Assignment: write a brief review of the Crawl using no more than 3 capital letters per sentence and a maximum of 4 exclamation points. It’s a tough assignment, but we knitters are always up for a challenge, so here goes.
Three of us from the Wednesday Knitting Circle crossed an item off our bucket lists by visiting all 15 of the shops on this year’s Crawl. The weather was perfect, parking was a breeze, the shops were busy but not crazy crowded and it was just a great weekend. The variety of fibers, colors and designs was impressive. I saw everything but musk ox and, of course, the one thing I really wanted, cotton or cotton blend sock yarn. But I did stick to my budget by using the old standby, cash, and the rule that when your money is gone you stop shopping.
Every shop seems to have its own personality and that is a big part of the fun of the crawl. A few of the many deserving recognition (in no particular order and with no monetary value):
Best scones: Dublin Bay for a real Irish Tea with actual tea
Best Knitterly Decor: Black Sheep at Orenco for their whimsical knitted railing covers, etc outside the shop
Cutest Crawl Pattern: Knitting Bee for the Strawberry Purse (crochet)
Best Color Selection for MKAL shawl: Little Lamb and Ewe for a gorgeous shawl in peach tones
Best Shop Map: Northwest Wools, actually the only entry in this category, shop owners, this was really useful
Best Trunk Show: Yarntastic for Cheryl Newhouse and her New Hue handspuns, although there are lots of runners up in this category
Best Inventory: For Yarn’s Sake. I bet they even have musk ox.
Really, every shop we visited has something special.
If you haven’t ever done the whole Crawl, consider it next year.
–by Dee Ann
