I am SO happy to announce that we finally have a spot to park our yarn truck. Whew! RELIEF! But, not just any spot. The RIGHT spot.
Hold on now. You know I’m a writer and I love to yarn a tale, so let me tell you the whole story. When I was looking for a place to park I Google earthed our neighborhood. I want to stay in our neighborhood. It suits us. We belong here. And as I’m eyeballing the Earth as God might do as He looks for a place to land a lightening bolt, I kept zooming in on Nora’s Sugar Shack.
Hmmm….I’ve never been there. Never been anywhere, so I don’t want anyone to take that personally. But, I felt drawn to it. So, I sent her a message and told her what I had in mind. She wrote me back rather quickly. “Cheers! Come by and talk in person.” So, Phillip and I got in “Cletus, the Crochit Mobile” and headed over. We pulled up, walked in…..and this wash came over me. This feeling of something I had forgotten.
We started talking right away. Where to park? She said, “RIGHT THERE! Right in front. Everyone will see you,” then she gave us a tour of the Sugar Shack. Eclectic and fun. Familiar and wonderful. Like someone’s living room.
The kind of place where you talked about going to see Reverend Horton Heat. Where clove cigarettes were passed around. Where the bartender is your roommate’s girlfriend. Where none of the chairs match. Where you whispered about a secret picnic to Lake Ivanhoe with your squeeze, listening to a battery powered radio tuned into Edith Piaf. Where you passed bootleg VHS tapes of Brit-coms because you couldn’t stream them back then…..Where “cool” things were still fun because they were still a secret to the mainstream.
As she gave the tour I couldn’t help mutter, “Man, this reminds me of my 20’s. Of Yab-Yum and Go Lounge….” She turned to me and smiled and said, “Well, there’s a reason for that. All those people come here now.” Yes, 20 years later and I’m back to a familiar old space, just a new location. It’s no longer at the same address it once was, but the aura of those days, those people had simply moved to someplace else. HERE.
We started mentioning names we both knew, and the next thing I realized was that it was going to feel like something of a reunion in my mind. The same faces I had not seen in two decades, swarming through the same vibe of enjoyment and relaxation that I had once dug myself into when I was a wee little thing. There was a reason I came here. THIS is where we belonged. By being here, we were challenging the knitting world once again. We aren’t quiet with pastels, clean lines and polished presentation. Our truck looks edgier, different….early punk and rock and roll.
She gave me a hug and said, “Let’s try this out. Saturday, 2pm.”
So, this is it! This is our first “gig on the road,” our first “concert date.” Our maiden voyage in the yarn truck finally coming true. So, spread the word everyone! TELL EVERYONE! And I mean that! Don’t think because they don’t live in Orlando doesn’t mean they won’t share with the world and someone in Orlando won’t hear about our yarn truck!
We’ll be there from 2pm to 6ish pm, Saturday the 19th of August. If you’re in Orlando, DO come out and visit us and let everyone know how hard we have ALL worked to make this happen. Bring your friends. And if you don’t live in Orlando, but know someone who does, let them know about these two guys knitting and crocheting out of the back of a pick up truck while selling yarn. (And good yarn, too! We’ve got some GREAT skeins imported from France!)
Maybe we could make this viral? You know, how some girl says she’s having a birthday party, posts it online and suddenly 1,000 people show up. Wouldn’t that be a great way to send off this new enterprise? Can you imagine how amazing it would be to see so many people to come out and help us toast the yarn truck? So, spread the word #crochitters! We can change the way people think about knitting. It can be fun and imaginable, it can be beer and cigars. It can be ball caps and blue jeans. It can be whatever you want…..
We’ll see you Saturday, 19th of August from 2-6ish. Nora’s Sugar Shack, 636 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803
We’ll see you then! Honk!
In the meantime, if we’re not selling yarn, then we still have to sell some teddy bears and Strange Friends. I found some of this wonderful Sweet Roll yarn at Joanne’s and saw the colors just SCREAM teddy bear. So, I snagged them. The first one I did was a wonderful sand color….then next in the colorway was this really great buttery creme. (That one is in my shop). Next up is this really nice golden wheat color. Once that one is done, I’ll list him, too. So, check out
Sunday evening, roughly 6pm. Â We are about 36 hours away from our maiden voyage and we still don’t have everything we need. We got our umbrella. Look how HUGE that thing is! Big enough to not only cover us in the truck, but covers our potential customers, too. And the banner hangs from it beautifully. So, from all sides, with the decals included, you’d see our name from any direction. We’re so close. You can see some nervousness on Phillip’s part. And he looks at me and asks, “Aren’t you nervous?” I just smile and nod and say, “Of course not. I’m confident. :)” I keep thinking about those people lined up to wait to have lunch….and I have this huge umbrella for them to hide under, and while hiding under the umbrella, they’re looking at yarn…..
There are still some things we need to get by tomorrow morning. We still need to get our little fan so we don’t bake under the umbrella. We tested it today. We last about 15 minutes before both of us were drenched and soaking in sweat, beads dripping off our chins and noses. Wasn’t pretty. Â We still need to get a cooler for some water for the two of us. And we definitely need more yarn. My plan is to take whatever money we have up to the local yarn store (10 miles away….I know, local, right?) and see if I can’t cut a deal. Whatever she has on sale, on clearance, I’ll take all of it off her hands at wholesale. Lock, stock and all…..if I have $100 to spend, I’ll give it all to her and clear out her clearance.
We’ve added more names to the truck. Look at that. The HOOD is now covered, as well as the driver’s side panel. So many people want this to happen because they see the enjoyment in it. They want to be part of a dream turned reality. They want to see us do something really big with this and be able to say, “Did you see my name on the yarn truck? I helped make that happen.” 🙂
It is with a wonderful smile that I tell you that the Cafe we wanted to park our little yarn truck wrote back to me this morning. Their response? “Sounds like a wonderful idea. I just need a few more details, for instance how large the truck is and would you be willing to teach me to knit? :)” I leaped up out of chair and screamed “YES!!!! HAPPILY!” So, it looks like we’re going to have a home for the little truck to park at which I cannot tell you how wonderful that makes us feel. We’re still adding names to the truck on a daily basis, and we’re now throwing everything we have at our idea. So, all the teddy bears and Strange Friends in the shop, all the donations we get, all are going to the last of the little things we’re going to need for our maiden voyage. Like an umbrella to keep us out of the sun, a cooler for water, a few bungee cords for our baskets, and of course, more yarn, and pack that little pick up FULL of yarn.
Started scribbling the names of our supporters on our little yarn truck 🙂 We certainly have come far in the last two weeks. What I find most interesting is this attempt to get a business license. Apparently, the City of Orlando has never had someone ask to sell something NON food from a truck before, and they’re trying to figure out what to do with Phillip and me. Fascinating, isn’t it? See, when applying for the license they basically said online, we want to put all of the food trucks in one general place. Our response? We’re not a food truck. So, we’ve been emailing with the city back and forth for a few days until finally I received an email from them this morning asking us if we wouldn’t mind coming in to discuss the idea in person. Well, of course! So, we’re waiting to hear when our appointment is. All I can hope for is that of the three people in the email chain (all women), that one of them is a knitter and is going, “OH YES YES YES YES!!!! But, where do we categorize them? And how?”