Yarn Crawl L.A. 2012 is done!

And... this is done!

Whoa!  What a crazy whirlwind!!!!

Congrats to the four ladies who made it to ALL 27 shops by yesterday!

I'm excited for them AND jealous of them all at the same time!

:)

I covered 11 stores in 3 days and am pretty proud of that!

Here's a round up of ALL the shops!

Go if you can!  :)

Thursday, April 12th
Alamitos Bay Yarn Company
Concepts In Yarn
L'Atelier (Redondo Beach)
Twist

Friday, April 13th
Needlepoints West
Wildfiber
Compatto
L'Atelier (Brentwood)
Jennifer Knits

Sunday, April 15th
Stitches in Time
Yarn Garden

How many shops did you hit?

What did you buy?

:)

Yarn Crawl L.A. 2012: Yarn Garden (Whittier)

Awww... My last stop!  Yarn Garden in Whittier. 

This is the shop that made me realize I haven't been knitting!

I literally walked in, saw them having so much fun on their cozy couches, knitting and talking... and thought "Why am I not sitting there with them!"

This is the most comfortable of the shops I'd been to!

They have a wonderful collection of a select group of yarns (if that makes sense) and in gorgeous bright colors (which you know I love)!

The first thing I noticed when I walked in (after noticing they were knitting and I wasn't) was this wonderful cozy Berroco sweater sample hanging on the wall.

It has stripes!  Say no more.  :)

So, of course, I had to get the pattern and yarn.  I'm supporting small business, people!

:)

This owner is incredibly nice and very cool.

We had a great conversation about her experience in owning a small business and I love talking to people & learning more about that!

She had some great insight in what it is to know your customers in terms of ordering yarn.

I love learning about it!

If I lived closer to this shop, I'd go sit there and knit all the time. 

:)

Yarn Garden is at: 

7648 Painter Avenue

Whittier, CA 90602

Yarn Crawl L.A. 2012: Stitches in Time (Bellflower)

Sunday Morning!  

Last day of the Yarn Crawl and, after a day off, I'm ready to squeeze in

two more shops before the party's over!!!

I started with Stitches In Time over in Bellflower.

This is your grandma's yarn shop. (and I don't mean that in a bad way!)

It's full on old school!

They are incredibly nice there and the first thing they ask you is if you're a knitter or crocheter.

After you tell them, then they direct you to what they think you might be interested in!

There is no cash register.  The desk (below) is where the write up your receipt!

I love it!  Completely opposite of my High Tech experience at Twist on Thursday!

This shop did have a cute couch area for knitting and it looked so comfy!  Like your grandma's living room.
:)

 Lots of pattern from Plymouth and Berroco.

They had this worked up as a sample and I tried it on!  It's soooo cute on.

So I bought the pattern and five skeins of the Encore worsted, which I've worked with before and really like!

It's a sturdy yarn.  It just does what it's supposed to.  And nicely priced, too!

AND!  They had cupcakes!!!  Which I did not take a picture of 'cause I was too busy eating it!

:)

Stitches in Time is at:

16525 Bellflower Boulevard

Bellflower, CA 90706

Yarn Crawl L.A. 2012: Jennifer Knits (Brentwood)

Our last stop for the day!  Jennifer Knits.

By this time, it was about 5p and we were ready for a glass of wine!

Before heading home, we popped into Jennifer Knits quickly, where we ran into some friends!

One of the many fun things about this Yarn Crawl was running other knitters around town!

:)

This small shop has some truly luxurious yarns.  Gorgeous Tahki yarns. Trendsetter and Rowan.  

Just beautiful.

They had these BEAUTIFUL samples knit up to promote and this sweater vest below was fabulous.

This is not me in this picture but when I tried this vest on, it fit me perfectly! (and went really well with what I was wearing, which means it was meant for me to have!)   :)

I think this was knit up with a Tahki yarn but I can't remember.  The end of the day became a bit of a blur.

In any case, it was gorgeous.  And heavy!

This gal works here and is super nice and helpful!  If you go to Jennifer Knits, look for her!

