My Trip to the Yarn Barn

I have just returned from a very enjoyable couple of hours in the Yarn Barn in Shaw. I had been there a couple of times before but not since they moved into larger premises a couple of doors away from where they used to be.

The shop window entices you in with plentiful display garments showing what you can aspire to make. They are beautifully made as they are sample garments from Sirdar made by their team of VERY experienced even tensioned knitters. Oh to do stocking stitch like that. Mine is always uneven no matter how I try and the older I have got and the more arthritis the worse it has become.

Once inside there are two leather squashy sofas where you can browse the patterns or the copious books spread on coffee table. Wonderfully tempting intricate designs in expensively priced books. When I say expensive I mean they are for pensioner me whose head is still stuck on 1990's prices.

The photos that I took show only a mere fraction of the stock that they have on view. Pattern books full of leaflets for anything that you care to make. It has been a long time since I have seen so many leaflets for sale - it quite reminds me of my wool shop days and why I have always been so disappointed with most shops pattern choices.

I made a mistake yesterday when I said that Judith did online ordering. She will post things out but you would have to contact her by phone or e mail to see if she had in stock what you wanted. I am hoping that she sorts out that side of her business soon as it would be so easy to go online and order as not having a car anymore it's quite a treck for me to get there without a lift.

I can only list some of the things that she sells. The photos only tell one half of the story. There are no photos of the aran and chunky section, the needles and buttons etc, Plus I forgot to take a photo of the window display.

What I did notice was lots of Sirdar including Wash n wear, Snuggly Baby in 4ply and DK, Country Style, Tiny Tots, Baby Bamboo,Snowflake in chunky and double knit for babies, Bubbly, Pearl, Splash, Kisses and even some Funky Fur. I did see Crofter in DK and I think Chunky.They also stock Peter Pan Baby DK and 4ply.

In Rowan there are lovely colours in Felted Tweed, Soft Pure Merino 4ply, Kid Silk Haze and 100% cotton. There were two Noro yarns one was Silk Garden but I didn't see any Noro sock yarn but I could be wrong.

There was Jaeger wool including Extra Fine merino/silk cashmere 4ply and some Debbie Bliss Cashmere.

The sock wool that you can see in the first photo was mostly Regia 4ply with some Sirdar Town and Country and a bit of Wendy Happy Bamboo 4ply.

My purchases were very meagre. I could have spent an absolute fortune in there but as I had to pre pay my Bank Holiday weekend trip plus pay for 3 trips to the Osteopath this month my spending capacity for wool was severely curtailed.

If you are ever in the Shaw area I think the Yarn Barn is well worth a trip. Parking is a bit tricky but there are a few spaces around the back in the side streets. Do check on the web site first though as she is opening summer hours at the moment and has one early closing day.