Shop hop, day one. 18 September 2008
G'day all!
The day dawned sunny for the first day of the Peninsula to Pier Shop Hop 2008. 19 shops along the west Bay area down to Carmel by the Sea/Monterey are taking part in the annual shop hop. Check out Victorian, On the Move for pics of the areas that we visited.
We hit 7 shops on the first day.
I am very very glad I don't live near most of the shops we saw. The first one was fabulous. Light and bright and happy, new and clean. Mmm. Yarn, Paper Scissors in Burlingame - check it out! They have a range of higher end yarns (IMO).
(My lovely companions)
The ladies at Nine Rubies were very welcoming. They have a local dyer doing a range of yarns for them. So totally would've bought some sock yarn there except I have enough sock yarn for about 100 socks still (even after knitting some - I spun some sock yarn and bought some for Nathan's socks, finding orange sock yarn is hard (mental note to self - must dye some) and some arrives in the mail every two months and I have to get a parcel with some from the office here....). Pity I took pics all round the shop but none of the shop itself! LOL Oh, no dogs please! (Still getting used to the idea that dogs are allowed in shops.)
(Can you imagine only ducking into a yarn store for 20 minutes? See the parking sign? Just as well there is a carpark close by!)
Creative Hands had a great range of Rowan and Noro yarns, along with other brands - totally worth visiting. If you like cotton yarns and blends, they had the best range I've seen so far. They also had a nice sale area that I had a whoopsy in - well Noro Blossom and umm wool silk (not Silk Garden) and some Rowan stuff for under $6 a ball (and some under $2 a ball!!!!). Plus I bought their one skein progject - a little felted bag in Kureyon (of course I chose the brightest colourway possible!) The shop itself feels like it is in the middle of nowhere, though the Caltrain chugged past up on a raised bed whilst we were there. It can't be too far in the boonies! Weird.
Uncommon Threads is in Los Altos and is a very nice yarn shop if you want Very Nice Yarn. They have a very good range of good woollen yarns and upmarket yarns. If I want a good range of nice woollen yarns, this is the place I would most likely go to.
(B is about to be towed away by her chihuahua...)
Full Thread Ahead has a good lot of sock yarn, not the common ones (like Opal and other German ones whose names I can't spell off the top of my head) but some hand dyed and less run of the mill stuff. They have some novelty yarns cos after all life is not meant to be serious. It has a very different feel to Uncommon Threads.
(can't believe I am showing my belly off!)
(you can see part of our transport in the pic)
Purlescence is becoming a favourite of mine. They have spinning stuff and BMFA. Admittedly I can't afford the spinning stuff but they had a To Die For Grafton Fiber batt that had to come home with me - rainbow colours with black at one end! Oh be still my beating heart! Plus I bought an Amigrumi book of gruesome people and Elder Gods (well one Elder God). (Gosh it is annoying me not having the net here! I would so be looking stuff up and linking it and getting more info but nope, I have to wait for days after I write this. Plus I can't do the pics either cos I can't load them onto Flickr. And I can't find out what the temperature is either. No we don't even have a radio - I thought the clock radio I bought had one but it is only an alarm clock with nature sounds, oo err...). (Now with links!)
Feedback to date - fun! Exhausting! Feedback on the free patterns offered - it is really great that really pretty patterns are being offered at the various shops but really, can I afford to buy a $35 hank of yarn to make some of the projects? To get the pattern I have to buy the yarn for that pattern. I know people in the Bay area have good incomes, but I don't. I have very little income at all. And we pay rent here (rental is EXPENSIVOS here) and a mortgage at home. And I've spent my whole budget in just one day. My bad!
Thanks to S for driving us around in her Prius (50mpg despite some flat to the floor freeway merging!)! Her little boy was very good - we only got one full throated blast all day and given he had not had a proper nap...
anon!
