Dancing Beads - Medford, Oregon

Location: Medford, Oregon
Shop:       Dancing Beads
Owner:    Carol
Website:  www.dancingbeads.com/

Medford has 70,000 folks and only one bead shop. Carol actually closed Dancing Beads a couple of years ago, thinking she was done with the bead store. She tried a couple of other things, including writing HTML and helping with web sites, but she soon found that she really enjoyed playing with her beads and cats more. Carol felt she needed to take her "office" out of her home environment which was too distracting (all those beads, and that cat), so she went searching for an office space. She found a spot in her neighborhood in a home that had been converted to retail/office space. As she was getting a feel for the place, she says a voice popped into her head 'This is going to be my new beadshop', and she answered back 'that's funny, I didn't know I was going to open another bead shop'.

She still had a lot of stock from the store she had closed a couple years back, so she opened up another bead shop. She had a lot of her old customers come back relieved that she decided to do it again, and she's gained new customers as well.

They've got a great selection of classes, and the class size is usually limited to six people, which makes it easy to get some one-on-one with the instructor. I was impressed that for a small(ish) bead shop, they've found some great ways of displaying a lot of merchandise.

Medford is located just north of California on I-5, worth a layover if you're passing through.

Next stop: Portland, Oregon.

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

Common Thread - Encinitas, California

Location: Encinitas, California
Shop:       Common Thread
Owners:   Nancy & Carol & Coco
website:   http://www.fiberartshop.com/

Encinitas is not a big town, but because it's right on the beach, it is a destination location. There are 60,000 people in the town I bet 85% of the residents own a surf board. If your address says Encinitas, you can walk to the beach. Encinitas is located in northern San Diego county which has over 3 million residents. There's a train track that runs right through town with trains going back and forth all day. Some of these trains are barrelling through town at 40-50 mph, not something I'm used to.

Carol and Nancy are mother and daughter and have owned the shop for 20 years. Carol is the mom, that's a painting of her in the picture above on the left that Nancy painted, and that's Nancy's dad on the right. These two banners are hanging in the front room and looking down at every person that walks in the door. Not pictured is the same type of banner on the lightpost outside her store on the street which pictures her step-dad.

Coco is the shop mascot, but she goes home with the girls every night. Nancy says she'd be pretty mad if she was left behind. Carol has a dog she would love to make the shop dog, but apparently the dog has too much energy for the shop, so it's a no for now. :( Not that I don't like cats, but as you can see, they don't care as much. Coco, was definitely pettable though, and she wouldn't be in the center of the store if she didn't like the attention.

The shop is pretty extensive. It's almost a maze to get to throu everything, a pretty wonderful maze of shelves full of yarn and inspiring examples. There's a small table in the front of the storer where a couple of customers set some of there things while shopping or getting help. One gal came in to get help on an Afghan she was knitting and Nancy was able to see immediately some twisted stitches and was able to explain quite quearly in a matter of minutes what had been perplexing this lady all night.

There's also a great sitting area in the back as well as another table, a great spot for classes, still close to the yarn but not too close. And the books were in this are which made it a great refernce are, too.

I definitely have some competition in the button department, as you can see they have a gigantic selection. There's more corners in this shop than I even have room to picture in this blog. If you're in San Diego, Encinitas is not that far, and worth the drive.

Next stop: San Marcos, California

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: Bakersfield, California
Shop:       Bead & Yarn Studio
Owner:    Lisa
Website:  http://beadandyarnstudio.weebly.com/

Bakersfield, aka Buckersfield, is California's 9th largest city with over 300,000 people and home to some good country music. You can drive on Merle Haggard Ave or Buck Owens Drive, I'm sure there's more, but those stood out to me. Also home to Buck Owen's Crystal Palace which has one of the best chicken friend steak dinners I've ever had, speaking from experience.

Two things really stand out in this shop; first of all, they have beads, and second, all of their yarn is 40% off. The shop originally opened as a rock and gem shop over 20 years ago. Lisa's parents were the rock hounds, digging up a lot of what the shop sold. Slowly, they started to get more female customers and their bead business expanded. With the many woman the rock shop was now selling to, the yarn just seemed like a good idea to add.

Lisa's able to offer all of her yarn at 40% off because of the lots she purchases. They're usually lots that were made not to the original specifications, or that the company might have had too much of, or that a store simply didn't want anymore. She gets the lots at discounted rates and passes the savings on to her customers. Pretty sweet deal, I think.

Classes a plenty, whether you're interested in beads, crochet or knitting. There's also plenty of room for you to hang out and knit or bead anything. Need help on something? Just ask, the store is full of friendly & crafty people.

Next stop: Bakersfield, CA  (again)

Location: Sacramento, California
Shop:       Fabric Garden
Owner:    Jill
Website:  www.fabricgardenquiltshop.com

Sacramento is the capital of California, and it's just north of the middle of the state. There are just under a half million people in Sacramento, about the size of Seattle (my home town). But just over an hour away is San Francisco Bay area with over 2 million.

One of the few quilt shops on our tour, but well worth the stop. Jill just opened Fabric Garden last May (Cinco de Mayo, to be exact), so she's getting ready to have her first anniversary (yay!). For a store that's less than a year old, I never would have guessed how young they were with as well stocked as they are.

There's something happening every day of the week in this place, whether it be a kid's quilting class, or maybe a 'sit & finish' day, the calendar has something going on every day they're open. Lots of fabrics and some great accents, including plenty of ribbon.

Quilting, one more hobby I don't need but would love to start. Whether you've new to quilting or not, this store has a lot to offer. Absolutely everyone that works here can help you in your projects and steer you in the right direction.

Next stop: Bakersfield, California