Along 495

so as i said before, last friday J threw me out of the house.  he didn't want me underfoot while he worked on the house (or thought about working on the house).  i cramp his style it seems.  but who was i to argue, as it just meant that I DIDN'T HAVE TO HELP HIM.   (he's uncommunicative at best and gets made at me when i don't do what he asks me to.  funny how that works.  if i don't know what you want me to do, how can i be expected to do it.  right?)

so i went on my own little yarn crawl. 

first stop, Harvard MA and a great little shop called "The Fiber Loft."   i really liked this shop.  nothing fancy.  but i liked the friendly, yet discrete customer service and i thought the shop had a nice selection of a little bit of everything: various sock yarns, including some koigu, kureyon sock, and claudia handpaints (other stuff too, i just didn't take notes).  the shop also carries spinning and weaving equipment, cone yarns, fiber.  this shop isn't super close to my house, but it's easy to get to, and i'll definitely be back.

my next stop was Littleton, MA and The Woolpack.  Crochet friendly (yep, it said so in the window), this shop was considerably larger the The Fiber Loft and also carried some great yarns, like colinette jitterbug, and mission falls, etc..  and some wonderful bags, such as the latest line from Namaste and beautifully colorful bags from Atenti.  it's quite possible that i may have spent a lot of time petting an Atenti bag.  and what they didn't carry, i got the impression from eavesdropping on customer calls, that they are willing to order it. 

then i headed north on 495 to Lowell and to the Classic Elite Warehouse shop.  Finding it was a bit of a challenge, even with the garmin and once i got there i was a little surprised by how small it was.  but that didn't keep me from buying yarn.  *cough*.

finally, since i was missing the ocean, i drove east to Salem, MA.  my planned stop was Seed Stitch a very fancy "boutique" shop.  i couldn't tell you what yarns they sold here (by the time i got to Salem, i'd kind of had enough of yarn) but it's the kind of shop that when i imagine having a yarn shop that i would want to have.  you know, if i could also serve cocktails.  i didn't stay for long since i'd arrived just minutes before closing time, but if you live near there, i recommend that you stop in.

oh so you probably want to know what i bought.

first from the fiber loft:

 

a skein of araucania ranco sock yarn in a pretty purple, and two skeins of claudia handpaints in "lipstick." (i also picked up a copy of deb menz's oeuvre color in spinning.)

and from the classic elite warehouse store:

i picked up a few skeins of cotton classic (i'm hoarding skeins of cotton classic for a mitred square blanket); a skein of cherry tree hill sock yarn, a skein of noro silk garden sock yarn, and a skein of araucania ranco multi (not pictured).  i kind of went a little crazy at the classic elite store.

so that was my trip! 

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day 123 -- my timing was a bit off because i really didn't feel like buying anything at the fiber revival so soon after such a binge.