This was another sample knit up for show and it was really cute!  You know I love my cables and this had these smaller cables on the back (which created a nice fitted feel around the waist) as well as chunkier cables around the wrist sleeve hem.  Simple with a kick!

And then this sweater... which I know does not look exciting at all but... if you could only FEEL this sweater. 

They used the Filatura Superior Cashmere Blend and Oh My Good God!  

It's soooooooo incredibly soft!  It's like a little cloud in your hand.  It's that good!

And you know I love my nudie-neutrals so I immediately gravitated to this sweater (feel & color)!

Apparently this pattern is a Filatura (or maybe a Tahki) pattern.  Again, I'd just about checked out at this point. 

Unfortunately, I did not buy anything at this shop.

As much as I would love any of these three sweaters, I was being good... 

Jennifer Knits is at: 

108 Barrington Walk

Los Angeles, CA 90049

Yarn Crawl L.A. 2012: L'Atelier (Brentwood)

Ok... so here's where my head pops off!

Our next stop was at L'Atelier in Brentwood and

this is quite possibly the cutest area I've been to in a LONG time!

I pretty much wanted to stay here, have a coffee & a cupcake and watch the world go by... 

(or at least wait for the storm to go by).

:)

Anyway!  This L'Atelier is upstairs (upper right hand corner there) in a cute little space on the corner.

When we went on Friday, we saw the same fun gal that we saw at L'Atelier - Redondo Beach on Thursday! 

And we saw the same gorgeous yarns.

They really do carry some beautiful high quality yarns.  Cashmere and super soft cottons.  

They have this beyond fabulous sample sweater knit up and on a mannequin at the entrance of the shop.

It was sooooooo cozy and I literally wanted to make a run for it with it on!

Unfortunately, since I'd been previously out of control, I did not buy any yarn at L'Atelier to get the pattern...

But some day, cozy sweater... you will be mine!

:)

I did not want to leave the Brentwood Country Mart. 

Look how cute it is!

I dunno why I'm such a sucker for places with small-town feels. 

It's just so quaint and different than the traditional urban city feel I tend to enjoy!

L'Atelier (Brentwood) is at: 

13050 San Vicente Boulevard

# 207

Los Angeles, CA 90049

Yarn Crawl L.A. 2012: Compatto (Santa Monica)

I'm sorry I don't have more pictures of this sweet shop - Compatto!

I think I started to fade out towards the end of the day... 

Actually, the reality is that I got so busy talking to the fun gals there 

that I wasn't paying attention to what I was supposed to be doing!

This shop is small but well organized with plenty of beautiful yarns and plenty of patterns!

Plus a table for sitting & knitting!

I have to say, the gals at this shop were soooooo fun!

You could really tell they were having a good time and that was fun to see and be in!

Throw in a glass of wine and it really woulda been a party!

They have a board on the wall with a list of their scheduled classes for the month and 

ALL of them sounded good!

If you have a chance, check out this shop.

It's a great example of how well a small space can be utilized!

And they're just a lot of fun!

:)

Compatto is at: 

2112 Wilshire Boulevard

Santa Monica, CA 90404

Yarn Crawl L.A. 2012: Wildfiber (Santa Monica)

Our next stop was at Wildfiber in Santa Monica and I now that I've had a few days to digest... 

I have to say I think this is quite possibly one of my favorite shops of the whole crawl!

This shop is everything (to me)!

It's large and organized and incredibly friendly and welcoming.

It has enough space to wander around as well as enough space for couches for a sit & knit. 

It has a room in the back for classes.

It's yarns are GORGEOUS and there's a large enough selection of 

any kind of yarn you might possibly want or need. 

And they have unique interesting fashion forward patterns!

Truly a wonderful space!

They were also doing some fun stuff for the yarn crawl with giveaways and 

a trunk show!

See that rack below... every piece on that rack was FABULOUS!

And to the left there is a wall of yarn from the trunk show!

 Every single person in this shop was sooooo kind.  Incredibly nice people.

And so, of course... I had to buy things!

I bought these two patterns and two skeins of yarn.

The pullover pattern there on the left was displayed as a sample in the store and it was just beautiful!

