The Yarn Tree

I never liked going to yarn stores in NYC much - they tend to be overcrowded, and the regulars who dominate the knitting tables are a little intimidating. Perhaps that's why I've been drawn to stores not centrally located, and therefore harder to access; my yarn store of choice this past year has been Brooklyn General, but I didn't get to go as often as I would have liked, given my job in the Bronx - by the time I get there, it's usually closed, and then I have to transfer three trains to go home empty handed (sniff)! This weekend I went to the Yarn Tree for the first time with a couple of friends and I think I've found my match! Although the yarn selection isn't as big, the hours are geared towards the working folk - 4 to 9 pm on most days - how lovely! The woman at the store was very friendly, and the one person knitting in the back of the room did not have a crazed look in her eyes. Plus, there was a dog in the store, sleeping on a little ledge in front of the store. All good signs. The store is located in a remote part of Williamsburg, and tricky to get to - the J, M, or Z will get you there the quickest, although I think it's possible to take the L as well if you want to walk. The upside of walking is looking at all of the random graffiti on the walls of buildings. It's more like art than graffiti though, I think...... so after being taken in by the neighborhood and the shelves full of woolly goodness, I ended up buying 665 yards of fingering weight alpaca. I was very excited to make a sweater out of this, but now I am starting to think that this is still not enough. Now I have to go back before they run out of that dye lot, and I know I'll end up falling in love with something else and end up buying more yarn. Ugh! The vicious cycle of buying and stashing begins...