Fiber people are the best people, don’t you think? The more of them I meet, the more of them I love! And guess where you can find some of the absolute sweetest and most engaging fiber people? Washington!
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting my friends at Skacel Headquarters and Makers’ Mercantile in Kent, Washington. We started out with a little tour of Skacel HQ …
I think my happy place – if not on a sheep farm – is a warehouse filled with yarn. I loved peeking behind the scenes, meeting the people, and laying eyes on every color of every Skacel yarn! Just imagine HiKoo Kenzie for miles … all the colors. Swoon!
The above photo collage was taken by the lovely Rhonda Fargnoli at Makers’ Mercantile – I was so thankful she popped in and snapped a few photos during my classes (I took oodles of photos but, I think, accidentally deleted them from my memory card! Shoot!). What a great group of knitters – let me tell you, I was about ready to pack up and move to Kent just so I could shop at Makers’ Mercantile and hang out with their people every day. I’ve been to a lot of yarn shops and this one is pretty darn special. They have so much more than yarn, and you’ve GOT to see the artsy handmade furniture. Oh, and did I mention they have a spectacular gluten free bakery right there in the yarn shop? It’s the stuff that dreams are made of.
While in Washington I also discovered The Container Store, which I’m pretty sure was created for people like me who have a container addiction. It was all I could do to refrain from buying all the things. I did, however, snap up that cool knit bowl in the top photo, because – you know – everyone needs one of those. Right? (Pssst… the yarn inside the bowl is HiKoo Rylie and it’s destined for a new design. Can’t wait!)
I’ll likely be heading back to Makers’ Mercantile in a few months to teach again and would love to meet you if you’re in the neighborhood.