04/01/2026
For years I worked in the library and bookselling world.
Often, patrons or customers asked me for help -- help finding THE book, the one whose title they couldn't recall.
"But, I remember the book is blue..." they'd add.
Sometimes they new the author's name, details about the cover art, the genre, or even the premise.
But sometimes all I got was "It's blue."
Last weekend I did this, or a version of this, at my local yarn shop.
"I am looking for yarn. Blue yarn," I explained. "Blue, for my daughter, who is very particular."
I pulled a small ball of ancient baby blue acrylic from my pocket.
The clerk was so kind and helpful, guiding me around the shop. We held my little ball of blue yarn up to dozens of other blues, gently judging their undertones, holding them in different lights.
She took the simple request for blue yarn "like this one" and pried more information from me - this thickness, that material, not that light, not that bright - and I walked away with THE yarn!
On the way home I laughed, remembering all of the Blue Book requests I had received, many of which I successfully helped the eager readers to locate. The joy we all felt when we landed on the right book never got old.
Thank you, Sara(h?) at Woven Art Yarn Shop, for finding my blue yarn, which was indeed exactly the right choice.