Treasure Hunting
This past weekend was the Second Annual “Tools of the Trade Twin Cities LYS Shop Hop.” Because I didn’t go last year, I decided to go on Saturday and asked Mom to go with me.
What I really liked about the Hop is that I got to visit five new-to-me stores. The metro area is so big and sprawling, it’s a bit of a drive to go to most places. We started at Zandy’s Yarn in Burnsville, went up to Needlework Unlimited in Minneapolis/Edina, west to Coldwater Collaborative in Excelsior, then north again to Amazing Threads (but we got a bit lost trying to find this shop), east to Sheepy Yarn Shoppe, and south to The Yarnery in St. Paul, and finally 3 Kittens Needle Arts in Mendota Heights. We left the house at about 9:30 AM and got home just after 4 PM! (Christy of Purling Away made a Google map that shows the shop locations.) Of these 7 stores, I’ve visited only The Yarnery and 3 Kittens previously.
I think Needlework Unlimited was my favorite; there was a TON of patterns, and we spent about 20 minutes there browsing. Amazing Threads was smaller than I expected. Coldwater Collaborative was crowded (bad timing on our part). But overall, all the stores were very nice with a varied selection. (The most common overlap I noticed were the new Marie Mayhew felted kits. The Yarnery recently opened their online shop and have them available for anyone interested who doesn’t live in the area. NAYY; I think they’re pretty cute!)
To prepare for the Hop, I researched each store’s website to see if I could find certain brands or items that interested me and might generally not be found at the other shops. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money or buy a ton of yarn, so I made a shopping list. I managed to stick to it pretty well; I found about half the items on my list, plus a few extra patterns. I set myself a budget and didn’t go over, so in all it was a successful excursion.
… and all I got was this cute t-shirt
Last week, Mom was invited to a preview of this exhibition at the Weisman Art Museum. She bought me a cool tee as a surprise (Thank you!).
Knitting Spots
kat knits is holding this fun contest/meme: Name 5 places (other than home and LYS) where you’ve knitted.
It’s been fun reading all the various answers. Here’s mine!
- At Mall of America, while mall-walking.
- Walking around the Highland Park neighborhood.
- While traveling (Wellesley in my old dorm!!, Biloxi-Gulfport, and Los Angeles).
- At work.
- At Mom’s office.
Knitting update:
The Madder Ribbed socks are nearly to the point where I will have to start the heel flap. I’m trying to decide whether they are too tight before continuing (or frogging).
The Sixth Sense socks are coming along well. I’m about halfway through the instep and hope to get to the toe decreases by the end of today.
