Ithaca yarn stores, part 3 (Son of Ithaca)
Our motel was located next to a Wegman’s, which we went to every day. Also. It was near a strip mall, with a Michael’s. MICHAEL’S!!
Adam has learned that Red Heart yarn is a metonym for “crazy ladies who make afghans that yarn snobs look down on.” Hence the photos.
But honestly, I love all craft stores. Red heart is cheap, and when I was a kid, there were no fancy yarn stores, just Woolworth’s. I love anonymity and unpretentiousness of the big craft superstores. If I only could craft from Michael’s I would be fine.
Also, they had this awesome machine, the Cricut, that could die-cut little confetti things for scrapbooks. It was totally unnecessary, but fascinating nonetheless. I own a Xyron, so craft gadgets are totally alluring.
And yes, Michael’s does not have all the fancy stuff, yarn-wise, but they do have all-wool yarns, I noticed, and knitting looms, and iron-on letters and all kinds of good stuff.
Also, Wegman’s? They had an entire magazine aisle with SIX quilting magazines and two knitting magazines, including the new Interweave that I haven’t seen here in NYC.
In summary, Ithaca, at least in the fiber department, had a bigger selection of knitting books and yarn than most New York city yarn stores. City mice, those country cousins are looking pretty sophisticated! Start packing!
February 23rd, 2007 at 10:01 pm #Adam
OMG! Why are you such a yarn snob? Red Heart is fine! … Heh. J/K.
The Wegman’s also had 6 or 7 quilting magazines. Actually, I think I counted 10. How can there be 10 magazines about QUILTING? Insane.
Ithaca is totally better than NYC. NYC does not have a Wegman’s or a Hot Truck. 🙁
February 23rd, 2007 at 10:03 pm #Adam
Ooops. I just read that you said six quilting magazines. I thought you said six yarn-porn mags. OK. I think there were 7 or more quilting mags. There were a couple others not filed in the quilting section.
February 24th, 2007 at 7:34 pm #jenny
Here in NM, our Michael’s and Hobby Lobby are really crappy for knitting supplies because, though they carry 2-4 full aisles of Red Heart and other assorted yarns that I (being a yarn snob and allergic to wool) don’t ever buy , they rarely have any needles in sizes under 8. Yet they do have the crazy jumbo sizes like 64 and 8002. WTF?
Fortunately, JoAnn is around to keep me in my Susan Bates straights and DPNs. I wish there was a store here that would combine a full array of needles with decent yarn. None of the boutique yarn shops here have anything other than Addis and Clovers, which pisses me off because (a) I think they’re overpriced and (b) I don’t really like them anyway. It is irritating to have to go to multiple stores just to start one lousy project.
February 25th, 2007 at 5:11 pm #knitlit kate
hey claire! cool posts about ithaca. i’m in roch-cha-cha, home of wegmans, so i was amused to see your pic of the storefront. here in the ROC, it’s considered a tourist destination, even more of a must-see than the intermational museum of photography at the george eastman house.
homespun looks way cool…love the humongous swatch hanging off the needles. and i’ll def check out knitty city next time i’m in nyc…which btw will be soon! a bunch of us are riding down on amtrak (and knitting merrily all the way). we’re gonna take in the radical lace/extreme knitting show at mad museum.
happpy knitting,
kate
March 6th, 2008 at 11:37 pm #New York Minknit » Ithaca is Gorges
[…] more photos of Ithaca: 2008. (I reviewed all of the yarn stores in Ithaca last year in these posts: Michael’s, Homespun, Knitting […]