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| Display of Manos del Uruguay's merino/silk blend yarn, Fino. |
It's easy, nowadays, to order almost anything online, including hand-knitting yarn from a company such as WEBS America's Yarn Store, owned by Kathy and Steve Elkins. However, I still like to squeeze the skeins - yarn is about tactile pleasure, after all. So, when I found myself out in Hadley, Massachusetts, for a seminar, a trip to the nearby
brick-and-mortar store of WEBS seemed inevitable.
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| The no-frills exterior of the store; image from the WEBS website. |
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| Lots of yarn and made-up samples. |
Most local yarn shops, or LYS, are generally small places, minimizing their rental expense. WEBS has an expansive building, however, providing room for lots of knitted swatches and completed sample garments, some displayed on mannequins. I personally really appreciate the availability of swatches, particularly of color-changing or self-striping yarns. A swatch gives some idea of the frequency and abruptness with which the colors change.
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| Shawls and sweaters on mannequins. |
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| Try-before-you-buy display of spinning equipment. |
The abundant square footage allows WEBS to stock and sell equipment and supplies for hand spinners as well as weavers. I don't spin, but have knitted with hand-spun yarn and find its slightly irregular texture delightful. One issue with regard to weaving is that it is very hard to rectify mistakes, while with knitting one can just "frog", or pull out the stitches, with relative ease (while bemoaning the wasted time, of course.)
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| Weaving samples - plaid is hot this year, so these are very "on trend." |
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| Close up of hand-woven scarf - makes me want to take up weaving, almost. |
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| Overview of store, with help desk manned by expert knitter. |
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Another reason I still shop in any nearby LYS is the implicit contract between staff and yarn purchaser - if I've bought yarn or supplies from a store, I can come slinking back and ask what on earth is a "p3togbl"? - and staff will sit and patiently guide me through it. More helpful than even a Youtube video.
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| Bargain yarn as far as the eye can see. |
One of the biggest draws of this particular store, no doubt, is the heavily discounted yarn in the "back room," where one can fill a shopping cart with discontinued or overstocked, but first quality, yarn. For those knitters whose output reaches mass production levels, the aisles here must be a gift. In addition, WEBS has its own brand of yarn,
Valley Yarns, with options in dozens of fiber blends and weights.
Even though I already have several projects in the to-do pile, I did buy yarn for the cowl below (this is the store's sample, hence the display hanging ring.)
