Kiss My Knits!

It occurs to me that before I go off on another trip, I should finish posting about the last one. So let me tell you about the trip home from St. Louis!

Sunday morning, I got up bright and early – okay, sometime around 9am, which passes for “bright and early” at Simucon, and started packing up. By the way, many thanks to , who shared her room with me Saturday night since I had been unable to get one myself for all three nights. She was kind and thoughtful to do this, since I snore. Not as badly as I used to, which will come as a great relief to GM Helena, who was forced to endure it a few years ago. Apparently, I snored like a grizzled prospector. Sorry, hon.

But I digress! I wanted to hit a yarn store in Murfreesboro, TN, called the Knaughty Knitter. Apparently, they had spinning fiber as well as yarn. There was a Simucon farewell brunch at 11am, but I knew that would have me on the road too late, even without the yarn shop. With deep regrets, I said my goodbyes and hit the road a little after 10am.

I made good time, but their site said they closed at 5 on Sundays. It clearly was going to be tight. partway through Tennessee, I had an awful thought. Was Murfreesboro on Central or Eastern time? If it was Eastern time, I was out of luck, because I was going to lose an hour. I placed a cell phone call to the shop owner, who was clearly puzzled by me asking her what time zone she was in. It was Central. Woo! Still Golden!

Armed with my MapQuest directions, I arrived in Murfreesboro with about 45 minutes to spare. And promptly got lost. I doubled back about five times, called the yarn store owner for directions, doubled back a few more times, then gave it up and pulled into a gas station to ask for directions.

Me: Excuse me, but I’m very lost.
Clerk: Of course.

Well, that pretty much summed it up.

Me: I’m trying to get back to West College Street.
Clerk: Sure, we can get you there. Where are you trying to go?
Me: The Knaughty Knitter.
Clerk: OH! That’s a great yarn shop! Here’s exactly what you need to do!

WOOT! I FOUND A KNITTER! Jo (we introduced ourselves, of course) gave me perfect directions, and she admired my Tofutsies socks, and we paused for a moment to talk about yarn. Then whoosh! I was back on the road! A short time later, I was doing the roundabout around the courthouse and Civil War statue – all Southern towns have a roundabout around a courthouse and Civil War statue – and the clock read 4:40. Yikes! It was gonna be close! But it was only about a mile further and there it was. The yellow house with the dressed-up tree. Huzzah!


I spoke with the owner, who said that since she was meeting someone there about a half hour after closing, she had to be there anyway and would be glad to keep the shop open late. Score! I wound up picking up some black Pacapuf baby alpaca for my friend and some undyed Falkland top for Turtlegirl76 since she wants to try her hand at dyeing roving.

I couldn’t leave there without spinning fiber, so I picked up some Three Bags Full roving, pictured left. It’s from a Romney/Merino cross sheep, with some tussah and silk noil mixed in. Adding a little tie made of the spun yarn around the neck of the bag is a nice touch. As far as knitting material, I got the Paca Peds sock yarn pictured to the right. I liked its denimy quality.


I have to give major props to Meredith, pictured left, for being willing to let me linger. It was gracious of her. I’d also like to point out that I spent a big wad of money (thanks again, Dad!) in her store as a result of her kindness, and perhaps if the owner of Earth Guild had been willing to stay open a little longer, some of that could have been hers. I’m just sayin’.

Meredith also clearly knows her customers, because I asked her about Jo, and what sort of thing she liked. She remembered that Jo liked blacks, browns, and earthy colors. I remember Jo had commented on the Tofutsies socks. Well, without Jo, I would never have made it to the store. When I was going to the store, I made a serious point of being sure I could remember my way back from the store. And so, I picked up a hank of Schaefer Anne and brought it back to the gas station for Jo. She was touched, and so was I. We had a little Hallmark moment. Look at her. Isn’t she a sweetheart? It was really great to meet a new knitter, and so randomly and unexpectedly! Speaking of unexpected, it was after looking at this photo that I realized I’d forgotten my sunscreen that day. Oops.

(Jo, if you don’t want that, I will not be offended if you return it. Alternately, if you want to try something besides socks, you could look for Interweave Knits 2004’s Fall issue – they’ve got the Pooling Colors Scarf designed for that yarn.)

On the way out of town, I thought I could figure out how to avoid backtracking to Nashville, but I thought I’d better check and be sure, what with Murfreesboro’s mysterious shifting roads. I stopped at Starbucks.

Me: So, is 840 the best way to get back to 40 from here?
Clerk: Probably. Where are you going?
Me: Well, Charlotte, eventually.
Clerk: I love Charlotte! That’s a great city! Here’s what you want to do…

Again, what are the odds? Everybody I met in Murfreesboro was uniformly helpful and nice. If I’m ever in the neighborhood, I’ll definitely stop by again.