Jessie and I had big plans for her visit- we did a yarn crawl to the yarn shops surrounding Salem. We used a lot of gas, spent a lot of money, and had a ton of fun!
You might remember the plan from Friday:
Six yarn shops were in the plan, and we did go to Seed Stitch, though we didn’t really count it because we’ve been there before and we didn’t buy anything.
Our first stop was Sit n’ Knit in Melrose, MA. It was a great little shop, and had a ton of charm! I can’t find a website for them, so their address is- 167 W. Emerson St in Melrose.
The first thing I noticed was the adorable open sign!
And then we met Janet, who was soo nice! She told us about the blanket she was knitting. It was a bunch of mitered squares, and she was using primary colors, black and white. Perfect for when you don’t know the sex of the baby you’re knitting for! She was helpful and lively, and we had a lot of fun just talking to her– we were there for an hour. oops.
We said our goodbyes and made our purchases. Very good first stop!
Next we went to Butterfly Yarns on Albion Street in Wakefield.
This was a really great shop, and it’s right next to Albion Beads, so if you’re a knitter AND a beader this is the place for you!
We met Debbie who works there before we even got to the knitting shop because she was in the bead shop! She had a great dog named Charlie- or Charles if he was misbehaving.
She’s wearing her Central Park Hoodie in this picture. Isn’t that a great color for her? I can’t remember what yarn she used, but it had a great drape.
There was so much to look at in the store, and Debbie was great about pointing us to fun and interesting things! Jessie bought some yarn for a super fun project!
Butterfly Yarns had a great selection- really great service, and is quite charming. I might even call it a little quirky.
Well, we were very chatty because when we left Butterfly yarns it was almost 12:30 and we were HUNGRY! We went to a great Mexican restaurant in Salem and shared a burrito- MMMMM.
Then we popped in Seed Stitch, grabbed Ben from the train station and brought him home, and left to continue crawling!
Cranberry Fiber Arts was our first after-lunch stop. It’s in an old house, and after some confusion as to where the entrance was- we found it! The first thing you notice when you walk in is the big table that’s use for classes or when people drop in with a question. There were two people learning to finish sweaters when we were there!
Now- you sort of go to the right and all of the sudden you’re walking through a couple rooms full of yarn. It was a little overwhelming how much there was, but they had a great selection, and I bought yarn there for Ben’s birthday present and they had some great buttons that I hadn’t seen at other places before. I also bought buttons for Ben’s sweater and for my Baby Suprise Jacket that are little elephants! Adorable!
Jessie got really cute and different buttons for her February Lady Sweater! They are really modern, but you’ll have to wait for her to post them- I didn’t take a picture. Maybe the best thing about this store is how we found it- they had a big sign that says yarn!
totally helped us out!
Next we went to Angora’s Fine Fibers. It’s like 2 minutes from Cranberry Fiber Arts at 44 Railroad Ave in South Hamilton, MA. Obviously I have to move to Hamilton to be near all the yarny goodness.
You had to walk through a bunch of smaller rooms full of yarn which was really fun. Everywhere you looked was something different, and they had some very artsy buttons and notions. A lot of handmade stuff. It was nice that instead of a counter at the front of the store they just had a table that people could sit around and knit.
Jessie got some great yarn there!!
Don’t you love those colors? sigh- manos
We went to Yarns in the Farms next! It’s a super fun shop, and I’m definitely thinking about going to one of their knit nights. It’s in Beverly Farms, where I’ve decided I’m moving to.
It’s pretty adorable on the outside, and right across the street from Dusty’s Ice Cream! Everyone in there was super nice, and everywhere you looked was something fun to touch, a sample knit to see, and a new luscious color. That was the best part of the shop- they were not afraid of color- it was everywhere! I bought some great yarn for a present for a certain Mother in Law—
Poor Jessie had a sneezing attack in the store (she’s a littler allergic to MA, but it’s ok!) but I got this shot of her in between sneezes. See how cute the store is? ADORABLE!
Our last stop was Abbot Yarn Shop in Beverly. It’s at 160 Cabot St. Obviously.
It’s totally cute, and chock full of very hearty fibers. It’s definitely the go to place for sweater knitting. They had boxes everywhere and so much wool that I couldn’t believe it! The woman working was very nice, but she was very into a knitting problem she was having- I think we can all appreciate that! They had a lot of nice buttons- very sophisticated. It was very old school, and it’s SO CLOSE to me! They had so many sample sweaters! Everywhere you looked there were samples draped on something. It was a really great end to our day.
And after it was all over we had to reload- at Dunkins–
Where the girl working thought I was nuts because I referred to a strip club and kept trying to take a picture of Jessie.
best day ever!
Illusion is the first of all pleasures. 