Lisette Shops Portland!

Lisette Shops Portland!

Portland is a knitter's town!

Last week while vacationing in Oregon we took a day trip to Portland. I had the chance to check out four of Portland's yarn stores. I must say, I have never seen so many yarn stores in one city! It is impossible to visit them all in just one day.

Close Knit

Close Knit was the "must see" Portland yarn store on my list. Cindy, the West Coast Knitting Fever rep, told me about Close Knit. I met Cindy last January when she was touring with Louisa Harding in Northern California.

Lot's of Louisa at Close Knit

Close Knit is in the up and coming Alberta Arts district. I loved this shop! It was decorated with vintage furniture and had a funky "hip" vibe to it. If I lived in Portland, I would want to hang out at this shop.

We took the sales associates advice and lunched at nearby Petite Provence. I felt like I was in France with it's charming decor. I highly recommend their yummy Monte Cristo sandwich with raspberry jam!

Close Knit has a good selection of Louisa Harding yarn and books. I lucked out and found some discontinued Louisa Harding yarns that I have been searching for!

Thank you Cindy for this great yarn store tip!

Oleana Sweaters at KNIT PURL

Knit Purl is very close to Powell's Books in the Pearl District. This yarn store has a modern "boutique" feel to it. It is well stocked and the sales help are extremely helpful.

Knit Purl carries the gorgeous Norweigan knit line Oleana. I love their pretty floral knits! Textile and Knit Wear Designer, Solveig Hisdale is an award winning designer for Oleana. Knit Purl is working with Solveig to print a special copy of her (out of print) book Poetry in Stitches for Knit Purl. If you are interested in the book, contact Knit Purl.

You can also check out the Knit Purl blog.

Button Emporium & Ribbonry

My new knitting friend Dona on Ravelry told me about the Button Emporium. Turns out this has been a well know Portland landmark since 1997 for anyone who crafts, sews or knits. The Button Emporium & Ribbonry is located on the edge of the Pearl District. It is well stocked with buttons, trims and ribbons.

Thanks Dona for the shopping tip!

The Knitting Books

at Powell's Books

I can spend hours in a yarn store. My husband can spend hours in a book store. We make the trek to Portland mostly to visit Powell's Books. Powell's City of Books is an independent book seller that fills an entire city block with more than a million new, used and out of print books.

If you are a knitter who loves books, you are sure to find a few books at Powell's. The knitting books take up an entire aisle of book shelves at Powell's!

A Creative Knitter!

I saw this bike on on the streets of Portland and had to take a photo. I'm sure it must have been a creative Portland knitter that whipped up this knit bike guard!

I also stopped in two other yarn shops, Twisted and Yarn Garden. Twisted is a modern boutique style neighborhood shop that is very well stocked (think Debbie Bliss, Malabrigo and Noro).

The Yarn Garden is probably the largest store of all the shops in Portland. They have three rooms filled with yarn (think Rowan, Collinette, Debbie Bliss, Artyarns, Noro, Cascade, etc) a great pattern room and a complimentary coffee and tea room.

We ended our shopping day with a late night dinner at the cozy Parisian Bistro Carafe! A perfect end to a perfect day!

Portland is a great city! I love it's vibe, it's restaurant scene and of course, it's yarn shops. Since my husband is an Oregon native, I might even consider retiring there someday. Being a California girl though...I think I would tire of all the rain and miss the sun.

I suppose I could wear great knits, though!