Looped Yarn Works: Washington D.C.

During my recent holiday I spent a few days in Washington D.C. and managed to visit two yarn stores which is one of my favourite things to do when travelling.  Today I am going to share with you my visit to Looped Yarn Works which I highly recommend visiting if you are ever in the area. The website for this store is not extensive so I was not sure how good it would be.  But I was not disappointed in the least.

Set up on the second floor this yarn store was wonderful for many reasons.  First, the variety of yarns it carried was excellent.  If you are a Canadian there are many American yarns that are hard to find in Canada, without ordering online.  So as an avid knitter and yarn lover I always read about these yarns but never get to see them in person, let alone buy any (without paying a hefty customs duty, exchange rate and shipping cost).  So it was with great delight that I could browse around this store and see yarns I have only read about.  For example Looped Yarn Works carried a variety of Quince & Co. which I was delighted to see in person.  Big Bad Wool, Harrisville Designs, Shibui and String Theory Hand Dyed Yarn were just a few of the other yarn lines they carried.

Quince & Co. Finch

Quince & Co. Owl

Quince & Co. Sparrow

The Copper Corgi Mini Skein Set

Freia Fine Handpaints

Malabrigo & Big Bad Wool

The light in the store was wonderful.  Set up on the second floor there was both a front window and back window.  When deciding on a particular colourway it is a great advantage to see the yarn in natural light, as it often looks quite different.

Harrisville Shetland

Another great thing about this store were that the staff were very welcoming and helpful but not pushy in any way.  There were a number of customers in the store when I was there and I felt very comfortable just wandering around at a leisurely pace.

An added bonus was that there were also a lot of knitted samples around the store which is really helpful when making a yarn purchase.

Shibui Rain

I had such a hard time deciding what to buy....there were so many great yarns.  I knew going in that I really wanted to buy Quince & Co. yarn as I had in my Ravelry queue several sweaters that I admired knit in this yarn.  After much debating I took the plunge and bought a sweater quantity of Owl, a 50% mohair and 50% wool blend in the colourway Bubo, an undyed yarn.

Quince & Co. Owl

And as for Washington D.C. we really enjoyed seeing the sights.  We had so much fun.  One thing we loved was The Renwick Gallery Wonder Exhibit which had the most amazing installations.

One display was Plexus made up of thousands of embroidery threads.

Then there was a room full of insects called In the Midnight Garden.

A 150 year old hemlock tree was replicated (made up of strips of reclaimed wood).   The age of this tree is the same age as the Renwick Gallery.

And another favourite was the Shindig installation.

Of course I was too early for the cherry blossoms but I did get to see the magnolias in full bloom.

And with the upcoming election evidence of politics were everywhere.  My husband, who is a political junkie, loved every moment of it.

 A Trump hotel being built in downtown Washington...a sign of things to come?

Our trip was shortly after our Prime Minister visited the White House

If you have never had the chance to visit Washington D.C. I really recommend it.  All the museums (and there are many of them) are free which is a bonus.  There is so much to see and do.

Next time I will review the second yarn shop I visited which I absolutely loved.

New York in March

I had the pleasure of visiting New York City for a very quick trip before heading to Washington D.C. and as usual, there was so much to see and do. Here are a few highlights from the day.

Chelsea Market was the perfect location to grab a coffee and get the day started.

Chelsea flower market

Chelsea bookstore 

Of course I had to visit my favourite kitchen store :  Fishs Eddy and admire all the original kitchenware.  You could spend hours in this store as it is jam packed with a variety of items.

Politics are everywhere!

For the cat lovers

Dishes and more dishes

We walked for miles.

Columbus Circle

Early blossoms on the High Line

There was a too short visit to Purl Soho.  The window display was eye catching as usual.

Do you see that orange bag?  I loved it but didn't end up buying it.  It is The Fringe Association Field Bag and this colour was made especially for Purl Soho.
I didn't take pictures inside the store as my time there was very short and I was mesmerized by all the colours, yarn and possibilities.  It's like I lose all coherent thought in that store, there are just so many things to look at.

I didn't end up buying much here as I knew I would be visiting two other yarn stores and wanted to save my money for future purchases.

We finished the day off with a dinner at Fabrick with my favourite lobster rolls:

Yes, that is candied bacon you see!

...and then a walk through Times Square.

It was a short but exhilarating stay in New York.  

Stay tuned for my next stop: Washington D.C. with a review of a wonderful yarn shop I visited.