New York Yarn

Dude, it's good to be home! It doesn't matter that our frat-boy idiot neighbor trashed the plumbing so that we don't have any water today--it's still nice to be home. I spent the weekend conferencing in NYC, and although the actual conference was a one-day affair I had been in conference mode the entire week leading up to it (mean: stressing too much, sleeping too little). After the (successful!) delivery of my paper I spent two days with the Hubs' NY family, who spoiled me rotten with very good food, walks along the Hudson, and the chance to sleep in. Still, I was glad to get home last night: traveling without the Hubs ain't as much fun.

You may have already guessed it: conference mode does not allow for knitting. (The little I knit I undid again: I'm still experimenting with a sock design that features multiple rows that consist of eight 8-stitch cables. Hopeless endeavor; I just don't know how to stop.) In lieu of actual knitting I went to two special places in NYC to at least think about knitting:

That's Habu Textiles' showroom. I was surprised to find not a store but an office on the 8th floor. It doesn't look like much in my photo, but I enjoyed how different it was from what I had expected. I didn't leave empty-handed either:

My next stop couldn't have been more different from Habu, but I wanted to go there to see for myself its sidewalk fiber art:

This is outside the Lion Brand Yarn Studio. The inside looks pretty awesome too.

In spite of its appearance, the store was a bit of a disappointment: it's full of mostly acrylic yarn. In all fairness, Lion Brand has a cashmere yarn and also offers organic cotton, among other natural fibers. Still. The acrylic was too scary. And so was the crochet talk between customers. And the staff's advice to check out Michael's for knitting needles.

Originally I had planned to check out Purl, too. In light of the rain and my wet suitcase that I had been pulling behind me for 27 blocks already, I discarded the idea and headed for the train station.

And the Hubs? How he spent the weekend? Cooking and baking, of course. Cinnamon rolls, for instance:

As I said, it's good to be home again... :)