A Visually Inspiring Store

I looked online today to find a store that might be able to help me figure out how to knit socks and found one called ABC's of Creative Pursuits Fiber Arts....I talked to the owner, Nancy, on the phone, and she was so helpful and understanding of my sock problem, that I felt comfortable in choosing this store over others. We headed to downtown Bakersfield, with Eldy as my navigator, and he dropped me off so I could browse and get some help.

People who do handcrafts will understand what it's like to walk into a store and just be WOWED by what they see...inspired by the colors, yarn combinations, projects hanging and draping all over the place, craft books and magazines, hand dyed fibers....the nearest thing I can compare it to, is the excitement I used to feel when I got a new Crayola Crayon box of 100 colors for the beginning of each school year when I was little. As I got older, it was the excitement of walking into a craft store in South Bend, IN (Erica's Craft and Sewing Center) and seeing all the modeled quilting and crafting projects hanging around, charm squares and fabrics stacked on shelves, inspiring me to sew and create things. Now it's quality quilting and knitting shops....I suppose if you don't have the craft gene, you probably wouldn't get excited by this store, but it sure was beautiful! Isn't it wonderful that there are people like Karen who can create such beauty in the world and want to share it with others by having such a cool store?  I loved being there...While I was there, Karen patiently took an elderly lady under her wing, retaught her to crochet after 20 years, helped her get started on her 23 year old afghan that she had forgotten how to do, and then sent her on her way after charging only $5.00 for about 45 min. of help.

Karen then took me under her wing, and in the sunny big picture windows of the store, along with her good friend, Beverly, we sat and chatted for several hours at a nice big table filled with yarn, fibers, and magazines. I hammered out my sock with some help from Karen. We talked about knitting, traveling, spinning, fibers, how to do this and that, and knitted all the while. I asked LOTS of questions and she and Beverly patiently answered all of them. It was a delight to spend time with the both of them, and I ended up spending the good part of two afternoons at the shop, learning new things.....it was wonderful! And Eldy, bless his heart, dropped me off two days in a row so I could get my sock fix, yarn fix, and spend time with some wonderful ladies while he tried to find something to do in Bakersfield. If you ever are in the Bakersfield area, love to knit, spin, do stuff with yarn, need a book, stop in and see Karen at ABC's of Creative Pursuits, right downtown on 17th street. It's a beautiful, friendly store and a wonderful way to spend an afternoon......