earlier last week, my coworker, kim, brought my attention to the annual minnesota yarn shop hop. i was unsure about taking on the challenge of visiting 16 hops in four days, but when kim drove the hour or two into work through the blizzard on thursday morning just to get started on hitting a couple of shops, i dove right in. these are the first seven shops i visited on thursday and friday.

Lakeside Yarn, 347 Water Street, Excelsior, MN

nestled in adorable downtown excelsior, just blocks from a coffee shop where i first discovered apothic red wine!

each shop had their own signature pattern and custom hand-dyed yarn for the event. most of the patterns only needed a skein or two, but given that the yarns were hand-dyed, they were considerably more expensive than the yarn i typically buy. it was fabulous to feel all of the different textures, too! and each shop gave away a copy of the pattern, so now i have a big folder full of things to knit someday! (i believe most, if not all, of the patterns are available via ravelry, if’n you’re a knitter, too — only a couple of the patterns were written for crocheters.)

i really dig the cozy fireplace for knitters to gather around! i’m noting this detail for the someday dream i have of opening my own yarn shop in my neighborhood.

Skeins, 11345 Minnesota 7, Minnetonka, MN

Extra raffle drawing for the yarn-bombed chair!

i believe his name was walter. he was very dapper!

i didn’t take many photos at this store since we were kind of in a rush to get back to the office, but i thought i had taken a photo of their patterns, but i guess not. they had the “turtle river slouch” hat knit up in a very colorful yarn. i just tried googling to show you, but i guess i’ll just have to knit it up someday for you instead!

Needlework Unlimited, 4420 Drew Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN

This is my go-to store so I didn’t even think of taking a photo of the storefront!

The weekend before the hop, I had filled up my bonus card* so I decided to redeem it for their beautiful yarn — which came with two bonus threads to complete the applique (only when I got home did I discover that the applique patterns were crochet — I really need to learn how to crochet).

*(after spending ~$220 in the shop, get a free $20) (holy geez, have i really spent over $200 at their shop?!)

i just love the floor-to-ceiling shelves full of yarn. the colors! and the textures! so many possibilities.

Linden Yarn & Textiles, 5814 Excelsior Blvd., St. Louis Park, MN

their signature pattern was the grey cowl in that photo — the red shrug is a variation of the pattern.

i fell in love with this shrug, too! i’ll be looking for it on ravelry… (eta: “aranami” by olgajazzy)

someday i will knit a sock. maybe two, if the first one goes well.

amazing threads, 11262 86th avenue north, maple grove, mn

i decided to hit three of the shops that were in the northern metro on friday afternoon. i don’t go to maple grove very often, but i think this shop has a great set-up. it was quite busy, in fact!

plus, they had cookies.

their signature color was the blue, but i loved the purple and orange and red, too. this yarn felt amazing!

it was as if yarn was pouring out of the walls. yarn everywhere! so much to look at!

really great classroom space upstairs, next to the sale loft.

The Shepherdess, 2010 2nd Ave. North, Anoka, MN

my first impression of the store? wow, it smells so awesome.

i believe this was only shop that had a pattern for something that wasn’t wearable.

i did a project with spud & chloë yarn several years ago when they were very hard to find around here — i think i saw a display of their yarn at almost every store during this tour!

OH! this is why it smells so darn good.

weaving in the loft upstairs!

and my final stop late on friday afternoon, All About Yarn, 455 99th Ave. NW, Coon Rapids, MN

two signature patterns at this shop — the two on the left (red and green) are just a difference between using one skein or two and the one of the right (purple) is titled the “happy hoppin’ cowl”. i am going to be knitting so many cowls! it’s just amazing how many pattern variations the yarn enthusiasts on this tour were able to come up with.

another cozy fireplace! getting to this shop from my house wouldn’t be too bad, actually…