The Beadman - Redding, California

Location: Redding, California
Shop:       The Beadman
Owner:    Sandra
Website:  nope

Redding is in the northern Sacramento Valley, just before you start trekking up the Cascade Mountains. The day we were there, it was a cool low 60's, but still warm enough that all I needed was a sweater, and this is the first of March, still winter. Not the warm sunny weather of southern California, but not the drizzly miserableness of Seattle either.

One look at the sign on the door and you know this isn't your average bead shop. This sign was obviously put up before California's gun laws changed, because now it's against the law to carry a loaded weapon in California, unless your in the military, police or FBI. But this is a crafting blog, enough about laws and guns.

This shop has a foster puppy, Rusty. He's definitely a pit bull mix, what the other part is is unknown, I personally thought of a Queensland Heeler, since that's what my dogs are, and he reminded me of my dogs, but the gals at the shop thought he might be part pointer, since he tends to point. I still think heeler. If you're interested in adopting Rusty, Sandra's asking $100, she's spent 10x that in the vet bills to fix his leg, he's got a metal rod in there, which is why he has the cone on.

Not only does this place have beads, they've got clothes, jewelry, knick knacks, dragons, fairies, wind chimes, magnets, etc... This is a great place to get someone a gift, whether you're getting for a crafty person or not, there's a lot of stuff in this place.

I've been beading for over 20 years and I've shopped at a lot of bead shops (and worked at one awesome one), one thing I liked about this shop is the way they displayed their Czech seed beads. Seead beads come from two places, either Japan or the Czech Republic. The Japanese bag their seed beads, then it's up to retail stores to either tube them, or sell them in smaller bags. The Czech strand their beads, which can get messy when displaying. But The Beadman was smart (I think), they have a sample strand on the wall of each color/size/shape they carry, instead of pulling your selection off the wall, you pick from the bins under the display. Very smart & very tidy.

This was our last California stop. Now it's time to hit the grocery store and get everything triple bagged. Oregon doesn't allow plastic bags, and that's what we use in the camper for our garbage bags so we don't have to purchase any. We will also need to pick up my drink of choice: Vodka. It's at least $5 cheaper per bottler here in California. Washington state will soon be that low, but not until all the state run liquor stores close which will be by June 2012, and I'll be in Montana then. Happy and sad are weird emotions to have regarding the same subject, I'm sad I'm leaving my friends and family in Seattle, but happy about finally being in Montana.

Next stop: Medford, Oregon

Knit This, Purl That! - Pleasanton, California

Location: Pleasanton, California
Shop:       Knit This, Purl That!
Owner:    Sandy
Website: http://www.yourknittingplace.com/

Pleasanton is a suburb of San Francisco, and for this trip, it's as close to the bay area as we are going to get. There's over 70,000 people in Pleasanton, which happens to be ranked as the wealthiest middle-sized city in the U.S. (according to wikipedia). It's part of Alameda county, which has over 1.5 million residents.

Sandy is not the original owner of the store, but she was the first customer and the first student. That was six years ago. The original owner had family matters take her out of town, and it was too difficult to run the store from a distance, so she put it up for sale. Sandy was extremely disappointed that the shop that had started her passion for knitting was closing. After discussing it with her husband, they decided to purchase the shop, that was two months ago and she doesn't regret a thing.

The store has made great use of it's small space. There's a classroom area that is its own room, also referred to as the library, plus a comfy couch and chair in the middle of the store. Plenty of samples to inspire you, plus she has kits put together so you don't have to fret about which weight or colors to use. One thing her store had that I don't see in a lot of stores, is man samples. That's Fabio below, he does a great job of showing off that scarf.

She also has some great gift ideas in her shop, including these fun bags. One other thing I noticed about this shop that's a little different, are the knitting parties. They can be held at the store, or they'll come to you. A great idea for girls night in, or a baby shower? Plus, her beginning knitting classes are free! They're two hours, and the only requirement is that you purchase the items to learn with at her store. That's a pretty good deal.

Next stop: Redding, California

Two Sisters and Ewe - La Mesa, California

Location: La Mesa, California
Shop:       Two Sisters and Ewe
Owner:    Jane
Website:  http://www.twosistersandewe.com/

La Mesa is the third and final city we're visiting in San Diego County. It's a bustling city with nearly 60,000 people. Another trip I made by myself, luckily I have a Garmin, I took 4 highways to get to La Mesa from Encinitas. Some of these highways had 6 lanes in them. Seattle is lucky to have four in some places, and only two running right through downtown. I would have been lost without GPS.

