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| Mom at Emy J's |
First we stop at Emy J's for a bite to eat. We settle on a bowl of soup. Mom has white bean with mushroom and I opt for the hearty vegetable. We sit at a mosaic-topped table. The place is busy. The walls are decorated with colorful local art. After lunch we walk two doors down to the Wisconsin Wool Exchange. Maud, one of the owners, is there helping two women who are looking at yarn samples. We pull up chairs at the table and settle in. Without the sun streaming through the front window, the shop is a little on the cool side today.
A customer comes in carrying a mass of gray wool in her arms; a gorgeous sweater she's been knitting (it's mostly finished), but her dog got into it, ate her needles and pulled out some of her stitches. She needs Maud's help. This woman is a sheep farmer and the wool is from one of her very own sheep! Maud knows how to fix all our mistakes :) She pulls up a chair.
Another customer arrives with a project she started twenty-five years ago. She's stuck and was told that Maud could help her. It's a Christmas stocking for one of her grown daughters. She waits her turn as Maud helps mom and me. Maud gives mom a new skein of yarn that is all wool and has her begin again, this time with no "yarn overs". She shows me how to "decrease" and do the "knit-two-together" stitch to finish my washcloth.
As we are knitting, a fifth customer arrives. It's Sarah and after a hug from Maud, she sits and visits for awhile and eventually pulls out a pair of socks she's knitting with the tiniest needles I've ever seen. They look like toothpicks! She says they are size zero!
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| Main Grain Bakery |
As mom and I get ready to leave, Marlene walks in. We met her last week. She is also a friend of Maud's and a knitter. We say our goodbyes to the "girls" and decide to stop in the bakery before heading to the library. (After just a bowl of soup and all this knitting we are hungry again!)
"The Main Grain Bakery" is right next door. We walk in inhaling the aroma of fresh baked bread. I think I've died and gone to heaven! The shelves are filled with breads and cookies, cupcakes and muffins. Mom and I choose a granola bar and take it next door to Emy J's where we order a decaf for mom and mocha for me.
After a while we are joined by my mother-in-law and her friend, Bobbie, who have just been to the Riverfront Arts Center to see the "Winter's Garden" exhibit, a juried exhibition of floral/garden inspired art and live plants.
A few minutes later the door to the cafe opens again and in walks Jennifer, a friend and former yoga teacher of my mother-in-law and she also joins our table. We are having a lively conversation about knitting and art and the women at the next table hear our conversation and wander over to join in. They are artists and one owns a local pottery shop. Jennifer was showing us her sketch book from her online sketching class (Sketchbook Skool) and one of the other women also happens to be in the class! Jennifer's sketches and water colors are beautiful. She also shares photos of her knitting projects she has stored on the Ravelry website. Ravelry is a knit and crochet community site where you can organize and store all your projects. Beware! It is very addictive.
Oh, what fun! I'm once again, inspired to create! The library will have to wait for another day.
There's nothing like spending a day with the girls!
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