![\"Ashford](\"http:\/\/www.madstone.net\/upload\/ashford_drop_spindle.jpg\")
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She is such an enabler. After pointing it out, she said that I should feel free to use her spindle for learning to spin, and I was forced to point out that I much prefer to own my own stuff, so that was added to the pile of stuff on the counter. The lady who was helping us ring up the order turned out to be the spinning teacher, and gave me some hints on washing the fleece I bought at the Southeast Animal Fiber show last fall. If I can get it together, I’ll be washing my first half pound or so of fleece today. I have to scrub out the shower first, so who knows if I’ll be able to leap that<\/em> hurdle!<\/p>\n Next we drove to Michael’s so that Myr could price “canvas stretchers” for some lacework she’s doing. She also raided World Market to check prices on three-fold screens for the living room. I stayed in the car and transfered the Tangerine Sock to the new 4″ needles.<\/p>\n Finally we were on the road to Charlotte Yarn… whoops, no, the next stop was actually Hancock Fabrics so that Myr could look for Gutermann silk thread in a particular shade of purple. No joy. Apparently no one in the area sells a full line of Gutermann silk.<\/p>\n At long last we left the South Blvd. area and cut across south Charlotte on Woodlawn and then north to CY, where the Customer Appreciation Day was in full swing. We toured the swap area, dismayed to realize that we’d brought not a single dollar with us, and went into the shop, where Myr got Remi to find the right colorway of Noro Kureyon to match the sample mittens hanging on the display (I’m planning to make the mittens using the Aethelwyne pattern from Robin Melanson’s book Knitting New Mittens & Gloves<\/a> I went back outside and showed Jane<\/a> how the Tangerine Sock was coming along. I’d gone from 56 stitches to 64 stitches on her suggestion after showing her the sock at Guild, and she was very supportive this time as to how I was doing on the pattern I’d settled on (a “mini cable” I found in Sensational Knitted Socks<\/a> I soothed my distress by having a nice burger supplied by CY. Amazing how food can help with disappointing news.<\/p>\n I also went back and chatted with a lady sitting in the swap tent area who was trying to get rid of some wool yarn. I convinced her to let me send her the money for the yarn via Paypal, and she seemed so relieved to be rid of those six skeins that she loaded my knitting bag with a bunch more yarn she seemed to be pulling out of her purse! I was really surprised, but the yarn was all really nice stuff and I just kept saying “yes, I’ll take it” and “thank you so much” until she stopped. I’ll try to get a snapshot of the yarn later today. Whoever you were, Mystery Lady, thanks again! You have my card, please send me a PM on Rav.<\/p>\n We got back on the road and headed west, back along Woodlawn and Billy Graham to 85, and out to Gaston County to visit the new yarn shop called close knit Knittery and Press<\/a> in Gastonia. We rarely get out that far west, so Myr had to make a quick stop at Mary Jo’s Cloth Store<\/a> on the way. As an aside, Mary Jo’s location has always somewhat alarmed me… the mall it is part of strikes me as one of the most disreputable I’ve ever seen. This visit, I noted that most of the mall has been gutted. You’d think a bomb… or many bombs, had gone off. Harris Teeter and Mary Jo’s are still running, everything else is closed. Good news is that my new craft has apparently given me a small level of immunity to Mary Jo’s. I went all the way to the back of the store and returned to the car with no hint of a panic attack such as I experienced the first time I visited. I now know that the zombie-like women staggering around in the aisles are no danger to me, they are merely victims of extreme shopping trance.<\/p>\n On to close knit<\/strong>! <\/strong>Once we found the lovely shop on South Oakland St<\/a>., we spent a very relaxed half hour getting a tour of the new store from Sheri, the proprietor. This converted house is light, airy, and the rooms are large. Sheri has a classroom with a massive work table, and even though the store just opened, a good variety of yarn. We saw yarns and brands that we’re fairly sure are not available at other yarn shops in the Charlotte area. By now, however, I’d spent about $60 more than I intended to spend, and we left without having enriched the shop. I hope that the store does well. Gastonia<\/a> isn’t the wealthiest town in North Carolina, but in addition to being a really nice store, I suspect that it is the only place you can get quality yarn in a large part of that county.<\/p>\n At long last we wended our way toward home. I am not a born shopper, and I was worn out. I completely forgot to stop at Wal-Mart to price a replacement for my coffee thermos, which came out of the commute on Thursday in many bits of shattered glass. Thankfully, dinner was an easy one of leftover ribs, drumsticks, and potato salad with fresh corn. I was so zonked that I was asleep by 9:30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=macmethods&l=ur2&o=1\")