Currently looking out at the rain trying to pretend it's snow, and luckily for me, failing miserably. I'm back in NY for work doing some training, yea for employment that travels me. Unfortunately they pretty much only send me one place, but that one place is downtown Manhattan in a not so bad part of town...so no real complaints. Since i will be traveling so much in 2009 i've decided each trip MUST squeeze out at least one yarn crawl with a minimum of two stops. I hadn't been to ANY yarn shops here before which is crazy seeing that i spent more then two months in ny last year split up over 10 different trips.
Tonight i got out and did some exploring!
First stop was a fantastic small shop
Downtown Yarns in the East Village. This is now on the top five list of all yarn stores in the states. Awesome selection, especially for the small space. They had super friendly staff including a giant golden shaggy dog that was just hangin out.
Downtown Yarns had a gorgeous store front display of knit snowflakes.
Even though my stash is bursting and in a giant relocation project, i still had to make one purchase, as i can never avoid rainbow color yarn.
Jamie Harmon - 50/50 Merino/Angora. I bought the three skins they had, and now am the proud owner of 150 yards that must be knit into a simply gorgeous (and SOFT) scarf. And pattern ideas since the yarns already kinda busy?
Next was a pop into a store i had heard great things about...
Knit NY. They have a small "cafe" type area in the front of the store where they sell tea and coffee, well atleast they claim to. I arrived a few minutes after 7pm and no tea, no coffee, no nothing. This was kinda depressing as i passed up tea at dinner to grab some here. Next was a moderatly friendly staff; not in your face, but still checking if you have any questions every 15 minutes or so. They had TONS of beautiful Noro yarn; a whole small wall dedicated to the awesomeness that is the Noro. So far mostly basic yarns, nothing hand spun or ANY fiber, and the wall of Noro. Then i came a across the perfect scarf sample for the brand new rainbow yarn. I asked about the pattern and was told it was a house pattern. To this store "House Pattern" means you get the pattern for free, but can ONLY obtain said pattern if you buy the yarn that it's sampled in. The yarn it was sampled in was crap. I was very willing to spend more money on other yarn or pay for the pattern and was flat out refused. Then walked away from. Needless to say nothing was purchased and with my small pile of found treasures still on the counter i walked out. I totally get the "no you can't have the pattern for free", which i didn't ask for...but i totally don't get why i couldn't get it no matter what. Silly and not worth the trouble, off the list.
Non-knitting, my current favorite vegetarian restaurant in NY is
Dirt Candy in the East Village. This amazing place opened in November of 2008. The entire place only seats about 16, so reservations are a must, but totally worth it. Jalapeno Hushpuppies? Carrot Rissotto? Vegan Chocolate Cake? All yummy! Also one of the best logos ever!
