After leaving the Watervliet Arsenal, I made my way south towards my first destination--Countrywool in Hudson, NY. Right at the end of my drive I had a little trouble finding it, but one call to the shop and I was on my way.
That's the view off Gardner's Road. Breathtaking, isn't it?
That's the view from the driveway. So pretty and peaceful.
That's just one wall of Cascade 220. (There's a lot more!) Wool heaven!
The owner of Countrywool, Claudia Krisniski, was busy unpacking after having attended a spinning retreat, so I wandered around touching all of the yarn. What a great shop! So much yarn, a nice selection of books and spinning supplies, and everything laid out for easy access. Every now and then Claudia asked if I was doing OK--she was so nice! I wound up making a modest purchase--a skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot (Evergreen), the Magic Loop booklet (if Carole says it's a good thing, then I gotta try it), and some really cute stitch stoppers for my mother.
The next time I'm in this neck of the woods I'll definitely be stopping back.
After that, it was off to my next stop--Sheep's Clothing, Morehouse Farm Merino Store in Milan, NY.
OH. MY. GOD!
The store is pretty unassuming from the outside, but it's enormous inside. I was in merino heaven! So much yarn. So many colors. So many sample garments made from their original patterns! It's a bit overwhelming, but somehow I managed to get a grip. There are two main areas that are full of yarn/sample garments, and then there's the back room...
Back here there's more yarn, lots of books, and those comfy chairs and a couch. I could have stayed back there all day! And off to the side there's a kitchen where you can help yourself to coffee, tea, and cookies and a little back yard area with tables and chairs if you want to relax al fresco. Can they make you feel any more at home???
So, after much aimless wandering around browsing, trying to take is all in, I finally settled on the following purchases:
Bijou scarf kit in the Santa Fe colorway (this will be my first lace project)- "Muttens" kit (fingerless mittens) in Denim
- 4 skeins of yarn (pink & violet (sport weight); seafoam & blue grey (worsted weight)) from their reduced price baskets (skeins that have knots in them)
- Barbizon sweater pattern
- 2 set of DPNs (Clover and Brittany)
- The most beautiful double pointed needle case I have ever seen!
Oh, and the staff--wonderful! Oh so helpful without hovering.
Not a bad haul for someone who was trying to be good, yes? (I really shouldn't have bought anything. Please--make me feel better and agree with me that I was being relatively good, pretty please???)
I will definitely be back for another visit. Maybe even make a weekend out of it and go on the farm tour. Now all I have to do is convince Jim that a yarn shop weekend would be fun.
Maybe I could bribe him with a side trip to here. It's only a couple of miles away... near that other yarn shop that was closed. Hmmmmmm...
2 comments:
Hi, thanks for visiting my blog. I am totally with you on the Morehouse Merino store - that place has got to be on my top ten list of favorite places in the world! How could anyone leave there without a huge bag of yarn, they even give you cookies!
I may certainly take your suggestion and make arm warmers out of my Malabrigo. What pattern are you using?
Oh, man, green with envy! I wanna go to Morehouse! Maybe if we can convince Dale to come along then Jim would come along and we'd be all set!
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