i am smitten

It started as if a legend. People are talking about a shop you didn't know existed. One that sells yarn. One that is in your city. One that is not like any other. "But there's nothing there for you," people kindly offer. "It's all wool."

You put it out of your mind. Clearly it can only bring heartache.

Weeks later, you go bead shopping. It's holiday week, and the store is unsurprisingly closed. You visit other bead shops on the strip in a fruitless search for the bit of sterling chain you need. And as you walk back to your car, you see these boots in the window of a shop you don't recognize. You stop. You look into this magical store, and see this.

Your body is now on auto-pilot. You open the door and, for a while, lose track of time and have trouble breathing.

People who do not live in Toronto, you have my sympathy. For you do not have what we have: Americo. It is here only. And it is miraculous.

Without question, the store's glory is its selection of woolly products, including a huge range of merino yarns and blends in every possible configuration. With fuzzy bobbles or not. Plied or singles. I'm telling you, beyond words.

I asked the proprietor if there was anything non-woolly, and he said [be still my heart], "yes". And directed me to the cotton section. No bobbly cotton yet, but singles and two-plies and other combinations in rich heartland colors. Oh, I forgot to mention: it's all handspun. The cotton, wool, and all the other fibers they carry. All handspun. Sigh.


I bought three skeins of the two-ply deep pink cotton. No idea how much is in it, but it's a big big skein for $20cdn. See the little ball of Vittadini for comparison.

It will become a big wrap. One to throw around my shoulders on cold days and block out the winter winds which, theoretically, could start any day now. There's a little snow on the ground. I have not given up just yet.

There are other things in the store...the website hints at it. Clothing, leather, woven yardage. And good news: the cotton range is being expanded and they've got plans to make their yarn available to more than just us lucky Torontonians. Their website should get beefier next year, they tell me.

Until then, watch for cheap flights. And leave the pink cotton two-ply for me, will you?