An Illini yarn

Now that I'm home and not writing when on the verge of collapsing into bed, I can go back to my Champaign-Urbana yarn store adventures on Wednesday.

Via Ravelry I learned that a new yarn shop opened in town since I was last here, so I was determined to check out Klose Knit in Urbana. It took a couple phone calls to find exactly where it is--figuring out where Champaign ends and Urbana begins is kind of unclear to this visitor--but the helpful employee directed me there.

As you know, it's uncommon for me to buy yarn without having projects in mind for it. I intended to buy some cotton for a ballband dishcloth in University of Illinois colors, but they didn't really have the right orange or blue. The employee told me that there wasn't any sense in using the nicer stuff for something like a dishcloth anyway. Makes sense. I had a nice chat with the employee and enjoyed seeing the shop but left empty-handed.

At this point it was time to hit the local chain stores to find orange and blue Sugar'n Cream for the dishcloth. I should mention that the night before coming here I stopped at a Jo-Ann's in Columbus, which had the orange but not the blue, and a Hobby Lobby, which carried blue but no orange. I didn't buy from either because I figured I'd have no problems finding Illinois colors in the university's backyard.

A Jo-Ann's was near my hotel, so I assumed it would handle my Sugar'n Cream dishcloth needs. Not quite. They had orange but no blue. Rather than make the same mistake twice, I bought the cotton and set out for Michael's. They also had orange but not the dark blue I needed. Who would have thought that color would prove to be harder to find? The afternoon was quickly getting away from me, so I decided to peruse the yarn aisles at the nearby Meijer. Thankfully they had the blue I needed--but not the already purchased orange--which meant I didn't have to hit up a Hancock Fabrics, assuming it's still open, or the LYS I visited last year.

Lesson learned: buy it where you find it rather than hoping to make a single location purchase.