Two Sisters and Ewe is about to celebrate their 10 year anniversary. Jane and her sister opened the shop in May of 2002 and Jane's 11 year old son came up with the name. Now Jane runs the place on her own, her sister decided to go farm in Arkansas after 3 1/2 years of yarning. Jane seems to be okay with that.

While I was there, a local artist, George Wright, came in to sell his ceramic yarn bowls. One side has two holes and the other side has an angled slit in the side for your yarn. Each one is unique and truly a piece of art. Those are my buttons in the bowl above.

There was also a small girl getting individual lessons while I was there. The gal that was instructing her was really friendly, I happened to overhear her say that she was also a doll maker and some of her dolls have been presented to some pretty famous people, including a previous president's child.

La Mesa is the furthest south we are going on this tour. Now for the quick trip back home. So far seven more shops to visit in four days. My dog, Nina, aka Grandma, is ready to be out of the camper. That's her above, resting her head in the water bowl, she's almost 15, it's easier than standing at this point. It gets pretty tight in here with the two of us and the two medium-sized dogs, not to mention all the dog hair we get to put up with. Our final destination is Polson, Montana, but that doesn't happen until the end of March. So for now, we are cozy and happy.

Location: Encinitas, California
Shop:       Beads, Crystals & More
Owners:   Phil & Valerie
website:   http://www.beadscrystalsandmore.com/












Yes! A bead shop!! If you've been following me, or you know me, this is one of my most favorite things ever in the world. An extremely tight budget and an even smaller living space means I can only look because I have enough to keep me busy for now. But it doesn't hurt to look.

Encinitas is about 45 minutes north of San Diego, California, right on the coast. The place never gets too hot, or too cool. it was mid 60's - 70's the five days we were there. I was not jealous of my family in Seattle where it was mid to high 40's.

I learned what 'goat heads' are. For those that are unfamiliar with goatheads, they seem to serve no purpose at all. I have yet to figure out what plant produces them, but I know they have no pretty flowers, or delicious fruit. They do have these thorn balls though, and they're not short thorns like a rose bush, they're long enough to go through the sole of crocs and cause you a lot of discomfort.

Besides, the goat heads, Encinitas is a beautiful town.










Phil and Valerie purchased Beads, Crystals and More, which was pretty much going out of business 14 years ago. The shop had tried to be a kids bead shop, but after 6 years, it wasn't going so well.

Phil and Valerie were both working the day I went in, along with a couple of other employees, including Karen, who'd been there long enough to help run things at this point. I was there when the shop opened and the place was already hoppin.

Plenty of selection, whether you want strands or single beads. Plus most of the beads are sorted by color, instead of by type and size.

I didn't photo the boring tools and traditional staple items, but they have those too, like crimp beads, head pins, tools, etc...










They also had several counters of higher end gemstones as well as a nice rainbow selection of seed beads.

Plus they have a literal bead museum in a little side room. No photos were taken there. Tons of old beads and beaded things though, inlcuding a beaded chest of an African princess. There was already a crew of professional photographers there, otherwise I would have asked to take some photos. Oh well, maybe next time.

And the huge amethyst specimen pictured below is only for display, not for sale. This is only one of the amazing things this shop has on display. Although there's a museum in a side room, the whole shop has plenty of things to look at, including locally made hand beaded items.

Next stop: Encinitas (yes, again, but this time it's a yarn shop)

Location: Bakersfield, California

Shop:       Classy Knits & Yarns

Owner:     Judy

Website:  http://classyyarns.com/

Still in southern California. This tree is in someone's backyard, notice how all of the ripe fruit is unreachable? Seems to be my luck.

One classy shop. Judy's owned her shop for over 25 years, she used to dabble in oil paints, but turned to knitting (in a classy way). She started by knitting her own garments and doing fashion shows, but soon found out that is was supplying the yarn is where she wanted to be, not making things with the yarn, although she still enjoys that.

Judy's shop has some classy yarns as well as some other things. A gigantic table in the center of the shop is a great place to sit for the open knitting, crochet & needle point she holds every weekday, except Monday (she's closed Sundays & Mondays).


















She also has a back room where everything is 40% off, which helps with keepig the front area fresh and new. Not to say that the yarn in this room isn't worth having, it definitely is, she just needed to make room for some more classy yarns.

It's late February, and on the day we visited this shop was 85 degrees outside. I'm really enjoying this roadtrip, and although I miss my friends and family, I'm not looking forward to the cold and wet weather I will be experiencing in about a two weeks.

