The Yarn Shop

I asked Martha to teach me how to knit.  After watching her devote hours creating beautiful sweaters, scarfs and wraps, I decided I might enjoy sharing the experience.  Kinda like cooking.

Yarn Shop in Maine
Yarn Shop in Maine

Strolling the streets of Belfast Maine, I walked into a yarn shop, and texted a picture to Martha.  She replied that I should pick out a cool yarn that I would like use. I was overwhelmed with the choices and decided to wait until she could help me.

Two weeks later, we visited Churchmouse Yarn and Tea on Bainbridge Island.  The shelves were packed with yarn of many colors and compositions: Alpaca wool, Merino wool, cashmere wool, nylon, acrylic, cotton.  Martha told me to pick one that’s 100% wool.

Churchmouse Yarns
Churchmouse Yarns

Karl: How about this one?  Martha: No, that’s too thick.  Karl: This one? Martha: too thin. Finally, Martha chose the shelf with the right type of yarn and told me to pick the color.

I picked green yarn.

Martha: That doesn’t go with anything in the house.

Karl: Ok, give me three colors from which to choose.  She did, and I picked another green one.

Yarn comes in bundles called skeins (pronounced skane).

Karl: What’s a skein. Martha: It’s the same thing as a hank. Store owner: It’s a unit of measurement. Karl: How many yards are in a skein? Store owner and Martha: It varies.

Winding Yarn
Winding Yarn

I pulled out my credit card to pay for the skein.  The store owner asked me if I wanted it wound.  Martha replied, “yes.” Winding the yarn means unravelling it from the way it is packaged in the store, then winding it into a different shape that would be easy to handle for knitting.  I don’t know why the yarn wasn’t already wound that way when displayed in the store.

I put the yarn in my backpack.  Later, when we went to the grocery store, Martha said I had to take it out, because I couldn’t carry yarn and fish in the same backpack.

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Karl

Born in Harrisburg, PA. Undergrad at Drexel University. Learned to ride a bike when six years old, riding ever since. Started cooking when I was in college, stopped when I got married, started again in 2006 when my wife was out of town for a few months. Jobs: worked at post office while in college to earn money to buy a stereo. After grad school, worked at a small software company in Redmond, WA for twelve years. Afterwards, went back to school to get a certificate, then started teaching high school. Still doing that off and on, part time as the need arises.

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