Monday, July 25, 2016

Knitting Across Europe: Part 2

The second half of my trip started off in Scotland with my mom and sisters! There weren't any yarn stores in Inverness where we started!?! That totally shocked me and Mom, we thought there would be multiple LYS in each city so we were a bit bummed about that.


Logan, Mom, Ellie, and Me!

We arrived in Edinburgh and while there we visited Ginger Twist Studio! What a cute shop, just from the outside you can tell this is a bright happy space. We spent quite a bit of time in this tiny shop, the owner has so much of her hand-dyed yarn in the shop it was almost overwhelming. I felt right at home in this cozy shop and so did my family. My Mom and I were in yarn store heaven. We felt a bit deprived of yarn shops because of the lack in Inverness.





Isn't this the cutest open sign ever! 

I hadn't planned to visit anymore stores while in Edinburgh, my mom and I are knitters but my younger sisters (Ellie and Logan) are not. I promised to only search out one shop per city we were in so they didn't feel like their entire trip was stuck in yarn stores. But if we happened to find a yarn store when we were walking around we were definitely going inside to have a look.

And guess what! It happened! We were walking around on our last day in Edinburgh looking for Dean's village (which we didn't find) and walked past a yarn store! Made my entire day!


The shop was McAree Brothers and they had a really great selection! There were so many books and a whole range of yarn types and prices. They had a really large selection of acrylics and baby yarns but they also carried Regia and Rowan. Definitely a shop for a variety of knitters. I was able to pick up the KnitPro Zings I had been looking for! My mom and I were pleased as punch about finding this stop.





The shops in Edinburgh were so clever! 

After our short stop in Edinburgh we headed to London! Of course the main shop that I wanted to stop in was Loop London, who wouldn't want to stop in. Before I made it to Loop I was able to stop into I Knit London! The shop was so open and airy, with tons of hand dyes and beautiful colors. I really wish that we would have been able to make it to a knit night here because I was in heaven. The owner was so low key and easy to talk with, he showed my his magic loop socks out of his hand dyed. Of course I bought the exact same colorway to do a shawl in.


They had a great knit area, alcohol, and sleepy dogs, I don't think our stop could have been better.




Loop London was our last yarn store stop of this trip. Loop is a beautiful two story shop that had some of the most unique hand dyed yarn that I have never seen in person in the states. It was magical, amount of yarn and goodies that were packed into this space. And so many samples! I could feel and see so many of the yarns knit up so I knew what I was getting.


Loop was located in a boutique area of London with antique shops, small pubs, and vintage clothing shops. We had a great time looking around the area after our shopping.





The shop was almost overstuffed with yarn and fiber supplies, not in a way that was overcrowded, but in a 'you didn't want to leave' kind of way. And my mom and spent enough money to fill up a rewards card, so obviously I need to go back and use my 15% off :)

We had such a great time running around and discovering new places while looking for these shops! Thanks for reading my thoughts! Hopefully this inspires you to visit a few new shops in your area and abroad!

10 comments:

  1. I die of envy. Simple. Die.

    Enjoy the fabulous travels. xoxo Andrea @ This Knitted Life

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    1. Honestly, it was magic! I had the best time and so did my family, couldn't have been better!
      -Sierra

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  2. I couldn't agree more with Andrea!!!
    It must have been amazing to seek and find yarn shops in each town you visited. Thanks for the tour!

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    1. It really was amazing, it just added another layer of adventure into our trip. We had get fun exploring and finding the shops. And I got to see, touch, smell, buy some really Beautiful yarns.

      -Sierra

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  3. I love seeking out yarn stores whenever I travel. How fun! I have been to Loop and Ginger Twist and loved them both. Lucky you to have found McAree brothers. That one looks great too.

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    1. I work at a yarn store so seeing others is always inspiring and makes me think about what we can add to our shop!

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  4. So tempting! I am definitely gpoing to visit some yarn shops during my trip, thank you for inspiration!

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    1. Visiting the shops was one of my favorite parts for the whole trip. It was so fun seeing the different yarns and accessories that different shops carried! Can't wait to see the shops that you visit!

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  5. those shops look incredible!! Oh man, I hope they served food, because I don't think I'd ever manage to leave to get sustenance. Knitter candy shops, for sure!

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    1. Having two non-knitters helped to move us along eventually. Otherwise I probably would have stayed until closing, just to be able to talk with other knitters!

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