There and Back Again

I said, "Beth !  I haven't seen you in ages.  We should do something."

Beth said, "How about Saturday?"

I said, "How about Webs?  Let's fill my van up with bloggers head out there"

It took some choreography to get Cheryl, Erin, Laurie, and Kellee all together with sufficient caffeine to make the drive, but we did it with the precision and grace of a circus clown fire brigade on contraband Ritalin, and that's about where the energy stayed all day (until, that is, when Kellee and I took 90 minutes to get out of Valley Fabrics).  There was a brief visit with Cate next to the Cash Iroha.  She is a pro when it comes to Webs, since the place is located precariously close to her checkbook.  But it was Cate's kids who really impressed me with their happiness to be in a yarn shop.  Wow!  How do you train them to do that?

What?  No shopping cart?   Who were we kidding?  Go get a shopping cart now! 

There were light shows as the flashlight came out of my boat tote to aid the search for skein number nine in colour number 88 of the Donegal Tweed that is a perfect yarn for the Sunrise Circle Jacket that has been a leitmotif in my recent dreams. (The dancing bear was wearing one. The naked man peddling oranges had one in his slipper pack.  The ice cream at the Roller Coaster museum my sister was building was all shaped like little Sunrise Circle Jackets).  I think it means something, and there in Webs, is the very yarn I knew all along it must be made in.  Coincidence?  I think not.

There was a lot of gasping in disbelief and a lot of brainstorming about best ways to deceive the family as more yarn sneaks into the house (Disguise it as groceries.  No one ever helps put them away!  You can hide the Filatura cashmere behind the corn flakes for weeks!). 

There were magic tricks as Kellee would walk down an aisle, thrust her hand into a hole in one of the many many many giant lazy-boy-sized boxes and ::VOILA:: pull out skein number ten to add to the nine others I was cradling.

There was proselytizing as Kellee (she was busy) stumbled onto a rich vein of k1c2 Angora Soft which at first no one believed would knit up nicely, until she pulled out a swatch of that. very. yarn. and waved it reprovingly under all our weak little noses.  Before long everyone in the entire warehouse was carrying a bag.  People I had never seen before in my life were taking some home so powerful was Kellee's conviction.  Between the six of us I do believe -- and I don't think I am exaggerating at all when I say this -- that we bought 150 skeins of it between us. For $1.50 a ball.  Why was it so cheap?  It smells like machine oil.  But dude: it washes out!  Kellee said so.

We filled up the way-back of the van with yarn, taco-fied our hungry selves at Bueno y Sano (order the fish taco), and topped off the afternoon at Herrell's.  We also made a reverent stop at Linda Daniel's jewel of a shop, Northampton Wools, because you just gotta go see the local.  They have their own book for their shop patterns.  How cool is that?  I bought a reversible cable scarf kit in loden for the Mister as a souvenir.  They also had an orange Sunrise Circle Jacket on one of the shop models knit up in CE Skye Tweed.  I still prefer the dried blood colour of Donegal I bought.  But it's a sign I tell you.

So you see, it was a crazy and wonderful day. We didn't get back to regular Boston orbit until after dark, and I finally stumbled into my kitchen, forgetting entirely to hide any of the yarn, around 10.  The Mister immediately handed me a glass of wine and took a pizza out of the oven. 

He so deserves that scarf.

Comments

[Daphne]

I think the folks at Webs were *pretty* happy to see that van full of yarn -- but it's not FULL, they thought. sigh. good work, people.

[maryse]

that's quite the haul.

[Johanna]

Oooh, what a fun day! We went to college out there, and a trip to the area is NEVER complete without some Bueno, and some Bueno to take home for the next day. Next time Salvadoran Burrito. You won't be dissapointed!

[Laurie]

Yes, yes, and YES! Your Mister deserves .... an Aran sweater? *snicker*

[Carole]

Sounds like such fun!

[Jessica]

Awww, Bueno has fish tacos now? *pout* They didn't when I was in school at UMass... Or maybe we just never looked for them.

[Judy]

What a day!! and what a guy!

[Emma.]

What a fantastic day !

[The Feminist Mafia]

Oh, I'm so jealous! I went to school in the Valley too and try to visit whenever possible. So jealous.

[PumpkinMama]

Hooray for mister! So deserves the scarf. Mine does too, as he was STILL busy wrangling too-over-tired-to-sleep preschooler to bed when I walked in, but I didn't buy shit for him :-0

[Manise]

Great haul! I am sooo jealous *sigh* Glad you all had a super time.

[Katy]

Doesn't get much better than that.
Except maybe for Rhinebeck!
I finished my sunrise circle jacket in May but then the warm weather came, and I haven't even blogged about it yet. A word of warning--almost everyone's sleeves come out too long! I'll be shortening mine soon.

[susan]

I WILL get to Webs one day, I will. *sigh*

[Juno]

There are no words for the bitter, bitter, bitter envy.

[Cheryl]

I can't wait for that Sunrise Circle Jacket. It will be a work of art.

[Beth S.]

I still haven't quite come down from my cloud yet. ;-) If six friends in a van can be this much fun, I can hardly imagine what Rhinebeck must be like!

[Kellee]

That sample sweater/swatch thing did all the selling, I swear. All that needed to be done was the passing around.

The fabric store thing, though? Zowie. The heart races just thinking about it.

Thanks for doing all the driving. We so owe you one.

[Karin]

And he didn't make any fuss about the huge influx of yarn??? Wow, he does deserve the scarf lol.

Man, all that yarn!!! *sighs whistfully* Lucky thing!

[Kathy]

Is the scarf on the needles yet? :-) Sounds like a fab day!! I think that I may be the only Webs virgin left.

[Stacey]

Sounds like a great time! I have some of the Angora Soft I got there at the tent sale. Love it!!!!

[margene]

Envious! For the good deals, the great yarn but most of all for the laughter and fun with grrlfriends. Lucky you!

[Kathy]

I loved making the sunrise circle jacket and how it turned out. Hope you do, too. I'm looking forward to seeing yours. (Mine's made with Tahki Cotton Classic.)

[LisaK]

I'm green with envy! Thanks for sharing your fibery adventures. It was *almost* like being there.

[sandy]

sigh.

[vanessa]

can you clone your husband?