Yarn Crawl Report!

The yarn crawl was a ton of fun!!! No, 30 people did not show up. I think there were about 17 - I had nametags, but one or two people onky came to Purl and didn't take one, and 15 were used.

Anyway - to start at the beginning. I had friends over for dinner on Friday night, then we went to the bar.... Saturday morning I was exhausted and hung over! not good. but i finally managed to drag myself into the city. (Between the hangover and so many people, I have been really bad about names! So i won't label the pictures. I am sorry!! Anyway - anyone who came is more than welcome to put in their two cents in the comments!)

I got a call from Jessica (who went to high school with me - and was on the same train but a different car!) and we went down to Purl. It is such a cute shop!! Joelle is one of the owners, and she is great! she opened the shop JUST for us! (Good thing since it was small... and good thing 30 people didn't show up!)

Purl is small, but really covers a lot of variety of yarns. Joelle was great about helping you pick out yarns for a pattern. (I got some red mohair and a pattern for a shawl, hopefully it will match the bridesmaid dress for one of my fall weddings that I am in! I am not good at remembering prices and comparing, but I'll post my prices here in case anyone else wants to know! the mohair is Rowan Kidsilk Haze, $13.50 each, and the pattern is Fiber Trends Baltic Sea Stole for $5.00. Photos at bottom.)

After a bite to eat at "Once upon a tart" (next to Purl) to settle my stomach, we went to Seaport Yarns. This started a trend of stores that are not store fronts. in fact, once you are buzzed in and go up the elevator, you actually go IN an office! The yarns are spread everywhere, in the hallway and rooms. Andrea is the owner who helped us and she was great. From what I have seen in NY, I can back up her statement that they have the best variety of yarns in the city!! I can't think of anything that wasn't there!

I got some of that sari recycled silk ($23.50), Blue Heron dark sandstone rayon flake (1500 yds in 1 skein!!!! $20.00), an oriental bag to carry stuff ($16), 6 skeins of Ellyn Cooper's Yarn Sonnets - Canasta (cotton) in Jewel Tones ($10.00 each), and a small pattern book of Adrienne Vittadini patterns ($10.00). (the cotton is to make a top in the book similar in construction to Knitty.com's "The Cherries".)

If you are shopping in NY for yarn, I say you cannot miss this place!!!

Next stop was School Products - where we had the added bonus of meeting Lily Chin, talking shop with her, and getting autographed books! Several of us are making the crocheted stole on the cover of her new book, "Knit and Crochet with Beads" - which uses only one skein of mohair. School Products is definately the spot to be if you either machine knit or make lots of aran sweaters - they have great wools and other yarns available in bulk. If you want more "novelty" yarns, there is more of a selection at Seaport or the smaller shops. We had less customer service there, but it may be because they were really busy. They were very friendly, just not as availble for advice on projects. Maybe when they do not have a guest like Lily it's quieter.

I got Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Knitting without Tears" ($16), Lily's book ($21.95, autographed!), and three skeins of mohair ($15.95, minus 10% for the sale they just started (20% off cones!))

(I'm in blue on the far right! Lily is in the middle row, second from the left - in a green sweater)

Next was Yarn Connection. I was so beat that I actually spent more time sitting on the stairs in the hallway, but I did go in and look around. Besides the basics and novelty yarns, there was a lot of embroidery floss and other yarns that I gues are used in crewelwork and things like that. I think they also had nice buttons and findings. The owner was very nice, but for me I probably wouldn't be interested in going back there. I didn't get anything (feeling broke after all my earlier purchases!! ;o)

After considerable debate (I was thinking of throwing in the towel myself), we decided to skip Knit NY (which from what we have all heard - is better for atmosphere than shopping) and went to Downtown Yarns. The only other real store front, this was a great little shop!! they really had a nice selection and they were very helpful as well. (They gave our group 10% discount, which was very nice!!)

I bought a pattern (Fiesta Yarns Butterfly Shawl, $4.50) - which I may use for the blue heron yarn (although i'd have to double or triple the strands... I have to swatch it. Regardless, I like the pattern a lot.)

Basically - for myself anyway, and the kind of knitting I do, I will definately be back to Seaport a lot!!!! I really enjoyed Purl and Downtown yarns, and I would go there in the future if I am in the area, but they seem fairly comparable to my LYS (Accents on Knits in Morristown NJ). School Products would only be if I hade a special project in mind, like a wool sweater or an afghan. (I am working on my first sweater, with the second one being the yarn I got at Seaport for a summer top. I am not sure if i like making sweaters yet! Being larger sizes, I have to modify patterns, and they take much longer. And while I am trying to lose weight, I don't want to make something if I change sizes. So we'll see!)

Here are the photos of my stash!

OK - well thanks for reading if you got this far. Thanks everyone who came to the yarn crawl! Sorry I can't remember names, but please post in comments or email me so we can stay in touch! I had a blast, and just wish I had more energy! Maybe next time!

Comments

[Coleen Malc]

Hi Katie..I had such a great day on Saturday...it was sooooooooo much fun going store to store. I really liked your reviews..I agree on Seaport..it really is a find! Thanks for organizing such a successful day!

[Rachael]

Oh my gosh! It looks like you DID have a great time! I'm so sorry I missed it....

[liz]

Congrats on what looks like a successful and fun trip! :)

[athena]

hey, katie! thanks so much for organizing this. i had a great time despite not being able to buy anything. it was great to get the "lay of the land" and now know where i'm going to shop for what. i and a few other crawlers went to knit ny and while it was larger than i had expected (so many people had said it was small), i have to agree, it was more about the atmosphere. but a nice place with nice yarn and a really cool lace stole that i will go back and buy the pattern for.

for the pictures: the picture below the group/lily chin photo is of me on the right and fellow yarrrn pirate, eileen. we are both from the jersey side and students of annie modesitt's. :-)

[Sharon]

I knew you would love Seaport!! How could you not? Katie, what about Knit NY next week (Saturday the 22nd.) I'll be hanging out there from 1:00ish till whenever. I'd love to meet you.

[Susan]

Oh, what a great haul!! I just may need to make a 2,000-mile trip to NYC.

[Beverly Bragin]

so sorry i couldn't come on that trip but i had been to seaport the week before and i shopped at purl on the internet. i have been to the other shops you went to and i must say you gave a wonderful report on all of them. it was a joy to see your pictures and i doubt i could have kept up to you gals (maybe 2 stores at the most) being i am old enough to be your grannies. thanks so much for letting me know where to find your blog. you look like a great group so "knit on".

[Beverly Bragin]

so sorry i couldn't come on that trip but i had been to seaport the week before and i shopped at purl on the internet. i have been to the other shops you went to and i must say you gave a wonderful report on all of them. it was a joy to see your pictures and i doubt i could have kept up to you gals (maybe 2 stores at the most) being i am old enough to be your grannies. thanks so much for letting me know where to find your blog. you look like a great group so "knit on".