Yarn Traveler

After much hard work (mostly on Matt’s part), and much whining (mostly on my part) KnitMap is ready for its debut beta launch. If you are so excited and just can wait, click here to find yarn stores right now!

What is KnitMap?
KnitMap is a Yarn Store finder. It’s a site that catalogues and maps the locations of retail shops that sell yarn, knitting supplies and knitting accessories. You can search to find these locations in the US, Canada, UK and most of Europe. Once you’ve found a shop, you can rate it’s attributes, leave comments, upload photos, and add it to your Favorites.

What you can do to help!
We need users to test the site, add stores, leave comments, and especially add store details. We are looking for store hours, phone numbers, if they have wifi, if they carry other crafts, etc. No one knows their local yarn store like a local! While I would like nothing more than to travel the world entering store details and reviews, I just can’t get to them all!

What’s in it for you?
Your efforts will be rewarded with knowledge that you contributed to making this site a useful and valuable tool for the knitting community! Okay, okay…there will be prizes too! We are going to be holding contests for things like:

• Most stores added; and
• Most updates (hours, comments, photos, etc.) added.

Details will be appearing shortly on the KnitMap home page. Rest assured that the prizes will be of the knitterly variety!

What are you waiting for? Go check out KnitMap!

Filed under: KnitMap on September 2nd, 2007 | 1 Comment »

New and in-stock!

It still has that new monkey smell. The bags will be available soon from this site and at Twisted.

Filed under: Bags on August 10th, 2007 | No Comments »

I have added a page here with info about my Yarn Traveler bags. I’m in the process of building a store front (and inventory) for the site, but this will help you order in the mean time.

Feel free to send me an email if you have requests, questions, testimonials, cute pictures of kitties…I’ll be happy to hear from you.

Filed under: Bags on August 5th, 2007 | No Comments »

And it would be an O. For OMG! Vanna’s Choice from Lion Brand. O for oh how I wish I were kidding.

 Worsted weight, 100% acrylic. According to the website, “The yarn, featuring Vanna White on the label, comes in 23 exquisite colors and 5 prints that all work together.”

I just never really got into the Wheel of Fortune, I’m more of a Jeopardy girl (we even saw a taping while we were in LA last week). I would buy some some Alex brand yarn in a heartbeat, but Vanna? Not so much.

Filed under: Yarn on July 31st, 2007 | 2 Comments »

Somehow the rest of our little road trip sped up and got away from me. Next thing I knew we were home and I was way behind posting…

After a brief stop for lunch and yarn in Sacramento, we headed to San Francisco for the night. We seem to end up in San Francisco a lot, and we’ve already done most of the usual touristy things around town, although we’ve visted very few yarn stores. Last time we were there, I went to Artfibers for the first time.

Artfibers is different in that they make all of the yarn that they sell in their shop; the colors are lush and luminous, the yarns are textured and interesting. They even have a small lounge area where they encourage you to try out any of the yarns that catch your fancy. They call it yarntasting. You’ll have to excuse my less than stellar photography skills, but no matter how I tried I couldn’t capture the deep, rich colors and the textures. Top left: Golden Chai (color #101) 100% Golden Tussah Silk. Middle right: Shizen (color #12) 75% Silk / 25% Super Kid Mohair. Bottom left: Sherlock (color #10) 70% Extrafine Merino Wool / 30% Silk. Artfibers, while always worth a visit, is a little hard on the pocket book, so I checked out Imagiknit this trip.

I really liked the Imagiknit store with its two very large rooms, fun and friendly staff, and variety of yarn brands. Its a comfortable jumble of knitted samples, books, and kits. I picked up two skeins of Koigu KPM in a lovely dark chocolatey brown colorway to make some socks for Matt. I would have liked to sit and knit for a while, but Santa Barbara was calling…

Artfibers
124 Sutter St.
San Francisco, CA 94104

Imagiknit
3897 18th St.
San Francisco, CA 94114

Filed under: Yarn Store Reviews, California Stores on July 29th, 2007 | No Comments »

1. Sacramento has more palm trees. I like palm trees.
2. The streets in downtown Sacramento are on a grid of consecutively numbered streets and letters making it very easy for the newcomer to navigate. Although, I must say that the Maps/Directions feature on the iPhone means we’re rocking each and every city we come to. Best travel tool EVER!
3. Sacramento has at least one yarn store open on Sunday.

Rumpelstiltskin
1021 R Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

Rumplestiltskin is a small, but well stocked store (much larger selection than is listed on the website) inside a larger building that also houses the Fox & Goose Pub (breakfast all day on the weekends! I had waffles for lunch), and a few other specilty stores. What really struck me were the exceptionally reasonable prices for good quality yarn. It seemed to me that majority of the skeins were in the $6 to $9 range (Cascade 220, 100 gram hank for $6.60). They also had a small selection of roving, drop spindles, and some weaving supplies.

I only bought a little bit; its early in the trip yet. Pictured left to right: Di.Ve Teseo (53% Wool/47% Micro Fiber) destined for scarf for me, I can’t get enough of the red/orange colorways; Grignasco Top Print (100 % Alpaca) maybe for a lacy, leaf patterned scarf; and Knit One Crochet Too Soxx Appeal (96% Superwash Merino Wool/3% Nylon/1% Elastic) for a cute little pair of footie anklet socks.

