Oh yes, indeed. Located in Cawker City, Kansas, the ball of twine was on the trip checklist from the beginning. When Trev said he found this when planning our route, either he said or I heard ‘ball of string’ and that you can add to it. The second part was right but the first part was wrong, though I didn’t realize that until researching how to visit it. Being a spinner and having a close friend that crochets and also loves kitsch, I wound off some handspun yarn and she provided me with a sample of a favorite yarn. I tucked these into our glove box hoping to add it on.
As I researched how to arrange a visit, it was clear this was twine only. This world-record thing is no joke. As such, if you want to add onto it, thus cementing your place in twine ball history, a volunteer must meet you there to provide some twine and be able to calculate how much you’ve added. At this point, they are going by weight, and Linda, the wonderful woman who met us there weighs the spools so when done she can calculate how much more length (by weight) increases it size. Both Trev and I took a turn, honestly because Linda wouldn’t hear of Trev not also doing it.
Not to be totally thwarted at adding the yarn I brought, I asked and she said no problem. You don’t add it in length, but simply are allowed to tie a small bit onto the strand you wound. You can see the two strands as blue-ish fringe. I really like to think my personal handspun will disappear into the bowels of the twine ball as more people add on. Kinda nice, too, to know my dear friend and I are forever enshrined, in a sense, together.
We thought this was going to be a quick stop. Uh, yeah, no. But that wasn’t a bad thing. Linda was born and raised a town over and has lived in this part of Kansas, and for the past many years in Cawker City. She is the best ambassador for the town and the ball of twine. Happy to tell us about it and answer our questions about the area such as Waconda Springs (look it up!) and local crops. She also pointed out the old garage across the street where you can stay, info on other buildings in town, and her recommendation with high marks for the coffee shop across the street.
Given we left Manhattan quite early, Cawker City Coffee was absolutely where we headed next. Trev had learned there is a locally famous pastry, called Bierocks. A savory pastry much like the hunter rolls he grew up with, yet these are connected to Volga Germans and filled with meat, cabbage and onion. Linda had also recommended the cinnamon rolls and chicken salad, so we loaded up on items for lunch, eating our Bierocks and having our very good Cappuccinos there. Great stop and great food. Moving on.
