Putting the "local" back in LYS. Sort of.

I don't know if I've mentioned this here before, but thus far in my knitting life, my experiences with local yarn stores have been somewhat . . . disappointing. I've never had any especially horrific experiences, just somewhat blah ones. Small and obscure selections of yarn. Hoverers and snooty-types. Ridiculous prices.

But this past weekend I had a truly enjoyable local yarn store experience. Except that the store isn't exactly local. It's in Alexandria, Virgina, which is a good 45 minutes away (although only about 20 minutes from my office!). But it was worth the drive (Also, Old Town is an adorable neighborhood; a little heavy on the seafood restaurants for this vegetarian, but otherwise lovely).

The shop in question? Fibre Space. It's bright and cheerful. It was busy, with both shoppers and knitters (doing some kind of speed knitting--I didn't quite catch the story on that one). The staff was helpful and friendly, not pushy or snooty.

And the yarn selection is fantastic. They've got some old stand-bys (Berroco, Cascade, Malabrigo), some stuff that's hard to find locally, at least in my experience (Madelinetosh--never met a colorway I didn't like, the Fibre Company), and some stuff that's durn near impossible to get unless you shop online--Neighborhood Fiber Company, Miss Babs, Dragonfly Fibers.

So, what did I get?

Um. Oops:

Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca and Silk in Crabapple; O-wool Balance in Amber; Dragonfly Fibers Dragon Sock in Pumpkin King; and Madelinetosh ToshDK in Baltic.

I TOTALLY needed this yarn!