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.

Segovia - the buildings

I took about 190 photos of Segovia. What I post here, and in the previous posts,  are just the highlights. However, this is a picture heavy post.

Segovia is so picturesque that it is hard to take a bad photo. Here is an old church with the sun caressing it's curves.

The Alcazar castle that Queen Isabella the first was crowned, and it is believe that this castle was an inspiration for some of Disney's castles.

An stone monastery in the center of town.

 It is a city where it is possible to have layers and interesting angles as it is located in the hills.

Again the textures come into play

In the distance  starting with the second peak from the left, is "the dead woman". In the shape of the mountain peaks (click to enlarge) you can see the profile of (from left to right) her face, her bossom with hands folded over, and then her feet. When you drive by this range you can even see an eye and an eyebrow, it is very cool.

It is a city where there are cool things to buy, and even better displays. Note the cork aquaduct.

 And fo course the aquaduct itself. A sight that I think, will never cease to awe me.

 Things are going well here. So far the apartment hunt is going well. I finally got a post out on my new blog yesterday. It takes quite a bit of time, because I need to research the history in Spanish, then sit down and write my findings in English, then turn around and write it agan in Spanish without satisfying the urge to plagiarize. It is not as easy as I thought to match up the two languages,. Also it has finally happened...I know words in Spanish that I do not know in English. I guess that is a good sign?

The job hunt continues, there is a depressingly small amount of jobs I can apply too. I really look forward to moving into the new place so that I have space to get my side business underway. 

I leave you with Rome's gift to Segovia to commemorate the aquaduct. Yes that is two children nursing from a wolf. If you are curious about the old Roman legend go here.