Yarn Crawl! (Or how I learned to grope and run.)
I guess as a sucky amateur writer and therefore metaphorical spinner of yarn it makes sense that I would eventually get into fiber crafts like knitting, needlepoint, and (as of last, last weekend while trying to desperately claw myself out of the traumatic world that is Dreamlands in aaronjv's awesome CoC game) a bit of crochet.
Eventually, you get a little snobby towards cheap yarns. Of course, the quality stuff is insanely expensive. It's cheaper to buy online--but online stores don't let you grope before you buy! And feeling up the yarn like boobies is a vital part of the process. So on Saturday, Catherine M. and I went on a crazy West Los Angeles Yarn Crawl.
As you can see, I am getting chubbier by the day. Tom. Gym. NOW.
The concept is simple--traverse your LYS on a SEX. (Which apparently means "visit local yarn shops on a stash expansion expedition.")
We went to six different yarn stores and discovered sixteen different new yarns, including bamboo, soy, and corn!
We decided to drive way out to the edges of West LA and then slowly work out way back to the UCLA area. A lot of the stores east of UCLA, in Beverly Hills and Hollywood, were kind of out of the question because even though they have a reputation for being "hip" you really aren't going to find anything affordable. Our first stop was A Mano Yarn Center, which is located in the Venice and Mar Vista area of Los Angeles. It is allegedly one of the more affordable high-end iterations of the Beverly Hills/Hollywood stores. Stuff was "pricey" but not "ludicrous" and they had a very nice selection with tons of sample swatches. One of my creative writing workshop classmates told me that her mother is one of the ladies who owns the shop. Big group of slightly intimidating older ladies clicking away while chatting at the table. Cat and I were kind of left to our own devices so we just groped and groped and scribbled down names of yarns we liked for future projects. We felt a little young, there.
Next, we hit Stitches from the Heart, which is located by Pico Blvd. next to a Trader Joes and several strip clubs. This yarn store, however, is completely run as a nonprofit charity. Stitches from the Heart donates knit goods to premature babies in hospitals across the country. They sell yarn to offset the cost of rent and shipping. The store is run by volunteers. Also, the store sponsors senior citizens who cannot afford to buy yarn and supplies--that way, these older women can enjoy their hobby for free, while feeling good about contributing their creative creations to help premie babies. Since Stitches from the Heart donates baby items, most of their patterns and colors were baby pastels. But I felt good purchasing yarn from them since I knew the entire purchase would go to charity.
Stitches from the Heart had a big sale so I rumaged the bags and pulled out five hanks of Kollage's Cornucopia yarn. This yarn is made of 100% corn. It was a nice green color. Originally retailing $9.00 in other stores we saw, it was only $3 here.
I don't own very much green clothing but I bought the yarn because I felt like I already owned several items of clothing that match well with the color. I don't know why but I felt a special affinity to that shade of green.
When I brought the yarn to work I realized why. The yarn is the EXACT same shade as the CLICC Consultant uniforms. 0_0
Anyhoo, next we rolled into Yarns Unlimited, which is this insane, high-ceiling-and-ladder shelves and shelves of yarn hole-in-the-wall. Incredibly claustrophobic but I think out of all of the stores we went through this had the best deals. The guy I talked to even offered me a 20% discount when I wore my haggle-frown. Unfortunately, this haggle-frown was for the Muench Touch Me yarn and 20% off a $17 ball of 61 yard ball of yarn does not cut it even if it is the softest stuff known to man and it is cheaper there than online (and also allergy causing. And did I mention really expensive? Italian import!) More gropage and we jaunted out. Concluding thoughts: Yarns Unlimited is huge, but also very dark and not the best for browsing. Knowing how much the yarn costs and exactly what you wish to buy from them may score you a discount cheaper than the internet.
Our next stop was Wildfiber, which was the exact opposite and actually quite large and spacious. Walls and walls of color and yarns including a sizable local-hand-dyed selection. Huge walls of wool, alpaca, and even cashmere. Catherine kind of had to pry me away from the $30 a ball cashmere wall. Here I continued my epic quest to find Ken red yarn that was red without being too purple. But unfortunately, despite it's beauty, Wildfiber marks up its prices by a LOT. I like the ambiance, but I don't think I could forgive myself for buying anything there.
After that we decided to have some fun so we drove up to the poshest yarn store in Brentwood--complete with pretentious French name. L'Atelier. Lexus parked out front. Tiny store. Scary sparkle purses. Rich old ladies. And uh, nothing in the store under $30, complete with a whole $65 a ball cashmere yarn wall. Oh, rich people. The saleslady seemed confused by our presence, kept asking us if we "had any questions" and seemed glad to see us go.
Our last stop (literally minutes before all the West La yarn shops closed) was the Compatto Yarn Salon on Wilshire. One of the other players in Aaron's RPG game recommended this yarn store tome since his wife teaches crochet classes there. I'm glad to report that this place was pretty awesome! They have a huge black wolf-dog, who is quiet and sweet, greet you at the door! And their knitting circle was friendly and chatted with us and showed us around the store. Also, for whatever reason, they had balls of Cashmerino that were retailing for $12 elsewhere in their clearance bin for $2 each. And they had a sitting area where you could read knitting books to get ideas for what kinds of yarn to buy.
I think out of all of the stores we went to Compatto was our favorite for shopping, Wildfiber was the most aesthetically pleasing, and Stitches from the Heart was the most feel-good. Yarns Unlimited was decently priced and the other two we aren't wealthy enough for...and for the fancy French one hopefully I never will be.
I didn't spend $100. I spent $25 in total, on several balls of yarn that should have retailed for $82. Yay for sales and clearance boxes! And yarn crawling!
