Rosemary and I had a great time visiting LYS’s.

She went a little crazy in Alamitos Bay, picking up some lovely Fiesta La Boheme as well as some other items (well, she picked up three different colorways and I cruelly made her choose ONE). A quick visit to LisCat (doesn’t have a lot that appeals to me but the store owner/person working was friendly) on the way to the Vintage Tea Leaf garnered her one more skein of something that caught her eye. We stopped at L’Atelier where she loved the yarn and the store workers but got the same vibe that I usually do from the clientele.

We also stopped at Beach Knitting, my most local LYS, just a couple miles from my house, where Rosemary found yet some more yarn (Aracuna? handpainted chenille) — she bought 2 skeins and Dave and I bought her 2 more for Mom’s Day. The people there are just so nice, and their yarn selection (IMHO) is improving.

On my other day off during her visit we had lovely spa pedicures at Chameleon, then went to Jin Patisserie in Venice for lunch before heading over to Santa Monica and Wild Fiber. I really liked Wild Fiber — the people were friendly, the yarn selection very nice, with great selection of the major lines and some interesting small producers as well (including some $100 (albeit large) skeins of cashmere that I couldn’t stop fondling). The wall of temptation (i.e. Koigu) was particularly lovely (and I succumbed, buying 2 more skeins to add to my sock stash). Parking, as expected, was a bit of a pain.

We also stopped at Stitches from the Heart(found nothing there but they knit for a good cause)and A Mano in Mar Vista (which I like for sock yarns, but sadly, their STR selection was depleted). Our last yarn stop was Slipt Stitch in El Segundo, which, with Koigu $9.99/skein and the Fiesta La Boheme at ~$27/skein (vs $34+ at other stores) has the best prices handsdown and a lot of yarn stuffed (neatly) in a very small store.

Unfortunately we didn’t make it as far north as the Valley to visit the stores there….but there’s always next time!