Yarn stores in Montpellier

Here is a post solely about the yarn shops to be found in Montpellier. I have no idea how useful this will be for others, but I myself, appreciate when others do posts about stores they see when they travel.  I find that in my travels going to yarn shops can really take you off the tourist track and give you a sense of what life is really like there. You will also be able to visit neighborhoods better and see more of the city if you search out your local yarn shop. I am going to try in the future to make more posts about yarn stores I visit while traveling. Also I know, I do not have a post about yarn/wool stores in Madrid. If you have questions in that area, please feel free to email me or leave a comment below. 

Knitting in museums

So we know that Montpellier is knitting friendly for three reasons:

1.) No one looked twice while I was knitting away in the park

2.) There are little signs of knitting everywhere (I even saw a yarn bombed bike)

3.) There are five yarn shops in just the center!

Knitting everywhere!

Before we get into the descriptions of the shops one quick note: Apparently a lot of shops in Montpellier are closed on Mondays (and maybe Sundays too, it's the case here in Spain). Also it seems that some of the stores close for a long lunch break (also like in Spain). I have included the hours that I found on their websites, but it is good to plan in advance and be aware of local operating times.

All of the yarn stores had very little overlap of brands/poducts that I could see, so they might all be worth the visit.

First up we have my favorite.

LaMercerie

23 Rue des Étuves

Monday from 10h to 19h and Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30 am to 19h (non stop)

 This shop had everything that you would expect in a craft store in the US! There was a good selection of: buttons, beads, fabric, sewing notions, knitting notions, yarn, and even a small section with felting supplies! The yarn selection was impressive with a selection of fibers and of well known brands. There was also more then one brand of French yarn including a good selection from Bergere de France. There is even more yarn than on display in the shelves at the back of the store, so you might want to ask for something if you can not find it. In my case I am addicted to self stripping sock yarn I couldn't find any and was not sure how to ask. I am currently studying French but I am a beginner, so I was relived when a friendly saleswoman who spoke English well asked me if I needed any help.

Let's be honest here (and if you have read this far you are a crafter/knitter too so you might know how I feel) the presence of just this shop makes the potential move more exciting. There is no one shop (that I know of, please tell me if there is) in Madrid that such a selection of all of these materials under one roof.

Phildar

5 Grand Rue Jean Moulin

10:00-19:00 Mon-Sat

 The store sells mostly clothes, but there is a yarn section (only selling Phildar yarn/magazines, of course) at the back. The yarn that I saw had more acrylic and cotton than I would like. There was not an atmosphere conducive to browsing so I did not look at everything.

 Avant Aprés
29 Rue Foch
10:00-19:00 Tues-Sat

This s a very upscale yarn and fabric shop. All open space and chrome. Here is where you would go to get your high end international yarns (non-US) such as Rowan, Noro, Debbie Bliss etc.

Anne Ouvrages
28 Rue Paul Brousse
Tues-Fri 9:30-19:00
Sat 9:30-12:30 and 14:00-19:00

I wasn't going to drag my husband to any more yarn stores, but then a local convinced me to try to go one more. She warned me that some people felt that the sales people are less welcoming here. However, she always feels welcome and I did too. When I came in with my camera holding husband (it was so obvious that we were tourists) they greeted me and when they had time they came over to ask if I needed any help ("I'm just looking" is one the phrases I know in French) and they gave me a box to put yarn into. It was a great sales technique as I had yet to pick any yarn. They (there were two saleswoman) also pointed out the other yarn section to me. They do not speak English here, but I was able to understand what they said by context and my limited French.

This store had a good selection that included a lot of yarns from both Amy Blatt and Bouton d'Or which are both French brands. This is also the store that has by far the most mohair/cashmere yarns (just a little warning for those of you unfortunate enough to be allergic to goat hair like I am). This store also included fabric and sewing notions. (Mercerie in both Spanish and French mean fabric/sewing/yarn shop.)

