Local Yarn Shop Virtual Tour & New Knitting Project

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Visiting a local yarn shop and surrounding oneself with gorgeous yarns is balm for the soul. Come along for a local yarn shop virtual tour and get a sneak peak at my new stranded knitting project.

I haven’t been inside a local yarn shop in over a year. Of course, that’s not to say I haven’t purchased any yarn in that amount of time though. Online shopping just doesn’t compare to being in person and seeing all those gorgeous yarns up close and personal.

Being able to surround myself with those colorful, squishy balls of happiness did my soul a lot of good.

Local Yarn Shop

The last time I visited a yarn shop was when we were at the beach over the summer and we spent the day in historic Beaufort, South Carolina, which you can read more about here.

One thing I love about local yarn shops is that you can typically find unique fibers and brands that aren’t available at most big box craft stores.

Plus I always feel so inspired when I’m surrounded by gorgeous yarns and friendly LYS people.

Hearts on Fiber

Hearts on Fiber in Davidson, NC has been on my list of local yarn shops to visit for quite some time. I had planned on going in 2020, but those plans got derailed and I bet you can guess why.

The minute I walked into the store I noticed several women were knitting and one was even spinning. I knew immediately that these were my kind of people.

To top it all off there was a friendly Water Dragon named Gary that served as the shop’s mascot. Poor Garry (pronounced Gary) was actually a girl, but was named before the gender was known. Thankfully, she doesn’t seem to mind the name and I think it suits her rather well.

Next, the store’s colorful and unique yarn selections captured my attention. Walls of gorgeous wools, cottons, mohair and T-shirt yarns lined the interior of the shop.

New Knitting Supplies

I was on the hunt for a very particular weight and fiber for a new project I was beginning in the near future. It had to be a good choice for stranded knitting, which meant it needed to be a solid color, no variegated yarn for this project.

Yarn

Initially I had a difficult time choosing the perfect yarns. Every single option was so beautiful that I just wanted to take them all home.

I began to notice that I kept going back to the Woolfolk TYND and settled on three absolutely gorgeous colors.

The first is a beautiful off white, it’s actually almost a very light caramel color and will serve as the background of my project.

The first contrast color is a gorgeous eggplant complimented by the deep forest green of the second contrast color.

I wish you could put your hand right through the screen and touch this yarn, it is so soft and begs to be pet over and over again.

Needles

I also needed a very specific pair of knitting needles, the cord length was particularly important because the project would be worked in the round.

Hearts on Fiber has a great selection of knitting supplies including my favorite Addi Turbo Rocket needles. They had the perfect size and I was getting even more excited about getting started on my new project.

Needle Gauge

Because my ancient Gauge and Needle Size Tool had recently broken in two.

A wooden one caught my eye at checkout and I threw it in at the last minute. Sometimes a spontaneous purchase turns out to be a very handy and necessary gadget.

New Stranded Knitting Project

I have been bursting at the seams to be able to share this new project with you all. Typically I don’t like to share unfinished pieces, but I just couldn’t help myself this time.

Knitography

I first learned about Patricia from Knitography from my good friend, Julie from the Buttonjar Studio.

Julie shared a photo of a traditional Norwegian kofte (sweater) on Instagram and went on to explain how much she was learning about stranded knitting.

First of all, I was struck by how gorgeous the colorwork looked, but I was also intrigued. You see, Julie has been knitting for over twenty years and is a very experienced stranded knitter as well as a teacher.

Julie was taking a class from Knitography Farm Design and as soon as I clicked on the website I knew I had to take one of her classes.

But when I also learned that Patricia was originally from North Carolina and now lived on a sheep farm in Norway, I signed up right then and there for the online class.

Traditional Norwegian Knitting

There are several different ways one can do stranded knitting, but Patricia teaches the traditional Norwegian technique.

Her calming voice and well explained video lessons have been an absolute delight. I’m filled with excitement each time a new video is released.

Although I already knew how to do stranded knitting, I had never taken a formal class. My suspicions have been confirmed as well, I have a lot of gaps in my knowledge.

Different Classes

Knitography offers several different classes:

• Stranded Knitting
• Selbuvotter Advanced (Mittens)
• Norsk Kofte Course (sweater)
• Selbu Mitten Course
• Selbu Sock Course
• Knitting Bag Book

Each class is reasonably priced and I want need to take them all.

Stranded Knitting

I chose the Stranded Knitting class because I wanted to improve my technique.

The gorgeous traditional Norwegian design of the “hals” or as we would say, cowl, is the project for this class. The pattern is called “Deep Winter on the Path” and was designed to help newbies learn how to properly do stranded knitting.

You do need to already know how to knit and she will expect that you have a basic understanding of knitting, but the rest she teaches.

Finally, Patricia is a patient and thorough teacher. She explains everything and goes into detail about the wool and the project. It is absolutely fascinating.

Local Yarn Shop Tour

I hope you enjoyed this local yarn shop tour as much as I enjoyed bringing it you you. Do you have a favorite local yarn shop? Have you been able to visit it recently? Let me know in the comment section. I always look forward to hearing from you.

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