The Daybreak scarf was also worked up as a sample and hanging on a hanger, it was just gorgeous!

I'm using these two skeins to work up the Daybreak scarf and I'm really excited about them!

You know I love my orange and that in combo with the salmon color will be so pretty!

This is the shop I wish I lived close to!

I'd be in there all the time!

:)

Wildfiber is at: 

1453 14th Street

Santa Monica, CA 90404

Yarn Crawl L.A. 2012: Needlepoints West (Westchester)

Yarn Crawl - Day Two!

My MIL and I decided to brave the stormy thunderous rain (stormy by LA standards) and 

head to the west side today!

We started in Westchester by LAX at Needlepoints West!

This shop is nice and big and she had a lot of fun goodies going on for the Yarn Crawl!

She had free patterns to give as well as discounts on notions and what not!

I love to see a shop that gets into it!

Now... I am not a needlepointer and I know nothing about needlepoint so I can not speak to that portion of the shop, other than to say that it seems like they had a lot of needlepoint stuff!

Knitting-wise, she had a ton of nice yarn, needles, notions and patterns!

She carries everything from Trendsetter to Cascade to Malabrigo (which I saw everywhere, btw...).

I love hearing personalized stories about these shops and she was telling me that her peanut came to work with her everyday for the longest time! (which I think is wonderful)  

As a result, she's collected a nice toy chest full of fun goodies for the little ones...

There's my Peanut on the floor next to the toy chest with a fire truck!

This shop has a really nice sized cute knitting area in the back for classes and knitting power sessions... (Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of it.  But it's there!)

I (finally) bought some point protectors as well as these ADORABLE heart shaped stitch markers!!!!

How cute are these!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND!  The owner was telling us that every so often, they close down the cute little street they're on and food trucks come for the day and people stroll the street, eating and shopping!

Sounds good to me!!!

:)

Needlepoints West is at: 

6227 West 87th Street

Los Angeles, CA 90045

Yarn Crawl L.A. 2012: Twist (South Bay)

Alright... so here's where it kinda all goes down hill...

I went from being really good and not buying ANYTHING all day... 

to pretty much buying EVERYTHING at the end of the day.

:)

Our last stop of the day was at Twist in South Bay.  

This is a really neat shop!

Unfortunately, my pictures do not do it justice but it's really an amazing space!

There is a rawness or a naturalness to this shop, with yarns hanging (as you see in that pic above) everywhere and natural yarns waiting to be dyed. 

It's really unique and not quite like anything I've seen.  I really liked it there!

It's a large space, too!  Almost loft-like.

They have a wonderfully open space for sitting and knitting... AND!  They have a tea bar!

My MIL and her friend were staying to have tea and knit and I soooooooo wanted to stay with them but it was time for me to get Peanut home, otherwise I would have!

Twist was doing a pattern with yarn purchase, specifically for the Yarn Crawl and these bags below are the fabulous pattern!

 So, of course... I HAD to buy a skein.  You know... to support small business.

One skein of this nylon yarn makes one bag and I'm really excited to make this one up for a Christmas present for someone! (Not sure who, yet...)  

And so, here's where the wheels fell off...

After telling El Hub about how I'm sold on buying yarn online (after my great Jimmy Beans Wool experience) and how I won't be buying anything during this yarn crawl...

I start to touch and feel things... and see things!!!

And then I have to HAVE things... 

So they had this gorgeous Be Sweet Boucle Mohair scarf pattern beautifully draped around a mannequin and I knew I had to have it!

HAD to have it!

Four skeins of the Be Sweet makes this scarf... 

So here's where I'm TORN!!!

I want to support small business.  I do!  (as you see in my proof above)

But it's hard... 

My four skeins of the Be Sweet were $26.00 bucks EACH!

I just made the mistake of looking at the Jimmy Beans site and they have it for $16.00 a skein...

:-/

Well... that's ok.  I do want to support the yarn crawl and I really do believe in the importance of supporting small business (my dad was a small business-owner).

The gal who owns Twist could not have been nicer and I really enjoyed meeting her!

