Ottawa Yarn Shops

The darling husband and I had gone to Ottawa to celebrate the 6th anniversary of his sister's bar (drinking establishment? entertainment venue?) and had stayed overnight. Our plans for Saturday were to visit the Mackenzie King Estate and take some photos of the fall foliage to send to the troops in Afghanistan. Of course, being me, I had to wheedle "Can we visit one or two yarn shops while we're there? I've already Mapquested them." We pack the dogs in the car and he asks, "Okay, where do you want to go?"

Knit Knackers (40 James Street, knit-knackers.com) - This is yarn heaven! They spin their own yarn and have an extensive collection of beautiful, beautiful imported and domestic yarn. You can also buy fiber to spin your own. The ladies are incredibly friendly and happily show you around. Check out the baskets on the floor, mohair for $3.99???? I purchased two balls of Minuetto for $3.99 each and four balls of Gedifra New Age for $2.99 each. I love a bargain as much as I love knitting. Did I mention they sell on ebay?

Yarn Forward and Sew-On (581 Bank Street, yarnfwd.ca) - The yarn store you want in your village. The first thing I noticed was a class taking place in the front of the shop and an additional sewing class taking place in the back of the shop (its a rather large shop). The entire front of the shop is bins upon bins of yarn. If you're a beginning knitter, this is where I'd start.

Wool N Things (1439 Youville Drive in Orleans, woolnthings.com) - Adorable, bilingual yarn shop in Orleans. They have some very nice yarns (and some very expensive ones). They also sell Namaste knitting needles (glass knitting needles). A bit cramped but a hub of activity when we were there.

Michaels (4220 Innes Road in Orleans, michaels.com) - Of course Michaels is the ubiquitous craft shop and you won't find imported Italian eyelash but it is a very good place for a beginning knitter to pick up some inexpensive yarn to practice, practice, practice. I picked up two 1-lb balls of Phentex Worsted for baby blankets. I also picked up three skeins of Patons Divine for scarves. A set of #8 bamboo needles, point protectors (small, medium and large) and some stitch markers because I'm convinced that I'll need them at some point (I have big plans for my knitting future). I looked at row counters but the darling husband wants to buy me a stainless steel push-button one because it will be more durable (for my fits of knitting rage I presume).

Woolaine (Les Promenades de l'Outaouais in Orleans, woolaine.com) - The darling husband told me that this one is closed. That's darling husband speak for "I've had enough and my blood sugar is low." So we went to lunch instead and I'll ask to hit this one another time.

Did I mention that the darling husband stood outside each yarn shop with the dogs while I went inside to look? This is why I married him.