The Three-Legged Crawl

The Chicago Yarn Crawl kicked off this past weekend and I managed to make it through four of the five regions. It was great to visit old favorites and discover new places. I thought I’d share some of it with you below.

Region 5

My yarn journey began on Friday at Stitch n’ Hook in Shorewood. It was the only store I didn’t want to purchase yarn, which is a shame because I like to purchase at least one skein or pattern book at each crawl spot to support the local shop. The selection was okay but the layout of the store left a little to be desired. I think small spaces like this could be laid out a bit better—or maybe I’m just watching too much HGTV lately. I was warmly greeted by the knitters at the back of the store, but the owner forgot to give me their free pattern or a raffle ticket. First day jitters perhaps. 

Region 4

The second leg of my journey took me to Knitche in Downers Grove, which is more or less my local preferred store. I was thrilled to see that they had the new Debbie Bliss Autumn/Winter 2011 magazine in stock already. Kathy answered some of my questions about Noro and showed me their selection of sock yarns for a shawl I plan to work on later this Fall.

The second region 4 store I visited was Idea Studio in LaGrange. They have a really good selection of yarn and pattern books. I wish I could have spent some more time there, but I was on a long lunch break and needed to get back to work. I bought the fabulous Rowan Midwest Modern Knits pattern book that I have been eyeing for a year now. It has a super cool drawstring cowl pattern that I’m adding to my fall/winter project list.

Region 1

The third and longest leg of my journey took me to regions 1 and 3 on Saturday. It started out as a rainy day, which I thought was absolutely perfect because it delayed the air and water show, which is always a traffic nightmare.

I started the day at Loopy Yarns in the Printers Row neighborhood. I love Loopy. I always make it a point to visit whenever I’m in the city. They had no less than five free patterns and their selection of yarns—regular priced and sales yarns—is always fantastic. My tip to you if you’ve never been to Loopy Yarns … go downstairs for the sale yarns and books! It took me about four trips to Loopy before I realized that I could go downstairs. I just figured it must be for staff only. This time around, I got a great deal on a Debbie Bliss pattern book and some Lorna’s Laces yarn to use with one of the store's free patterns.

Next on my list of stops was Nina on Division Street. If you’re looking for high-end yarns, go to Nina. It’s only one of two stores in the area where I’ve ever seen Twinkle yarn. Oh, I love Twinkle. My original plan was to go in, buy a skein of Twinkle, get my book stamped and move on. About 40 minutes later,  I walked out with three skeins of Rowan Kidsilk Haze for their free pattern cowl and two skeins of Madelinetosh (my new obsession) for the Honey Cowl (a free pattern on the Madelinetosh site). You have to see the Honey Cowl in person (on display at the back of the store) to really appreciate the beautiful linen stitch. I never did get that Twinkle skein.

My last region 1 stop was at Windy Knitty in the Andersonville neighborhood. This place definitely goes on my list of favorite yarn stores. They have SO MUCH YARN!! Aside from the beyond fantastic yarn selection, they had sample bits of locally dyed yarn to knit gauge swatches with, I assume, as a way of promoting local artisans. Too awesome for words. I purchased some sock weight yarn for the free pattern and much to my surprise and delight, the gal who rang me up said that it was a “potluck” dyed yarn and that it’s a complete original. One minor downside to visiting this area is the parking situation. This is a busy neighborhood on the weekends and street parking can be a little scarce. Just have some patience and keep driving around. Windy Knitty is worth it!

Region 3

The ride north from region 1 to region 3 is truly beautiful. I called my fiancé and told him that I want to live in Kenilworth. Of course, that will likely never happen, but it’s nice to dream. Sigh.

My first stop in region 3 was Stich(es) in Winnetka. Nice selection of yarns, but what I really liked was their selection of single patterns—Jared Flood, Churchmouse, Ysolda Teague and Coco Knits. Sue was super nice and very helpful in answering my pattern questions. I purchased a few single patterns—one of which is Jared Flood’s Rock Island Shawl. Sue told me that I had to come back to the store to show her when I finished it. It will definitely be a challenge.

The last stop of the day was Three Bags Full in Northbrook. I’ll admit, by this point (five hours or so into the crawl), I was almost all yarned out. This is a big store with a good yarn selection and carried a couple of brands that I had not seen at other stores. I walked around with some Classic Elite Miracle yarn for a while, then checked my Ravelry stash online to discover that I had four skeins of Miracle at home already. I put it back and picked up some Crystal Palace straight needles and DPNs. They feel wonderful to the touch—so smooth.

Did I Skip Region 2?

Nope, I didn’t skip region 2. It’s on my list for Thursday right after I take my short row class at Stitches Midwest in Schaumburg. I plan to visit two places for the first time – Fuzzy Wuzzy in Arlington Heights and Gene Ann’s in Barrington.

I’ll be at the Stitches Marketplace early on Saturday and then again on Sunday for two more classes. It’s a yarntacular week!