Fiber Fool

On Saturday, before I was felled with DH’s Labor Day Weekend Bug ™ (yes, it took two weeks plus a few days for me to actually get sick) Ashley and I went on a mini yarn crawl. See, the Saturday prior Ashley had won a $10 gift certificate for Mew Mew’s Yarn Shop in Louisville, Colorado and this weekend her SO had headphones growing out his ears and had become one with an O-chem book. So, Saturday morning we headed down the Interstate, through Lafayette and into Louisville. The yarn shop was very easy to locate, being right on the main street heading into downtown. However I have to say we were a little scared when we first pulled up.

If you squint, you might be able to see a sign on the building just right of center and be able to read “yarn shop” on it. That was, fortunately easily spotted. However, all those used cars had us a bit confused. There didn’t really seem to be much parking, so Ashley pulled into a spot, and a man came swiftly out of the auto body side of the building and kindly directed us to the “Yarn Customer Parking.” There are only 5 spots, so if you’re attending a class or big sale you should plan to be early in order to secure on of those spots! ;-)

All used cars aside, Mew Mew’s Yarn Shop is a wonderful little surprise. The shop is quite small, but it is packed with a lovely yarn selection. Upon first entering the shop, there were some lovely locally made bags, some kits of the Tulip Sweater and such and then a huge selection of Digit Yarn from Nancy’s Knit Knacks. There was a good selection of sock yarn, including Trekking, Crystal Palace, and Universal. Much of Plymouth’s alpaca yarn line was available there. For general hard working yarn there was Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride, some Galway, and a US-spun brand that contains 40 or 60% New Zealand wool. There was even a bit of spinning fiber and accessories.

The needle and accessories available were varied and well stocked. And for a small shop, the book selection was great as well, including some lace knitting books I had never seen before!

If you are severely allergic to cats you will probably want to give Mew Mew’s a miss, as they have a shop cat who is still a bit young and overly active. I am allergic, but have the most problems if they break my skin with their teeth or nails so it was not a problem for me.

Since neither Ashley nor I were familiar with Louisville we decided to wander on into the downtown area. I loved their downtown area. It was dotted with little specialty shops and a large number of restaurants, most of which were not chains. We saw this nice purple building that was bustling with activity and saw it was a bakery and tea house and decide to put our names on the waiting list for lunch at The Huckleberry. We then grabbed our knitting and saw down outside while we waited. It was a lovely day and it was fantastic to sit out in the autumn sun knitting. People in downtown Louisville were very friendly as well; we had several people stop and talk to us. Well, mostly they talked to Ashley as I was only just getting started on my swatch so it wasn’t recognizable as anything.

The food was certainly worth the 20 minute wait to be seated. My reuben was unusual, but fantastic. The sauerkraut on it did not have the usual pungency. There was extra sweetness to the sandwich as well. I’m guessing here, but I think they grilled the sauerkraut with the onions. The fries were also very good - nice and thin and I suspect homemade, not frozen. I believe Ashley was as happy with her BLT. What I also liked about The Huckleberry is that is two buildings connected now with a breezeway, so there are many rooms which helps to break up the sound. Some of the rooms had comfy, non-dining seating in addition to tables and chairs. There were also some nook areas that would make it a great place to hang out to study or work as well. It was unanimous that The Huckleberry become our Whistle Stop Cafe of Louisville. Oh, and if you are vegetarian you have no worries! There are several entrees that are naturally vegetarian, they serve breakfast quite late and that also includes many vegetarian options and all of their burgers are available with a homemade veggie pattie.

A project change occurred between the knit-out and our adventure this weekend so we needed to head into Boulder to hit Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins once more for an additional skein of yarn. We discovered if you head North on the street where The Huckleberry is and continue until you reach a stop light for West South Boulder Rd, take a left and you come into Boulder on Table Mesa - the street that Shuttles is on! We were there in literally ten minutes (minus parking time). I think we have a new regional yarn crawl agenda to add to our list! We’re excited to try high tea at The Huckleberry sometime, though Mew’s Mew’s should definitely be stopped at before Shuttles… We’ll need to figure out how to work that out!