Even though I'm down here for work, my evenings are my own. Tuesday, I drove over to Chinatown to see what all the hype is about. Honestly, I found it to be really dirty. I mean, people often say that Paris is a dirty city or New York is a dirty city, and I never saw what they were talking about. But Chinatown was dirty. Like, lots of trash all over the sidewalk and funny smells everywhere, dirty. I didn't want to stay there for very long; it was still rush hour when I went back to my hotel room.
But I knew that Wednesday night would be better because Nine Rubies Knitting in San Mateo hosts a social knitting circle on Wednesdays.
Ah, sweet beautiful knitters, you make me so very happy.
This shop is gorgeous. I've never been in such a large LYS. Rather than the cramped/cozy little stores I'm used to, Nine Rubies has a high ceiling (with a sparkly chandelier), lots of open space to walk around, and plenty of seating area. What they lacked in yarn variety, they made up for with their incredible samples. I asked to see a sample of a silk-straw yarn, and she showed me three unique garments and said, "I have more samples of this in the back, if you want."
They ladies around the circle were as warm as the California sun. Jeanine was working on designing a tutorial for crocheted dragon stitch fingerless mitts. Two sisters sat crafting and telling me about their dogs and plans to move to Seattle. A mother came in with her daughter to get help on knitting a herringbone cowl edged in faux-fur. We chatted about ergonomics, cats, local yarns, Ravelry, and restaurants in the area.
Lonely knitters can always find a refuge in local yarn stores. Nine Rubies Knitting was an excellent safehaven. A skein of Malabrigo Worsted and Anzula Cloud made its way into my stash. For a couple of hours, I almost stopped missing home. Almost.
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