Smoky Mountain Spinnery and the Salt & Pepper Shaker Museum

Naturally, I looked up yarn shops before going on vacation in Tennessee. You know, like you do. The only yarn shop near where we were staying was Smoky Mountain Spinnery. 

It's a lovely shop. A woman runs that shop, and her husband runs the Smoky Mountain Angler. There's an open doorway between them, and as I was wandering around the yarn shop I stumbled through a doorway and, surrounded by fishing jackets, I thought, "This is not my people anymore." It was slightly disorienting, but I love that this couple can work so closely together with their different interests.

I didn't buy yarn at the Spinnery.

I know.

I couldn't find yarn I wanted. It wasn't because they didn't have lovely yarn. They did. The only reason I can come up with is that it was so humid that I was hot, miserable, and sweaty when I arrived at the store. My hands convinced my brain that I would never, ever want to hold yarn again. My hands, of course, are big fat liars.

That didn't stop me from supporting them though. I bought two bars of handmade soap, Colombia Coffee and Sandalwood Vanilla. They smell so good I don't want to use them because them they'd be gone. I just want to sniff them in their brown paper wrappers forever. 

I bought a set of dpns I needed to complete a hat I was working on.*


And I bought this:

It's a black sheep tape measure. Feel free to take a minute to adjust to the adorableness. 


The Smokey Mountain Spinnery shared a parking lot with the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum.


Yep, you read that correctly.


My favorite set was this one:

It was in a giant case filled with every vegetable you can imagine. 

The museum was fascinating. I would think, "Huh, there's a toilet s & p set." Then, "Huh. There are forty toilet s & p sets." It was like that with every object. Presidents, states, light bulbs, food, cartoon characters, and on and on. Fascinating and awesome way to spend $3.

If you ever find yourself in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, I highly recommend that you eat pancakes at Flapjacks, then walk to the Salt and Pepper Museum and the Spinnery. You won't be disappointed.

*I brought the circular needle I needed for the hat, but not the dpns for when the decreases made the hat too small for the circular. Rookie packing mistake.