Road Trip

Sunday, February 13th, a group of us made a trip to Flying Fingers Yarn Shop in Irvington, New York. For those of you who are not familiar with the shop, they provide a van from locations in Manhattan to their shop in Irvington on the weekends. You go on line, (www.flyingfingers.com) and request a pick up on either a Saturday or a Sunday and you will be provided with a voucher for the ride.

The first thing about the trip is the van. The van is a ten-seater painted in shades of blue, but on the top are sculptures of three giant balls of yarn; seems as though the van is a cousin of the Oscar Meyer Weiner Van. It was a sensation at 10 am on 5th Avenue.

Although the day was cold, it was bright and sunny and we were like kids on our way to a great adventure.

When we arrived, we were greeted by a warm and colorful shop with friendly assistance from owners and workers. The atmosphere was warm, friendly and very cozy. All that was lacking was a roaring fire. There was comfortable seating and a knitting class was in progress and we, (Mary DuBois, Maria and Belinda Deliz, Janet Wilson and myself) jumped right in to a basket of silk recycled from saris imported from Nepal and marketed by Mango Moon that was at the door. There was soy silk, bamboo, merino wools and lots of cashmere. We rubbed, ohhed and ahhed to our hearts delight. There was also a small but unique display of buttons and there were needles and hooks.

Although the shop is small, they have a large selection of yarns, and maintain three sheds for overflow. So if you do not see all of a particular color or yarn, ask, they may have it. We did not have any problems with color or yarn selections.

We met several patrons of the shop and other visitors from the city (MetroNorth stops at the bottom of the hill, 2 blocks away). The shop was busy without being crowded. We felt free to browse and assistance was at hand when we needed it.

After exhausting ourselves, we needed a break and had a very tasty lunch (which included homemade Key Lime Pie) at The Red Hat, the restaurant on Main Street a couple of blocks up from Flying Fingers. For those of you who like other fare, there is a deli and a pizza shop and a Japanese/Chinese Restaurant.

We returned to the shop reviewed, revised our selections and made our purchases and were returned home via the Yarn Van.

It is a nice outing for yarn enthusiasts and I would recommend the trip highly. Going with friends who share your interest heightens the experience.