Yarn Tourist: Part Three

Day Three of our post-wedding holiday (aka mini New England yarn crawl) saw us road tripping across Massachusetts out to Lenox, which is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and played host one night only to the Boston Pops with their primary conductor, Keith Lockhart (my first celebrity love who was not a cartoon) and guest conductor John Williams.  It was a magical night during which I may or may have cried through a selection from Close Encounters of a Third Kind.  But to get there we first had to drive four hours through many small towns, terrifying detours, and visit several yarn shops.

Our first stop was in Littleton, which plays home to The World in Stitches.  We actually drove past it because it is situated on the second floor at the back of an office complex on the way out of town.  While I did not find anything I absolutely had to have, I must say that this was the most eclectic yarn shop I have visited.

For starters, it is not a yarn shop.  The yarn is only in one of the many stuffed "rooms" off of the main hallway.  It reminded me a lot of the apartment I lived in in Pittsburgh except that there were spaces off of both sides.  these were filled with older books, magazines that are part of the older, established knitting set, cross stitch supplies, and more that I did not even recognize.  I refer to it as the Kim's Antiques of knitting stores.  It was like that first episode of Gilmore Girls where Mrs Kim is lost back among the chairs but you can still hear her talking with the other customers.

Then we traveled on to the most knitting-friendly town probably ever.  Northampton.

Even if you have never been there, you have probably heard of Northampton.  "Where the coffee is strong and the women are stronger."  Also known as the home of two lovely yarn shops -- Northampton Wools, and Webs.

We stopped in at Webs first because, seriously, how could we not.  I know, I know, all the locals go to the other shop and I was trying to pick up the local feel, but I could not help myself.  This was Webs.  Domain name yarn.com.  I went into total tourist mode.

I had a really hard time deciding if I would buy anything because I was so overwhelmed by the choices, but I finally settled on a few gifts for the knitters in my life, a project bag, and this skein of Madeline Tosh Lace.  I have wanted to knit the Geodesic Cardigan for years and I think now may be the time.

We did visit Northampton Wools, but I had already blown my budget so I did not actually buy anything.  It is a gorgeous shop and I am determined to go back and visit it again sometime.

Actually, if I could I would just move to Northampton.  Despite the fact it means I am making two Gilmore Girl references in one blog post, it really did feel like Stars Hollow.  I hope we can save up our pennies and vacation days so that we can go there specifically, rather than for just a few hours.

Oh, and Tanglewood?  If you ever get the chance, you really must go.  It was a stunning experience.