Trekking in Asheville

On Sunday, after attending the opening day festivities at camp, we moved on to Asheville. Naturally we started our sightseeing with a few yarn stores. The first was Yarn Paradise which set the bar quite high. I didn’t take any pictures in the store so you’re just going to have to imagine a bright setting full of fabulous yarn from floor to ceiling. There was lots of Noro, Koigu, Cascade and others but one thing really caught my eye. It wasn’t the ball of Lana Grossa sock yarn that I bought during our first visit. The thing that really grabbed me was the Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in gorgeous, deep, rich, colors. This stuff is fabulous! I needed to think about it over night because it was a little expensive. In the end I just couldn’t resist and had to go back and get enough of the deep purple color to make Tilia from the Enchanted Garden Collection. I’ll show it to you another time – right now I’ve got more Asheville trekking to share.

The next stop was Purl’s Yarn Emporium. This is in downtown Asheville around the corner from Earth Guild. It’s one of those stores that are arranged by color rather than by brand or type of yarn. I’d never really encountered this scheme before and I’m not sure it worked for me. I did find the sock yarn though, which was collected in one place and I bought a ball of Sockotta. The store was pretty big with a nice selection and the staff was helpful. I got to see Malabrigo up close and personal for the first time – oooooh soooo soft.
I don’t have any pictures of Earth Guild but it’s not really a picture taking kind of a place. It’s a huge storefront filled with all kinds of crafty stuff. Back in the day, when I was an art major, I could’ve happily spent lots of my parent’s cash there and justified it all as necessary to my fine arts education. Screen printing, basket weaving, wood working… it’s all there. There are also a good deal of yarn and wheels. I was reasonably well behaved though and I only bought a little bit of Cotton Fine in a dreamy turquoise shade and an in-house pattern for a gorgeous shawl.

While the yarn crawl alone made Asheville a great place to visit, there is so much more to see in Asheville. After dinner on Sunday, Felicia and I walked around and found tons of people out enjoying the night. There were galleries full of local art everywhere and I’ll definitely go back to check them out since, sadly, most of them were closed when we were there. Notably there are very few chain stores. It was a little odd to be in a city which doesn’t have a St*rbucks on every corner. Here are a few quick shots of downtown Asheville – a taste if you will.

The Asheville Courthouse. Don’t you think this building is way too beautiful for such unpleasantness?

I love the gothic details on this building. Can you see the gargoyles? They look like they’re trying to break free.

This bronze statue of a young girl getting a drink of water is in Pack Square. The picture I took really doesn’t do it justice. There are statues and sculptures like this throughout the city. How cool!
Tomorrow – Biltmore!