Tuesday, December 09, 2014

Knitting in Brooklyn

Part of why this poor blog has languished the past few years is I have been going through a massive amount of transition on the work front. I haven't added up this year's miles yet, but last year was over 100,000 miles. 

Much of that was back and forth to New York for a summer gig. The company rented us an apartment in Cobble Hill, which I highly recommend if you ever get the chance.

Literally a block from our apartment was La Casita, a yarn store and wine bar with a small cafe.



When I travel I tend to get quickly overwhelmed with a lot of people (hellooo New York). So when I can I usually take a few hours to head to a local yarn store. I have several reasons for this:

  • It is a great way to check out the public transportation. I am a public transport nut.
  • I hate going someplace I may never go again and only seeing the lobby of a Marriott. We have those here.
  • Yarn stores are always in that section of town. The one with real local coffee shops and book stores. You get a real sense of place.
  • Each store is different. I know, they fundamentally all sell string, but you learn so much about a place from these little visits.
And I have seen some things I never would have other wise. In Dallas I happened across a QuinceaƱera where all the girls were escorted in on horseback. BTW that was not happening in the lobby of the convention center. In LA I got to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time since I visited my brother in Tokyo. In Denver I learned that public transportation was not full of the habitually sober. It is a great way to quickly get a feel for a city.

SO this past fall we made a trek back up to NY for Maker Faire. We got the chance to stop by Cobble Hill again for the afternoon. Here is the window display from that trip:


If you are ever in Brooklyn and need some string this is the best yarn store I found there. I know, I know, Purl Soho is only a subway how away. And it is worth going too, but I really prefer La Casita. The selection is amazing, and they serve sake in the cafe, which is perfect for keeping the mister occupied and mellow while yarn is happening.

Thursday, December 04, 2014

Where's Wenda

We had to do a booth a Fall Festival last month. It was one of those awful situations where you find out three days in advance that you need to have a costume.


Knit faster!


It was done by the time the kids arrived. The shirt and hat are now stored forever in the Halloween box, just in case. The Where's Waldo theme was only recognizable by the adults, frankly I got a lot of pitying looks from the short-stuffs. "At least you tired I guess".