It's best said with a Minnesota accent. Well, gosh darn it anyway, I better get home to put that hotdish in the oven.
Darn Knit Anyway is a great name for a store, and it also happens to be a lovely yarn shop.
It's in the charming town of Stillwater, MN flanked on one side by rocky bluffs and on the other by the St. Croix river.
I especially happen to like this store because of what they had in the front window.
What -- could it be? Spring Rainbow miniskeins on Wexford Merino Silk? In the front window of Darn Knit Anyway in the charming town of Stillwater, MN flanked by rocky bluffs and the St. Croix river?
Why yes. Yes, it is.
Am I dreaming? Because if I am, don't wake me up.
On Saturday, I drove to Stillwater from my home in Duluth. It took me a little over two hours, and it was well worth the trip. I was there to conduct a workshop on knitting with hand dyed yarn.
This is Aimee. She owns Darn Knit Anyway, and she is as fun and helpful as can be. I did not get a picture of her other employees, who nicely put up with my shenanigans and ran out to buy me a coffee and helped me wind yarn for the better part of the morning.
In Minnesota parlance, these are some real, real nice gals.
The shop is in a historic building, and it has a lot of light and charm. It's a wonderful size, with two levels, a classroom area, a knitting corner, and an awesome children's space. (Thank you, yarn shop owners who put out some toys for the kids!)
Darn Knit Anyway also sells fabric and has a great selection of books, tools for felting, and charming accessories.
I could work here. Aimee, if I ever need a job, I'm calling you.
OK, here's the crazy part. Ready?
People actually paid money to come to this workshop. Paid good money to listen to me talk about yarn. This is astounding.
And here's the super crazy part. Some of these people traveled a long, long way to hear me talk about yarn. This wasn't one of those, "Hey, I can't think of anything else to do this Saturday morning," this was, "I shall drive a long way and pay money to attend the event in which Sharon shall talk about yarn for three hours."
People came from as far away as Iowa and Ohio, and from many parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin.
In my book, that is a long, long way.
I love you guys.
This was the nicest groups of knitters. They were friendly, inquisitive, and laughed appropriately at my attempts at humor. They also knit with ugly yarn when I told them to. How's that for nice?
(Seriously, the yarn was UH-GLY. I made it ugly on purpose to illustrate a point.)
We ate lunch together. They promised they would tell me if I got food on my face. No one said anything, so I either had no food on my face or they lied when they said they would tell me. I think it's the former.
Afterwards I let them look at some of the non-ugly yarn. Deep down, I'm a very nice person.
I brought a bunch of new fall colorways, and also a bunch of Carpe Yarnem colorways -- colorways that can never be duplicated.
Darn Knit Anyway still has some skeins left. I suggest a visit or a call or an email.
I had an amazing time. Thank you so much to the attendees and to Darn Knit Anyway!
This weekend I'm off to Bobbin's Nest Studio in Santa Clara, CA, for another workshop and trunk show! Who's in?