So for my very much needed vacation/honeymoon, Morgan and I went to Portland! We only had a few days but boy did we eat/drink our way through that city. We went to 13 breweries, tons of awesome restaurants and bars, and a few yarn stores along the way.
Yarn store 1: Twisted
Ok so let me start with a personal bias. I think that the variegated/speckled yarn trend currently going on might be the best thing ever. Yes, I know that in a couple years I’ll look back and go “speckled yarn? Really?” But seriously I love knitting with them. Now that we have that out of the way, it will make sense why this is my favorite of the 3 stores I got the chance to make it to. They had so many pretty colors and colorways!!!!! (Yes 5 exclamation points worth)
I felt like I was inside Stephen West’s head. It was pretty amazing that I didn’t walk out with one of everything. That being said, Morgan picked out the colors because I couldn’t even begin to choose and he did a splendid job of it.
I got 2 skeins of safety green, black, and white speckled yarn for his Christmas cowl, Knitted Wit Victory DK in the Creepy Crawlers colorway. Morgan also picked out a beautiful variegated skein with magenta/purple, blue/green and gold. Twine Sock in the Almost Paradise colorway. I got grey skein to offset the colors, Knitted Wit Victory sock in the Silver Lining colorway. I am so super excited to cast on projects but I’m currently content to just stare at my new pretties.
Yarn store 2: Knit Purl
While Twisted might have been a little like the Barbie dream house for yarn. Fun, colorful, young, etc; Knit Purl was like the better homes and gardens of yarn stores. Every inch of the store had yarn that would make work appropriate garments. The colors were mature and classic. The fiber contents were upscale and lovely. If I wanted to knit a sweater for work, this is the place to go. That being said I got two very cute skeins of their yarn made especially for the store. American Twist worsted in Celadon and Saffron. It is extremely dense worsted weight and I have already cast it on for colorwork mitts.
Yarn Store 3: Dublin Bay Knitting Co.
This store I’m pretty sure specializes in importing yarn from Europe. It had some great stuff that I had never seen. The colors were beautiful and there were some really interesting fiber blends. The also had a great selection of tools and project bags. There were hedgehogs on everything. I seriously eyed the hedgehog print project bag but decided that I would survive without it. I did buy the hedgehog shaped wraps per inch gauge for mom. She said she had been looking for one and it was too cute to pass up. I also got the most beautiful skeins of fingering weight yarn in a jewel tone green/blue. Hedgehog Fibers Merino DK in the Hunter colorway. I don’t know how they got the color so vivid and saturated but the pictures don’t do it justice.
There were many more stores in Portland that I did not have the chance to make it to. I’m sure they are also worth the trip. Don’t forget to support your LYS (local yarn stores)! Without them the world is a much darker place.