Seattle is a pretty fun place to be a knitter. We've got annual events like Stitch 'n Pitch & the Madrona Fiber Arts Festival. We've got about a million great yarn shops & knitting groups. And we have distributors like Cascade & Skacel right in our backyard. Until recently, these two members of our knitting community were almost completely invisible to me. However, Skacel recently threw a party to celebrate their 25th anniversary & I discovered a new wealth of knitting awesomeness hidden away in an unassuming office park.
Most of the day was spent participating in activities like yarn bombing, games & posting photos to Facebook, all of which earned points that could be redeemed for knitting-related prizes. Oh yes, there were prizes! In fact, I walked away with a few good ones: 3 skeins of yarn & a Skacel-branded beer stein! There were also piles of delicious free food & beer, all with a German theme to celebrate the founders' German heritage.
We also got to take a tour of the factory, which was by far my favorite activity. We saw enviable amounts of yarn & learned that Skacel is the sole North American distributor of Addi Turbo needles! I also wound up meeting the proprietor of the recently-closed Yarn Stash, a yarn shop which was across the street from my dentist's office. I had recently stopped in during their liquidation sale & scored some killer deals on yarn & magazines (all magazines for $1, including an issue of knit.wear from 2011 which retails for $15!!!) so it was nice to thank her for having a great shop & wish her well in retirement. Though going to the dentist will be slightly less rewarding from now on. :)
The tour ended in the samples room, where we saw tons of garments knitted in the yarns we'd just seen on the shelves. I love seeing how a yarn knits up & which projects the experts pair it with. But we were not confined to just looking. In fact we were encouraged to take the garments off the shelves & try them on.
 |
| Nothing but yarn as far as the eye can see. |
We also got to take a tour of the factory, which was by far my favorite activity. We saw enviable amounts of yarn & learned that Skacel is the sole North American distributor of Addi Turbo needles! I also wound up meeting the proprietor of the recently-closed Yarn Stash, a yarn shop which was across the street from my dentist's office. I had recently stopped in during their liquidation sale & scored some killer deals on yarn & magazines (all magazines for $1, including an issue of knit.wear from 2011 which retails for $15!!!) so it was nice to thank her for having a great shop & wish her well in retirement. Though going to the dentist will be slightly less rewarding from now on. :)
The tour ended in the samples room, where we saw tons of garments knitted in the yarns we'd just seen on the shelves. I love seeing how a yarn knits up & which projects the experts pair it with. But we were not confined to just looking. In fact we were encouraged to take the garments off the shelves & try them on.
This was a great opportunity to hang out with other knitters & learn more about a major player in our local knitting scene. If only more bland industrial zones secretly held warehouses full of yarn!
1 comment:
Nice! Yeah, I knew Skacel *only* as the distributor of Addi; I didn't know they did yarn, too!
Post a Comment