Happy Knits - Portland

Location:        Portland, Oregon

Shop:              Happy Knits

Owner/Buyer:  Sara/Tai

Website:         http://happyknits.com/

Happy Knits is definitely a happy place. One of Portlands newest yarn shops. They've only been open for just over two years and seem to be thriving. Not only is Happy Knits one of the newer shops, they're one of the bigger shops, plus you can shop online.

Happy Knits has one of the largest and more inviting common areas I've seen in a yarn shop. The table above is HUGE, plus there's a couch and a couple of chairs you can sit in while knitting in front of the gas fireplace. Everytime I've been in this shop, there's at least one person sitting and knitting away. There was even someone there when I took this picture, but she said it wasn't a good hair day for her, so asked me to keep her out of the picture, so she's off to the right.

Notions galore plus a few other things. A great place to buy your knitting friends a gift. Plenty of tote bags to put your craftiness in, plus plenty of other notions.

There's also plenty of inspiration throughout the store, not only in samples, but there's a section where the employees put their favorite patterns for the shoppers to look at. And a great range of experience within these patterns, plenty of simple things, but a few more difficult patterns for those that like to be challanged.




Next stop:  Seattle, Washington (my hometown)


It's been awhile since my last blog, I'll try not to do that anymore. My husband and I are just getting settled into our new state of Montana. I absolutely love it here, so do my dogs, I still have at least eight more shops to talk about before I get into rebuilding my studio and making buttons in Montana. Thanks for your patience in this time of transition.

Middleford Yarn & Stitchery - Medford, Oregon

Location: Medford, Oregon
Shop:       Middleford Yarn & Stitchery Shoppe
Owner:    Sonja
Website: www.miyarn.com/

Medford is in southern Oregon just north of Ashland on I-5. 70,000 people live in this sunny valley. It's location between two mountain ranges, the Siskiyous and the Cascades, allows the rain that permeates the pacific northwest to bypass Medford. On average, they get 180 more days of sun  than Seattle. That's half a year. Kinda depressing when you think about it.

Sonja has a lot of things on her plate. She does custom upholstery, runs a furniture shop, has the yarn shop (which includes counted cross-stitch), plus she offers individual lessons, and all under one roof.

She's been doing upholstery for 20 years in Medford, the yarn shop came 10 years later. She says she's addicted to both hobbies. She even makes most of the samples adorning the furniture in the show room, like the bed in the middle above.

Another store with lots of inspiring samples. According to Sonja, the key to having your store samples not take over your back room is to make only things she likes and that fit her. That's smart, I think.

Her shop has a 'Stitch-In' on Thursday nights, a 'Help Time' on Wednesdays as well as the weekends as long as they're not too busy, plus they have 'Social Stitch' all day on the weekends. That's the knitting schedule, there's also things happening for the cross-stitchers, check the website if you're interested.

Sew What! - Redding, California

Location: Redding, California
Shop:       Sew What!
Owner:     Lisa
Website:   www.sewwhatquilts.com/

Redding is in northern California along I-5, approximately 100 miles fromt he border of Oregon. 90,000 people live in Redding which is the county seat for Shasta County, and where 1/2 of the county's population live, the other 90,000 are spread out between the county's two other towns, Anderson and Shasta Lake City.

I sell primarily to knitting shops, and I have sold to a few quilt shops in the past year, but this is the first quilting & knitting shop I've sold to. Lisa opened Sew What! as a quilt shop 10 years ago, the yarn came in a year later. When asked if she was a quilter or a knitter, she quickly answered, "Both!"

The yarn is in it's own room inside the quilt shop, but don't let that fool you into thinking they have a limited supply, there was plenty to choose from, you just have to get by the fabric first, good luck. While I visited, there was a class going on in the yarn area. I asked all the gals what the class was, and they all just kinda shrugged their shoulders and said knitting. Each one of them had a completely different project going on and the instructor was there to help address any issues they might have. I really didn't see much instructing going on, I think these gals just come in to "class" to knit together, because they were still there while the instructor had gone on to her next appointment.

I think I found the socks I want to knit. The sample on the right in the picture above (on the left) has beads at the top. I think they're calling my name. Soon my pretties, soon.

Next stop: a bead shop in Redding, California

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.

Yarning For You - San Marcos, California

Location: San Marcos
Shop:       Yarning For You
Owner:     Deb
Website:   http://yarningforyou.com

San Marcos is part of San Diego County and is home to California State University & University of St. Augustine. The town, known for having some of the best restaurants in the north county, has 90,000 people in it, but the county has over 3 million. I visited San Marcos by myself this time, if I'd known that it was known for their restaurants, I would have scheduled things a bit differently. Next time.

Deb opened Yarning For You after suffering through a legal career most of her life. One day she had enough and quit. On her way home, she called her husband, and through the tears explained what she had done. Her husband asked her what she was going to do, and she answered, still crying, that she wanted to open a yarn shop. After a moment of silence, her husband asked her if she was driving, she said yes, and he tells her to pull over because he thinks she's been drinking. That was seven years ago.

 There's a comfy couch to sit on plus two big tables to conduct your craftiness at. There's a crafty person sitting at one of the tables in the center picture below. Tons of samples throughout the store, plus a sale room, that's always a bonus.

There were too many neat things in this shop to take pictures of. If you're in San Diego, you'll get a better appreciation for all the samples if you visit the shop. They offer classes, and the gals I met with were rays of sunshine. This shop just made you happy to be there, one shopper made that obvious by making herself comfortable on the couch while deciding which yarn to get for the afghan she's planning. She didn't know when she was going to start it though, she just wanted to be prepared. I completely understand.

Next Stop: La Mesa, California