Went on yarn crawl yesterday.

[camwyn]

It's like a pub crawl, only your group hits yarn stores instead of pubs. Said crawl took place in midtown and lower Manhattan; we hit four or five stores, but did not get to Knit NY, the cafe where people go to drink coffee, knit, and meet people. I bought two skeins of THE YARN THAT ATE CLEVELAND, which is to say Wool Pak Yarns' 14-ply in royal blue- we're talking 250 grams for 310 yards here, pure wool. Also a size 9 24-inch Addi Turbo circular needle. Am at work on a vest already.

Any road, I took some pictures of the places we did go. Or, rather, of the available yarns, in case someone can't make it to New York themselves.

This is not a yarn picture. It is a picture of a big green plastic or metal turtle with what may be a Buddhist rosary around its neck. It's somewhere in Soho and bugger if I can figure out why it's where it is.
Hand-dyed yarns in the hallway at Seaport Yarns, which is on Fulton Street, down near the South Street Seaport. Fifth floor.
No matter how fast your webcam is, don't turn away until the bloody thing beeps. I'd never seen yarn labeled 'techno hair' before.
From the big hand-dyed pile.
From the bigger hand-dyed shelf. I think some of those are lace weight or sport weight.
I believe these are hand-dyed six packs from Cherry Tree Hill Yarns or some other company of that name, located in Vermont.
Did you know they sell yarn made entirely from bamboo fiber now? I didn't. It's really quite soft to the touch, too.
Closeup of the bamboo yarn label.
More from the Vermont company, plus some sample knit items. The stuff in the background is several shelves of alpaca and other non-standard fibers.
These were about $12 a skein.

I have a few other shots of one particular knit sample, but I need to mail those to the woman in our group who wanted to duplicate the item....

Comments

[truebluespark]

Heh, that sounds like a lot of fun.

This has no relevance to the post, but it took me a full five seconds to stop seeing the word yam instead of yarn. *rolls eyes*

[nesmith.livejournal.com]

Hey, if you ever get into the Monkees fandom you could make a FORTUNE knitting and selling green wool hats (which aren't REALLY wool since the ones MIke wore are made of yarn). ;)

[camwyn]

I assume by 'yarn' you mean 'acrylic', or something similar? 'cos lord knows, I've done hats. Lots and lots of hats.

[kaikias.livejournal.com]

...You were in Manhattan while sunavatar and I were here in Queens with nary an excuse to leave the apartment? And I heard nothing of this? Raar.

(For future something-or-other, I live about a mile and some down the way from batyatoon.)

[nesmith.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I wouldn't know the difference. The one I have is dark green with a pom pom on top and it's made of yarn. And it's . . . green. ;P

[camwyn]

Mm. Probably acrylic, then, it's cheap and easily available and can be thrown in the washer and dryer without any change in shape/size/texture. Nothing too complicated, I assume? A basic hat design like a watch cap can be knocked out pretty quickly.

[camwyn]

Okay, see, did not know this. Would have kicked you the link on the yarn crawl had I known. We shall have to arrange something else to make up for it, though not this weekend, as I will be in Florida with my grandmother. (Or in Florida by myself- if she wimps out and refuses to go, I'm taking my damn ticket and flying alone.)

[nesmith.livejournal.com]

Like that. Don't get me wrong—*I* already have one, but a certain Aussie friend of mine might want one . . . ;)

[camwyn]

Considering the amount of green yarn I've got left over from the blanket, mention to your friend that I do hats and that I can be pretty quick about it, and lemme know what happens.

[nesmith.livejournal.com]

Oh, I will! Serendipity strikes! *bounces*

[kaikias.livejournal.com]

Right. Didn't figure you were aware of it, and was partially being a Great Silly, at least in phrasing it that way. Anyhows, yes, there will have to be meetage eventually somewhere down the road.

[genarti]

*covet covet covet*

If I ever went on a yarn crawl, I'd spend exhorbitant amounts of money at every store, I just know it.

On the other hand, I'd have loads of nummy yarn. And that can't be a bad thing.

[sakon76.livejournal.com]

*covets the bamboo yarn*

I NEEEEEED a green wool/acrylic/yarn hat TOOOO!!!

[stmatthew.livejournal.com]

Oh please oh please oh please...

*Drools and does a strange version of a peepee dance*

Mattie

turbo needle

[(Anonymous)]

what does it mean for a needle to be 'turbo'? can it knit faster? do you have to let it idle for a few minutes after you're done so it cools off? are there aftermarket parts so you can make your 1968 addi needle a turbo, even though the turbo model didn't come out until 1972? inquiring minds want to know...

:)

-Z

Re: turbo needle

[camwyn]

Well, the tips are rounder than most needles I know of, and the metal they're made from is smoother. They slide over each other much more quickly than any other needle I've ever used. I get much better raw speed knitting with these things than with any of my other needles, whether plastic, wooden, or metal. And all Addi Turbos are circulars, so you don't have to waste time looking for the other half of the pair. Just knit back and forth on the circs, secure in the knowledge that the join between cord and needle is much smoother and won't snag your work.

Re: I NEEEEEED a green wool/acrylic/yarn hat TOOOO!!!

[camwyn]

I could probably do it, but I'll need a head measurement first. And a few more shots of Mike's hat so I can get it right.

*hangs up 'Fandom Knitting' sign*
*thinks a moment*
*adds smaller sign saying 'Dr. Who scarves NOT available unless you have $300 burning a hole in your pocket, that's a FSCKLOAD of yarn thank you very much*