Yarn Shop Crawl 2009: A Blogumentary

You didn't think that was all that I got while at Stitches, did you?

On Saturday, we took a break from the Stitches South classes/market and embarked on a local yarn shop crawl. If you look up local yarn shops in the Atlanta area, the list is rather daunting. My suggestion to you, should you decided to crawl, is to call each shop you plan on visiting. You'll save precious time by calling ahead for shop location and hours--some shops had extended hours because of Stitches.

The weather was perfect!


Liana took to the helm and guided us about town in style.


Stop 1: Strings and Strands
This was a nice little shop, but was a bit hard to find. She had a great selection in her sale bins and had some lovely custom yarn that appeared to be dyed/spun specially for her shop.


Stop 2: Only Ewe and Cotton Too!
The bonus here was that the yarn shop was also a bead shop. Two evils under one roof!


Purchase: Shibui sock yarn for socks from the "Knit 1 Below" book.
This shop also had a booth at the market. Even so, a couple skiens of ShiBui sock yarn reached out and grabbed ahold of me. What's a girl to do? This yarn is going to make KILLER socks!


Stop 3: LUNCH! Azio's
By this time we were all getting a bit hungry. We asked the guy at Only Ewe for a lunch recommendation and he directed us down the street to this little place. We never would have found it on our own. The food was inexpensive, plentiful and best of all, delicious! I recommend the pesto and penne. So good!


Stop 4: Cast On Cottage
After lunch we were energized once again and made our way to the Cast on Cottage. What an amazing shop! It really is a cottage. And it's not just yarn. They also carry needlepoint supplies. Walking around the shop made me weak! Every time I turned a corner there was another little room filled with fiber wonders. Heaven!


Stop 5: Knitch
I've found that you could have two yarn shops side by side (wouldn't that totally rock?) and they would be completely different. You'd think that after visiting 3 yarn shops that we would have seen it all. Au contraire. Knitch is more like a yarn boutique. It's tucked away in an alley and you could very well miss it if you're not paying attention. Just make sure you don't miss it! This yarn shop is an experience!


As I was walking around absorbing all the colors and textures, I heard the door open and the clicking of dainty toe nails on hard wood flooring. Could it be? Yarn shop dogs? Yep! Meet Tank and Olive! What an added bonus!


Purchase: Shepherd's wool for the February Lady Cardigan
Have you ever touched this yarn? For the love of everything wooly, go find some and rub on it! It's life-changing...well, that may be a bit of a stretch. It will, however, change how you feel about wool. Oh...and it's shockingly inexpensive. I don't recall what I paid, but it was very reasonable.


Purchase: Alpaca silk blend fiber
Since the Shepherd's wool was so reasonable, I couldn't resist snatching up a couple ounces of this to-die-for alpaca silk blend combed top. This is another good "rub on it" fiber. But what's not to love about alpaca and silk? Completely yummy. I have no idea what it will become after it becomes yarn, but I can guarantee that it will be soft enough to wear next to the skin. Undies, perhaps? (Ok, seriously, it's late, I'm getting punchy.)


Stop 6: Dinner at Pozole's
The kind folks at Knitch offered a couple suggestions for dinner and we voted for Mexican. We had no idea that we were in for "REAL" Mexican. Delicious! What a great spot to hang out. If I lived in that neighborhood, Pozole's would be my regular hang out. Good food, cold beer, great prices.


By the time we finished dinner we were pretty fried. It was a long, but fun day of exploring. We got back to the hotel, admired our purchases, and CRASHED! The day was a complete success.

Have I mentioned that Karen and I are meeting in Chicago for Stitches Midwest in September? What have I done?