UPDATE: Madtosh Crafts has closed as of December 2015. *insert sobbing here*
My sister in law and I went, as she needed to pick out yarn for a hat I am planning to make her for a christmas present. I of course went along to help color choices and to see their selection.
I was going with one real goal in mind, which was to see if they had any Berroco Weekend DK yarn to add to my triangle crocodile shawl which is a bit small. Unfortunately, they did not carry that brand at all, so that project will still get to wait to be done.
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| Entry way view to the back of the store. |
The store is a pretty good size and has a lovely sitting area and tables. The selection seems to be exclusively yarn that is hand spun, hand dyed or both. That makes it a bit of an advanced selection in my opinion as most hand made yarns have lots of little wispy bits and bumps that makes quick smooth crocheting hard. They also tend to felt together really fast, making ripping out and starting over not possible.
The other side effect of all hand made yarns is that they are all pretty pricy. That kept me from buying everything I saw, because when spending that much for yarn I want to absolutely love the colors and know that the pattern I am making is a good one. I don't want to end up with another shrug that I won't wear...
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| From the back corner to the front. |
With that said, I still managed to want a lot of what they carried. The colors were amazing and some of the textures were just lovely to feel. I know that when I feel more comfortable in my skills (and have more spending money) that I could graduate to some of those yarns.
They also had a few books, a lot of knitting accessories like bags and tools and scissors. Of course they had a good selection of hooks and needles as well... some with really cool looking ergonomic handles.
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| Koigu yarn in Painters Palette |
I did leave with one small skein of yarn for my own reasons. It is Koigu Wool Designs brand. Color is "Painter's Palette" meaning each dye lot is hand painted and different: P128 dye code and lot 106. It is 100% Merino Wool and is hand wash only. It is a very fine weight yarn as it takes a 3mm hook. At 50 grams, it had just enough yardage to work up the pattern I had in mind. The colors were about as close as I think I could find to my inspiration piece. At $14.00 I didn't feel like I was spending too much either. Next post will be about what I made with it.
