A la recherche de yarn stores perdu

Knit Together, Stamford, CT. Great selection. Nice staff (although I found the newsletter grousing about those smallish humans some of us insist upon bringing around a bit much). In my job searches, I made a point of stopping in for a "pick me up" or "congratulatory skein" on every occasion. I could never understand why they were closed on Mondays, when my best chance of wandering down to Stamford for court was on Monday. They stocked noro near the front, which always made me happy. (pretty colors. oooh. pretty colors.) When I came to my final interview with Le Firm, I stopped in for a quick fix. But when I started working at Le Firm, 2 months later, they were gone. RIP February 2007.

Selma's, Southbury, CT. I did not have much opportunity to stop by this store, but I made it there a few times after runs to Hartford. My first trip was after a CT Bar Young Lawyers Section executive committee retreat, located in a hotel a few buildings down. It was located in a sprawling retirement community and doubled as a post office. I think I bought my first malabrigo there, and still have a beautiful purple skein I bought last winter while I was just wild about Knitty's Calorimetry. RIP some time in 2007.

Knits Incredible, NYC. This one still cracks me up. I went to college down the street from this store and I wandered in a few times. At the time, I thought Yarn=Wintuk Caron. And my price point was about $1/skein. I never purchased anything in this store. I would walk in, look at the cubbies of yarny goodness and choke on the prices -- they wanted like $5 for these puny little balls of Ford knows what. I never touched anything, lest the Upper East Side Ladies Who Lunch and, Apparently, Knit yell, "UNCLEAN!" I knew I couldn't pass for anything but a City University student. I drove past it a year ago and saw that it was still open, so I made a special trip after the NYU Law Alumni luncheon on 2/1. Now that I can pass for a proper patron, I thought I would share my story and buy a skein of some "amuse main" for $20. But the store is no more.

Two Sisters, Waterbury, CT. See post, the yarn store that time forgot from some time in 2006. I'll find the exact date. When I went there again (after my lungs cleared) a few months later, it was gone.

That yarn store on maple avenue that burned down in the late 90s, Danbury, CT. I was only in there once. Made a b-line to the sale cubby. Bought a few balls of black cotton fingering weight yarn. I still have them and have no use for them whatsoever. After it burned down, there was some talk of reopening, but it never came to fruition. My first law firm represented the new owners of the building in their question for approval to operate their church in the building. I wrote a letter in support of their application stating that the city would be in violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (Ruh-LOO-pah) if they didn't let this church locate itself in a place where there was no parking. I went to the public hearing and was shocked to see how freaked out the Zoning Board of Appeals was over the prospect of being called onto the mat by a bunch of harmless church folk. My analysis wasn't even 100% sound...

Knitting Pleasures, Brookfield, CT. I got to think about this one a little bit more. I bought some sock yarn there, and some off-white slubby stuff that sounds icky, but made a really nice shell and wrap that I wore to several occasions and still do sometimes. The store sold yarn on cones by the oz, which seems exotic but is actually rather quaint. I never mustered up the gumption to try buying yarn that way. It's like loose tea -- requires too much thought and what if you really just like Lipton? I don't know when the store opened, but it was around in the late 90s-early 00s, when all the big comfy couch, latte and yarn emporia started opening, yet it was this cramped, un-ironically-unhip place -- it was either 5 years ahead of the times or 15 years behind. I couldn't tell and they didn't stay opened long enough for the rest of the world to develop a burning desire for 70s-esq acrylic baby sweater/pant/booty sets. One day I drove past, wanted to fondle the fiber and maybe buy me some of that "off the cone" stuff. But there were gone.

That evil one in Westport, CT. The name will come to me. They did needlepoint too. The Hook and Needle. Located near my midwife's office. This place was the epitome of snotty yarn store. My first of two visits was early in my knitting career. It was the first time I tried buying off my husband with yarny goodness. I got the idea that if I spent a large sum on a sweater for him, he couldn't complain about my smaller purchases. (The arms were way too small and he's not that gullible. The quest for spousal complicity continues.) I was completely intimidated going into the store, but I knew they stocked the brand I needed (and the color too -- I was a SLAVE to the pattern back then). The bins had strange markings, like "wpi" and other secret codes. When I asked a sales person what the "wpi" meant she sniffed, "wraps per inch" and walked away. Uh...OK. I had heard of dye lot from my Mom, so I just grabbed the requisite number of skeins in the requisite brand in the requisite color, paid and left before they found me out as an interloper and snatched all my wool back. I got a great deal on a bag of purple merino wool worsted the second and last time I went there. I gave it to Mom as a gift. Dunno if she ever made anything out of it, although we picked out a pattern for her. I was not sad when they closed.

So many memories.