Pittsburgh Yarn Crawl, Part 1

This past weekend I was in Pittsburgh for a wedding. I decided to do a two part yarn crawl around the city a couple days before the wedding. In my travels across Pittsburgh, I visited 6 yarn shops, three each day.

I enjoyed Pittsburgh a lot and will hopefully be returning in the not too distant future. Check out these yarn shops if you are in town.

Stop 1: Yarns by Design

My first stop was Yarns by Design in Oakmont, PA. It was right off the interstate so the easiest for me to get to coming into town. I liked the selection of the yarn that Yarns by Design has. I also liked their prices. They were lower than what I expected, which I liked. Although I didn't see a lot of indie dyed yarn, I did see a lot of Malabrigo, including sock, which has been difficult for me to find in Maryland.

Goodies:
2 skeins Malabrigo Sock, Turner colorway
1 skein Malabrigo Sock, Eggplant colorway
1 skein Madeline Tosh DK, Plaid Blanket colorway
A retractable measuring tape

While I was in Pittsburgh, I also attended Yarn by Design's knit night on Thursday. It was great meeting new people and experiencing a knit night in another state. Congratulations to Katie for finishing her five-year scarf! It looked great.

In the wake of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, Yarns by Design is spearheading a project to make tree of life squares for blankets. You can find the knitting pattern here on Ravelry and a crocheted pattern here. The squares they have received so far are 8"x8" to 9"x9". The knitting pattern link also has their address that you can send your squares to.



Stop 2: McWalker Yarns

My second stop was McWalker Yarns in Millvale, PA. This shop is a bit smaller than Yarns by Design, but it had a larger selection of indie dyed yarn, including locally dyed yarn. One local yarn I purchased was Stitch Party, which is dyed by two women in Millvale. Other local yarn they had were Yarn Rehab from Meadowcroft Dyeworks (Pittsburgh area), Shalimar Yarns (New Market, MD), and Glenfiddich Yarn (Pennsylvania).

I was going to attend their Friday knit night, but the timing didn't work out with when a friend flew into town.

Goodies:
2 skeins Stitch Party Palooza (their fingering weight yarn), Market Square colorway
1 skein Shalimar Yarns Breathless (also fingering weight), Enchanted colorway











Stop 3: Dyed in the Wool

Stop number 3, and the last stop for day 1, was Dyed in the Wool. This was the smallest shop I went to, including on day 2. There was a knitting group going on when I arrived, so I didn't interact much with the staff, unlike the other shops I went to. All the yarn I purchased was local. Shalimar again and Pichinku. The story behind Pichinku, I was told, was that a woman from Pittsburgh had gone to Peru and set up a fair-trade yarn company that employs local women and uses natural dyes.

Goodies:
1 skein Pichinku Tawa (sport-fingering), Nube colorway
2 skeins Shalimar Yarns Aerie, Chamois colorway



 Stay tuned for Part 2!