Adventures in Central Michigan

After a lovely breakfast of waffles with strawberries on Saturday morning, my mother and I headed in a north-westerly direction from Ann Arbor to see what was going on in the new location Rob and Matt have selected for the new home of ThreadBear. I can't even begin to express how happy I am for them to have found a wonderful new space and to be surrounded by friends. The fact that they are now so close to one of my personal favorite staging areas is certainly an extra added bonus.

Here's a little visual tour through the new digs:

Rob Works on Inventory and Keeps an Eye on the Front Door
from in Front of a Big Wall of Crystal Palace Yarn
Sara Peasley is Hiding Back There Somewhere Valiantly Counting and Lana Grossa Yarn

The Biggest Wall of Cascade220 I've Ever Seen
Somehow it Seems Even Bigger than it Did in Columbus

The View Down the Center of the Store
Featuring a Lovely Assortment of Manos del Uruguay Yarn
This Room is Just Huge!

One of My Favorite Zones of Color:
The Lorna's Laces Collection

View from the Back of the Store
More Sock Yarn than You Can Shake a Stick (Or a Knitting Needle) At

While it's easy to take pictures of yarn and the store, what's hard to capture are the good vibes and wonderful people who are helping Rob and Matt make the transition from Columbus to Lansing. I got to meet the very handy and well organized Sarah Peasley (if you don't read her blog already, you should! She was the inspiration for trying the short row shaped shoulders of the Lucky Top), and later on in the day, another blogger, Sharon, also dropped in to help. It's always a treat to meet knit blogging people in real life!

Although I did have a mission to do some stash enhancement (more on this tomorrow), it was hard to be completely focused on my own needs with all the store activities going on around me. Mom and I had to get in on the act too! We didn't have time to do very much, but we did help count and sticker a couple of boxes of fibery goodies. Sharon actually caught me in the act if you want proof.

Like most knitters, I have a fantasy about opening a yarn store -- but I no longer have any fantasies about it being easy! It's a lot of work to keep track of a store full of yarn. Stickering just a box full of yarn took me almost an hour. It's really hard to appreciate what it takes to keep a business up and running until you have a chance to try out yourself.

I feel like there's a lot more I should say -- Rob and Matt have wonderful plans for the store. But I think I'll leave that for them to talk about. Suffice it to say, it's going to be wonderful place that I wish was in Chicago.

Good Luck with everything, guys! I can't wait to come back and see how things have grown!

Note Added Later: For those of you who are wondering What about the Koigu? Where's the Koigu? Why no pictures of Koigu? -- have no fear! There is definitely no Koigu shortage in Lansing -- most of it was just being inventoried and shelved while I was there and it wasn't really ready for it's photo op! But a small selection of it will feature prominently in my next post...