Rose City Yarn Crawl 2015

Last year, I happened to have a trip scheduled in Portland for the same weekend as the Rose City Yarn Crawl. I had never heard of it before, and didn't end up having time to go into any stores other than a quick step into Knit Purl (still one of my favorites after this trip).

This year, shortly after Stella was born, I looked up this year's dates and realized that it coincided with a weekend that J was scheduled to be off, save one night. Huzzah! A quick text to my partner in crime, plus a plea to my mother to fill the gap of evening childcare, and we were slated to attend the weekend-long event with her best friend.

The yarn crawl consists of fifteen local yarn stores that apply to be included, with a passport to be stamped and a free pattern with purchase at each stop. There is a mystery knitalong that precedes the event (spoiler alert: It was kind of granny and neither of us completed it) and each shop has their own huge prize basket to be entered for and there is a grand prize for one lucky crawler that visits all fifteen shops.  I think that with an extra full day for shopping and one less infant, we'll be able to hit all fifteen next year, but this year I was happy to get to the ones we did.

Of the fifteen, we went to Twisted, For Yarn's Sake, Yarntastic! Fiber Arts, Pearl Fiber Arts, Close Knit, Northwest Wools, Knitting Bee, Dublin Bay, Happy Knits, Knit Purl, The Black Sheep and Yarnia.  All but Yarnia and The Black Sheep resulted in my yarn crawl bag getting fuller and my wallet a little lighter.

An obvious joy of the trip was to be able to touch and see, and swoon over, all the beautiful yarns but what was really fun was seeing how differently the shops were set up. Learning what aesthetics I really like and how it makes the most sense to set up a shop, what brands would be awesome to carry, what ones missed the mark, the list goes on. It was a great trip to help solidify our hopes for a future yarn store, and to narrow down our vision.

Starting on Friday afternoon when we rolled into town, we visited Knit Purl which was just a few blocks from our hotel, and then grabbed some dinner at Tasty 'n Alder before picking up her friend and her infant son and heading to Yarntastic!, her friend's most visited local store. Both resulted in fun purchases and a great start to our crawl. Miss Stella was proving to be a somewhat unhappy participant and we headed back to the hotel for what would prove to be her first time sleeping through the night.

Saturday morning we grabbed breakfast in the hotel restaurant in time to hit Knit Purl (her friend hadn't been yet for the crawl) when it opened at nine. Except that it didn't open until ten. So we walked toward the Pearl and the next store on our agenda for the day, which also opened at ten. By the time we got to the furthest store, Dublin Bay, it was just opening. I really liked the layout of the shop, including a semi-secluded area with cushy seating for knitters, a fireplace and a TV queued up with Downton Abbey. Next we went to Pearl Fiber Arts, where there were two trunk shows (Thoroughly Thwacked of Hillsboro and Alexandra's Crafts out of Silverton) and they also had a pretty big supply of this huge (with a huge pricetag) yarn used to make rugs, poufs and squishy throws.

By the time we were headed back to Knit Purl, we decided to make our scheduled stop at Blue Star Donuts, where I indulged in a Lemon Poppyseed Buttermilk Donut. So delicious. A stop at Starbucks where there was available seating to feed and change the babes and we were off to Knit Purl at last. I ogled the Woolfolk and Pepperberry displays once more and we were off to the West side stores.

I love KnitPurl's clean, crisp displays and signage

Knitting Bee, located in outer Northwest Portland on Barnes Road proved to be a really pleasant surprise. With great signage, a trunk show for Black Trillium Fibers and excellent staff, I had a great time in the store. Next we headed to Hillsboro to visit The Black Sheep. It's kind of a tricky location in the lower level of a three story townhouse and I ended up nursing Stella who was fairly inconsolable instead of looking at the yarn. I can't say that I really missed anything and don't know that I'd go back but that could totally be due to the crying baby and lack of time to look around.

It was late afternoon by then and we were all fading fast, so we grabbed a late lunch/dinner before going to For Yarn's Sake in Beaverton, which I had been particularly look forward to because the Spinsters of Spincycle yarns were holding a trunk show there. I was not disappointed-they're just as nice and passionate about their product as I hoped they'd be. I was so excited to meet them that I didn't get a photo. That store definitely got the lion's share of my yarn dollars. They had a really big selection, the trunk show was huge and their staff was super friendly.

After that we headed back toward Portland and Northwest Wools in Multnomah Village. It was a fairly small store but, again, the staff was enthusiastic about their product and knowledgeable. For the last stop of the night, we headed to Yarnia, which is a really cool concept that could be a fun part of a bigger yarn shop, but I left feeling pretty meh. The idea is that they have large cones of different fibers and colors that you can custom mix to make your own multi-strand yarn and pay by the ounce or pound. It was fairly empty with only one other set of crawlers yet no employees came to talk to me, our stop there was in the early evening and the lighting was terrible-almost bar lighting so you couldn't see what the true colors would be, and the employee that did chat with my friend didn't seem to have a lot of information about where the fibers came from. Because it's just multiple strands together, not a stranded yarn that's then worsted, it would be nearly impossible to crochet and pick up all the strands, and hard for knitting.

awesome concept, not my favorite execution

Back to the hotel to put a finally sleeping Stella to bed, a chance to admire our haul so far, room service late dinner and then to bed ourselves.

I got to breakfast with old friends the next morning, my bestie even brought her kids who I didn't get to see last time I visited, and then I met back with my fellow crawlers for a final day of shopping at two more stores; Happy Knits on SE Hawthorne and Close Knit in Northeast Portland. Happy Knits was one of my favorite stops with a really great selection, happy staff and a couch in the back that proved perfect for a stop to feed Stella (again, some more). We ended on Alberta at Close Knit where I picked up the yarn for their crawl pattern submission and then lunch at Bunk for a cuban sandwich before the final reward of my first visit to Salt & Straw (Lumberjack Stack and Honey Lavendar in a waffle cone, thanks for asking!)

Then it was back to reality, and the babe slept almost the entire way home after crying as if her seat were made of flames during the actual crawl. A good time was had by all, and I'm already thinking about next year...after I use the yarn I purchased this year, of course. It was so nice to get home and have the kids excited to see me. A weekend away always gives me the chance to appreciate my family a little more because it's too easy to get bogged down in the everyday.

Wondering what goodies I got? That post is coming at you at 6am tomorrow!