Best Quote I Heard All Day
“During many a single week, I daresay, more money is spent in New York upon useless and evil things than would suffice to run the kingdom of Denmark for a year.”--H.L. Mencken

And I daresay that a Wolverina get-together is frequently the impetus for purchasing things. Period.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
After being cursed all week with hideous weather, the sun really did come up tomorrow.

Granted, it was not going to be the full Wolvie complement. Missing in action: Joe, Franklin, Liza, Loopy and Selma. However, half a Wolvie get-together is certainly better than none. And we don't fuck around. The day started at 10 a.m. with me and Liz, Kathy Merrick, Carol S., Lisa McNulty and her mom Diane, and Lars Rains meeting at the door. Although I had corresponded with Lars, this was the first time we had met. And I am so glad that we had him along--he's a sweet bear, for sure. And he's one of those people who just takes his knitting and goes where it leads him. I was a bit disappointed that he didn't wear his NYPD uniform, though. There's something about a picture of a knitting cop that inspires.

First stop: Habu on 29th Street. (Jen Tocker, if you're reading this, I finally got my ass in the door.)

This is an extraordinary place, for those of you not familiar with Habu. I hesitate to call it a "yarn shop," because it is far past that. It is truly a textile emporium, with amazing yarns in a damned small space.

Lars, Diane, Kathy and Lisa's eyeball, all except the eyeball groping yarn

Besides this tiny alley, there were baskets of stuff in the front room. And that about sums up Habu's space.

With all the stuff I have, I wasn't really going to buy very much. However, I couldn't resist this silk in these colors, probably for a lace scarf of some kind.

The colors are a bit off in the picture but the silk is beautiful. It's called kusake zome and it's a 2/10 (read fingering weight).

Liz decided that it would be way kewl for Gram to knit her a wire bracelet after spotting one on the shelf. OK, so I'm a sucker for the kid. I bought some extremely fine silver wire. I'm going to knit it. God help me. But sometimes having her with me pushes me to try new things that I normally would not.

We finished up at Habu and walked up the street to School Products, which is on Broadway and 29th. Now, I've been haunting School Products since 1980, so it wasn't anything new to me and I didn't buy anything either. However, it is another New York yarn landmark, for sure.

Yikes, look at all that shit!

And then there were the hats:

Lars modeling his Camel Toe hat. What inspired genius.

Carol modeling a pricy Fun Furesque cap

We weren't done yet. Kathy wanted to hit Tinsel Trading on 38th St. This was a place new to me and it was delightful. Lots of trims, buttons, beads, incredible cloth flowers, and just some unbelieveable ribbon that Lisa and I thought would make fabulous facings. I should have taken a picture of that. But here's what I bought at TT: beads for this wire bracelet and some wonderful tin lithographed pins.

Oh yeah, and this. I don't know why. I just had to have it.

Will you bead my bride? Sure.

So now it was time to hike uptown to meet Lisa's wifey, Norah Vincent, for lunch. If you haven't read Norah's book, Self-Made Man, what's the matter with you? It's the best book I've read all year and that's no shit. I was very much looking forward to meeting Norah but mostly because she's my Lisa's partner. I knew I would like Norah and I was right. There's something about no-bullshit people that appeals. Besides, anyone who would have the fake cojones to dress up like a guy is someone I can appreciate. And then there's the writing. I always appreciate that.

We ended up in a little Thai restaurant in the low 50s. At this point, having walked for fucking forever, I was more than ready to sit my can down and eat something.

From left: Famous writer, me, the token adolescent other than Liz (Carol), Lisalisa, Lars, Diane (Lisa's mom) and the dwarf-loving Merrick

Thanks to Liz for taking that picture and for being such good company throughout. I promised her another trip to NYC the first weekend in June so she can go to the Hard Rock Cafe.

Note the purple and green fashion-statement braces.

It was altogether a rare and handy day. Now I need to go spin because it's Sunday.