the spoils

all righty, here is a fraction of what is available in that big city. this first store my friend took me to was called 'daytona trimmings' which turned out to be just down the street from tinsel trading. daytona was amazing. floor to ceiling rolls of everything. i think the one that amazed me was the ric rac. from teeny to 2" wide and in every colour. here we get one size choice and if we are lucky 4 or maybe 5 colours to choose from. oh and the woven braids. i was overcome and i would see one i liked then couldn't find it again. but i managed to choose a few. luckily julie works not far from there and is happy for any excuse to visit. i don't think it will be long before i send her a list!

the next stop of course was tinsel trading! the thrill of just standing outside and looking at the door was almost enough! it was lovely. not industrial like daytona but very cleverly styled and stocked with not only notions but finished product. i adore those ducky and heart buttons. they only had one pack of each or i would have got more. and of course i had to have the book. i spent so long in there and then started chatting to one of the women that julie had to go (michael had long since scarpered) when i looked out i realised we were losing light and it was raining hard. i was all alone in nyc with my bags of trim! i sort of knew where i was and made my way down to macy's where it seemed busier inside than on the street. by this stage michael is wondering where i was, just how long can one person spend in a trim store (a lifetime!) and offered to come down and get me. love that man and love cellular connection. he jumped on the subway and rescued me and my trim!

the next day was back to soho to find purl, which as you can see we did.

i bought the 'one skein' book and one skein of yarn in the yarn store, tiny but beautiful. here i come from a land where there are more sheep than people but we do not have the variety available in this store. in the fabric store i bought a few pieces but could have cleaned out the store but at this stage i was in danger of clearing out my card so i showed some rare restraint! the little glass knobs are from anthropologie. thought i'd slip them in as they are so pretty.

this last little photo is of some little buttons i thought would be good for noses. it was a very cool little store where you could send your fabric and have your buttons dyed to the right colour. i said that my name was loulou (which is what my friends call me) and he told me that in persia, loulou meant the boogieman. mothers would call their children in and threaten them with the loulou. my children thought this funny and fitting! beasts!

i can already feel the need to to get back. of course i haven't had a chance to make anything out of the haul as we are still unpacking and getting back into the time zone here. such a long way from down under but oh so worth it!

Comments

[stephanie s]

wow, how you even limited yourself to just that i will never know.... those little crocheted doohickies in the first photo sure are cute... i now want to get to nyc in a bad way.

[Amy]

I went to Loulou too last time I visited the big apple...I was absolutely smitten with those nice fellas in there. You've got to love a man who is passionate about buttons. Looks like you got a very nice, neat haul and had lots of fun getting it.

[littlejennywren]

Everything looks so wonderful. Was Purl a beautiful store? The trims you bought are beautiful.

[pixie]

I am enjoying hearing your adventures in New York. Nice to find another kiwi blogger. Pixie, from Wgtn

[KnottieKnitter]

it's great to read this post, i'm heading out to nyc at the end of the month will def. me hitting up some of these places. it would be great if you emailed me with some of you "cannot leave nyc w/o visiting...." recommendations.
thanks!!
cristina

[Dannielle]

Wow!! What a haul!

You didn't think you were going to sneak those teensy toadstools in without so much as a mention, did you?! They're adorable!