It used to be Cafe Boba, named for the tapioca beads patrons happily slurped up through the extra-wide straws through which they enjoyed their “pearl teas.”

Then it was Cafe Bravo, a wi-fi hot-spot serving fair trade coffee along with the pearl teas. Their couches would eat you alive and maybe spit you out again after a 50-year nap.

Then it was Bliss, taking its name from the local organic ice cream added to the menu. The couches went away, but lavender-honey ice cream more than made up for that.

Now? It’s the Purl Knit Cafe.

It’s still got Bliss ice cream, fair trade coffee, chocolate tidbits in the cooler, soups, Udi sandwiches, pearl “purl”* tea… but now it also has yarn. Lots and lots of high-end yarn. Sock yarn and sport yarn and bulky weight, oh my. Stuff you will not find anywhere else in Boulder (a conscious effort on the part of the founder to avoid stealing business from Shuttles Spindles & Skeins, according to the above-linked Daily Camera article). There’s a ball winder in the corner by the cash register so they can roll up the loose skeins. Also, there’s a spin-tree display of every size or style of knitting needle you could possibly want. And we’re not talking a Jo Ann’s size selection of nasty aluminum spikes. We’re talking a full spectrum of Crystal Palace bamboo double-pointers and Addi-turbo circulars.

*(It’s a knitting pun. Geddit?)

They’ve still got wi-fi, too. Wi-fi that even my husband’s Windows Vista laptop will consent to connect to. If you’ve got a Windows Vista laptop and have ever tried to reach the Internets at the Boulder IHOP, you know what I’m talking about. (And if you have and you don’t, email me. I wanna know how you’ve got that machine set up. The Vista wi-fi problem is driving my husband up the wall. It severely limits the places he and I can go out for coffee, tea, and Puzzle Pirates.)

Squee! Wi-fi and caffeinated beverages and knitting. If it weren’t for closing hours, I might never go home.

So I’m here on a Wednesday night because that’s when the knit-in happens. I’ve bought a couple skeins of Lana Grossa’s “Cambio” in bright orange, I’ve pulled out a set of #2 dps, I’ve had a bowl of the chicken tomatillo tortilla soup, and I’m ready to cast on.

[Pearl Knit Cafe in the Water Street Plaza, 2425 Canyon, between 28th and Folsom. Summer hours: 8 AM – 7 PM M-Th, 8 AM – 9 PM Fri, 9 AM to 9 PM Sat, 10 AM – 6 PM Sun. Wednesdays feature an after-hours knit-in. Stop by cafe for knitting class shcedule.]