Last weekend, DH and I went on a mini-adventure to the nearby-ish towns of Wausau and Stevens Point. The main objectives of the trip was to visit bookstores in each town, which we did do. However, each town also had a yarn shop, so we needed to stop at those too.
The first stop was the Black Purl in Wausau. Despite the name, they are not pirate themed and also not amused by the question. In any case, Black Purl is an excellent local yarn shop, stuffed with a great variety of yarns, notions, and Atenti bags. They have a nice work table/area in front of the shop that seemed very cozy. I would be pretty thrilled to have this as my LYS, except it is 2 hours from my house. One very fun thing they had all over the store are Barbie and Barbie-compatible dolls all dressed in knitted outfits. The owner told me this was a result of a contest they had among their customers.
The second stop in Stevens Point was the Wisconsin Wool Exchange.
Their focus was more on local yarns, and in addition to yarn, they also had fiber for felting and spinning, and supplies for a few other fiber crafts as well. This shop was very cozy and had some fun crafted object around, such as felted mice and crocheted disco unicorns for sale. They also had a nice big work table with lots of chairs for classes and drop-in crafting. If you want local yarn, this is the place to go!
I did find some yarn at each shop – naturally! At Black Purl I got a skein each of Mirasol and Berroco yarns. At the WI Wool Exchange I got the gradient below, which is both handspun and hand dyed. The sparkly black skein is hand dyed. I’m glad I got to visit both shops and recommend them highly!
Have you visited any new-to-you craft or hobby shops lately? On another topic, has anyone visited a Joannes to stock up?
Quite A Yarn 
That’s a great haul! Particularly love the label on the alpaca 😊
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Yes, me too! So cool 🙂
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RIP Joanne 😦 I will miss that shop for many things.
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Yes, me too! Any craft you want to do, or even just seasonal decorations, they were a good resource!
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Knitting shop visits are a must for any trip!
Here in Salt Lake City we have two new knitting shops, both of which opened last August. They are The Knitting Hive and Handwork SLC. They are replacing the previous yarn shop (Blazing Needles) which closed the year before. They seem to be thriving…YAY!
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That is awesome! Great to have two new shops opening up like that 🙂 Yes for travel knit shop visits!
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I haven’t been to any new-to-me yarn shops lately, but I have been by my local Joanns a few times. I’m so sad that they’re closing.
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It is sad for sure! They were a kind of everything craft store. They will be missed! Good you have been able to get there to stock up some what!
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Indeed! I made sure to stock up on zippers for bag projects, since I don’t know where else to buy zippers.
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That’s a good point! They really were the go-to for a lot of that kind of item. Upholstery fabric, zippers, sewing machine thread…
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Yeah, it makes me sad that we are all losing that resource.
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Why on earth would someone name a shop ‘the black purl’ and NOT go with a pirate theme??
They do have gorgeous yarn though so maybe we can let them off.
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LOL! I agree! They do have really lovely yarn though, so we’ll give them a pass 🙂
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Black Purl instead of Pearl – what a creative name! Those shops look like they provided a fun shop hop for you while exploring Wausau and Stevens Point. Sounds like my kind of day – visit a bookstores and then craft shops!
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Yes, my favorite things to check out when visiting new towns! Also, are there any good restaurants?
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