The day dawned sunny for the first day of the Peninsula to Pier Shop Hop 2008. 19 shops along the west Bay area down to Carmel by the Sea/Monterey are taking part in the annual shop hop. Check out Victorian, On the Move for pics of the areas that we visited.
We hit 7 shops on the first day.
I am very very glad I don't live near most of the shops we saw. The first one was fabulous. Light and bright and happy, new and clean. Mmm. Yarn, Paper Scissors in Burlingame - check it out! They have a range of higher end yarns (IMO).
(My lovely companions)
The ladies at Nine Rubies were very welcoming. They have a local dyer doing a range of yarns for them. So totally would've bought some sock yarn there except I have enough sock yarn for about 100 socks still (even after knitting some - I spun some sock yarn and bought some for Nathan's socks, finding orange sock yarn is hard (mental note to self - must dye some) and some arrives in the mail every two months and I have to get a parcel with some from the office here....). Pity I took pics all round the shop but none of the shop itself! LOL Oh, no dogs please! (Still getting used to the idea that dogs are allowed in shops.)
(Can you imagine only ducking into a yarn store for 20 minutes? See the parking sign? Just as well there is a carpark close by!)
Creative Hands had a great range of Rowan and Noro yarns, along with other brands - totally worth visiting. If you like cotton yarns and blends, they had the best range I've seen so far. They also had a nice sale area that I had a whoopsy in - well Noro Blossom and umm wool silk (not Silk Garden) and some Rowan stuff for under $6 a ball (and some under $2 a ball!!!!). Plus I bought their one skein progject - a little felted bag in Kureyon (of course I chose the brightest colourway possible!) The shop itself feels like it is in the middle of nowhere, though the Caltrain chugged past up on a raised bed whilst we were there. It can't be too far in the boonies! Weird.
Uncommon Threads is in Los Altos and is a very nice yarn shop if you want Very Nice Yarn. They have a very good range of good woollen yarns and upmarket yarns. If I want a good range of nice woollen yarns, this is the place I would most likely go to.
(B is about to be towed away by her chihuahua...)
Full Thread Ahead has a good lot of sock yarn, not the common ones (like Opal and other German ones whose names I can't spell off the top of my head) but some hand dyed and less run of the mill stuff. They have some novelty yarns cos after all life is not meant to be serious. It has a very different feel to Uncommon Threads.
(can't believe I am showing my belly off!)
(you can see part of our transport in the pic)
Purlescence is becoming a favourite of mine. They have spinning stuff and BMFA. Admittedly I can't afford the spinning stuff but they had a To Die For Grafton Fiber batt that had to come home with me - rainbow colours with black at one end! Oh be still my beating heart! Plus I bought an Amigrumi book of gruesome people and Elder Gods (well one Elder God). (Gosh it is annoying me not having the net here! I would so be looking stuff up and linking it and getting more info but nope, I have to wait for days after I write this. Plus I can't do the pics either cos I can't load them onto Flickr. And I can't find out what the temperature is either. No we don't even have a radio - I thought the clock radio I bought had one but it is only an alarm clock with nature sounds, oo err...). (Now with links!)
Feedback to date - fun! Exhausting! Feedback on the free patterns offered - it is really great that really pretty patterns are being offered at the various shops but really, can I afford to buy a $35 hank of yarn to make some of the projects? To get the pattern I have to buy the yarn for that pattern. I know people in the Bay area have good incomes, but I don't. I have very little income at all. And we pay rent here (rental is EXPENSIVOS here) and a mortgage at home. And I've spent my whole budget in just one day. My bad!
Thanks to S for driving us around in her Prius (50mpg despite some flat to the floor freeway merging!)! Her little boy was very good - we only got one full throated blast all day and given he had not had a proper nap...
anon!
That looks like fun!
ReplyDeleteI found Nine Rubies on one of the last days I was in San Mateo this time last year. After searching for stores in San Fran I found the local quite by accident. Bought a fabulous skein (only one) of cashmere. Still haven't made anything of it yet...it's being kept for luxury fondling.
ReplyDeleteTina