A Visit to the Yarn Basket

Hopped into the Yarn Basket in Annapolis, MD yesterday. (www.yarnbasketmaryland.com) 

It's a pretty little shop, on the small side. The yarns are organized by color - very pretty, but can make getting four of the same yarn in different colorways more challenging than I'm used to. The owner is friendly and knows her stuff, and, like me, is an escapee from the business world.

The shop models are GORGEOUS, and for sale if you want to buy. (I almost got the Phoenix Wing.) Regular Hiya Hiya circs and Brittany hooks (and a small notions assortment) are in a side nook. 

She offers finishing services to customers (blocking, sweater assembly), and small repairs. Reasonable requests only - bringing in three bags of half-finished sweaters - NO. 

On to what I bought!

My mom gave me some cash in case I spotted something she'd like. I got two colorways of EuroBaby Maypole for ponchalettes: 

Then, there was a colorways of Olympia we don't have, so yay, another hat for me:

I don't know why we didn't get this, I may special-order a bag.

Then... Fox Paws. As it turns out, I was using two different weights of yarn in my first attempt. The first repeat went ok... the second, not so much.  So I totally has to buy yarn. The Viking Nordlys came in 5 colors, 4 of which will be Fox Paws.

It's a nice little single-spun, pleasant to work with, and the color changes should make a pretty thing. I'm doing the full 121-st cast on this time, fingers crossed!

So, if you're in Annapolis, it's worth dropping by the Yarn Basket! 

And now, the yarn...

Here's a bunch of photos of all the yarn I got, with the exception of some HPKY from Nature's Yarns and some blue/green fuzzy stuff from Uniquities, both which will shortly appear in projects. Because now that I have all this yarn, I really need to use it!!





















Photo explanations:

Top - Day One haul, 6 stores visited. Owl shawl pin, safety eyes, magazine, calendar, pen and crochet thread from Yarn Cloud. Elvgren buttons from Looped. Patterns & cloth from In Stitches. Needles & cute pins from Second Story Knits. Stitch markers from Wool Winders.

Photos 2-7, yarn obtained from: Aylin's; Aylin's; Looped; Fibre Space; Uniquities; Uniquities; Nature's Yarns

#8 - already showed you this one, the haul from Second Story Knits

Bottom - the aftermath of getting all this yarn wound.

That's it for this year's Metro Yarn Crawl. If you're local, you really need to do it next year, it's lots of fun!

Uniquities & Aylin's Woolgatherer

I have NO idea why I keep forgetting to get pics of Uniquities (http://uniquitiesyarnshop.com/) when I'm there. I was there THREE TIMES during the crawl, and I bought stuff each time, and my only defense is "yarn fumes". Anyway, they're located in Vienna on Church Street, and worth a visit. There's also a Yarn Retreat on Solomon's Island in late October, signups open now...

I did remember to snap pics at Aylin's Woolgatherer (http://aylins-wool.com/) in Falls Church. Extra bonus: Mom won the door prize!



So, of the 12 yarn stores participating in the Metro Yarn Crawl, I managed to get to nine of them!

(Oh look, all the shop addresses and times for future reference...!)

Nature's Yarns

Stop #7 was Nature's Yarns. Y'all should stop by sometime, it's open knit/crochet/stitch/tat/whatever whenever the shop is open.



I think I can safely say I get most of my yarn here....

In Stitches

In Stitches does have yarn... but it also has canvas, and a LOT of cross stitch. This is the place I hit each year after my annual trip to see the Woodlawn Needlework Exhibit (March 1-31 each year - they tried it in May one time, and everyone got confused, so it's back to March). I got some patterns and cloth this trip, no knitting stuff. But it's worth a visit if you do any of the three crafts!

Yarn Cloud!

Stop #5 was Yarn Cloud in Old Town Occoquan (http://www.yarncloud.com/). This store used to be in Woodbridge; it has moved!! If you move fast, you may still be able to get your paws on the 2015 Men in Knits calendar, they have a few left...!



I realize I'm not really going into detail about the shops; this is mostly so I remember where I went, and so you can see the insides. They're *all* lovely, and I hope to visit them all again!

Fibre Space!

Stop #4 was Fibre Space, in its "new" King Street location. (It's been there for a while, but it used to be up around the corner on Lafayette.) I got some Fiberists yarn here (there's a lot of yarn involved. There will be a post at the end of the crawl so you can see all the yarn. Yes, I remembered to take photos of the tags so you can actually see what it all is!)

Anyway, Fibre Space:



I need to add that there is now a candy store across King Street. You should check it out, too!

Stop #3: Looped Yarn Works

The third Metro Yarn Crawl stop turned out to be Looped Yarn Works (http://loopedyarnworks.com/) just north of Dupont Circle in Washington, DC. I always find interesting stuff here. This time, it was some color-changing Abracadabra yarn and some cute Elvgren buttons.

Wool Winders

Stop #2 of the Metro Yarn Crawl was Wool Winders in Rockville, MD (www.woolwinders.com), which is a brisk walk from the Shady Grove Metro Station. (I didn't walk. I took a cab, and by some miracle otherwise known as my mother's park-ma (like karma, but with parking), the driver was able to park right in front of the store!).

I got some cute peacock colored stitch markers here.