I am told that there is also a fifth yarn store that sells mostly Katia (a Spanish brand). "Coccinelle" which is located at the bottom of Rue Saint Guilhem, but I did not get a chance to visit it.

Please a comment if you have anything to add to my quick summary.

Memorial blanket

So a lot of you might have realized that this blog does not outwardly appear to have a cohesive subject. There is crafting, and travel, and notes about living in Spain. In the past I have struggled with that fact that there is no main theme to the blog, but that fact is, there is a main theme: my public journal of my life.  I have started tagging the blog with different key words so that those of you that do not care about crafting can read about my travels and vice-versa, and I will continue to go back and tag the old posts to make reading on a theme easier. If you wish to, please use the tags I have put in the right hand side bar to go to the subjects that interest you. The fact of the matter is that I miss my blog and I am going to start posting more regularly, and it is going to be a true mash up of my life, enjoy.

So back to today's post. As many of you might be aware I recently lost one of my best friends. It has been 5 months now, and it is still really hard to get through a day sometimes. My grief has been profound and it could be, that being so lonely here in Madrid has not helped. Before you feel too sorry for me, know that lot of my solitary feeling is self-inflicted because I know that we are looking to move countries again soon. So, without realizing it, for a while I channeled my grief into something constructive. Something that would be pretty and give warmth and comfort to my family.

I chose to knit the Mystery blanket by Elizabeth Zimmerman out of The Knitter's Almanac. I have always wanted to do this blanket because I love kitchener stitch. The reason that this blanket is called a "mystery" is that it is really hard to see in which direction that it is knit.

This blanket was born when I realized that I a lot of my worsted weight stash was in autumn colors and that I might have enough for a decent sized blanket. The blanket is very heavy and a great stash buster (uses a lot of yarn). It is knitted worsted weight/Aran held double on size 8mm. The finished size is about 4.5-5.5' or 1.5 by 2 meters. I knit the pattern as is except for the boarder which I knit in the round for fear of running out of wool.

I do not have all of the information on which types of wool I used. Some of them were close-outs and some of them un-marked Spanish wool.

Sorry about the photos in my kitchen, it is the best place to get natural light. 

If I was to knit this again I would have added extra increases at the corners by the edge. I added to either side of the corner stitch every-other-row but it was not enough, the corners have a tendency to flip up and it was only with firm blocking that they give the appearance of laying flat. I would also have made the increase yarn overs because they are stretchier. 

Christmas markets - Madrid

On Saturday my husband and I decided to brave the holiday crowds downtown and see the Christmas markets. We went to five and this is the first time I have done this kind of outing in Madrid. My first Christmas here in Spain I went to THE (the one in front of the Cathedral) Christmas market in Barcelona. Last year I kind of glanced at a few while friends and family were visiting, but I did not really go through and have a good look.

My conclusion is only by putting together all five of the markets I saw yesterday in Madrid do you get the equal of just the one in Barcelona. Still it was a fun day. For example: the first thing we saw when we came out of the metro was this:

Callao

It was apparently a "Knitting Party" event put on by We Are Knitters that had just ended. It is very nice to see more and more of these types of events happening in Spain (where the knitting revolution is just now exploding). The very first thing I saw was the yarn. Apparently I have a homing beacon for it and was drawn to it almost immediately.

Then, turning around I snapped a photo of the Callao xmas tree in daylight.

Callao

Our first Christmas market was the one in Plaza Santa Domingo. It was so underwhelming we did not even snap photos of it. Basically it sold: leather goods, jewelry, watches, scarves, and those animal head hats that are so popular now. It is definitely more magical to shop there at night when the lights are on.

The second market was in a building across from the Convent de las Descalzas Reales. Various craft stalls were set up around the perimeter a central space.

Next we walked to Plaza Mayor to see it's Christmas market. This is definitely the largest one, and where I would go to get figures for a Belén (Navtivity scene) if I were setting one up. As there are lots of little stalls selling miniatures of various types and sizes. It is also a place to get those New Year's glasses, hats of any size and shape, and various other Christmas decorations.

