Road Trip Part Two or Dream Job

Book Lore turned out to be a fabulous find in downtown Greenville (not that the whole town is very big). Not only did they offer coffee to patrons, but they carried a wide array of books, creations from local artisans, and, tucked away upstairs, A Room of Yarn. The owner, Cheryl, specializes in handpainted yarns, but also carried a wide array of other great finds. I fell for a very soft, very pale lavender synthetic boucle and bought enough to make a braided scarf. [This is a pattern I found on Thanksgiving in a booklet my mother-in-law had, but is one of those timeless ideas that I consider unpatented (remember, I have been knitting for 46 years and have seen A LOT), so I will tell you how I am proceeding to copy the photo. I am making three narrow, K1P1 ribbed pieces of the same length, will sew the bottom tother, then braid as if it were my hair, and sew the tops of the strips together and add fringe.]



Glenn fell into conversation with Cheryl about forestry issues, while I selected several gift items, which I won't divulge ('tis the season for secrets, you know). After we had departed, he remarked that he had really admired some of the variegated yarns, and how nice one of those cabled hats I was making would be made up that way. Now, neither you nor I would be so subtle, but would have grabbed the yarn we liked right at the store and bought it. My offspring would have needled me into buying and making them yet another beanie (you know which one I am referring to, if you are reading, kiddos). Not my DH. I don't know what he was thinking!

Lucky for him, I could rebound from my surprise (after all, this is the fellow that has only begged for socks in a decade of being married to a knitter!), and reply that I probably had something he would really like waiting at home, and that I would be happy to make him a cabled hat (see Part 1, below for the story of the cabled Canadian toque).

Now for the dream job part..... Has it been a dream of yours to start your own yarn shop? It turns out that the Book Lore building is for sale! Cheryl does not intend to remain in the building, but to move her yarnpainting business back into her home, and offer yarns for sale over the Internet. Keep an eye out for her site, which should be up and running soon. The address will be: www.aroomofyarn.com.

However, there is a vacuum waiting to be filled in the Greenville area, with the Lake Almanor resort area only a few miles away. If you have always dreamed of having your own yarn and book shop, let me know and I will send you the link - it won't load onto this page properly.

We gradually made our way back to Taylorsville, where we huddled in our car keeping warm and waiting for the Light Parade. We were awestruck to see the crowd grow from "in the tens" as Glenn kept saying, to well over 200 (after all, the population of greater Taylorsville is something around 150 souls). The parade was dramatic, in that it was truly pitch black out, but short enough that you almost could have blinked and missed it. I thought the best float was from the nearby Maidu rancheria community services agency, featuring a tipi, and lots of wire animals, all covered in white lights. There was also a giant, inflated snowglobe perched on the local fire engine, and a few other entries. Of course, the parade ran up the street then turned around and came back... after all, they had to try to live up to the buildup created by starting fifteen minutes late while the temperature was dropping down into the twenties. Turns out Jenn and her family had come over from Quincy for the parade - I had never even thought to email and see if we could meet up, and we never would have found each other in the crowd and the dark, but it's nice to know we shared this comical/magical experience!

We were starving when the parade finished up and had already decided that we wanted to spend the night at the Crescent Hotel in Crescent Mills. Turns out this was just about the best part of the whole trip for us. Not only did we have a gourmet feast of a dinner, courtesy of their chef, but we also met the nicest, friendliest people in our waitress and her helper. We learned a lot about this area, where we may decide to relocate, if the economic picture where we are continues to worsen (don't think I didn't consider buying the yarn/bookstore myself before letting you in on the secret!).

As dinner was winding down, our waitress came back to tell us we "were lucky to be here tonight, as there is going to be live music". Now, I know some of you club hoppers can't relate, but we live in a place where live music is a rare commodity, and to have it turn out to be bluegrass/new grass - why we were in "hog heaven". We relaxed on the couch in the large bar, where three ales were on tap, and NO budweiser products. They even had one of my favorite single malts... and I could knit and listen to some really great music, knowing all I had to do was walk upstairs to my room!