So here’s a recap part II of the project below, covering the store where I bought the yarn.

Motivation: First, I decided that my sister should be my knitting victim. She agreed to own some knitted stuff, and requested a hat with a scarf attached so she could keep warm and still wear her earphones.

Original idea: I wanted to make a hat that was more of a bonnet than a hat because hats often don’t cover your ears enough. I thought about making Hello Yarn’s cute bonnet with a thrummed inside. This idea was discarded when I realized I could not figure out the figure 8 cast-on for the life of me.

I was still into the thrumming idea. Thrum, thrum, thrum. It seemed the only place that carried roving for thrums in New York was The Yarn Tree in Williamsburg.

The Yarn Tree

Address: 347 Bedford, Brooklyn (Williamsburg), NY

Phone: 718-384-8030

website: www.theyarntree.com

There was a weird vibe going on the day I went to The Yarn Tree, but it was my only visit (and it was during the two weeks before Christmas), so I’m not sure how representative it was. Weird things about The Yarn Tree:

(1) There were at least two employees there. Actually, it is possible that one of the two was the owner*, but I never figured this out (and if so, which one was the owner). It’s also possible that one of the employees was teaching a class. Anyway, the employee who was sitting down just went on a monologue about problems she had been having with a customer’s order and basically, whinging. Which is fine, I myself am all about the whining and whinging, but the other employee was running around like a chicken with her head cut off trying to help everyone else wind their skeins, ring up their orders, and so on. I guess I just got a bit of a bad vibe from the sitting-down employee. She seemed to have a bit of an attitude, and yet was rather unhelpful, while the other, very helpful employee was totally overworked.

(2) The helpful employee gave me a pattern for a adult bonnet that they had in the store, but when I called back, because I realized there was no gauge instruction on it, the employee said, “Oh it doesn’t matter. Tons of people have made that hat and it’s turned out fine.” Which seems weird. What kind of pattern (besides a blanket or scarf) doesn’t have a gauge?

*Incidentally, by poking around on their website, I discovered that the owner of The Yarn Tree, Linda LaBelle, was the costume designer for Matthew Barney’s Cremaster cycle.

Perhaps because of this fascinating factoid above, the Yarn Tree has unusual hours: Mon to Thurs. 5:30-10, Sat/Sun noon-8, closed Friday

Or perhaps because no hipster would go to a knitting store on Friday. I’m not sure. Anyway, I think those hours should be adopted by all yarn stores, since most people have to work, and being open till 10 is more useful than being open early, I think.