School Products

On Wednesday, I went to School Products in New York City. It was about 3 blocks from my hotel -- totally a coincidence, as I didn't look up the address until I was already in NYC. I had some time to spare between my training course and my train home, so I stopped in for a look.

The selection was, as many people before me have mentioned, quite varied. There was a huge wall of Lamb's Pride and LP Bulky, as well as another large wall of Karabella yarns. I fondled quite a few of them, as none of my local LYS's carry a great and/or well displayed selection of the Karabella. I would definitely consider the Aurora 8 for a future project -- plump and springy, with good stitch definition. There were also the expected cones of yarn and no-name but probably designer skeins. There was some hand-dyed cashmere for $13/skein, a great deal for the quality and yardage, but none of the colors spoke to me. In the end, all I bought was some Koigu for socks...


I was just about to leave the store and wander slowly back to Penn Station, when the owner of the store started chatting excitedly with the other employee working at the time. I listened for a minute, and realized that they were waiting for a visit from the Princess of Thailand! I hung around for a few more minutes until she arrived. I didn't catch her name, but she was a middle aged woman in a wheelchair. (I tried some Google searches -- she could possibly be Princess Maha Chakri Srindhorn, although I can't find a photo of her in a wheelchair. I thought I'd take a photo, but her ten person entourage looked less than thrilled at a photo request from the store's owner, so I didn't try. Not sure she was up on the whole knit-blog community thing...)

On the whole, a fun trip, but I wasn't overwhelmed by School Products as some people have been. Then again, I live in a place where I have many, many LYS' within 30 minutes of where I live or work, so I might be slightly jaded.