Southern comfort

Life took me to Asheville, North Carolina last week, and I found it a pretty nice place. Lots of street musicians, purple comedy buses (Lazoom, Lazoom!), pet dogs, excellent restaurants. H wanted to get up close and personal with the public drummers who form a massive circle in a downtown park on Fridays. I said, "Sure thing, let me know where and when to meet you afterwards," because even at a distance of a mile it sounded like a very bad migraine.

Peregrinating around the rest of the interesting downtown, however, I discovered a good deal of yarn bombing, which led me to a cheery LYS, Purl's Yarn Emporium. The shop's owner(s?) appears to be mildly obsessed with Sock Monkeys...or so it seems to an outsider.

This photo and the one below it convinced me, finally, that I need to get a wide-angle lens.

"Why did you change our destination?"  "I see yarn in your future." 

When I saw these monkeys and their conversation bubbles, I knew they had to be partners. Only in a committed longterm relationship would you find mates who spoke in such non sequiturs.

I strolled around Purl's, then betook myself to a gallery of stores called the Grove Arcade, where I accidentally discovered Asheville Homecrafts, another kind of LYS. Both it and Purl's Emporium have a decent selection of yarns, and notions. Purl's also has a really good selection of knitting and crochet books.

Felted sweater-bombed cat statue marks site of a street known as Cat Alley.