Return to Bornside Yarns

Failure is not an option.

So at noon I left my B&B, intrepid soul that I am, and returned to Bornside Yarns, and met Bette, the proprietor.

She was delightful,with a warm smile and a welcoming demeanor, and we had a wonderful conversation about yarn, Boston (her son went to MIT), and bath tub* Madonnas.

Bath tub Madonna, Somerville, MA

While I was there, I decided to get some yarn to make a warm shawl for someone. Not sure yet, but I know it will be something wonderfully soft. I got De Aire, by Plymouth Yarns. It's 100% fine merino wool, and looks like a knitted chain and the colourway is New England Nights. I've never knit with anything like this, though I've seen yarns like this in various stores. I'm thinking a triangular shawl, really simple, with a yarn-over increase at the end of each row.

New Orleans being New Orleans, Bette also gave me some lagniappe. After I purchased my yarn, she was asking what she could give me as lagniappe, and I said she didn't need to. Then she realised she hadn't rung up a single ball of yarn, and decided that this would be my laigniappe.

In beautiful shades of orange, it's 100% wool, and very soft. I thought it was Noro at first, but no, it's Universal Yarns, Poems. I'm thinking a warm hat, or maybe a soft cowl, very simple, not too many stitches, to keep someone's neck warm.

It was a fun little store, and I'm glad I made the effort to return. Bette has a sign over her desk, which she says is her philosophy.

If I'm not in New Orleans, I'm in exile!

For those of us who know and love New Orleans, it is a true statement.


*Sometimes bath tub Madonnas are put in these pretty shells, and sometimes they are put in real claw-foot bathtubs (with the claw-feet removed). Regardless, they are called bath tub Madonnas. One can also find other saints in these tubs or shells, St Anthony, St Francis, and Jesus with the Sacred heart being the most common.