Yesterday we arrived early in the morning and after a brief nap, SH and I went our separate ways for a few hours. He had to go in to load his slides for his talk the next day and I had a mission.

Find a LYS. After googling yarn shops in Amsterdam, I found three possibilities and settled on finding the one called Stephen and Penelope.

Little did I know that this was THE yarn shop because it is Stephen West’s yarn shop!

It was an adventure finding the place and I almost gave up after wandering around the city center which just happens to be near the Red Light district where all sorts of items and activities are available for purchase.

But then I got stubborn and asked at least three people where Nieuwe Hoogstraat was. Finally I saw an older couple emerge from their apartment building. The lady asked, “Eine Frage?” I showed her the street name on my iPad and she told me in English to walk up to the first busy street and turn right.

I had wandered by that street several times but it was not marked Nieuwe Hoogstraat. I decided to trust her and turned right. Through crowds of young folks (mostly men) I wove, passing shops selling drug paraphernalia and the drugs themselves and shops right next door selling breads or coffee or vintage clothing.

Until finally I found my Mecca. Me and a gaggle of about five or six older women also homing in on this shop — Stephen and Penelope’s.

In front of the shop is a bicycle covered in yarn: all the tubes and the wheels are encased in wool. Inside the shop is stocked with all kinds of luscious wool richly dyed.

I met a mother and daughter from Denver who had been traveling in Europe for two weeks. Both were knitters and this was the one spot they both agreed they had to find. The daughter said Stephen West was her favorite designer.

I also overheard one of the shop workers helping a man buy stuff for his wife. He said that she was furious that she could not be with him at this yarn shop and she had given him a list of things to buy. The woman helping him shepherded him around the store and when he had found everything his wife wanted, he asked her, “I want to get her something not on her list. What do you suggest?” It was so sweet to overhear him worrying about wanting to make his wife happy. Later I told SH that they must have just gotten married or she had just had a baby. Or maybe he was really just a very uxorious husband!

Of course I did not walk out of the shop empty-handed. I found two skeins of yarn and presents for various people. I also found inspiration for future knitting projects looking at all the Stephen West samples which the store had on display.

It never hurts to get stubborn.

And while it seems silly to make a yarn store a destination when traveling, I find it gives me a purpose for exploring a city and making new discoveries on my way to the LYS.

Later I texted our daughter and here is the conversation. She makes such fun of me!