a new endeavor.

i realized that this blog, and my life, has been severly lacking the very thing i started it for: knitting. i have completed three projects in france, which i promise i will post soon. last night, i had the brilliant idea last that i should combine my two loves of knitting and travel! i will now start going to yarn stores and posting about them. hopefully, if i ever get to travel around europe, i will be able to go to at least one yarn store in each country. i really enjoy going to yarn stores, i have yarn bought from all across the united states, a couple of different cities in england, and of course, france.

it's odd, but i always feel like a fraud when i go into a new yarn store. i feel like an inadequate knittter, with too few years of experience, much to learn, and something to prove. its a very humbling experience, im always too shy to talk to the staff and ask for advice at first. i think it is because a yarn store can be such a personal place, for the regulars, that i feel as if im intruding. its really hard to explain, its such an odd sensation and ive never understood it myself. it may be because im so young, and so inactive in the knitting community. back home, i always make my mom come with me. everyone always assumes she is the knitter, and she acts as a buffer/conversation starter. i dont know if ive mentioned this in the blog before, or if it comes across at all, but in the real world i really am quite shy and am horrible at small talk.

now don't get me wrong, i really do enjoy going to new stores. i love the moment of surprise when i first walk in, as each shop is set up differently. that first second when my mind perceives the array of colors, of textures, always stops me in the doorway. ill look around for a few seconds, to acclimate myself and take in all i can, and let the calm that crafting always creates set in. then someone will usually approach me, and the calm is scared away; i immediately feel like i dont know anything about knitting at all. i think that is it right there: its easy to be confident with people who dont knit. but when confronted with someone who is living my dream and knows so much more than i do, i feel like a novice. but after a few moments of conversation, i settle down and the calm comes back. there is something very relaxing in sitting in a new yarn store, connecting with the staff, learning new tricks and tips, and discovering yarn you never knew existed. 

so, i will begin my reviews with the first yarn stores i ever went to. [review just sounds so pretentious, i mean, who i am to review? so if anybody knows a better word, please let me know.] it is my favorite by far and is the standard on which all stores are now judged. im sure its grown and changed through the years, i would love to make it back there sometime.

stash.

[source.]

country: united states.
website: stashyarn.com
address:  
884 colusa ave
(between catalina ave & solano ave)
berkeley, ca 94707
neighborhoods: east solano ave, north berkeley.
hours:
closed monday.
tue-fri: 11:00 - 18:00.
sat: 10:00 - 18:00.
sun: 12:00 - 17:00.


this store specializes in handmade specialty yarns so it is quite expensive, but definitely worth it. the store is set up in a pleasing way and i remember wandering for hours, getting lost in the many textures and feels. before this shop, i had been to only micheals and jo-anns, thinking acrylic was as soft and as good as it gets. when i first walked in, my fifteen year old self couldn't even speak. i was living in berkeley as a nanny for the summer, with a self-confident, expressive mother from germany. she, upon seeing my inability to speak, instantly took over the conversation and i was left to my own devices. i had charged myself with buying yarn for my second sweater and my first hat, to be made for a potential boyfriend. [yes, i was trying to use knitting to con him into dating me. it worked.] i left the store with needles and skeins of grey yarn in tow, figuring grey was the most manly color. in those days, i refused to wear greys and blacks as i had an enormous fear people would think i was depressed. my sweater would be fire engine red. i started the hat, with no concept of gauge or even needle size. i simply followed the pattern's directions, ignoring that fiddly bit at the top. it just didnt seem important. i usually ignore the amounts in a recipe, so why shouldnt i do that with a pattern? a few hours later, i had a hat! unfortunately, i had knit it on a 32 inch circular instead of a 16 inch, adding a "few" extra stitches because it was too tight. i'm sure you can guess the result: i ended up with a bag instead of a hat. [i gave it to the boy, remarkably he kept it and two years later, we ended up giving it as a bed to our ferrets.] but i digress. the point of the story is, after my debacle with gauge, i was quite confused and had no idea where to go next.


so, back to the store we went. the woman who owned the store sat down with me and very patiently explained gauge and using a circular needle to me. i will never forget how nice she was, how long she sat without charging me, and how much she helped with my second sweater. i started modifying patterns in that very yarn store, using formulas for conversion i learned in chemistry. unfortunately, i never finished that sweater. i came back to phoenix and forgot the pattern in berkeley. but that store, with the yarn organized by color instead of size, with the wonderfully expensive yarns that caused me to overdraft my account [yes, you read right.], and the knowledge that lead to me becoming the knitter i am today, will always have a place in my memory, as cliched as it may be. if you're ever in the area, i highly suggest you check it out.