Knitabel

Look! My brain has returned from its two month hiatus! My plain-simple-boring (but very knitable with no brain) socks have suddenly become more exciting. I know they aren't necessarily the most wonderful design, but they make me happy.

Look -- Cables(!):

I have the biggest smile over this. Maybe now I'll be able to finish the soaker, the other socks, and Eric's sweater (in that order?). Oh yeah, then there's the lace. And that other thing. We'll see. But at any rate, I'M KNITTING AGAIN! :) :) :)

Ok, that was fun. And it's not like I haven't been knitting. I have knitted a whole bunch of things since I left, despite my shocking lack of proof. But having my brain stop working for a while there was most unnerving, and I ended up starting extra projects to compensate. I'm much happier being able to knit what I want when I want.

So tonight at BobaKnit I began thinking about our Boba/Yarn store again. It's such a delight to think about, especially with so many empty storefronts on Castro. I have a lot of thoughts about it tonight, so here I am typing away.

If we had one of the larger stores, there's so much we could do! I have two main themes in my head at the moment: Asian influence and intentionally being family friendly. Of course. I love those things. I'm still thinking about the fact that we'd be competing with several other Boba stores in MV, but that doesn't seem to be a focus tonight.

Asian influence: in downtown Mountain View, it seems like a no-brainer to play up the Asian side of knitting. We could carry Japanese knitting & crochet magazines, yarns, and teach Amigurumi classes. I've also got an idea or two for knitted Indian fashions. I'm sure there's more, but I have limited knowledge about the various Asian cultures and their fashions or their handknit (or crochet) styles.

Family friendly: as a Mom, I really would want to support other knitting moms or dads in the community. We'd totally have a little sticker in the front window indicating that we were breastfeeding friendly. And the kids' portion would be designed to hold their young attention: a train table is a no-brainer, and things like a dollhouse or a teaset (in an Asian style) would make sense too. This area would take up some space, so one of the little stores wouldn't work as well, but one of the larger ones would.

On the boba front, do you think we could run "specials"? I don't think we'd want to compete with the huge number of flavors that other stores in the area offer, but if we had a couple staple flavors, and then cycled through other flavors for fun, we might be able to actually provide some quality.

Hmmm. I know I'm not in a place to actually open a store right now, but it is lovely to dream, isn't it?