Eventually, you get a little snobby towards cheap yarns. Of course, the quality stuff is insanely expensive. It's cheaper to buy online--but online stores don't let you grope before you buy! And feeling up the yarn like boobies is a vital part of the process. So on Saturday, Catherine M. and I went on a crazy West Los Angeles Yarn Crawl.
As you can see, I am getting chubbier by the day. Tom. Gym. NOW.
The concept is simple--traverse your LYS on a SEX. (Which apparently means "visit local yarn shops on a stash expansion expedition.")
We went to six different yarn stores and discovered sixteen different new yarns, including bamboo, soy, and corn!
We decided to drive way out to the edges of West LA and then slowly work out way back to the UCLA area. A lot of the stores east of UCLA, in Beverly Hills and Hollywood, were kind of out of the question because even though they have a reputation for being "hip" you really aren't going to find anything affordable. Our first stop was A Mano Yarn Center, which is located in the Venice and Mar Vista area of Los Angeles. It is allegedly one of the more affordable high-end iterations of the Beverly Hills/Hollywood stores. Stuff was "pricey" but not "ludicrous" and they had a very nice selection with tons of sample swatches. One of my creative writing workshop classmates told me that her mother is one of the ladies who owns the shop. Big group of slightly intimidating older ladies clicking away while chatting at the table. Cat and I were kind of left to our own devices so we just groped and groped and scribbled down names of yarns we liked for future projects. We felt a little young, there.
Next, we hit Stitches from the Heart, which is located by Pico Blvd. next to a Trader Joes and several strip clubs. This yarn store, however, is completely run as a nonprofit charity. Stitches from the Heart donates knit goods to premature babies in hospitals across the country. They sell yarn to offset the cost of rent and shipping. The store is run by volunteers. Also, the store sponsors senior citizens who cannot afford to buy yarn and supplies--that way, these older women can enjoy their hobby for free, while feeling good about contributing their creative creations to help premie babies. Since Stitches from the Heart donates baby items, most of their patterns and colors were baby pastels. But I felt good purchasing yarn from them since I knew the entire purchase would go to charity.
Stitches from the Heart had a big sale so I rumaged the bags and pulled out five hanks of Kollage's Cornucopia yarn. This yarn is made of 100% corn. It was a nice green color. Originally retailing $9.00 in other stores we saw, it was only $3 here.
I don't own very much green clothing but I bought the yarn because I felt like I already owned several items of clothing that match well with the color. I don't know why but I felt a special affinity to that shade of green.
When I brought the yarn to work I realized why. The yarn is the EXACT same shade as the CLICC Consultant uniforms. 0_0
Anyhoo, next we rolled into Yarns Unlimited, which is this insane, high-ceiling-and-ladder shelves and shelves of yarn hole-in-the-wall. Incredibly claustrophobic but I think out of all of the stores we went through this had the best deals. The guy I talked to even offered me a 20% discount when I wore my haggle-frown. Unfortunately, this haggle-frown was for the Muench Touch Me yarn and 20% off a $17 ball of 61 yard ball of yarn does not cut it even if it is the softest stuff known to man and it is cheaper there than online (and also allergy causing. And did I mention really expensive? Italian import!) More gropage and we jaunted out. Concluding thoughts: Yarns Unlimited is huge, but also very dark and not the best for browsing. Knowing how much the yarn costs and exactly what you wish to buy from them may score you a discount cheaper than the internet.
Our next stop was Wildfiber, which was the exact opposite and actually quite large and spacious. Walls and walls of color and yarns including a sizable local-hand-dyed selection. Huge walls of wool, alpaca, and even cashmere. Catherine kind of had to pry me away from the $30 a ball cashmere wall. Here I continued my epic quest to find Ken red yarn that was red without being too purple. But unfortunately, despite it's beauty, Wildfiber marks up its prices by a LOT. I like the ambiance, but I don't think I could forgive myself for buying anything there.
After that we decided to have some fun so we drove up to the poshest yarn store in Brentwood--complete with pretentious French name. L'Atelier. Lexus parked out front. Tiny store. Scary sparkle purses. Rich old ladies. And uh, nothing in the store under $30, complete with a whole $65 a ball cashmere yarn wall. Oh, rich people. The saleslady seemed confused by our presence, kept asking us if we "had any questions" and seemed glad to see us go.
Our last stop (literally minutes before all the West La yarn shops closed) was the Compatto Yarn Salon on Wilshire. One of the other players in Aaron's RPG game recommended this yarn store tome since his wife teaches crochet classes there. I'm glad to report that this place was pretty awesome! They have a huge black wolf-dog, who is quiet and sweet, greet you at the door! And their knitting circle was friendly and chatted with us and showed us around the store. Also, for whatever reason, they had balls of Cashmerino that were retailing for $12 elsewhere in their clearance bin for $2 each. And they had a sitting area where you could read knitting books to get ideas for what kinds of yarn to buy.
I think out of all of the stores we went to Compatto was our favorite for shopping, Wildfiber was the most aesthetically pleasing, and Stitches from the Heart was the most feel-good. Yarns Unlimited was decently priced and the other two we aren't wealthy enough for...and for the fancy French one hopefully I never will be.
- Ken: You're going yarn shopping today, right?
Me: Yup. But I'm worried I'll spend a lot of money on yarn. I read online that a girl told her boyfriend to tell her to stop buying yarn.
Ken: Oh. Well, I'm not going to boss you around.
Me: Tell me not to spend too much money on yarn, please.
Ken: Why? Oh, okay, fine. "Don't spend $100 on yarn."
Me: o_o
Ken: ...were you planning on spending $100 on yarn?
Me: um.
I didn't spend $100. I spent $25 in total, on several balls of yarn that should have retailed for $82. Yay for sales and clearance boxes! And yarn crawling!