INDIANAPOLIS, IN

You can spend an entire afternoon in here; it’s that big.  So go ahead, linger, chat, wander the nooks and crannies that make this large store still feel warm and cozy.  When you’ve bagged up all your purchases, we’ve got something truly unique planned for your evening.

One of my favorite things about DestiKNITions is that I get to feature places I’d never have found without the recommendations of our savvy shop owners.  Fun, warm, neighborhood kinds of places that aren’t just meals, they’re experiences.  This is one of them.  Owner Taki Sawi and his wife Jeanette are just plain amazing…everybody loves them, and they seem to love everybody.  Eat hearty; you’re going to burn some calories after your meal.

Unique doesn’t begin to describe it.  Action has a 1930’s vintage vibe while Atomic has a 1950’s feel.  Just in case you were wondering, duckpin is a smaller ball without holes (yea! I won’t break a fingernail!) about the size of a large grapefruit.  The pins are shorter and squatter, too.  Lady-sized bowling; the perfect girls’ night out. One caution:  chances are you’ll need reservations, so call ahead.

I liked the mismatched, laid-back vibe this place gave off, even though it can be packed on weekends and not a place for fast-paced service.  And the food was quality stuff.  Lush omelets with build-your-own ingredients, lemon corncakes with fresh blueberries and lemon curd, rave-worthy french toast, not to mention eggs a dozen inventive ways and seriously good scones.  If you’ve got a vegan in your group, she’ll especially appreciate this menu.  (Tip: If you end up here for lunch, my sources rave over the creamy avocado gazpacho and the humus appetizer. ) Don’t worry if it’s taking a while to polish off your meal; you don’t have far to go:

I love this place.  It’s like you stumbled into a good friend’s home and she owns more yarn than you can imagine.  It’s as charming as the whole town–and as friendly, too.  “We expect to see our customers come in a lot and hang out,” declares owner Karin Lyons, who hosts lots of classes.  I’m impressed that they start off beginning knitters on a cardigan, getting them to pattern literacy pronto.  That’s the kind of service that grows life-long fans of the craft, not just someone who knocks off a scarf or two for the holidays.  Customers range from very young to very “seasoned,” and you know a store likes folks to hang around when they have drinks available.  Speaking of drinks and atmosphere, it’s store policy to celebrate when you finish a project (I believe I heard something about a bubbly beverage, but I’m not confirming any rumors)!

Alison’s Cardigan

Fringed Edge Scarf

Our Knit A Long is part of a city-wide yarn and needles effort called SuperScarves.  If you’re looking for a reason to move to Indy, this might be reason enough.  Host to the 2012 Superbowl, the city’s entire knitting community has committed to hand-knitting the 8,000–yes, you read all those zeroes right–scarves needed to deck out the entire expected Superbowl volunteer corps.  8,000 hand-knit scarves.  To honor this fiber fanaticism, the city’s unofficial mascot, StructureMan, received his own giant-sized scarf (even though I find it endlessly amusing that StructureMan doesn’t have a neck) knit by Allison and Karin with died rope and paint-roller handles.  Mine’s a bit smaller, thankfully, done up in local company Alpaca With A Twists’s specially-died-for-the-occasion yarn.  

Artifacts

Big Hat Books
6510 Cornell Ave. 
Indianapolis, IN 46220

marigoldclothing.com
Fab-u-lous.  Friendly.  Artsy-elegant but not fussy.  They talked me into a pair of black JAG jeans.  I hate jeans.  You know what?  I love these jeans.  The mark of a great boutique is when they know what you need even when you don’t.

Petite Chou

BRICS