Today was the day. After realizing that one of the 14 shops is closed until Monday (and closed at 3 yesterday), I knew I wouldn’t be able to get to all 14 for the scavenger hunt. So I decided to just take my time today and hit as many shops as I could. I got to 7, which I think is pretty great. And it gives me 7 shots at one of those gift baskets.

So here are some photos from the day.

The yarn at Habu. I loved this shop, it had such a calm feeling. Minimalist Japanese, with just these baskets of yarn on the floor. Great stuff, this was my 2nd stop after School Products. PSchool products had lots of beautiful yarn as well, but more subdued and a bit lacier than my usual preference.

After my first two stores I stopped at brgr for lunch before detouring to City Quilter for fabric. This was a pretty darn good burger called Down on the Farm. I got the Trio, which had a sampling of fries, sweet potato fries, and onion strings. And the black and white shake was truly outstanding. That’s what made me stop, I walked past and saw the window that said “Voted Best Shake in NYC.” So I went in. Then I got some great fabric at City Quilter, but that’s a different story.

I went WAY uptown next to Yarntopia, on 108th and Amsterdam. Quite a hike from my first two stops in the high-20’s, but totally worth it. I love everyone working there, and I could not tear myself away from this sock wall. I’ve never even thought about making socks before, but I was so in love with these yarns that I just might. Killer, killer store.

Next was The Yarn Company, also on the Upper West Side. Another great store with great yarn I couldn’t drag myself away from. I got a great multicolored green/grey/white yarn to make a hat and mittens to match my winter coat. And I got a free book with my purchase.

Next I went to Knitty City, another Upper West Side shop. But it was so packed in there that I couldn’t take photos. Same with Purl Soho, a brilliant shop I’m already a huge fan of. I read the Purl Bee religiously and get tons of patchwork and yarn ideas from them (several of which have been discussed on this blog).

Last stop was Seaport Yarn down in the financial district. I was picking up Adam and our friend Andrei up there, so I swung by on my way. They’ve moved, I used to visit them not far from their current location when I went into the city to visit Adam at work. This was back when we first started dating, I haven’t been knitting very much since I took up sewing. But now I’ve got all this great yarn today, and I’m completely inspired. Fabulous job, Yarn Crawl organizers!