merry knitmas! – part 1

Looking for some great gift ideas for your favorite knitter?  Online retailers are a great place to look – most of us cannot find nearly the selection locally that we can online.  Today, I am starting a three-part series on my favorite online sources.

Starting with the obvious, of course – Yarn.  But you’re not at all familiar with that wooly ball of stuff that your knitter always seems to have nearby so where to start?   My best suggestion would be to ask what your knitter is working on.  That could give you an idea of what kind of yarn to buy.  Some suggestions would be to get either (a) about 200 yds of worsted weight yarn – usually 1 or 2 skeins – so that your knitter can knit a hat or a pair of mittens or (b) about 400-450 yds of fingering/sock weight yarn for, well, a pair of socks. Can’t make up your mind? – All of the stores listed below also offer gift certificates.  Here’s my go to list of online yarn stores:

Eat Sleep Knit – Once you get to the homepage – click on “Shop for Yarn” which will take you to shop for yarn by weight.  I love this yarn store for the great variety of yarn and needles.  They also have a great frequent shoppers club which earns store credit and cute knitting prizes. I’m also slightly biased because the store is located in Smyrna, Georgia which means my orders get delivered by USPS very quickly.

The Loopy Ewe – Once you are on the homepage – scroll over to yarn – you can shop for yarn by weight at this point.  Again, a fabulous selection of yarn and supplies and even though this store is located in far-away from me in Colorado, orders get shipped very quickly via USPS.  They too have a frequent shoppers club which earns store credit and prizes.

Álafoss Wool Store – Want to really impress your knitter with your yarn-y knowledge?  Check out Álafoss Wool Store (located in Iceland) for a great selection of Icelandic Wool. Click on “Icelandic Yarn” to find  Léttlopi /Lite Lopi (a worsted weight yarn that I have used (and loved) on several occasions).  Buy enough for a scarf too – the average scarf uses  around 500 yards of yarn per Ravelry – everyone’s favorite online knitting community.  Orders ship and are delivered very quickly.   Super plus- use the coupon code iknit2purl2 by December 31, 2015 to get 15% off your first online order.

Jimmy Beans Wool – another favorite yarn store.  Click on yarn and on the bottom of the page, select yarn weight.  A great selection of yarn and supplies and quick shipping.  Also, purchases qualify for quarterly store credit.

Knitpicks – another great online yarn store with a huge selection – click on “yarn + fiber” to find worsted weight and fingering weight yarn. A great selection of supplies too!

Next time, a list of my favorite indie yarn dyers!