Wood You Still Love Me

Jarrah, bubinga, wenge, lacewood. They elicit the same response in Dick that merino, shetland, corriedale and cashmere do for me. Date day found us driving to San Diego (that's 150 miles. one way. 300 miles total. long trip.) to check out two new-to-us exotic hardwood stores. My spinning guru, Susie, told me about one that her husband loves; the second store Dick found in a woodworking magazine. No point in driving all that way just to see one store, right? That's the argument I'm using next time we go wool-stash shopping.

See the damp spots on the ground? Drool marks from when Dick got his first glimpse of this: This is the first of three warehouse-sized rooms full of exotic hardwood, perfect for woodturners. Huge pallets of ebony that they hadn't even had time to unpack. Most of the wood here is sold by the pound rather than the board-foot. That's a big deal to guys as wood crazy as hubby. Our haul? Tasmanian eucalyptus burl, Jarrah burl, and Tasmanian rose myrtle burl. All for $6 a pound.

Second stop was the shop recommended by Susie. It's in an art district in Solano Beach that we definitely want to revisit. Lunch at a nearby restaurant was incredible, and there are artists studios and antique stores galore. This place has a huge selection of hardwood - more board lumber than turning or carving pieces - but they also carry one of the largest collections of cabinet door hardware and drawer pulls that I've even seen. And imported furniture from Indonesia and Thailand; incredible, gorgeous, very expensive furniture.

Needless to say, we spent a lot of time here. I was good and didn't rush Dick through his selection process (remember that, dear, next time I go fiber shopping . . . . ). Truth be told, I love looking at exotic woods. Dick finally settled on purpleheart, yellowheart, ebony, quilted maple, bubinga, lacewood, paduak, zircote, satine bloodwood, and I don't remember what else.

Oh, and did I mention that most of this is destined to be made into custom crochet hooks, spinning wheel bobbins, and other toys for me and my buddies? Hooray!

AJ checking out the non-wool stash.