Sunday, March 9, 2008

Saturday Afternoon at Athena Fibers




Boy, if I'd known that book signings at yarn stores were going to be so much fun, I would have started doing them back when I was writing mysteries. My afternoon at Athena Fibers in Sioux Falls was absolutely wonderful. It was bitterly cold outside (temps above zero, but with a nasty, damp wind) and spitting snow, but inside it was warm and wooly and wonderful.


Athena's is in a great old house with high ceilings and fantastic woodwork, with rooms lined with bins and shelves and racks of yarn. Wonderful yarn. And an amazing array of display projects- including an incredibly gorgeous lace scarf with a knitted fringe that one of the store owners, Lauri, designed. She and Judy welcomed me with open arms, and the steady stream of knitters (some who just dropped in, others who stayed for the whole two hours) made for a wildly entertaining afternoon- lots of knitting (I worked on a sock for the book, others were making sweaters, socks, and one incredibly gorgeous lace scarf from Malabrigo), lots of laughter, lots of faces put to names (many from Ravelry), lots of new friends. And of course, some new yarn for my stash.

I bought 2 balls of Freedom Spirit by Twilleys of Stamford- a brand I'd never seen before. It's a soft single, autumn colored tweed that looks like it'll knit up into stripes. Judy says it felts in a flash, which probably makes it unsuitable for socks, though I'm pretty much willing to knit socks from anything. And I chose 4 balls of Rowan Scottish Tweed (to add to the 3 colors I already have) for some future undecided stranded project.


I forgot to ask Mona if I could post the picture she took of us here, so I'll provide a link, and later post the pic itself if she says it's okay. I had gotten to know Mona on Ravelry, so it was fantastic to meet in person.


I had heard many good things about Athena Fibers, and they're all true. I can't wait to go back.

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