Why I Love My Yarn Shop

I went to Knit This, Purl That this afternoon.

The owner's daughter, who is around my age, was the only staff person. (I feel really bad, but I never can remember her name...luckily this blog doesn't ever use names, so I can call her YarnMaiden.) I shopped, we chatted, we looked at pictures of handknits from movies, and critiqued the shop's Twilight-inspired custom dyed yarn shipment.

I love this store for many reasons:

1. They have a great yarn selection.

2. They are NICE. They will let me wander around and pet/squeeze skeins undisturbed, or chat with me...depending on MY mood, not THEIR mood.

3. They go the extra mile. (Today I had taken in a pattern which called for one skein of a Cascade yarn that KTPT doesn't carry. It did not tell me how many yards I would need. YarnMaiden looked it up online for me while I browsed.)

4. They have stash cards. (Although, I tend to horde my filled cards...since no project ever seems important enough to use my $25 on.)

5. They are right up the street from the BEST THAI RESTAURANT EVER! (Pleasanton Thai House)

Where else can I go to enjoy the softness wonder of alpaca/silk blends, discuss recent and upcoming films (YarnMaiden and I have run into each other at the theater), be inspired by breathtaking works of handknitted art, and laugh at my own knitting foibles?

A good yarn shop is a terrible thing to waste!