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Plaza Mayor

Oh, and there is a beautiful carousel.

Plaza Mayor

Plaza Mayor

Outside an entrance to Plaza Mayor

Outside an entrance to Plaza Mayor

Heading down Calle Atocha from Plaza Mayor you can come to one of the prettiest Christmas Markets in Madrid.

Iglesia de la Santa Cruz

 The Market in Plaza Jacinto Benavente. A small prettily decorated market with high end gifts. For some reason it reminds me of what a German xmas market would be like. I have never seen a German xmas market, but this is how I would imagine one. You can go through tall arched doorways of "stone" and inside under a tent of xmas lights there are little cottages bedecked with greenery and snowy scenes on top.

Plaza Jacinto Benavente

Plaza Jacinto Benavente

Plaza Jacinto Benavente

Plaza Jacinto Benavente

Plaza Jacinto Benavente

 On our way back to catch the metro we past by the World Famous (with it's claim to being the oldest restaurant in the world) Restaurante de Sobrino de Botín. There is always a little 3 story miniature of the restaurant in the window and this time the miniature was decorated for Christmas. (Sorry, only the photo of the first level come out).

In the window of Sobrino de Botín

 The setting sun on the decorative roof of the Marcado de San Miguel.

Marcado de San Miguel

The Royal palace also glowed the setting sun.

Palacio Real

Our last market was the Marcado Dulce (sweet market)in the Plaza de Ópera. We were apparently too tired to get a picture but it was a pretty little market, but, as you may have guessed, centered on sweets and baked goods.

Cagatío - holiday felts

My holiday themed felting continues today with a Cagatío. A Cagatío is a Catalonian tradition that I am fascinated with, and apparently I am not alone. If this post peaks your interest go and read this blog post too, I highly recommend it.

A Cagatío is a log with a face painted on it. Usually standing on 2-4 legs and wearing a traditional Catalonian hat. The condensed version of what it is (really go and read that blog post) is that you feed the log all through the season and it grows and grows. Then when they big day arrives the children beat the log with a stick until it poops presents. (There are songs and everything.) Putting aside the message that it is ok to beat something you have cared for for a month, it is a great idea! The growing log, and the pooing of presents creates an air of magic around the season, and the energetic whacking is sure to make the kids have a calm afternoon.

To be clear these are only really found in Catalonia. It is the Spanish side of my family who introduced me to them. Sadly they are not something readily available here in Madrid.

If I were to make this over again I would have made the legs thinner, to make them appear more stick-like and less log-like.

Do you celebrate any unusual holiday traditions?

Creativa Madrid 2013

Last year about this time I went to the very first Creativa Madrid and you can read about it here. When I went last year it was over-crowed and mostly full of sewing booths. Since I really should not get a sewing machine until we know what country we are going to settle down in, sewing booths are off limits for me, for fear that the desire to sew will be all consuming. It is very hard not to fall down that rabbit hole as I past by the Singer store almost every day.

Anyway, this year I was not going to go. But a friend offered me a ticket, so I offered to help in her booth and went on the first day (Thursday). This fair runs until Sunday so there is still time to go, if you want to.

Basically there is a lot of craft stores with booths from around Spain and even some from outside the country this year (I heard both a French and a British accent among the vendors). This fair is vastly different from the craft fairs that I am used to in the US, and some of the things they were selling seemed odd to me (animal figures to decoupage, and day-glow t-shirt yarn for some examples). I did not take a lot of pictures, because it is frowned upon to take pictures of the various booths (at least it was last year). 

