right to the bitter end. It was so sad to leave! Swatchy gave our favourite employee one last hug before we left.
If you ever decide to take a vacation to a yarn store, this is where you should go. Plan for several days in order to properly fondle everything!
After all that yarn, it was time for sustenance. We found a Tibetan restaurant:
where I ate yak dumplings. I had never had Tibetan food (or yak, for that matter) before. Tasty! I couldn't have the salad that would normally come with the dumplings, because it has sesame oil on it. (Note to self: Tibet is beside/in China.)
Smith College has a lovely campus, but I forgot to photograph any of it. I did get two photos inside the greenhouses:
Yeah, that photo of the mums isnt' too great, but I was fascinated by how tall they were. They were taller than me! I think they were pruned so that all of the energy went into producing a single, massive flower.
Smith is in Northampton, which is filled with lots of quirky little shops. Here's a fun one with funky glass stuff:
Webs isn't the only yarn shop in town. There's also Northampton Wools:
At first I couldn't figure out how a small yarn shop could survive so close to Webs...
...hey... that looks familiar:
I remember reading about that book on Knitter's Review recently!
...then I stepped inside the store:
Wow. It's tiny, but I'm in love. I didn't get to spend too much time, because my friends were waiting for me. However, Swatchy did get to meet the owner/author:
...and there was no way I could make it out of *two* yarn shops in a row without something!
(That's a spare size E crochet hook, a mini crochet hook for picking up stitches, and some lovely bamboo cable stitch holders.)
Northampton is a lovely, laid back town. I hope you get to enjoy it one day!
Love,
Noricum
4 comments:
I'm dizzy. (*puts head between knees*) Ok, I'll just have to respond in a whole separate post. Wow.
yeah, even before i loved yarn, i loved northampton. it's a really cool place. knittah, we'll just have to go sometime.
Oh wow, we have a Northampton here in the UK too! I thought you had come over to the UK for a minute! You have a Birmingham in the states as well don't you? I wonder how many other places are named the same...
There are a lot of shared names, because immigrants named new towns after places they were from, among other things. It's rather strange seeing something called "Paris" that's only an intersection, though!
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