Recently visited not-so-local-yarn-stores

On Friday, a current work case with a client necessitated a trip to Lakewood, WA. I knew there was a yarn store on Pacific, one that I hadn't been to before and that according to their website, carried Berrocco Comfort yarn (I was still wavering about how much I would need to finish the fronts of my cardigan, in relation to how much I still had left on the skein). I stopped into Lambs Ear Farms which outwardly appears to be a house, but the insides have been miraculously transformed into a yarn store. Yes, they carry Berrocco comfort yarn, but not in the color that I needed. (I will find this yarn, I swear!) The shop owner, Roxi, was in the back unpacking a box of Malabrigo worsted-my timing is amazing, I know-and we struck up a conversation on Peru and knitting and travel. I can wax poetic on Peru for hours, but I am trying to curb this need to convince everyone I meet to travel to South America. The shop has a great selection, smells deceptively like hot apple cider ( I say deceptively because I saw a coffee pot but no cider), and Roxi has knit an absolutely beautiful Baby Suprise Jacket using Zauberball yarn-I am now kicking myself for not taking a picture!
On Saturday, my older sister and I had planned a garage-saleing (sp? how do you say that? garage-sailing?) trip that somehow found us down at the Port Orchard Farmers Market smelling garlic and gouda cheesey bread when the omnipresent clouds opened up and began pouring buckets of rain. We made a dash for the car, turned on the a/c to defog the windows from all the moisture evaporating off of us, and headed the car towards Silverdale, where the clouds were not as dark and menacing. We arrived at Linda's Knit and Stitch, which according to the Berrocco website sells Comfort yarn, wrung out our clothing and headed inside. The last time I was in Linda's they were still selling out of the basement of the church building, but now they have moved to a loftier locale, upstairs in the same building. Strike two, no Comfort yarn in the color that I desperately needed. We perused, squeezed, fingered and smelled yarn for awhile, made small talk about farmers markets in the area versus some down in Oregon (the shop attendent was from Beaverton, I know the Eugene market), and I, true to form, began discussing Peru with the gentlemen in the back office (Linda's husband?). Not just the fibery parts of Peru, but the logistics of Machu Picchu and the downfall of modern construction when faced off with Mother Nature. My sister pointed out that I sound just like our grandfather, talking to everyone about everything. (Here's grandpa discussing yarn with a llama, IN PERU!)
All in all, two more stores visited, not a single skein of Comfort yarn purchased, and I realized once I got home that I probably had about 50 yards left. I wound this into two almost the same size balls, and will finish this sweater today. Wish me luck!