Trying to Patronize Local Shops

It was a busy weekend. Saturday my friend and I decided to do a yarn shop road trip, Not that we needed anything of course, but there's something heartwarming about going into yarn shops. Not that I need to tell any of you.

So we headed to our first stop, Granny's in Islip. Granny's shop is just the best. Along with more glitzy yarns, she has all the old workhorses, the old favorites. There are many interesting samples scattered around the store and Granny or Kathleen always seem to be there to offer their knitting wisdom. They are real knitters, knitters from way back, Not the quick-gratification scarf knitters that you find in so many who own shops. Their pattern selection is great too. My friend makes a lot of intricate baby projects and she bought about a dozen patterns at Granny's. I got a pattern for a mitred quilt.

Next we headed out to a shop in Sayville named Rumpelstiltskin. I had never been to this shop and I was eager to see it as it had spinning supplies too. I thought I may have to show much restraint and not buy roving. There were a few wheels in the window and a tiny bit of roving, nothing much at all The yarn supplies were so limited. We asked if they had any patterns as we did not see any. They brought us a large loose-leaf filled with very quick women's sweaters, nothing enticing or intricate, almost all made in stockinette in worsted weight. There was a large group of women, sitting at a table in the back of the store, taking a class. It was a "Square of the Month" class, I was told. Disappointing in general. We did not buy anything.

Next we headed to a shop in Amityville. I should add that the day was oppressive, hot and humid. The first thing I noticed about this shop was that there was no air conditioning. The magazine covers were curled. We did not stay long and my friend bought one Dale pattern. I could not wait to leave there.

Next we were off to Infinite Yarns in Farmingdale. The shop is very spacious, nicely laid out, and attractive to look at. They have a beautiful supply of yarns there, not as many of the workhorses, but a large assortment. Most of the patterns were on shelves and you could not see their covers easily. It felt like it would have been too much trouble to take each one out of the bookcase to look at its cover. There were only Debbie Macomber knitting patterns easily viewed on a rack. They did not appeal to me but seemed to be the ones she was highlighting. Many sample sweaters, supplied by Knitting Fever, Were on counters throughout the store. There were so many "soakers" In the front window. These are little knitted baby pants to be worn over cloth diapers. Seems odd there would be so many in the window. Are these soakers that popular that they draw customers into the store? Are that many young mothers using cloth diapers and knitting too? We looked a lot but did not buy anything as much as we would have wanted to.

So that was our whirlwind tour of yarn stores. My favorite of course was Granny's and Infinite Yarns came in second. We are trying to keep our local yarn shops in business but sometimes, as hard as you try, It is hard to find anything to purchase. Know what I mean?