Yarn Stores Part One

I am actually doing this posting thing backwards (what's new?) because this was the second yarn store I visited in California - but I managed to get photos for this post first so here you go!

About halfway through my trip I managed to slip away to check out a yarn store called Common Threads. This is a mother and daughter run shop that looks small on the inside but is an Aladin's Cave of Wonders on the inside. My excuse for going to this store was that I needed some mindless knitting for the road. (What I had brought along originally didn't work out. The colors didn't work together the way I had hoped they would. Lesson learned - try to actually start a project before taking it along as your only knitting for a month or you may be stranded with nothing to knit. Fortunately I was stranded within easy distance of two great yarn stores. ;) I had been wanting to make a mitered square blanket a'la Mason Dixon Knitting. I only had limited time to shop because we were on the way to Disneyland and you can only tax the patience of a five year old on the way to Disneyland so far! So I had a game plan - speed shop! My two requirements for yarn were: pretty yarn & must be washable. I ended up with these Lorna's Laces sock yarns in (from left to right) Purple Iris, Watercolor, Uptown, Irving Park and Vera.



I also picked up these skeins of Koigu because they were staring at me and lookin' so pretty! The color is really off in this photo but from top to bottom - 314 Tan Lavender, 624 Orange (strangest name ever - this yarn is mostly pink!), and 446 Marine Royal.



No special plans for the Koigu - maybe just long term collecting for a blanket or coat or something.

And I also got some Austermann Step which I hadn't seen before:



In color 15 & 12.

I loved the store and the "staff" (I think it was the mother who owns the shop who helped me) was really nice. My only criticism of Common Threads is that their yarn is arranged by color. I find that system to be very overwhelming in terms of browsing through a store. I could tell that they had some really neat yarns in there but I just didn't have the time or mental fortitude to sort through it all. Luckily, they had their sock yarn sequestered in a separate section - still arranged by color, which DID make it easy to choose the shades of Lorna's Laces for my blanket but I still think that was because it was a very small section and I already knew what I wanted. So if you are in the area and just looking for a skein of this or that - stop in! - it looked like a great place to pet yarn. At least from what I could tell - it was all such a blur! I have to say - given that I was speed shopping I think I did alright. :)

So - what do you guys think of the "by color method of yarn store arrangement"?