On Saturday, DH and I went downtown to play a little bit in the nice-ish weather.

His idea of fun was to pick up some tickets for the upcoming Joe Jackson show, have lunch someplace new, and take some photos of the downtown bridges.

My idea of fun was to stop by and check out a new yarn shop.

Fortunately for me, DH is a patient guy, and there was an espresso place just around the corner (and isn’t there always, here in the Pac NW).

I say it was fortunate because it took me a little longer to pick out and buy some yarn than it usually does — because I made it myself – sort of.

The place is called "Yarnia", and it’s pretty different from your standard shop.  In a nutshell, the basic premise is to start with coned yarn – which usually is found in very fine gauges (think laceweight) and is more often used for commercial / machine knitting or weaving — and combine up to 6 strands of your choice into a gauge suitable for hand-knitting.  Lindsey, the owner of Yarnia, got the idea from a similar shop in Montreal, where she used to live.

The individual cones are sorted onto several shelves around the store, first by fiber, and then more-or-less by color.  (I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of the store overall, but I didn’t.  Shame on me.  Bad blogger.  There’s one on this entry in the Yarnia blog, though.)

I admit, with the many choices of cones available, mine were very tame.  Of all things to do at a place like this, I went for a solid-color combination.  Rayon and, I think, cotton:  two of the same thin cotton (or whatever) singles and a shiny textured rayon.

DH came back after getting his coffee and pointed out the shelf labeled MOHAIR – apparently astounded at the lack thereof in my basket – but I had already ascertained that she didn’t have a coral-colored cone of it, or you know what would have happened.  (There was also a cone of metallic pink, and I did try to make it work, but no.  Good taste won out over sparkly, this time.)

Lindsey was even nice enough to loan me a pair of needles so I could swatch my combo before taking the plunge – but I didn’t take a picture of that either.  You’ll have to trust me that it was pretty fab looking.

She’s got a McMorran Yarn Balance, which is a way cool little fiber toy.  Be still, my engineering heart!  Once you’ve chosen all your cones of yarns, she’ll weigh a sample of ‘em on this little guy, and figure out what your particular personalized combo adds up to, in yards-per-pound.

Mine was about 750 ypp, so I decided to buy an even 1 lb.  (I had in mind maybe a little cardigan-shruggy sort of thing, but really it’s far too early to tell.)  Strange way to buy yarn, like it’s hamburger or something.

When all decisions are made, Lindsey arranges your cones around a custom-built piece of machinery that is a little bit reminiscent of a very large sewing machine bobbin-winder, or maybe a serger, or something.  And away it goes! 

It’s downright mesmerizing to watch the thing in action.

 

And here’s my pretty shiny new pound o’ yarn, hot off the — thingy.

C’est unique, n’est-ce pas?  And under $25.  Not too shabby!

The other funky thing I picked up there was a pack of bent-tip tapestry needles.  But not just any ol’ bent-tip needles:  these are bamboo.  Maybe I don’t get out enough, but I’d never seen these bad boys before, either.

 All-in-all, it was a fun day!