Alaskan Yarn Crawl Review

Since I’ve now been to Alaska 7 times, I’ve seen most of the sights and was wanting to have some quality leisure and knitting time on our vacation – besides all the sightseeing we did so Robert could “catch up” with me. But for my “me time,” I definitely wanted to do a yarn crawl.
We started in Wasilla, AK at Ewe First. This shop had moved locations from when I was there in 2005, and its new shop is nice. They carry a lot of the standard brands, and I did see and touch qiviut and buffalo yarn, which I opted not to buy. I was a little put off by the owner/worker when we asked about another yarn store in Wasilla, which turned out to be in another lady’s home, and she was really quite demeaning towards it. I didn’t want to buy anything in this store because of that, but it was the only store that had this exclusive Alaska Zoo yarn – a blend of llama, wool, and camel. The label with the names of the animals on it was too cute to pass up, but I have no idea what to make with it. Any ideas?
Next we drove to Palmer, AK and my former favorite yarn store, Fantastic Fibers. This shop is also in a home, and has several rooms jam-packed with a ton of yarn. The problem with this store is that I remember specific yarns from my 2006 trip that were still there, so it doesn’t appear that the inventory is getting moved out. Also, there were some (smelly) dogs in the house/store, and as much as I love dogs, I didn’t want to take their smell home with me. I passed on buying anything here this trip.
Finally, we returned to Eagle River, AK and their new LYS, A Tangled Skein. There was horrible road construction in front of the store making it impossible to turn in, and we had to figure out the back way through a residential neighborhood. It was worth it, though. Although small, it was a very cute store with some interesting accessories. Not anything in the way of local yarns, but good for the standards. I bought some Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted to add to my mitten yarn stash. (I have high aspirations that I’m going to crank out several pairs of fair isle mittens someday.)
The next day after panning for gold, we found Knitting Grounds. Last time I was there it was in a warehouse in the industrial district. It’s now moved to a cute shop in a strip center next to a coffee shop. If I were in Alaska more often, this is the store I’d want to hang out in and knit with my friends! The owner was very warm and welcoming, and pointed me in the direction of the gorgeous Fiber n’ Ice Alaskan hand dyed yarns. I immediately gravitated to this yummy green skein of a silk/merino blend, and she said that their knitting group was going to do a KAL of the Forest Canopy Shawl. I may have to join them in spirit. I also got some Fiber n’ Ice sock yarn in orange – of course – and some great buttons for my Hey, Teach! sweater.
We moved on to Far North, which is another Anchorage staple yarn shop. They had some qiviut, but again, most of what I found was what I’d seen there before. I did buy some more Alaskan hand dyed sock yarn; this is Rabbit Ridge Designs. We then checked out The Yarn Branch, which is located inside The Quilt Tree. Although they carried a lot of the staples again, and was the only place I saw several Lantern Moon bags and baskets, I felt their stock was very overpriced. Part of that is just Alaska, things are more expensive up there, but I still left without buying anything.
On Friday we took the train to Seward and discovered A Flying Skein in the downtown area. This was a very cute store, and the owner was very friendly and welcoming. She also had a rocking chair for any men that needed to wait on someone who was yarn shopping. She had some fabulous handmade buttons and shawl pins, and I bought my first bulky yarn for my stash – this Forget Me Not Fibers in a yummy purple and green. I’m thinking this would be good for the Unoriginal Hat.
So, all in all I was pretty restrained. I hadn’t saved up as much as I would have liked before we went, but I did talk myself out of buying qiviut again (oh, and I did get to make a quick visit to Oomingmak’s, too). And of course, part of my brain was thinking ahead to Rhinebeck – which is now only 38 days away!