San Diego Yarn Crawl (part 2)

Ok guys, here is my precious SD Yarn Crawl catch:

1. Frog Tree's Meriboo (70% merino, 30% bamboo). I had used  Frog Tree's sock yarn and was pretty impressed with quality, but not the yardage. 275 yards for 3.5 ounces were too little for my sock project. I had about 2'' piece of yarn left, which almost gave me a heart attack.

2. Curly cloud of Plymouth Yarn's Rainshadow.

3. I don't know why haven't paid attention to the Malabrigo Yarn before. Probably because I wasn't such a big fan of hand dyed yarn en masse. Well, now I am totally converted. This two babies exist just only on the picture - I already knitted a couple of hats out of them.

4. Tahki's Lana - Italian organic merino. Nice body and beautiful subtle hue of beige.

5. Berroco's Folio - alpaca/rayon blend. Marked as sport, but feels more like fingering to me. Irresistible denim color and generous yardage.

6. Nice and heavy Araucania's Toconao (100% merino) should look incredible in cable knits.

7. Chunky alpaca/bamboo in airy chainette: Plymouth Yarn's Chalet.

8. And this is incredible Baah Yarn's La Jolla. It was almost impossible to choose one skein but I did it!

9. Another Berroco's yarn - Lustra. I wanted to try this one on for some time and now I'm going to.

10. Scrumptious Spud & Chloe wool/cotton mix. Lovely natural colors and great stitch definition.

11. Another alpaca! Plymouth Yarn's Alpaca Prima – soft and squishy.

12. Alpaca/wool/silk blend. I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone with this color. 

13. The Simpler Time Alpaca Farm finds. Left tweedy one is luxurious baby alpaca/angora blend.

14. I bought a bunch of short (16'') circular needles. Needed some time to get used to them, but by the time I finished the first hat I loved them with all my hart. Speed is definitely improving.

15. Freebies!

And there is my lovely stash in all it's beauty:

San Diego Yarn Crawl 2014 (part 1)

Last weekend I finally had a perfect excuse to visit all the yarn shops in San Diego county - Yarn Crawl. This is self-guided tour of 9 SD yarn stores, two alpaca farms and one Yarn Truck. Between Pub Crawl and Yarn Crawl I will definitely choose the last one). I'm a yarn junkie, what can I do?

I printed out my passport and we drove to our first destination: the Simpler Times Alpaca Farm&Mill. 

Last mile to this farm was kind of scary. Really winding and narrow. But alpacas are so cute! They mooing and humming all the time rather tender. 

I didn't know that they being sheared only once a year, around springtime and all animals in on day! It should be very busy day, I suppose). The softest hair grows on alpaca's backs and shoulders called blanket and roughest one on legs and neck. There is always room for self-education!

Owner was kind enough to give us a tour and show her small yarn manufacture.

Then we went to La Mesa's Yarn&Thread Expressions. Shop was crowded with happy yarn lovers and their patient spouses.  











That day nearby Yarn&Thread Expressions another Crawl attraction was parked – Yarnover Truck. Just like food truck, but with yarn! This is great idea, but yarn selection is quite narrow, so I stamped my passport and moved on. 

Next destination – located in Chula Vista Yarn Store at Border Leathers. I do like them - a lot of yarn, a lot of leather and great customer service. And they had some food and cold drinks which was very thoughtful.

We had lunch in some Los Pollos Hermanos twin and hit the road.
San Diego has it's own South Park, where The Groove located – emporium for souvenirs, gifts, needlecraft, cookware and kitchen tools. They have just a humble yarn corner, but selection is good.























I found Spud&Chloe yarn, which I wanted to try for some time.

A bit of yarn bombing:

In Needlecraft Cottage I saw the most beautiful yarn, called "Baah yarn". It is a hand dyed yarn designed by local artist, who used to work in my favorite LYS. I couldn't leave without a skein of La Jolla. 

At the end of the day I got really overwhelmed and tired, but very happy.  

At friday first of all we went to Yarning for You - my favorite LYS with great selection of yarn and notions, but above all - with greatest people working there. I love them.

Then was a recently moved Common Thread, which owner graduated from famous Parsons New School for Design and beside running the store she's teaching fashion design in college. Store is so big that they're providing customers with a map!



















The last destination is  The Black Sheep, located in beautiful downtown Encinitas and it's in business for over 30 years.

















I really like their idea of yarn testing, when you can try different yarn and needles and make your own card.

And they had peanuts!


















Overall it was a great experience. Of course, I spent more money then I had to, but I bought a lot of beautiful yarn and can't wait to knit with it :)

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