From the 'Hood to the Burbs -- by the River

Last night, I attended a fun/d raiser at Knit Happens, a great LYS in Alexandria, VA. The store was open late to allow the the Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS), a local nonprofit dedicated solely to restoring and cleaning up the Anacostia River and its tributaries, and a new yarn maker company, Neighborhood Fiber Co., to raise money for the society through the sale of some luscious sock yarn. The yarns are wool and seacell, petable and richly colored. Karida Collins and company are color mavens, offering amazing handspun, hand-dyed fibers. The yarns are all named after neighborhoods in Washington, DC (hence the name). $1 of each hank's price goes to the AWS, a worthy cause, if you've ever seen the crap that ends up in the river. The Anacostia is the city's stepchild-- everyone knows about the Potomac, but the word "Anacostia"has become an unfortunate codeword for a part of town that no tourist bus would visit, so the river suffers, serving as a flowing dump site. On Earth Day 2006 for example, volunteers removed 31.5 tons of trash (that's 63,000 lbs!) and 143 tires from the watershed.

Knit Happens was full of yarnies eager to see the new stuff, and I think the event was a success. We sat around, making friends with the yarn and with each other, needles, advice and gossip flying.

I had already splurged at Stitches East and got a couple hanks of Thomas Circle semisolid, but last night I got 2 hanks of Tenley Circle, a bright but not obnoxious orange. I recommend that everyone save their pennies and get some Neighborhood Fibers. Get good stuff and do some good, without getting your feet wet.