I also forgot to take a picture of the booth I briefly volunteered in, Indigo estudio Textil run by my friend and master weaver Lala and her husband Enrique. Lala brought wool to sell (in all it's forms), spindles, looms, books in Spanish about all sorts of crafts, and needle felting supplies. Below is what I bought from her booth. Those are felting needle holders, a single and a 4 prong. The single needle holder is a genius invention of simplicity and design. The yarn was made right here in Spain by a company, which is unfortunately, closed. Right now I am planning on using it to be the arms for a Ribbi Cardi. Last, but not least, the book! A book where I can study the terminology of needle felting is worth it's weight in gold to me! The projects are not too exciting, but I have a feeling that I will be reading this cover to cover.

Working at the booth while Lala was off teaching was an interesting experience. I have worked craft fairs and similar kinds of things before, and that is why I volunteered. What I did not remember, until the day before, was the potential language difficulties. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I am tired of my Spanish holding me back from experiencing the life I want. There is a disheartening moment as an immigrant when you realize that you will never know the language like a native. No matter how long you live somewhere there will always be a phrase you don't know or someone will mutter and because you did not hear what they said, based on your accent they will think that you do not understand. It is disheartening. But I have a working knowledge of the vocabulary I can get by, I need to get out there and have the confidence to speak more freely. All-in-all I am very proud of myself for being able to do it and I am glad that I did.

OK, on to yarn. I found my favorite yarn store in Spain. This is huge, no only do I hardly ever buy yarn in Spain because of the selection and the materials available. I know of several other ex-pats that buy out-of-country so I know I am not alone. I love supporting local shops. So, the name of this store? Vega knits. Based in Malaga they are an online shop (although I have heard rumors of them looking for a brick and mortar store). They are the only store in Spain (that I know of) that carries MadelineTosh (the two skeins on the left are MadelineTosh, aren't they gorgeous? Click to enlarge.) They also carry Blue Sky Alpaca, Spud and Chloë, and last but not least, Avril, a Japanese yarn company. Avril has some really neat yarns. I wish that I could have bought them all, but I did buy three different kinds. The yellow one looks and feels like paper yarn, but it is cotton! It is almost like a ribbon yarn, if the ribbon yarn was made out of paper. The small red skien is a beautiful lace weight tweed silk. And the small little cone is wool and stainless steel in an olive color. I have always wanted to try a wool and stainless steel combo. The woman who ran the store was very nice, and bonus for all of you, spoke English (wish she insisted on speaking to me) very well.

I also got roped into a presentation about Magic Crayons. I almost did not get them, until I saw that you could add oil to them and paint with them too (see the purple bit in the ballon on the lefthand piece.) I am not sure what oil that they used and the website is not super helpful, but you can see almost the same presentation that I got, only in Italian! It works on wood and glass, and they do not get your hands dirty! I love all thing new and inventive in art tools, so I had to buy them.

So tthose are my thoughts on this year's Creativa Madrid. I recommend going. The selection and the creativity of this year's show is far better than last year, Also there is more "pura lana" at Creativa than there was at Nomada Market. ;)

Now with more needle felted creations!

 I really wish that I could tell you some powerful story of what inspires me to make a piece. But the simple truth is that with all of these pieces I was basically trying to embellish simple shapes differently.

Everything can be mostly made out of basic shapes. You art majors already have this drilled in your heads, but us self-taught artists need to remind ourselves of this and start training our eye to look for the shapes.

How you connect the shapes, how you put them together to form a seamless piece, that is the secret, and it is different in every art form. It takes lots and lots of practice. Below you have two unfinished egg shapes, one of which is smaller and they are joined together at the unfinished areas to create a body. I had recently learned to make the sausage shapes more rapidly so I had them at hand.

I joined them at the center back. Then I was inspired to do a mummy shape. Maybe because it is the season?

Can you break this guy into shapes too? He is a character right?

Even with the simplest of shapes, you change up the color, and then you have an endless variety. These little guys are my answer to my stained glass-felt obsession in 3D form. I hope to have a kit to make them available in my store within the next two days. They are perfect to make for beginners, because they can be any shape, have any amount of eyes and you get to play with blocks of color. (Or maybe that is just my favorite part?)

All the little creatures shown here today are available in my store, should you wish to take them home.