Every year there is a Yarn Crawl sponsored by 24 shops in Northwest Washington. I’ve never gone before, but decided to give it a try this year. I really only had an afternoon in which to accomplish this, but was able to make it to 8 shops – the minimum to be entered into the drawing. It was fun to see the different flavors of the shops. One specialized in funky, fun yarns, another in Shetland and other natural wools while several were all around great shops. Two of them stood out for me, and while I had no plans to purchase anything, temptation got the better of me, which did not surprise my husband at all!
The first shop is Knot Just Yarn. Wow! Lace knitting Mecca. They had a gorgeous selection of lace yarns and samples, along with many other beautiful yarns. Each shop featured a free pattern and offered yarn to go with it. This shop featured its own brand – Eweneek hand dyed yarn along with a pattern for a beaded shawlette. The yarn is a soft merino/nylon/bamboo blend. I chose the color Quicksilver with pewter beads:
The shop is pretty convenient in island terms. I do have to go to the mainland, but it’s in the same area of town as JoAnn’s, Michaels, the mall and Costco. I make a trip at least once a month there, so it would be easy to stop by and get tempted again!
The other shop that really appealed to me was Serial Knitters in Kirkland. I had heard a lot of buzz about this shop, and they did not disappoint! This is just a great all around shop. They are small, but packed with a wide selection of what I call workhorse yarns. Lots of Cascade 220 and tons of fingering weights to choose from. Their featured pattern was for a darling scarf and the recommended yarn was Periwinkle Sheep in the most gorgeous array of colors I have ever seen! Here’s what jumped in my basket:
Something else kind of jumped in my basket too. There was a gentleman knitting there and he had a Yarn Buddy holding his yarn. This was just what I have been looking for to keep my yarn from rolling all over. I don’t like pulling from the center because the yarn twists and with lace weight, the ball will collapse in on itself and make a royal mess. There was a wide selection in all kinds of beautiful woods and I chose this one out of Purple Heart. It spins on ball bearings and has made knitting off this slippery ball a breeze!
This particular yarn is Apple Tree Knits Stellar Lace Gradient. It has a high silk content and quite slippery, but beautiful to knit with. I was really worried about this ball exploding, but now it’s securely contained by the Yarn Buddy. I’m using this to knit Rose Window, another project with lots of beads. I seem to obsessed with them lately!
The weekend was not all knitting. My main reason for going down to the Seattle area was to spend time with family. On Saturday we took Isobel to the Space Needle and the Pacific Science center.
The hissing cockroaches were a big hit! Then on Sunday my sister treated me and Abby to a wonderful bruch cruise around Lake Washington and Lake Union:
All in all a successful weekend!
Posted with Blogsy
missouristar 
I also, went to 8 shops, all in Skagit and Whatcom county. The yarn for the project at Knot Just Yarn, and the project yarn from WildFibers, plus some Rowan sock yarn, a new sock yarn cam home with me.
Those are beautiful yarns, and I’m eager to see what you knit from them–especially the quicksilver and pewter beads. The item I’d most like to have is a yarn bowl because I like to ball up my own yarn (not use a winder). But when I think I might use those dollars for yarn instead, the yarn wins out.
Ugh. I can’t imagine touching a critter like that. Give me a warm-blooded furry or feathered animal any day.
Nice yarns. I still haven’t been on the Great Rhody Yarn Crawl, which had its 3rd anniversary in April. Something else always seems to come up, though this year my reason was that I shopped the Webs annual sale.
You look great in the vest!
No way would I touch one of those cockroaches! There was a teacher who had them as pets in his classroom. It always gave me the creeps going in there.
Good haul! I have a yarn bowl that I rarely use, I might have to haul it out and give it a try.
And thanks for linking to the yarn shops, I think. Some yarn from Knot Just Yarn might be on its way to my house.