A couple of years ago when I succumbed to the allure of the hook and skein (how ’bout that for the name of a bar…brew and yarn, I can see the sign swinging in the wind now), I looked for yarn in Fredericksburg. Google gave me a few places to look up but alas none were still in business (except Walmart of course). So, I gave up on that. I found the Tinsmith’s Wife in Comfort, brought my projects with me when I went down and knew if I needed anything I would just have to put it aside until I got back to Dallas.
Quick trips down did not leave me with time or energy for random trips to Comfort to pick up a different hook or more yarn. Walmart, while it does have some yarn and supplies was not always sufficient. Unless you count my dishcloth and scrubby project. Those yarns they do have.
Fast forward to this last holiday season. My in-laws were in town and we were on Main Street walking around looking in shops and exploring. Tom and I don’t go downtown often, especially when it’s tourist season. We wandered into what looked like a bar…it was…and then noticed a sign that instructed us to go through the bar, out the back door, proceed through the courtyard and into the shop behind. How fun. We’ve known of bars that you enter by going through first a shop or restaurant but never the reverse. Looks like a great bar too.
We did as instructed and entered Lauren Bade. Clothing, accessories, home decor; nice but not what we were looking for (whatever that was). However, there was a cat and apparently a dog (who we found out was away for the day). So, I followed the cat through the store (it’s deep). Tom, meanwhile had been moving quicker and had already been to the back room. He finds me and says, “You need to see this” but won’t tell me what “this” is so I left the cat and followed him. I thought it was going to be another cat or maybe the dog. Nope. It was yarn!
And not yarn I’d seen before. And they had llama yarn. And camel yarn…who knew there was enough fiber on a camel to make yarn. I was all aflutter. I’m sure the ladies thought I was nuts. And my in-laws didn’t quite know what to think. Jim and Tom found a sofa to sit on and Emily wandered with me.
The shop ladies told me they had been stocking some yarn for about two years and most of the folks who found them had googled. Sure enough, I googled and there they were. They must have come on the scene shortly after I went on my quest and since I don’t venture down Main Street all that often (read almost never) I hadn’t seen the yarn in the window, outside the bar, that advertised the store. I checked on that when we left because I sure didn’t see it beforehand. Too enamored with the bar I guess.
So, there’s the don’t give up part. I should have tried again to find a local store. I seem to be able to find the bathroom no matter where I am but I guess my yarndar isn’t as in tune.
The yarn I took home that first day is from Illîmani in Peru. Amelie is the yarn name and it is silk, baby alpaca and a tiny bit of merino. It is every bit as soft and light weight as they say on their website. It almost looks like its a tiny mesh tube (it’s white, may be the silk part) enclosing the other fibers (that carry the color). Mine is hunter green. I haven’t used it yet. It’s still in my stash but I do love to pet it (I miss Rooster, my cat, who was just about as soft as this yarn).
I had to go back. Of course. I hadn’t asked all the questions I usually ask. I found out:
- There are local dyers.
- The shop owners will be turning the entire back room into a yarn stash.
- There’s a weekly yarnathon that happens in the shop if only a few folks show up or in the bar if the group is large.
- And, one of the ladies also works at the natural grocery story that’s been a standard in my shopping route: the Peach Basket.
This time, I brought home yarn from one of the local people (and then drove by her ranch to see if they welcomed visitors). It’s a fiber farm. ‘Tis a new term for me but pretty accurate. Lone Wolf Fibers is located close to Fbg. According to their website, their flock at the moment comprises three kinds of sheep (Blue Faced Leiscester, Gotland and Cormo), a few angora bunnies and a flock dog.
The timing wasn’t right for me to visit. Their farm store is only open Fridays or Saturdays unless you call ahead. I will make that happen on a future trip. They also say they have a guest house/b-n-b.
Back to the yarn. My take home is a sock/fingering weight tweedy look made from Blue Faced Leiscester and has Donegal nep. Another new term. its the nubby bit that makes something tweedy. It’s a plum/claret almost merlot color with the nep sort of a twine shade. Again, in the stash waiting for a project.
Off to glitter shoes…part of one of my other lives. Happy last day of January to everyone.