Thursday, November 16, 2006

Love This Shop


The little store to visit in this neck of the woods is called The Knotty Shop. We passed it on the Richardson Highway on our way to Eielson when we moved here in September, but had not gone back to have a look, so on Tuesday I decided to surprise Bren and drove her to the store after picking her up from school.

As soon as I walked in the door I wanted to stay for the winter. The lighting, wood, and vaulted ceilings provided a rustic feel with an amber glow, my eyes were drawn to different focal points in the store by miniature lamps. Country music was playing and the slight aroma of coffee had me looking around for the source. In the corner to the right there was a snackbar where you could buy ice cream, drinks, and pick up a complimentary coffee, which I did.

The shelves were full of Alaskan-themed pottery, carved wood items such as mugs, bowls, and walking sticks; beaded bags and jewelry; authentic animal skins (complete with intact claws). There were beautifully painted pans (for panning for gold) and saw blades, tapestries, big animals and Santas carved from logs; a children's section carried an array of plush stuffed wild animals, pillows, toys, and books. In the back of the store was a very large display of stuffed animals that used to be very much alive, and quite an array of animal skins. Oh, and let's not forget to mention the t-shirts and winter jackets.


Bren loved the shop, but didn't seem to be as smitten with it as I was. I kept wishing my mom was there to ooooooo and ahhhhhhh with me.

I ended up buying a bear pillow for my nephew, and a small tapestry. Bren bought a silver and gold snowflake pendant for her silver chain.

I will have to go back to the shop alone sometime just to spend more time looking at all the beautiful things there. I'm not much of a shopper, but I really enjoyed the trip.



Mucho apologies for the multiple posts to those reading on Bloglines. I'm not very good at arranging photos yet

7 comments:

CereneOne said...

I want to hang out there with you!

I found this, but I had to "search" the site for it. Odd, usually my bookmark goes straight to the newest entry...

Anonymous said...

Hi Donna, We have something similar to this store here in Palmer. My friends and I call it the yellow house -- we're going tomorrow as a matter of fact to do some early xmas shopping. You can't miss it. It's on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway just outside of Palmer. You should stop by if you're ever down this way. Are you going to do some road trips this summer?

Shelby said...

looks like my kinda place to visit.. very interesting!

elizabeth said...

its so funny that i found you're blog b/c i am currently wearing my hubby's {old and very tattered} eielson a.f.b. tshirt from back when my hubby was stationed there {pre-me}.

boy does he loooove alaska. if i said yes right now, we'd be there in a heartbeat.

great blog :)

Unknown said...

jqjNice to see a fellow Alaskan.

Unknown said...

Link was broken: http://anthonylemobns.blogspot.com

Donna said...

Molly, If I'm down that way, I sure will stop by. Plan on taking as many road trips as possible this summer!

Oregon, thanks for visiting!

Elizabeth, why would you NOT say yes? This place is great! Cold, but great :)

Anthony, Got another link? That URL is bad.