Monday, January 24, 2011

What in Yarnation!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of taking a trip to Minnesota to visit a fellow hump day hooker who lives outside the Milwaukee area. It was a great weekend filled with consignment shops, wine tasting and a cute little yarn store called 'What in Yarnation!' Being a hooker who gets all my yarn from either Michaels or Jo-ann's I was immediately impressed upon entering and actually exclaimed, 'wow!' One of the six or so ladies knitting in the corner responded by saying, 'wow is right,' after all shouldn't that be everyone's immediate reaction after walking into a store for their favorite hobby?

This store was awesome! There were many different kinds of yarn, some that I've seen before, but most that I haven't. There were complete finished products to show off their patterns and the yarn, much more than the little swatches that most stores have. They were helpful and knowledgeable. They even had a wooden yarn ball winder... I have never seen one of these before, and I enjoyed watching them wind my friend's skein. But overall, my favorite part of the store was a small corner where ladies were chatting and knitting (crocheters are welcomed too!). I would love to find a store like that by us, and I intend on scoping out some places!!
I loved this store, and especially the sign they had out in front!

In fact, here's a list of places I'd like to go:

Knitch (Delafield) - They also appear to have a knitting/crocheting corner (http://www.knitch.net/index.html)

Yarn House (Elm Grove) - While they don't have a website, the reviews on Google look good.

River Boutique and Yarn (Brookfield) - They also seem to have a knitting/crocheting corner (http://www.riverboutiqueyarn.com/)



If you're ever in Cannon Falls, I highly suggest visiting What in Yarnation!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Fun Fact!!

Last year I took a trip to San Francisco where I finally had the pleasure to go to Alcatraz island and visit the prison. I found the different rooms and aisles of cells fascinating. While walking down one of the aisles and listening to our guide we found out that one inmate learned to crochet and taught some of the other inmates how to as well! Looking at the picture that I took below, looks like he had a very nice stitch, although I'm really not sure why he'd make a pink baby blanket??
Even prisoners think crocheting is cool!