On the weekend, as I mentioned in my previous post, I hit up some of the local yarn stores while I was in Peterborough. My first “local yarn shop” in Peterborough has now shut down. Apparently, it shut down over 3 years ago… suspiciously coinciding with my own departure from Peterborough. I hope the chunk of revenue they lost when I left didn’t put them over the edge…. Anyway, I’ll miss Yarn Ewetopia. Luckily some great independent stores have taken its place.

The first one we went to was called Crop Circles, and it was more of a crafting store than a yarn store. I wasn’t too optimistic at first, but they did  have a nice little selection of yarn. The staff were attentive and friendly. I was helped by “The Yarn Whisperer” (Kathi) while I was there. She showed me this neat ribbon yarn that knits up into a wavy fishnet-ish scarf, and I ended up getting two balls of it. It’s called “Ondas” by Katia. I bought it in black, of course.

It knits up pretty strangely, but the end product is a lovely lush scarf, so I will likely stick with this one.

Then we went over to Needles in the Hay. They call it “a lovely little yarn shop” and boy, they aren’t kidding! Such a great little store. It’s in one of the historic downtown buildings, with hardwood floors, old brick walls and high ceilings. Beautiful. I wish I had taken more pictures in the store. The owner, Bridget, politely kept her distance as we “ooohed” and “awwwed” and fondled different hanks of yarn, but she was helpful whenever we needed her. We browsed the books (lots of independent and Canadian designers) and contemplated purchasing some pretty scarf kits. I definitely could have stayed for a while, but Mr. A was out wandering around Peterborough and I had to think of him.

I easily could have spent a few hundred dollars at Needles, but I tried to keep things under control. I ended up buying a skein of Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Sock Yarn in “Northern Lights”. That’s it getting wound into a ball on the swift in the last picture. Bridget was nice enough to give it a whirl before we left. Balls are so much easier than skeins.

I also got a ball of Schoppel Wolle’s Zauberball. I couldn’t resist. The colours are too amazing. I’m probably going to make a little scarf out of this one. Seriously, take a look at these colours…

Amazing! Photos don’t do it justice.
So, check out these great places if you’re in town. It’s little places like these that make Peterborough a fun place to explore and come back to.