Best Laid Plans...
Rocktown, We Hardly Knew Ye...
Rollercoaster Ride of Yarn...
My Cup Spilleth over, with Yaaaaarn...
Two days ago I got news about my most favorite LYS that mixed me up and brought me down and set me in turmoil. (It's sounding rather dramatic, eh?)
Heidi , the proprietor of Rocktown Yarns, has decided to close her business so as to be able to spend more time with her 9 month old baby. As she put it... Now that Lena's crawling she wants to go places "off the rug", and Heidi doesn't want to spend all their time together chasing her away from the shelves and baskets of yarn. And though the store was holding it's own, it wasn't making enough to enable her to hire a nanny, or for her spouse to become a house-husband.
SO...
On the one hand... I am sad. Very, very sad and sorry to see a great store with an incredibly fun and welcoming atmosphere go away. RY was the best place for hanging out. Heidi was open and easy and glad to answer questions. This is a real loss to the knitting/spinning community here.
But on the on the hand... she is having a big closeout sale and there are some amazing discounted yarns available. Good stuff! Like Jaeger Matchmaker DK for $1.50 a skein. Cascade Venezia, a merino silk blend, for $3.50 per skein. Lots of yarns 50 to 75% off retail cost! Everything else at least 25% off! Wow!
Of course, on the third hand... I'm making attempts to balance my yarn in with projects out, and there's no way I can balance this kind of purchasing. It would take me years to make a dent in it.
But on the fourth hand... Someone is going to buy this. And I *am* going to use it (it's good yarn... not scratchy, novelty, iffy stuff). And I will likely never again find this good a deal. And Heidi needs to sell her stock. And without a local store (that I like... I don't care for the remaining place) I'm less likely to buy as frequently I was.
Of course on the fifth hand... I don't have that many hands.
So what to do...? Well, that's a rhetorical question of course.
DH and I set a budget. So much and *no more* for a one time yarn investment.
Uhm... I went a little bit over.
Oh, and Caroline? I'm sorry... I was going to look for you as well, but it was packed and busy and the yarn fumes combined with the waves of on sale radiation were just so overwhelming... I forgot.
But if you want I can go back... again... today...
8 comments:
Awesome stash enhancement...money well spent!!
I feel the same way as you - glad for the good deals, but sad for the reason why. And you did get some really nice yarn! I think I spent about the same amount of money as you last night, but about half on books and half on yarn. And today I've thought of a few other things I should get more yarn for...I wonder if I dare wait until Saturday???
bittersweet. . . . and i so envy that haul!
It would be such fun to sit on the floor surrounded by such lovely yarn.....(the 2008 yarn diet has me shopping for yarn vicariously)! Sounds like you're losing a gem of a shop, but maybe in a few years she'll be back?
I had read about the store closing in the email announcement. I was sad for many of the same reasons you expressed, and for one more: I have yet to go there! Yup--my parents stopped there on their drive to VA from NYS, and my mother signed me up for the email announcements, yet I've never been there! And now it's closing. Sigh.
Maybe I could commission you to shop for me!
I was so fortunate to not only meet Hedi and buy yarn in her outstanding shop, but I also have my hands pictured in her website banner. The shop will be missed. Mom
I so enjoyed our "movie night at the yarn store" during my visit. I'm sorry you are losing your LYS.
Hey--is that the rest of my Lily Chin sapphire Grammercy in that bag???
No, it's Karabella. Shoot.
I too am very sad that Heidi's closing. I found her when she first opened, and while I wasn't a good customer (don't make enough money to buy as much yarn as I'd like), I loved the shop. I hope she'll try again when the baby is older.
Post a Comment