Portsmouth and Old Hickory - Two Not So Local Yarn Shops

My husband travels for business all over the country and has stopped in many a knitting store to pick up a skein of sock yarn for me as that is usually all he has room for in his luggage. Before he leaves , I always consult Ravelry and my Fiber Mania handbook to find out if there are any LYS near where he will be staying just on the off chance he might be able to spare a moment to search for another skein or two.  Recently,he returned from a  trip that had him traveling between Portsmouth, NH and Nashville, TN and the wonderful husband that he is, he managed to find time to visit shops in both cities. Rob has said he really doesn't mind stopping in as long as I have an idea of what I want.  (I guess he gets overwhelmed by fiber overload and finding himself in an environment usually consisting of women with pointy sticks.)  This time I had him searching for Dream in Color-Smooshy which got rave reviews on Ravelry and I hadn’t seen it here in Texas, unfortunately both stores did not have it in stock.  The first store he visited was The Yarn Basket in Portsmouth, NH.  The Yarn Basket has been in business for 27 years and recently moved to their new location on Deer Street and is chock full of bins filled with bright multi-hued skeins. He walked in and the helpful ladies seeing his befuddled and dazed face immediately offered assistance.  After learning that the yarn I desired was not in stock he put me on his speaker phone and let me talk to the ladies.  After numerous discussions of what fiber, color and weight I was looking for we decided on Regia Hand Dye Effect in lovely tones of brown and gray. This will make a nice pair for Rob and help to spur him on to future yarn searches.

 The second stop on his trip was Nashville, TN and he discovered Knit Happy on his own!  He earned extra brownie points for calling and asking me if I wanted him to look for a yarn shop (silly question, of course the answer will always be a resounding "YES")  Knit Happy is located in Old Hickory which is a section of metropolitan Nashville in an unassuming strip mall.  He called me from the parking lot and asked what he should be looking for and I told him just to go in and ask the lady where her sock yarn was.  The store although small had plenty of yarn but alas no Dream in Color.  Rob again put me on speaker and the helpful lady asked the usual questions and started to tell me what she had on hand.  The phone reception wasn't the greatest so I quickly agreed to Cascade Heritage Paint in a luscious yummy shade of blues and purples that reminds me of blueberries.  This will definitely be a pretty pair of socks for me as Rob has assured me that he doesn't want a pair of blueberry colored socks. All in all I scored some beautiful yarn for my bounteous stash.  I would definitely recommend both of these stores for traveling husbands as well as traveling knitters.