Yarn Shop Hoppin'

Just in case I haven't mentioned this often enough yet, the SLC knitting scene rocks! The latest and greatest that our local yarn shops are doing is to host a one-week "Wasatch Front Yarn Shop Hop." Just think: seven yarn stores, two free patterns per store inspired by favorite movies and/or books, and a prize drawing at the end.

Not knowing any of the yarn shops but my beloved around-the-corner, greatest knitting community EVAH, Blazing Needles, I hopped to two stores yesterday, despite a 60% chance of heavy snowfalls. In sunny weather I arrived at the Black Sheep Wool Company, very conveniently located in downtown Salt Lake, just a few blocks from the Temple (i.e., should you visit SLC for touristy stuff, you're really close to this LYS):

This is quite a lovely yarn shop, with a large, open browsing and shopping area and an adjacent room for classes. There's some sock and baby yarn, but mostly the store seems to feature heavier, sweater-worthy yarns. There's lots of Berroco, Rowan, Cascade, Debbie Bliss, and Sublime, and yarns of other companies, and the store carries a large selection of pattern booklets (which makes me happy--I love pattern booklets).

Then there were a few dress forms wearing Miriam Felton designs. Yay--a trunk show! So I asked, is Ms. Felton coming to the store anytime soon? Em..., the saleswoman said..., Miriam works here. Really?? Really.

That just blew me away. I mean, the Icarus Shawl was one of my very early projects, and since then I've collected many of Miriam Felton's designs. I love her stuff! She's frequently teaching classes at the store, and blimme, I'm signing up for one.

(Do I feel stupid for not having known that Miriam Felton is a local? No more so than when I discovered that Susan Lawrence spends a lot of her time at Blazing Needles...)

By the time I made it to The Wool Cabin, the clouds had gotten seriously dark, and the temperature had dropped by 10 degrees:

The Wool Cabin is a large store, with a separate room full of comfy chairs for knitting groups (in 2011 the store won the title of "Best Social Knitworking"). The store had been described to me as a store for "Mormon grandmas" (said without any judgment, by a man Mormon himself), and sure enough, the store is very baby-oriented: lots of cotton and acrylic blends in pastel shades, samples of baby patterns are everywhere, every available baby pattern collection is in stock (or so it seemed). There's Debbie Bliss, Rowan, and Sublime again, but also some Madelinetosh and (very little) Lorna's Laces. My verdict: it's not my kind of store, but I'm glad it exists and serves its community well!

After two stores my baby-free time was up, and I went home. If all goes according to plan, I'll visit two more on Tuesday. I'll be sure to report back to you....

PS: The snow never came.