Center Street Knits

Yesterday our group of fiber enthusiasts hadn't gotten enough of a fiber fix after the Fleece Fair so on our way home we visited the new yarn shop in Northville, Center Street Knits.

The new shop opened up last July, in the middle of Michigan's toughest economic downturn in decades.  Owner Nancy ~~

was super friendly and eager to help.  Her shop is well laid out with great lighting and numerous samples knit up.  I think having samples available really gives knitters a better idea of how the yarn knits up and helps sell the yarn.

Samples include the famous French Press Slippers by Melynda Bernardi, a local Michigan designer who hit the big time when the Yarn Harlot featured her pattern on her blog.

I pointed this sample out to Harriet who fell in love with it immediately ~~

I found a great yarn by ArtYarns called Beaded Mohair & Sequins that I had to go home with ~~

It's not quite that 'hot' and I found a great pattern that uses it on Ravelry so of course I had to cast on last night  ~~

Amazingly enough, while we were in the shop Nancy took a phone call from someone looking for a place to donate a lot of yarn.  Since I had introduced our whole gang to her and mentioned that we belonged to the Black Sheep Knitting Guild, she immediately thought of us.  Tanya got on the phone with the caller and said we'd wait for them to bring the yarn to the shop.  Before long, three giant garbage bags of yarn arrived ~~

Apparently the yarn belonged to the caller's mother who had passed away a year ago and they were finally finding a new home for her stash.  Our charity chair Judith will be ecstatic!

Here's our silly 'serious' shot.  Doesn't mean much to most of you but it brings back memories of our guild's retreat two years ago.

I'm off to work on my ArtYarns scarf with some new needles I picked up today at Right off the Sheep.  I also got the yarn I need for my Sneaky Sheep 3 exchange gift.  No hints yet....stay tuned.