Thursday, January 21, 2010

Day-Trippin' in Georgia

During a severe attack of knit shop withdrawal, I convinced my daughter Amanda that we needed to locate a “real” knit shop in her area. The local Michael’s, Joann’s, and Hobby Lobby just weren’t enough. A web search pulled up only two within a 75 mile radius of Fort Benning. One, Darlene’s Knit Shop in Opelika, Alabama, was no longer open for business. The other was Two Sisters Knitting Nook in Newnan, Georgia.

We left the house after lunch so that both Evelyn and Liam would nap in the car. Strategic planning is not just a good habit, it’s sometimes necessary for mom-sanity!

Two Sisters is on the corner of a block in a cute little downtown area, surrounded by antique and gift shops and an art gallery. We were greeted with a friendly hello by two lovely women as we entered the shop with a double stroller. The shop was very spacious. Sometimes double-strollers and yarn shops don’t mix well, but in this case, it was fine. We felt very comfortable wandering around, enjoying all of the fabulous yarn. Many of the brands were ones that my local shop, Knit n Knibble in Tampa, Florida (Ravelry link: http://www.ravelry.com/shops/knit-n-knibble ) carries, but there (of course) were some I had not seen before. Many were wools; face it, you can have only so much 100% wool in Florida. They also had some cotton yarns that were new to me.

In addition to the wonderful yarn, they have a lovely selection of buttons, stitch markers, knitting jewelry and pins, t-shirts, handmade soap, sock blanks, needles galore, and bags and change purses made from recycled plastic bottles that were adorable! Definitely worth the trip! My granddaughter Evelyn fell in love with a “princess” learn-to-knit kit, which I had never seen before. I told her that it would be a great present when she gets a little older (she’s only 3).

Well ….I managed to walk out of there without adding too much to my stash. If it wasn’t for the upcoming “Stitches South 2010”, I’m sure I could have easily done more damage to my pocketbook! I bought a sock blank called “Happy Choices” in color 9 (shades of brown) by Plymouth Yarn Company, two flower buttons for a summer toddler top I am designing, two pattern booklets by Kertzer: SRK 424 and SRK 420 (see picture) , two change purses, and two wedges of an awesome handmade soap in pumpkin spice scent. I resisted the urge to purchase a needle-gauge pendant in purple, but it was very difficult!

Here is information on the shop ….stop in if you are ever near Newnan, Georgia ….it is definitely worth it!
Two Sisters Knitting Nook
15 Greenville Street
Newnan, Georgia
Phone:  770-683-3809
Ravelry Link:  http://www.ravelry.com/shops/two-sisters-knitting-nook

Next, we walked around the block to the opposite corner, and visited “Scott’s Bookstore”. What a wonderful place! They have a huge selection of children’s books, and a little table with a couple of puzzles to entertain the little ones while the parents browse. Of course they also have the other usual sections, best sellers, fiction, educational, cookbooks, etc. Nice place, a great treat for Evelyn for being so good. Amanda surprised Evelyn with “Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar”, and Liam with a stuffed football (even though Liam cheated on the being good part …he slept or ate most of the time).

Here is information on the shop ….another great find!
Scott's Bookstore
28 South Court Square
Newnan, Georgia
Phone:  770-253-2960

No website that I could find, but here is the Yahoo Travel description:
Established in 1976, this full service bookstore offers all the books and tapes on Lewis Grizzard, a Coweta native son, plus offers an extensive children's section and numerous services.

Double Take!
As we were walking back to the car, we passed a store picture window that made us do a double-take! So of course we had to take a picture. Little town, almost at sunset ….the main street was starting to look deserted because it was after 5pm. Amanda whipped out her phone and snapped this shot ......
I was already picturing the headlines the next day ….

”Two Strange Women Capture Their Dastardly Deed on Newfangled Modern Phone”.

An arm, belonging to Newnan Town Founder Mr. , was found grasping the window display shelf of his beloved general store, established circa 1905. Although the women swore they were innocent, the double stroller and two children were not a solid alibi for the crime. Said women are currently serving an undetermined sentence in the local jailhouse.


We were in a small town in mid-western Georgia. Might as well be West Virginia ….if that had actually happened, we would never see the light of day again. I grew up in Miami, spent some time in Chicago and New York for business …..I’d rather be mugged in one of those places than get arrested for dropping a banana peel on the sidewalk in the Deep South!

‘Nuff said. Come on! It’s WAY past Halloween. What was up with that window?

We saw a gorgeous house as we were driving into Newnan. On the way out we decided to take a picture of it. Luckily there was a little traffic, and the hometown people were very polite. Amanda whipped out her phone again, and the “Strange Women” did their version of a drive-by shooting as they fled the town.

1 comment: