My Visit to A Verb For Keeping Warm

         As much as I love San Francisco my love for Berkley and Oakland often rivals that of the city that stole my heart- if only because of three things. First of all one of my favourite TV shows takes place in Berkley- Parenthood- yeah I'm a big Braverman fan- I'm totally hooked on this very real feeling family drama. The second reason is my love affair with rebellion- to me U of C Berkley was ground zero for some very important political movements in history- the lure of education and freedom still permeates the streets- at least to me it does. The third reason my love of the area is thanks to a little textile shop called A Verb For Keeping Warm- simple as that!

      If you have been following along here with this little blog you might remember how over a year ago I took the Seam Allowance pledge- to make 1 in 4 items of clothing in my closet- which has changed my life and how I shop forever. A Verb For Keeping Warm is home to said Seam Allowance- it's were they hold their meetings- and I imagine show off what they sew and knit- and I bet they just generally geek out over textiles! Because the textiles selection in this shop can not be beat!

      I was fortunate enough to visit the Oakland shop on a quiet Monday morning just before we headed to the airport- this visit was really the only thing on my list of places to visit (other than with our friends) while in California- and I am so grateful to my family for dragging along while I went into a textile coma. Walking into the store was overwhelming- so much to look at- so much wool to touch! I think my favourites were the bolts of Khadi cotton, The Quince & Co yarns (obviously) and the hand died indigo fabric- the Shibori patterns were outstanding!

     I love visiting the bricks and mortar locations of stores - or in this case a movement- that I have long admired online- I need to touch fabric and wool before buying- I need to see colour and texture. I walked out of A Verb with a few goodies and loads of inspiration- I seriously love what these folks are doing here! The quality of handcrafted goods speaks volumes to what is possible- high quality, made by hand goods are being produced in a sustainable manner- inspiration equals possibilities to me!