Next stop: Encinitas, California

Location: Eureka, CA
Shop:       Yarn
Owner:     Sunni
website:    www.yarn-fun.com

Home to about 27,000, Eureka is the county seat for Humboldt County, which holds 7 incorporated towns, plus 40 unincorporated towns. That's a lot of towns. There are over 44,000 square miles of Humboldt County, located in the top western part of California.

Yarn is in what's considered Old Town Eureka. The shop itself is about as cute as a button, no pun intended.

Once, past the cute worn welcome mat, you'll find that it's probably the tiniest yarn shop you've ever been in. But Sunni made great use with this tiny space. There's absolutely no backstock, the place is too tiny to have a back room. Everything she has is right there in your face, and she has some cool stuff. They tend to focus on natural fibers and locally dyed yarn, which came in some fabulous colors.

One wall of yarn, and I'm serious about the wall. Every nook is filled with some great stuff. The ladder shown in the above picture gets you to some out of reach spots, but not climbable by customers. If you see something you can't reach, just ask Sunni, or one of her 3 part time gals, they will most likely point out where you can find it at a lower level.

Yarn has been in business for four years. They have classes and every Sunday is Sit & Knit. They also carry locally made things, including knitted items, chocolates, jewelry & yarn sacks, just to list a few. And, just like any great yarn shop, they've got a nice selection of books and patterns. I'm amazed that with as tiny as the shop is, they've manage to strategically place some really cute samples.

If you plan on visiting Eureka, you should know there are three yarn shops in town. I did not visit the other two, but this one had everything I would need, plus as I said before, it's about as cute as a button.

Next stop: Ferndale, California

Location: McKinleyville, California
Shop:       Knitter's Lane
Owner:    April
Website:  http://knitterslane.com/


Home to 15,000, McKinleyville is about 90 minutes south of our last stop, Crescent City. 90 minutes of Highway 101 which runs along the north coast of California. Very, very cool. I've spent most of my life in Seattle where we have the Puget Sound, not at all like the coast. The immense power in the waves and how they sculpt the beaches is amazing. We had the coast on our right and the giant redwoods on our left. I'm going to look forward to this drive next year.

Just off Highway 101, Knitter's Lane is in an old motel. The single story kind that surrounds the parking lot. Walk in and you can see their counter, knitting table, knitting couch, and accessories such as knitting needles and books are in what used to be the main room. There's two rooms off to the side that used to be the bedrooms. Now they hold lots of fiber.

Unlike a lot of the other stores I've been to, they had a nice supply of ribbon.

The store used to be a scrapbooking store, with stamps, papers and ribbons. The only thing that stayed when yarn came in was the ribbon.

April has owned the store for a year and a half. Prior to that, she was a stay at home mom who frequented the store. When her son and husband talked about adding a daughter to their family, she was okay with that as long as she had four legs. Now she's a proud dog owner with an extremely friendly dog who's too friendly to have in the store. Darn.

We have taken a few days off while visiting friends in Blue Lake, California. Blue Lake is located about 20 miles from the coast along the Mad River. They have an extremely loud air siren that goes off at 8am in the morning. Our friends neglected to tell us that and my husband assumed it was a Tsunami warning siren. He kinda figured out that since the town wasn't panicking, he should probably relax. In fact, our friends slept right through it.

Next stop: Eureka, California  -home of the Carson House

Location: Crescent City, California
Shop: A Perfect Yarn
Owners: Leapha & Karen

Our first stop in California, Crescent City, took us through some beautiful red wood forests. Nothing on Earth quite like these giant trees. Home to about 7500 people during with off-season. Some of those 7500 live in the filled to capacity Pelican Bay State Prison, but if it's here, I didn't see it.

This small city on the California coast, about 20 miles from the border of Oregon, is filled with hotels and waterfront RV parks. We stayed at one, and woke up to seals calling in the distance. A day at the beach is always memorable, if you don't live by one, even if the weather's crappy.

Leapha (Lee-fu) and Karen opened A Perfect Yarn 6 years ago. I met with Leapha, she works half the time, and Karen works half the time. They have a day or two mid-week that overlap. Although a small yarn shop, they have plenty of stuff to look at. Plus a small table in the middle of the store. While I was there, two locals were at these tables. One was a boy knitting a 'just-because' gift of a pair of socks for his mom. Nice kid. Lucky mom. Leapha was helping him keep his secret as well as helping him with the project.

I'm glad I'm visiting these places in the off-season. No issues getting into places that might fill. $28 to stay on the beach is pretty cool. The rates in the summer are on $32 (for the RV Park), but you have to plan months ahead. In the winter, the parks are less than a quarter full.

Next stop: McKinleyville, California