Filed under: California Stores on July 24th, 2007 | No Comments »

…and the lady is a tramp.

I am not a lucky person in general. Oh, I’m lucky in the great house, good job, wonderful boyfriend, “at least you’ve got your heath” kind of way. I’m just not lucky in the “I just found a twenty on the sidewalk” kind of way. My scratch off tickets always say “Sorry, better luck next time,” I rarely win coin tosses or rock-paper-scissors, and inevitably the grocery line I get in is always the slowest. I guess that’s why I’ve never been very excited about Las Vegas or Reno. It’s a pretty slim chance that one of those slot machines is going to pay out for me. At least I thought that a yarn store would be a sure bet. How can you lose at yarn?

Well, let me tell you how…we rolled into Reno Saturday night, just after the two shops on my list had closed. A quick check of the internet also told me that they were both closed on Sunday; the only day we’d be in Reno this trip.

Lady Luck: 2, Me: 0. Sorry, better luck next time.

Jimmy Beans Wool
5000 Smithridge Drive #A11
Reno, NV 89502

Deluxe Yarns, Etc.
http://www.deluxeyarns.com/
38 Vassar
Reno NV 89502

Filed under: Yarn Store Reviews on July 22nd, 2007 | 2 Comments »

My most favorite fiber in the whole wide world is alpaca. I one day hope to have a room that is filled floor to ceiling with hanks and hanks of alpaca (kind of like a giant ball pit, but squishier!) and I will just roll around all day giggling. What? That’s not weird or anything…its good to have goals!

Seeing as I am still in the grips of my sock-knitting obsession, I was very excited when I came across this and this post by WendyKnits. Its Alpaca Sox by Classic Elite Yarns; 60% alpaca, 20% merino wool, and 20% nylon available in 18 colorways and 12 solids. The Classic Elite site says that its “coming soon” and Wendy says August, which would be perfect for birthday presents (you know, if anyone was stumped for ideas for what to get me). The russet red has my name all over it!

Filed under: Yarn on July 18th, 2007 | No Comments »

I don’t know how anyone can be expected to spend an afternoon on the computer when the weather is so nice, they just got their super hot bike back from the shop, and a brand new iPhone in their hot little hands. Okay so maybe the iPhone is the biggest reason I am at the computer today. There’s music to add, calendars to sync…

In the meantime, it seems like a good opportuity to update the ol’ blog with the latest and greatest. And, by latest and greatest I mean Twisted. Twisted is the newest yarn store in Portland, and my new favorite. Truly a yarn store to call my very own LYS.

The shop is beautiful and comfortable, the selection is varied and extensive, and it’s run by two wonderfully friendly ladies, Shannon and Emily. As if that wasn’t enough to pique your interest, they have agreed to let me sell my little homemade project bags in their shop.

Right now I have a medium project bag (just the perfect size to carry around a sock-in-progress) and a small bag that I like to use for notions and other random tools in my larger knitting bag at home. They are all made out of oilcloth or poly-coated cloth to make them weather/coffee/spill resistant and easy to clean. They come in a variety of colors and patterns, but so far, everyone’s favorite is the sock monkey.

(By the way, these photos were taken with the camera on my new iPhone. Not bad for phone-camera photos!)

In other news, boyfriend Matt and his partner Jason have been working fast and furiously on Level 2 of Unthirsty. I have been assured that as soon that launches, my “Super Secret Project” is next in line, and its gonna be good one! More info soon I promise!

Filed under: Portland Stores, Bags on July 7th, 2007 | No Comments »

I am a planner, an organizer, and an avid list maker. I also love to travel, and anyone who has traveled knows that the best travel experiences aren’t planned and don’t come from a list despite your best intentions. I am learning, slowly, that the best trips leave room for the unplanned, the spontaneous, and the unexpected. My pre-planning checklist has evolved from a scheduled itinerary of must-see attractions, to a backup list of suggested destinations (should fate leave us with some extra time on our hands). The way I see it, if you don’t cross something off this trip…you’ll get to it on the next. There should always be a next trip.

While planning a recent trip to London and Paris, it occurred to me to look up local yarn and knitting shops. As a regular knitter, I don’t know why this hadn’t occurred to me sooner! If I’m going to buy souvenirs, why not make yarn my souvenirs? This is so much better than dust collecting knick knacks! I can have a London scarf, or a Paris wrap, or a Berlin beer cozy…the possibilities are endless.

I made a list of a few stores in London that I wanted to visit (reviews to come shortly), and thought that I would “wing it” in Paris. Here’s what I learned:
* Searching for stores is a great way to get off the beaten path and see more of the city. You get off the main streets, and get a little lost, and end up finding some great things (even if you never find the yarn store).

* If you can’t find what you’re looking for, ask someone. Even if you don’t speak the language.

* Its helpful to have a list of knitting terms available in the local language.

* Its really helpful to have a list of stores to look for (the French phonebook is not my friend).

* Remember that the yarn store is just a destination. You’re here for the journey.

Filed under: Uncategorized on March 18th, 2007 | 1 Comment »