And then in that case, I'm more than happy to buy yarn from her.

She is incredibly kind and she was really thankful to everyone in the store (regardless if they were purchasing or not). 

You know how you just kinda hit it off with some people or have a connection with some...

This is her.  She's at this shop!

We got to talking and she was sharing a bit about running a yarn shop (something I've always had a strong interest in).

I will say!  She is one of the more tech-savvy shops I've seen!

And I love it!

Every transaction was done off her iPad and it was the most streamline process ever!

I love that she's moving forward with technology.

Cute!

Anyway, this is a really neat shop and it's almost like a studio!

It has a studio feel to it.

If you can, take a sec to read her About page. 

Now that I've read it and see that she studied art, it all totally makes sense!

:)

Twist is at: 

226 South Sepulveda Blvd.

Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Yarn Crawl L.A. 2012: L'Atelier (South Bay)!

Next up!  L'Atelier!

What a lovely shop!

I know this is a funny thing to observe but... (and sorry my pics don't do justice)

this is a very airy shop!  

Spatially, it's very open and light and airy!  I don't know why that even struck me but it did and I liked it!

It's very light and breezy.  The space had a nice feeling to it!

Anyway, this is my MIL's shop!  She lives within walking distance and frequents quite often!

So I have to say, it was nice being there with a local and getting to know all her knitter friends! 

:)

This shop had some fun gifts and things going on special for the Yarn Crawl. 

They had these cute pre-organized yarn sets for making cowls with these gorgeous color combos!

(of course, I was too busy talking and didn't take any pics).

This shop is on a little street in the village called Catalina and along this same street are cute restaurants and cafes that you can eat at after a hard knitting session!

:)

L'Atelier is at: 

1714 South Catalina Avenue  

Redondo Beach, CA 90277

Yarn Crawl L.A. 2012: Concepts In Yarn (South Bay)

Next stop on our tour was at Concepts in Yarn in the South Bay!

This is one of my MIL's local yarn shops and she and I are taking a sock class here at the end of the month!

This shop is cute and it has EVERYTHING!

It's a bit tight but we lovingly refer to that as "cozy"! 

:)

Everyone at this shop was very nice.

To the left, there was a table full of fun gals knitting and talking (my dream day). 

:)

Personally, for me... sometimes in a tight cluttered shop, 

I don't see anything because I'm seeing too much of everything!

That's not bad or good.  Just is.

This shop is cute and I'm looking forward to our sock class here at the end of the month!

:)

Concepts in Yarn is at:

24520 Hawthorne Blvd # 100  
Torrance, CA 90505

Yarn Crawl L.A. 2012: Alamitos Bay Yarn Company! (Long Beach)

YAY!  Yarn Crawl L.A. 2012 is here!

So we decided to get the party started at Alamitos Bay Yarn Company.

This is a lovely shop.  I'd been here once before to buy some circular needles and they were very nice!

So I was familiar with our kick-off point.  :)

I can't even tell you how excited I was about this Yarn Crawl!

The yarn crawl started at 10a and I think I got there at about 10:15.  

The place was PACKED!

They had their sign-in table outside (and it was a gorgeous day out too!).

Check out that basket they were raffling off!

Inside, there were all kinds of Yarn Crawlers already shopping and talking!

I have to say, one of my favorite things about the Yarn Crawl weekend was how everyone would stop and ask each other "Did you make that?"

:)

I love it. 

This shop was really busy and they had a lot going on in their schedule!

Unfortunately, we missed the welcome party 'cause it was in the evening and we'd planned our route to be in the South Bay in the later part of the day.

But I love how involved this shop was!

They had classes and give-aways and all kinds of fun things!

I love to see a shop get into it. 

If you're in the area and, if you can, check out the ABYC website and get on their e-list. 

They have all kinds of fun classes AND they have a Duffy Boat Knitting ride from time to time!!!

I hope to get on that boat soon!  :)

Their email list is how I came to know about the Yarn Crawl so I'm forever grateful to ABYC keeping me in the know!

:)

Alamitos Bay Yarn Co is at:

174 North Marina Drive  
Long Beach, CA 90803