The conference was interesting and stimulating. We found some time to walk around near the Convention Center, down tree-lined Newbury St (nice shops!) all the way to Boston Commons. We walked the Freedom Trail and refreshed our knowledge of early American history. We ate good Italian and Indian food, and even had some "chowda". But the most exciting part of our trip has to be our trek to WEBS, the largest yarn store in the U.S.
On Monday morning, we rented a car and Emily courageously drove through the pouring rain and gusty winds all the way to Northampton. When we got there, the rain stopped but a low-hanging mist clustered in fields and ditches. We half-expected a headless man on a galloping horse to emerge in front of us...
Anyway, we got to WEBS around 10:30am. We walked around the front part of the shop for awhile, and then Emily went to inquire about a restroom. She came back five minutes later, grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to the back room without saying a word... and there it was: the WEBS warehouse! Aisles filled with bags of yarn, at greatly reduced prices! We were overwhelmed... Emily stopped to take a few pictures, but we completely forgot after that. We don't even have a picture of the front of the store! We walked around the warehouse twice: the first time to get a sense of what they had, and the second time to fill up our baskets...
After three (yes, three) hours in the store, this is what I got:
- Queensland Kathmandu DK Tweed, in dark green (for the Gathered Pullover)
- Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy, in dark pink (for the Mirabella Cardigan, I plan to use the yarn doubled (two strands) to compensate for a different yarn weight)
- Elsebeth Lavold Classic AL, in red and slate grey (for the Minimalist Cardigan)
In my defense, I must say that I am allowed to buy yarn when I travel (although the rules say that it should be limited to one project). I went a little overboard with the number of projects... I had prepared a list of projects and appropriate yarns, and I'm happy to say that I stuck to the list (although I substituted equivalent yarns). Everything I got was 50% off, so great deals all around! As Emily said, our savings on yarn paid for the rental car...
If you're a knitter and you're in the area, you should absolutely go to WEBS! The long drive is definitely worth it: the selection is amazing, and between the sales, closeouts, and discounts, the prices are practically unbeatable!
No comments:
Post a Comment