YARN CRAWL REVIEW – CONTINUED – PART TWO

Here is more information about Yarn Crawl, 2011 which occurred the last weekend of July.  Twelve shops participated.  Check my earlier article for reviews of the first few shops.  This is Part Two.  Please stay tuned for the final part which will appear in a couple of days!

Ewe Knit Yarns at 7967 Big Bend Blvd, the ‘main drag’ in Webster Groves is a find!  This tiny shop holds lots of enticing yarns, artfully displayed in wooden bins and wicker planter baskets.  This shop is open seven days a week, offering a nice Sunday ‘hide-out’ for beleaguered moms.  There is off-street parking – a real plus in Webster Groves.  Ewe Knit has also partnered with a nearby bead shop to grab you a 10% discount in either shop with a receipt from the other.  Ewe Knit is a fairly new shop run by Julie with help from her mom.

Blue Ridge Yarns Silk Shimmer Lace

Julie is the only vendor in St Louis for a luscious yarn called Blue Ridge Yarns Silk Shimmer Lace  .  This tiny shop is crochet-friendly and is well worth the trip.

BAH Yarns at 805 Franklin Ave (Highway 47), Washington, MO is another nice find.  It’s located in what was formerly one of my favorite ice cream shops!  This causes a great deal of conflict in my psyche – yarn/icecream,  icecream/yarn…….WOW.  But, I like the shop a lot.  Beth at BAH Yarns has a nice selection of high end yarns and some great shop samples to inspire.  I saw a few things here I have not seen elsewhere, including a scarf that is finger-crocheted with one skein of really bulky yarn, Berroco Link.

Berroco Link One Skein 'Instant' Scarf

While the yarn was not in my budget that day, it’s on my Wish List.  Washington is about a half-hour drive due west of St. Louis.  It’s a lovely small town on the Missouri River.  BAH is not in Washington’s historic downtown area, but is more conveniently located on one of the two main thoroughfares in town and has ample parking out front.  You’ll also enjoy touring the older parts of town on the banks of the Missouri River.  Lots of cute shops and good eats.

Myer's Barn - Weaving Dept is upstairs

Myer's Barn - Weaving Dept Sale Dept

The Weaving Department in the Myers House and Barn at 180 W. Dunn Rd, Florissant, MO is actually two shops.  The main shop is on the second story of the historic Myers House.  To get to it, you must walk through a very tempting quilt shop.  Upstairs, you’ll find 4 rooms crammed full of tempting yarns.  This is a good place to buy cotton carpet warp (used by weavers) which makes great potholders and other functional crochet projects.  But, there is lots more here.  There’s one room pretty much full of baby yarn.  One area devoted to sock yarn.  A great sale area.  An area that has novelty yarns that can be purchased by the yard.  Plus all kinds of great wool, cotton, and synthetic yarns.  While the owner does not crochet, the shop is quite crochet-friendly and was the first shop to host the St. Louis Crochet Club.  The Weaver’s Guild has its monthly meetings at this shop too.  There’s lots here for everyone.  Then……….you can go to the Barn to find a whole room of sale items, greatly discounted.  There are yarns and kits that are hard to pass up when priced this well.  Don’t miss it!

Marina Yarn Scarf in knit but can be crocheted - Hearthstone Knits

Hearthstone Knits at 11429 Concord Village Avenue, St. Louis County, MO is my Little (or Local) Yarn Shop (LYS).  It’s not the yarn shop that’s closest to my home, but Georgia, the owner, has hosted the St. Louis Crochet Club for years, remaining open the third Wednesday of each month just so our little group will have a ‘home’.  The shop is small but jam-packed with scrumptious yarns, inspiring shop samples, lots of pattern books, including a large selection of crochet books and pamphlets, a crochet teacher (Valli), and very warm, friendly staff.  There is not one time I’ve been in this shop when I haven’t found 10 yarns I wanted to buy!  That can be said of other shops, I’m sure.  But the combination of appealing yarns,  great staff, good prices, and their active solicitation of crocheters make this a special shop.

PLEASE TUNE IN FOR PART THREE OF THE YARN CRAWL REVIEWS ON AUGUST 13, 2011.