good-natured ribbing

I went to New Orleans a couple of weeks ago and tried to contribute a bit to the economy with some shopping in the French Quarter. I found a fiber shop called “The Quarterstitch” just off of Jackson Square. It’s more of a needlework store, with a small selection of yarn. I bought a pretty skein of chenille yarn in a color called “sweet grass.” The shop owner said that the yarn was hand-dyed by someone in Maryland whose mother taught him to dye.

The best thing about this yarn shop visit, though, was the extra deluxe wrapping of my purchase. Allow me to describe the process….

• The skein was first wrapped in green tissue paper.
• The wrapped skein was placed in a transparent plastic bag.
• Small, pink, heart-shaped pieces of tissue were dropped in the bag.
• Two small tags with the shop name and address were dropped in the bag. One was decorated with gold leaf and the other has a heart stamped on it.
• To finish it off, the bag was tied at the top with several ribbons in different colors, and the ribbons were curled with scissors!

I think it was the most lovely wrapped purchase I’ve ever seen. I seriously did not want want to open it and I put it out on a table to look at for several days. Eventually, though, I decided that I should unwrap the yarn and think about what to do with it. I think it will become a very soft and shimmery scarf.