Chattanooga Area Yarn Crawl

Goodies from Genuine Purl

Well, I'm back from my wonderfully relaxing vacation. My husband, son, and I went to Chattanooga for our bi-annual trek to visit the in-laws. I had so much knitting time that my arms actually got sore by the 3rd day. This was thanks to my wonderful in-laws who occupied the 2-year-old with fun, games, and trains. I actually knitted almost 1/2 a sweater in one day - that has never happened before!

On Tuesday, my husband's niece and I went to the LYS down the road from my in-laws' house. Genuine Purl is a regular on my list of yarn shops to visit but I was surprised at the limited selection. The staff was friendlier than normal - that is always hit and miss there. But there was a new sign on the door stating that you needed to check your handbag at the counter. No one asked me and I keep my handbag with me. I bought a balls of Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy Cotton and a pattern by Handmaiden for a Wavy Scarf. I need several different needles for a couple of other projects but they only had the Size 11 in the right cable length. And of course I had to pick up the most recent edition of Knit Simple. I asked if sales were ok because I noticed the limited stock and they said that it was fine and the low stock was because a very good Christmas season. After that it was off to the ice cream store.

R & M Yarns

 On Wednesday, my husband, son and I made the rainy trek to Georgetown, Tennessee to visit R & M Yarns. Georgetown is about 45 minutes northeast of Chattanooga and was a lovely drive along a 2-lane highway despite the rain. R & M Yarns is a fabulous gem and worth the trip. The shop is in a non-descript metal building and they offer classes in spinning and weaving mostly. I would love to be able to take a class or two there. They had a wonderful classroom and on a rainy cool day, it was very inviting.

Goodies from R & M Yarns

They have Peaches & Creams in balls and cones, Cascade and a brand or two I hadn't heard of. The coolest thing is their mill end by the pound yarn. I didn't buy any but it was very cool to look at nonetheless. The shop lady was very nice and extremely helpful. They have a wonderful stock of Namaste products which are always tempting. They had a wonderful selection of needles and I was able to get the other sizes and cable lengths that I needed for my projects. I bought 2 balls of Peaches & Cream (Walmart doesn't sell it any more and at $1.99 a ball who can resist). I also picked up 4 skeins of Cascade 220 Superwash Sport and 2 skeins of Plymouth Yarn Fastasy Naturale in a beautiful autumn palette.

Three Black Sheep on Signal Mountain

It was a wonderful drive and my son got a full two hour nap albeit in his car seat. After leaving Georgetown, we made a big circle back to Chattanooga by way of Signal Mountain. There is a fabulous yarn shop on Signal Mountain called Three Black Sheep. If I owned a yarn shop, this is how I would want it to look. The yarn selection was perfect - not too much and not to little. I was able to look at everything and not feel overwhelmed. They carry a lot of Debbie Bliss, Malabrigo, and Aslan Trends. The staff was amazingly friendly and the other customers seemed to be having a wonderful time. They invited me to their Sit and Stitch on Friday evening and when they found out that I was from out of town, they wanted to know how I found out about the shop. I told them that a woman in my mother-in-laws water aerobics class mentioned that there was a new yarn shop on Signal Mountain. I suggested they add their shop to the Yarn Shop Directory on The Daily Knitter. An added bonus was that the shop was in the same shopping center as a super cool toy store (for son) and a chicken wing restaurant with milkshakes (for husband).

Goodies from Three Black Sheep

I selected a skein of Malabrigo Rasta and a skein of Malabrigo Rios. I have one scarf made out of the Rasta that I bought in Memphis but I wanted another color way. I also picked up a copy of the new book Modern Top-Down Knitting and some Harmony Wood circular needles by Knit Picks. The shop had wonderful accessories like the Brittany wooden cable needles I've been eying and small, light weight canvas project bags that I'm addicted to.

The day was wonderful and not just because I was yarn shopping. I got to spend it with my boys. And that is the best vacation of all.