Farewell Stix-n-Stitches

On of my favorite LYSs, Stix-n-Stitches in Montclair, is closing this week.  I have some wonderful memories of going there to pick out yarn for projects, especially when I first started branching out from only using chain-sold yarn. (Not that there is anything wrong with that, I love love love AC Moore and Michaels :)).  I ended up going to "say goodbye" to Stix-n-Stitches this past Thursday.  Since they are trying to liquidate their inventory, I did purchase some yarn.  I know, I know, I shouldn't be buying yarn, but I couldn't resist.  All yarn was 40% off the day that I went and buttons were 50% off.  I ended up getting 3 different kinds of yarn in 5 different colors.  I also got some buttons for a light weight summer sweater I'm crocheting.

Presenting my new stash additions (in no particular order):

Cascade 220 in a beautiful teal color, 3 skeins:

Cotton Classic by Tahki Yarns in a burnt orange color, 4 skeins.  The beauty of this yarn was that it was on clearance for $4 a skein and then I got 40% off of that.  Amazing.

Cotton Classic by Tahki Yarns in a gray--which was also on clearance--8 skeins.

Berroco Weekend in a spring green color, 4 skeins.

Berroco Weekend in a light purple, 3 skeins.  I know it looks a little blue in this photo, but it is not.

I also got 8 metal buttons with a black shiny center.  They sort of look like they have little suns on them.  I knew that I needed buttons for a new sweater that I'm making, but I couldn't remember how many I needed, so I figured 8 was a safe number.  I think I need 5 for the pattern, so I'll have 3 to use somewhere else!

I will definitely miss Stix-n-Stitches, but I hope that this ending for them only brings wonderful new beginnings!!

LYS: The Yarn Company

About a week ago, my friend Michael and I took a visit to The Yarn Company, a local yarn store located on Broadway near 82nd street in NYC.  The store is located on the second floor of a building and, honestly, I don't think I would know it is there, unless I was looking for it.  After climbing up a SERIOUSLY steep set of stairs, you walk into the actual shop.  They have one main room of yarns and a back room where some FOs seemed to be, although I did not venture back there.

While the staff asked if I needed assistance just about as soon as I walked in, they were not all that helpful.  IMHO they seemed to just "sell yarn" and not love yarn or know much about it.  The Yarn Company did have lots of pretty yarn all over the store, but they didn't carry a lot of brands.  They had a whole bunch of madelinetosh yarns, which made me happy.  They also carry a lot of different Filatura Di Crosa yarns, some of which I have never seen (and I do love Italian yarns ::swoons::).

The purpose of this visit was two-fold.  First, we just wanted to check out the store.  Second, I wanted to get a few Koigu mini skeins either for a scarf that uses them or the beekeeper's quilt (from Tiny Owl Knits) and some tweed yarn for a Christmas gift.  The mini skeins were a success, but I only got 4 of them because they were REALLY expensive for such small amount of yarn ($2.50 for 11 yds...) and I'm sorry, but I have a grad student's budget and I just CANNOT spend so much.  Anywho, I was hoping to find some Rowan tweed something or some Cascade, but the store didn't carry either brand!  In fact, the woman helping me really had no idea what tweed was.  I was honestly disappointed.

AND, they had NO sale yarn at all.  NONE!  In fact, when I asked about sale yarn, the lady quickly hushed me with a "no, no, we have no sale yarn."

So, I left the store with 4 mini skeins and 2 balls of Filatura Di Crosa Nirvana (this yarn is a lace weight superwash merino and is OMG soooooo soft! I fell in love the moment I touched it).  Will I go back to The Yarn Company again? Maybe if I need some nice Filatura Di Crosa yarn or something higher end that I cannot find anywhere else.  Otherwise, I'll probably just head to Knitty City, a lovely, wonderful, and friendly LYS that is just about around the block (on 79th between Broadway and Amsterdam).

Drum roll please....here are the new additions to my stash :).