Curiosity Shoppe

I’m a sucker for Old World architectural elements. Put up a fancy wrought iron gate, I’ll be there. Have an honest to goodness sign board hanging above your shop, I’ll brave 85’F with full Midwestern humidity to come in. Call it the Curiosity Shoppe and this Canadian cat is caught.
Smack dab in the middle of Oak Harbor, the Curiosity Shoppe proves not to be an emporium of beeswax candles and oddities, a jeweler for tumbled rocks or antiques. No, this is a dedicated knit shop run by a sweet woman dedicated to her craft. The treasures are softer and fuzzier by far: walls honeycombed by a peacock tail of yarns, embroidery threads as fine as baby hair up to chunky mulberry wool sheared from a crazy Highland goat. The walls are decorated by impressive examples of cross-​stitch, once again affirming I will have neither the patience nor hand-​eye coordination to reproduce a Victorian watercolour in floss.
The Curiosity Shoppe stocks all the paraphernalia required by beginning knitters up to hardcore crocheters. Lots of fun pattern books can provide an escape in lively scarves and twee tote bags that look far and away better than anything for sale at Target. How often can you say «I made that myself?» when someone asks you where you got it? I especially liked the displays of advanced knitcraft, whether a sumptuous waterfall shawl in teal, violet, and aquamarine or the spacecraft mobile hanging over a children’s nook.
Classes run at different times throughout the week, accommodating stay at home moms or retirees in the day or busy bees with evenings. The Monday evening knitting circle has an especially devoted following, and a good excuse to socialise with others in the community over the latest personal projects. This is exactly the sort of place where you can sit at a table, sip your tea, and get some work done while catching up with friends old and new. Lots of suburban shops try to recreate the ambiance that the village knit centre has going for it naturally.
Well worth a stop if you or someone in your life is a crafter.