OK, actually we’ll start on Thursday, in which I waited patiently for Steve to get home so we could trade cars. He thought it’d be better if I left the minivan home with him and the kids, for some strange reason. So, I took off in his car, with the Garmin thing, and the strangest thing happened.
I don’t quite know how to describe it. It was sort of like guilt, but more of a happy guilt, if that makes sense. Like, you’re not supposed to do this, but this time it’s ok. The closest thing I can think of is when the road construction crews are out in full force, and you have to drive on the wrong side of the road for a while. There’s this brief exhilaration at breaking the rules, even though you know it’s ok. That’s what I felt pulling out of the driveway. Like I wasn’t supposed to be going off for a weekend all by myself, but it was ok just this once. Odd, huh?
There was construction ALL over the place, it seemed, and the speed limit slowed down to 55 in way too many places, and I knew that the side trip over to the Amana Colonies in Iowa was going to have to wait until the way back. I did though, stop at the Maid-Rite at that same exit for a nice supper. Turns out there’s a few shops there too, so I picked up a small bag of cheese curds for snacking.
Then there was more construction around Davenport, and I-80 east was closed over the river! The signs said I had to take 280 around. So, I thought I’d be all smart when I got across the river, and just find I-88 all by myself. I neglected to realize how close to the border 88 is. Apparently, what I should have done was to take 280 ALL the way back up to Davenport almost, then pick up 80 again, and then get over to 88. I saw the signs, one of which said 80 to Davenport and one of which said 80 to Chicago. Well, I needed to go toward Chicago. So, guess which one I took?
I was supposed to get in around 10. I got in at 10:40, give or take. Stupid construction.
Friday began very nicely. We drove over to my dad’s, and he took us to breakfast (biscuits and gravy), and then we were off. My sister’s hubby was kind enough to print off a little mapquest thing showing several yarn shops and basically the directions from one to the next.
We decided to go backwards, mostly because I wanted to go to Wool and Company in Geneva first. I do love that store. That’s where I bought this:
It’s going to be a pair of socks. The girl who rang me up was so nice; she asked if I was planning on socks, as most people need 2 skeins. I told her I was, but that I sure could get a pair of socks out of 215 yards, due to my odd way of dividing the thing in half and going toe up until I ran out of yarn. It helps that I have small feet. But I thought that was so nice of her to make sure I was going to be alright with only 1.
Our next stop was actually a chocolate shop, also in Geneva. Sorry, but there is no photographic evidence of anything we bought or didn’t buy. Ditto for eating or not eating. No pictures = it didn’t happen, right?
Then we went over to Wheaton, to a great little hole in the wall store called Craftique/Never Enough Knitting. Here’s what happened in there: first this
and then this:
That Poems stuff reminded me a little of the Patons SWS, in that it’s very loosely spun, and someone I know said it’s supposed to be a slightly more affordable alternative to Noro. Either way, it’s lovely, and I think it’s going to be a winter hat for one of the boys.
The second ball is wonderfully soft stuff. The lady had a vest knitted out of a different colorway of it, and it was so amazing. I don’t know yet what this will be, but it sure is nice. It’s sort of a color change one, but I chose the black/gray one. It was sort of expensive, but so soft. I wish I could have bought one of every color she had.
That lady, by the way, couldn’t have been sweeter. If you’re ever in Wheaton, do plan on stopping by that shop. It’s a little tiny place, but packed with yarn. It’s actually 2 stores in one. The left side is a yarn shop, and the right side is fabric and quilting supplies. We didn’t much peruse the fabric side, but the yarn side, oh my. It was filled with at least 20 different knitted and crocheted samples. The lady was sitting there with a pile of knitting that she was mending. I’m assuming that perhaps folks drop off things to be fixed up, and that’s what she does in between customers. We kept seeing the samples, and then feeling them, and then saying, “Ooooh, what’s this one made out of?” She’d either direct us to the yarn, “OK, look to your left, now down almost to the bottom cube, no one more over from there, yes, that’s the one” or sometimes she’d just get up and show us, then show us other things made from the yarn in a different place.
I felt really good leaving a place like that. I should have taken a picture of what all my sister bought. She beat me there. It was on the walk a few blocks to the next shop that I started to feel a little woozy. We thought it was perhaps that we had not been drinking enough water. I thought, though I didn’t tell my sister, that I was tired, having driven in excess of 8 hours the day before, got in just before 11, had a horrible time getting to sleep probably due to the fact that we stupidly stayed up talking almost an hour, then woke up earlier than I really should have, and got started right away. We decided to go to the gas station store and buy something to drink. I got a Dew, thinking that my headache would go away with a good dose of caffeine. I was wrong.
The last yarn store we went to that day was, well, I’ll continue to hold out hope that the lady there was just having a bad day. As was her dog. And that’s all I’ll say about that. I’m not sure if I want to post the yarn shop name, or not, but I will say that I did buy some yarn there. I’m not sure if I’m proud of myself for supporting a small local business, or mad at myself for giving money to a business that knows so little about even the most basic customer service. We’re talking about just simple politeness here. It was absent. I’ll close on that for now. I do have pictures of the yarn I bought, but I’ll post it in the next post while I decide on what to say if anything about that store.
One more thing…after that, as if that wasn’t bad enough, things really went downhill. I started feeling really bad, like motion sickness bad, even though we were walking. We found a grocery store, and since it was around 4 pm, my sister calmly realized that we hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. I bought a gatorade and an apple, which helped a little. We went home, where I lay down for about an hour or so, then for a very short while I felt fine again. When I got up, and started moving around, I suddenly felt like crap again, and lay on the couch literally moaning, and just wanting to throw up and get it over with. It was like the worst hangover ever, only I hadn’t had anything to drink. After listening to me whine for I don’t know how long, she brought me some alka-seltzer. Then she made me eat saltines and drink water until I felt better. It took about 2 1/2 hours. Bless her heart. This makes 2 trips where I’ve come to visit her, and 2 times I’ve gotten sick. Sometime, remind me and I’ll tell you about the last time; looking back, it’s really a funny story.
2 balls of Lion Wool in Majestic Mountain. She remembered I like to felt things now and then. These are terrific boy colors too. They’d make really warm mittens too. Hmmm.
More Patons SWS, this a solid, in the Natural Raisin color.
Not too much difference, but I can tell. That’s the red dirt that my sister washed out of her t-shirt that she bought on Kauai last January. And that’s my oldest holding up the other half of the Palette hank that I didn’t dye, for comparison. It’s sort of a natural, off white color.
