Crafty Shop Hop

Hello Friends,
I've been gone for a couple of weeks:  Part of the time away was spent on vacation, celebrating my birthday.  We hit the road and went to visit the in-laws in Arizona, and then back via Santa Fe and Taos.  It was a fun trip, and we got to go to a ball game, visit Sedona, see a meteorite crater... and much more.  I also managed to seek out, and plan trips to, a number of yarn and fabric stores (oh yeah, happy birthday to meeeee!)

In Santa Fe we visited Tutto:



Tutto is an upscale yarn boutique.  There are numerous stunning sweaters, scarves and hat samples in the store.  Plus yarn brands and patterns that you don't typically stumble across, but are devine!  One of the chaps in the store couldn't have been more helpful: I asked about patterns and yarns and he offered great advice. 



The next yarn store in Santa Fe was Oodles Yarn and Beads:



This is a really welcoming store.  The owner, and some local knitters were hanging out, chatting and knitting.  They invited us to hang out with them.  I do love a store where my hubby and daughter also feel at home, and this was it.  Hubby spent time chatting with the knitters.  Naomi was hanging out with one of the knitter's dogs (and it was tough getting her to leave without said pup!)  Meanwhile I got to ooh and aah over the yarns and sample sweaters that had been created by the owner's daughter. 



Then came Taos.  I went to Taos Quilting store first:



This was an Aladdin's cave of a store that had a strong influence of the south west in their selection of fabrics.  I managed to find a number of fabrics that I hadn't seen before  - turns out they were designed by a local Taos artist!  Soo often I visit craft stores and find much of the same in many of them.  But not on this trip - each store had something that was unique, or not typically found in many stores.  It was a delight to stumble across fabrics and yarns that I'd never seens before.



Speaking of unique, Common Threads was the next fabric store I visited.



Wow!  This store had a variety of fabric types; not just quilting.  Again, a high-end, upscale store with some interesting finds.  A fabulous modern layout, beautiful fabrics for decor, dressmaking and quilting.  Wonderful notions - buttons, ribbons, ...  Absolutely lovely!  I'll be back!



And finally Lori's yarn and fiber.

 

Another welcoming yarn store, where I spent a good amount of time chatting with the lady that worked there.  There were skeins of yarn hanging outside that were dyed by the owner.  Wonderful shawl pins and other silver smith work in the presentation cabinet at the front of the store.  And a variety of yarns to feast your eyes on :)



Oh yes, it was a good trip indeed.

Hope you are all well and have fun vacation, or staycation plans, this summer.
In the mean time, wishing you a very Happy Mother's Day,
Sam
xxx