Spanish Stroll

Naturally, any trip abroad would also mean an opportunity to scope out the local knitting shops. The intrepid knitter going abroad is like a pig and truffles in the autumn.

Before, I write about what I found, I have to point out that I was in Andalucia and yarn shopping might be very different in Madrid or Barcelona. Andalucia is a wonderful place to visit, and I hear estimates of 300 sunny days a year. The temperature was in the hovering just below 30 C/ mid 80's F for most of the days we were there and although the mornings/evenings were cool, it was scorching by mid-day.

So yarn hunting tips in Andalucia.

1. Most yarn is stored behind the counter or in display cabinets. One shop owner thought that I was nuts because I wanted to touch the yarn before buying it. You just have to gesture nicely but insistently with a big smile.

2. It's ok to look slightly demented because only a slightly demented tourist which has either been affected by the heat or too much Sangria would want to buy yarn on their holiday in southern Spain. If you don't speak Spanish, and happen to be under 70 years of age or not pregnant, or trailing a string of children behind you, walking into a yarn shop is likely to get a few raised eyebrows.

3. Wool? not likely to be found. The local tastes seem to run to cotton, acrylic and novelties, especially novelties with a bit of glitter. Exactly the type of stuff that Mason Dixon Kay hates with a passion.

4. Shops that only sell yarn seem to be a bit rare. They tend to be part of haberdashery shops or department stores (not unusual for Europe but unusual for the US. The last department store that I knew of that sold yarn was Gimbels in Herold's Square and the went out of business over 2 decades ago).

5. Yarn shops seem to be run by men and women. The shop owners tend not to speak any English. (So you should know what cotton, silk, rayon, acrylic, nylon, etc are before venturing into the shops so that you know what you're buying if you can't tell by touch).

6. Sadly, Spanish knitters do not seem to knit socks.

7. Shop hours... stores tend to open early-ish in the morning and shut at 2:00pm. They reopen again at 5:00pm until 8:00-8:30 pm. Most shops are closed on Sunday. So plan your shopping early or late in the day. The shops don't all have opening hours posted on them, since the local people all seem to follow this custom.

8. Bring cash, the smaller merceria stores (like the one in Lanjarón) don't take credit cards.

Lanjarón

The first place that I found yarn was in a small town called Lanjarón. Like most towns/cities in Spain, parking was atrocious. The peak tourist season ends in September so one can only imagine how difficult it would be to park then.

Lanjarón was named after a Moorish ruler that threw himself off from a castle tower to avoid surrender to the Christian army led by King Ferdinand. It was our first stop on the way to Granada. Famed for the curative properties of its mineral water, we could see the bottling plants and trucks on the way into the town.

Along the main street, the Avenida de la Alpujarras (not far from the hotel H.R. El Sol **) I found this little shop. The front of the shop offered knitting yarns and crochet cottons (I think the Spanish women prefer to crochet since there were a lot more crochet cottons that acrylic yarns). The back of the shop, sold industrial strength ladies under garments.

The stock was pimarily mercerised cottons and a wide selection of acrylic. The did stock a range of Katia. Keep in mind with the semi-tropical weather, wool probably isn't that practical. Whilst we did occasionally see goats, we did not see a single sheep in Andalucia.

Hubby insisted on capturing this moment, me finding the first yarn stop on our vacation.

Proof, that the locals do knit.

I did buy something. The colours were pretty and the yarn 'feels' like a mercerised cotton. (It's acrylic.)

Granada

Granada is perhaps, one of the most breath-taking towns. No visit to Andalucia would be complete without a visit to the Alhambra. The yarn shops and 'mercerie' stores can be found in the old town, nearby the Cathedral.

To find yarns on your vacation, you have to mind the P's. (Prior planning and proper preparation prevents p*ss-poor performance.)

So I did my research and noted the success that Shannon had on her trip last November. I did managed to find the Penguin Esmeralda shop, behind the Cathedral, located at Calle Pie de la Torre which translated to English is Foot of the Tower Street. (a lightbulb moment to me).

I noted that it was firmly shut. Aside from being disappointed at not being able to go in, I also noted that it was impossible to see into the shop. Hubby, ever the voice of reason, suggested that we have lunch and come back. After a leisurely lunch we returned and it was still closed. We walked off towards the Plaza de Bib-Rambla and noted a lot more mercerie stores....

As one of the shop posted that they would re-open at 5:30pm, we headed back to the hotel and came back later to explore.

With the gates lifted this is what I saw. Lots of novelty yarns, rayon on cone, for about 7 euros (I'm told for shawls) and sparkly yarns.

I rummaged the bins in Pingouin Esmeralda, but found some many bulky acrylics that I had to leave the shop.

In the end, I bought something, cause the man was very helpful in the shop and must had thought me demented when I pulled out my sock and asked him if he had any wool. He tried to explain that acrylic was cheaper and washed better that the yarn that I was knitting with. (yeah, right, do I look like I was born yesterday?)

Cordóba

Even in Cordóba, there was wool yarn to be had. This was in the main shopping district Calle Maria Jesus, not far from the Plaza Tendillas. Actually, the husband found it and threw his arms up to block my sight. I immediately snapped this photo to capture the moment.

before moving in to investigate futher.

Yes, it sells yarns, haberdashery and ladies under garments. So the likelihood of men knitting must be pretty small.

Sevilla

On the Calle Luis Morales, across the street from the Melia Lebreros was a giant El Cortes Ingles. There's yarn on the 5th floor. Not a large department but yarn nonetheless. This was the only place where I saw any yarn in Sevilla. Flavio had mentioned something about it carrying obscure brands, like "Rubi"... (which in my mind flagged acrylic) Strikkelise had mention a mingy yarn departments in another El Cortes Ingles, so as it was late in the day, I didn't investigate further. I never found the markets that she talked about either.

Even in October, it was sweltering by 10:30am. Parking was atrocious. We arrived and every single car park in the center was 'completo'. We even crossed the Gaudaloupe and headed to Plaza de Cuba... and that too was completo. Is it me or is all of southern Spain being dug up? In desparation, we headed to the outskirts using our DK Eyewitness Guide, found our way to Calle Luis Morales and parked near the Melia Lebreros. It's about 5.50 euros to take a taxi to the Real Alcazar or a 30 minute walk. Parking near hotels is always a good idea, it's easy to catch a taxi to your desired location and most taxi drivers can find the big hotels, no matter had badly you mangle the names.

So, next time you do the Andalucia tour, may I wish you happy hunting.

Posted by atu at October 19, 2006 09:00 PM | TrackBack