my ideal wool shop

[wartywarthog]

would be over several floors, packed floor to ceiling with yarn and have little ladders on rails so you could root around in the top shelves.

it would have a whole range from really cheap to ultra expensive and would have every colour conceivable so that you could actually buy several matching yarns in the same brand for eg. cath kidston rip-offs or knit a kaffe fassett jersey using the colours he suggests.

it would have a tea shop at the back where you could scour mags and patterns for your next project whilst sipping piping hot tea and gobbling gateaux.

it would have directories of yarn according to washing instructions (i'm sick of finding gorgeous wool for my dd only to find it has to be hand washed at half moon while the wind is blowing from the north east and dried flat in a room with bouquets of lavender and an ambient temp of 12 deg), and listings of which yarn is appropriate for a needle size.

it would be open late a couple of nights a week for knitting groups or just to finish ufo's.

would you shop there?

what would your ideal be?

Really bundy? When I asked the same question the member of staff looked at me very disapprovingly. If that's true it's good news.
We used to have a Debbie Bliss shop just up the road near Old Street and its existence is now denied. I know the fumes are bad in EC1 but really I know it was there. It closed down almost to the day I dusted down my needles...

so one woman told me, she looked quite whistful and also said they were making an atrium, a bit like peter jones's one so the staff could have some light

I was saying to her that I didn't like the current location because it felt too much like a corridor, when obviously it should be a place you go to stay for a bit, not just pass through.

having said that there was a real paucity of 4 ply hat patterns (beani for me) and have ended up with one that's suspiciously 70's looking but am hoping the lovely yarn (fuchsia rowan 4-ply soft)will help

@ whistful

This is Oxford St. Bluewater is smaller still but paradoxically better stocked in terms of cotton dk (all I can think of right now).
Who are c & h fio, put me out of my misery

PS, when I said admiringly to dh how quickly you can get from Fio Towers to Bluewater, he said either she's a liar or you must promise me never to get in a car with her, ever.
He does drive like Ronnie Corbett though so if you ever see a family saloon travelling at precisely 59mph down the A2 with a queue of fuming motorists behind that will be us

No Debbie Bliss but what a helpful idea to show stocks/brands by weight!

Keep death off the roads, drive on the pavement
I'm game!

In which case, even though I love Johnny Loulous, I'd be tempted to give my business to the local chain of independents

this is MY plan wwh

and has been for some time

marina and mi have been trying to swipe it but its mine, all mine

(seriously, can someone fuel my fantsy pls of yarn shops being a goer? Am just back from london, having been to loop, and while it was good, it was still...I dunno. Put it this way, they didn't open the doors for people with buggies. Really not. And no one commented on my adorable dd (in a backpack) )

I'd want my wool shop to be more welcoming and less in-yer-face trendy than Loop, Filly

oh god yeah, loop was not nice from that pov

BUT they had a really fabulous range, lots of stuff to finger . its the best shop i've seen from that pov.

my LishYS is actually quite like my idea, (yarns n yarns) but small and with an unguarded fire.

Oh you are not on holiday

you are just avoiding us and hanging with your wool homies

lol

was on holiday til yesterday

and am very ashamed of fruit comsumption

see y'all soon

oy, wheres the thread?

are you hiding?

christ its early

fillyj i will happily shop in your shop. when's it opening?

where is loop?

loop is in islington, in london

i wish I bloody could open a wool shop...

went to liberty yesterday to browse their habedashery dept. they've revamped the wool dept and it is lovely although not a massive range of yarn. no noro that i could see but they did have some lovely stuff. and lots and lots of books and mags. and the material is to die for. am thinking of making a quilt but would cost the earth.

thinking about financial viability - was speaking to my mil yesterday and she said there used to be a wool shop in putney with a tea shop inside. was lovely but it didn't survive. she spoke to the owner who said it just didn't make enough money. so it's not something you're going to get rich on.

but i wonder, if you have an internet shop as well, your stock would be in the shop so you don't need extra storage, and you'd get extra sales. coupled with a swanky tea shop with seriously good cakes and late evening openings... you'd have to have help otherwise your family would disown you.

ok sw londoners, this is what is confusing me

its at 213 Upper Richmond Road, which, last time I checked, was in putney

are y'all just being modest?

heh - that's my local wool shop, but they don't have a huge range and it's really expensive. there's a ball of silk that's £80 a ball iirc. it does have swarovski crystals randomly dotted i suppose...

really?

so what are you guys after?

I want poncetastic yarns. So I can get inspiration, then buy cheap stuff from texere and dye it.

debbie bliss et al I can get off the internet

actually, seirously, it is community I am wanting from this.

It warms the very cockles of my heart to know there are knitters here to chat to, as I am an isolate knitter round here

well occasionally i like to knit with ludicrously expensive silks and mohairs, but i can't afford to do it all the time...

what gets my goat with most wool shops is that they don't have enough range of each brand, so if you need several colours to make a fairisle jersey for eg. you can't get the colours to match. or try ripping off a cath kidston blanket. or try knitting a kaffe fassett thing using the colours he suggests. his stuff is all about colour!

internet shopping is great, but there's no substitute for actually handling the yarn and colours are never reproduced correctly. i bought some wool for a jumper for dd, but it was horribly acrylic-y even though it was a wool blend, and the colours were truly awful. it's going on ebay as soon as i get my *rse into gear...

perhaps you've got a point about dyeing your own wool...

i'm also an isolated knitter. my friends would think i've gone off my rocker.