Dogs, cats, and ... sheep?

Last week, while Thumper and I were out running around, I discovered that not only is Manchester Road the most pleasant route out of St. Louis if you are traveling west, it is home to a plethora of interesting places to shop.  In addition to the very nice shopping mall at the intersection with I-270, there is a Best Buy, Kohl’s, DSW, and Hobby Lobby.    While I did stop in at some of those places yesterday, what I really had fun exploring were the unique local shops that give Manchester Road character.

The Cat’s Meow is a little shop that is filled with all sorts of wonderfully frivolous stuff, from flip-flops that allow you to change out the decoration on the strap to elephant shaped piggy banks for your favorite safari loving niece or nephew.  What the Cat’s Meow really specializes in is personalization; they offer embroidery, engraving, and screenprinting services.  There are examples of their handiwork all over the store.  On the more practical gift giving side, they have very nice selections of items for weddings, new babies, and young children.  My favorite really was the elephant shaped piggy bank.

Continuing with the animal theme, I accidently stumbled on a pet bling store named Treats Unleashed.  In addition to a variety of organic foods and expensive toys, Treats Unleashed sells fresh store-baked dog biscuits.  If I had a dog to spoil, I would be one of their most regular customers- even if it is a bit longer of a drive than I would normally make for regular errands.  The biscuits looked and smelled delicious.  The only reason I knew they weren’t people cookies is that they were being sold in a pet supply store. 

My next stop, and by far the best for my personal interest, was a yarn store called the Kirkwood Knittery.  As yarn shops go, it is one of the smaller that I have been in, but it packs a powerful punch, and I subsequently added another fifty bucks to the local economy.  The selection of yarns is diverse, but there weren’t any yarns that I couldn’t imagine using because the texture was wrong or the colors were bad.  Just the opposite, I was imagining how fun some of them would be to play with.  The gal running the shop was very friendly and helpful.  She left me alone to browse when I came in and helped me to figure out if a yarn that I had picked up was a good substitute for one used in a scarf in the shop.   Apparently, one of the owners is a very active designer, and many of the patterns for display items are free with purchase of yarn- so I even got a new pattern out of the deal.

 

After a hard day of shopping, I sat down and worked a few rows on my new scarf.  I guess that this means that I am now settled into my new home, as I have one knitting project sitting unfinished in my yarn bag while my next one is already in progress.  The knitting shop has a weekly get together for knitters; perhaps I should take my project bag and join them until the new class schedule comes out…

The Cat's Meow:  http://www.catsmeowpersonalized.com/

Treats Unleashed:  http://www.treats-unleashed.com/

The Kirkwood Knittery:  http://www.kirkwoodknittery.com