I was having a not-so-great time at work this morning, so as lunchtime approached I decided to go on an adventure. I went yarn store hunting.

I don’t need any more yarn, and I really shouldn’t be spending money on yarn right now, but I was drawn to the yarn. It was calling to me like a rice krispie treat. When I walked in the store, I knew I’d made the right choice to forego my normal noontime routine. Shelves of fuzzy goodness surrounded me. Walking into a yarn store is like walking into a store full of words. Little bits just waiting for me to turn them into something fun/pretty/useful.

There were two other women in the store: the yarn store person and a customer — an older woman who was looking to spend a gift certificate. She was even more of a newbie to knitting than I am, and it made me feel good. Yarns stores for newbies are probably as intimidating as a pencil store would be to new writers. Can you imagine going into a store and having the sales person invite you to sit down and try out the store’s new pencil by working on a story she has already in progress? The pressure to make sure your words aren’t sloppy….not too slanty, not too curly or flat. All the while the pencil pro is watching you… Aie!

Yarn Store Person was very nice, though, and hey…she’s getting paid to knit and to help other people knit, and she can always unravel the stiches we newbies have made.

By the time I left the yarn store (half an hour after my lunch break was over…oops), I had in my posession everything I need to make my first pair of socks. The nice Yarn Store Person even helped me get started. She would have showed me more neat things if not for that darn pesky work thing.