I Buy Yarn, Much Yarn

July was a good month for yarn crawling.  Mid-July we were lucky enough to head up to Illinois for a friend's birthday.  With our fiber manual and Garmin in hand we stopped in Springfield, Illinois to do some checking in on both of their local yarn shops.

First we stopped at Nancy's Knitworks (http://www.knitmap.com/locations/nancys-knitworks).  A larger shop in a strip mall.  Mr. Nancy, the son of the owner, was downright chatty.  He made us feel welcomed and cut us some great deals on yarn.  I got 3 balls of cotton yarn that I love for $2 a ball from the sale table.  The shop was spacious and he had a variety of yarn.  I felt the pricing was hap-hazard to my benefit.  The shop didn't have anything out of the ordinary, but he was friendly and we were able to find things we wanted to buy.

Jabro Super Soft Cotton

Not too far down the way we found Knitwits Yarn Spa (http://www.knitmap.com/locations/knit-wits-yarn-spa).  Where Nancy's was spacious, Knitwits was cramped and overwhelming with product.  Again the staff was friendly and helpful.  I saw some nice yarn in the shop, but the amount of yarn made it all little hard to see the sheep for the size of the flock.  I stuck with notions there and found some new lantern moon needles.  It is always good to find new yarn shops you like, and I will make it a point to stop by those 2 shops again when I am passing through Springfield, Illinois.

While in Chicagoland we spent time with some of our dearest friends who we don't see enough of.  The birthday party we went to had yummy food and fun people.  The birthday girl though not surprised by the party, was glad to see our two faces from St Louis. The birthday girl suggested on our way out of town we stop at her local yarn store, Knitche (http://knitche.com/).

Scrumptious Yarn, Aran Weight

I want to preface my remarks about Knitche that the shop had a sidewalk sale over the weekend. They were trying to put things back in order, but they were open for business with at least 3 staff people on the floor.  The store was a little in disarray; I didn't care I was just happy to be there.  The shop seemed to be chocked full of yarn goodness.  We looked around and even found the second story with the sale yarn.  I found a sweater's worth of Scrumptious Yarn in an aran weight on sale.  Natalie found some chunky yarn too, so we were not leaving there without dropping some dough.  Maybe, it was the staffs' hangover from a busy weekend, but the woman who checked us out took her time ringing us up.  She even tried to make me feel guilty for getting a sweet deal on the sale yarn.  Her co-workers kept interrupting while she was checking us out to discuss their weekend.  In all the staff made me feel like an annoyance, not fellow knitters on the road to knitvana.  Next time I am in  Downers Grove I will stop by and give them another chance to be a great yarn shop, but not to the tune of a sweaters worth of yarn.  It is just so disappointing to go into a yarn shop and have the staff not appreciate your enthusiasm.

As if my yarn obsession was not satiated enough, I spent the next weekend doing the St Louis summer yarn crawl.  I did not have enough time to do all 9 shops, but manage to squeeze in 7.  I bought some yarn, magazines, and an Elizabeth Zimmermann book.  Everywhere I went I meet excited knitters and friendly yarn store workers.  My enthusiasm was shared and I spent way too much money.  I even found a pattern for that sweater's worth of yarn I bought in Chicago.  Now to find the time to knit that sweater.