Welcome to Mecca

That's what she said as we walked in the door. I laughed at the time but in retrospect it really was true. After a three hour car ride, an excellent Japanese lunch, and a bit of parking frustration, we arrived at what I believe is the closest place to heaven on earth.

Webs...So much yarn, so much yarn...it was a sensual overload. My eyes were overwhelmed; my fingers were inundated with the deluge of textures, and my ears ringing with the sounds of happy knitters discussing colors and patterns. Time stood still as we wandered dreaming of the possibilities. We circled through the store several times, each time finding new delicacies to press against our checks and necks. Malabrigo, Cascade Pastaza, Araucania Limari, and Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran. I could not ask for anything more.

My perception of Webs today is far different than it was just five short months ago. I enjoyed it then too but I was not the same knitter that I am today. At that point I would have thought Malabrigo was soft but would not have felt the $12 price tag was justified. Now, not only do I recognize it’s worth but I will happily shell out the money to bring home as much as possible. I did not understand that the beauty of a Fair Isle was worth the time and energy it would take to make it. But mostly I was still an isolated knitter, just beginning to realize that there was such a thing as a knitting community.

The entire shopping experience is altered by the presence of friends. The delight of finding a scrumptious yarn is amplified by the ability to share it with another knitter who will also appreciate it. The excitement of finding the perfect yarn and colors for that pattern you’ve been dreaming about is intensified when another voice chimes in, and agrees that those colors, in your hands are the perfect colors for that pattern. And on the ride home, as you fantasize about casting on a hundred new projects, that joy is expanded as those around you share in your visions.


I learned a few things about myself. I really do love alapaca. If it’s not wool or alapaca I’m not interested. Purple may have surpassed red as my favorite color. And most of all, it feels good to have friends who are as crazy about knitting as I am, who walk into the largest yarn store in the country and say “Welcome to Mecca ladies!”