Ms. Mae Travels

About a year and a half ago, I was excited to learn about a yarn crawl held in my home state – Roving Indiana. I had been to crawls or shop hops in other states – Minnesota and Ohio – but never in Indiana. Although I wasn’t able to attend last year, I put it on my list for this year.

The event took place March 1-10. It looked like I wasn’t going to be able to go, since both weekends of the crawl were already filled on my schedule, but at the last minute I decided to make a quick trip during the week.

I asked my knitting group if anyone wanted to join me and a friend answered my request. We drove to Indianapolis on Wednesday evening and checked into a hotel. We spent all day Thursday “roving” and drove home that evening.

Roving Indiana

To get the full benefit of Roving Indiana, you must purchase a passport.  The passport for this crawl was only $7.50 – it could be purchased ahead of time or at the first shop visited. The passport gives you a ten percent discount on your yarn purchases at all the shops. A free validation form was stamped at each shop. We turned in our validation forms to be entered into Roving Indiana’s grand prize drawing. In addition, the individual shops had their own door prizes.

Ten shops participated in the crawl – most of them near Indianapolis. There were two that were a little more than an hour south of the city. All of the shops could be covered in a two-day trip. Travel time between the eight closer shops was a little over three hours. Add shopping time to that and we easily filled one long day.

Village Yarn Company

My friend and I planned our route in sort of a circle. We started at Village Yarn Company, which is northeast of the city. We drove the route from there in a clockwise direction ending at Nomad Knits in Plainfield.

The warm and welcoming Village Yarn Company is located in Zionsville, Indiana.  The shop carries a large variety of yarn and supplies, although their (somewhat outdated) website does not offer shopping online. I’ll definitely shop here again.

I was introduced to a new local yarn dyer at the shop – Good for Ewe. I’m eager to visit their dye studio in the future. I bought a hand-painted laceweight yarn that has just a little sparkle in it.

The Black Sheep Yarn and Fiber Arts

Located in Noblesville, The Black Sheep Yarn and Fiber Arts is a little tricky to get to. The building is on the other side of a set of railroad tracks, so we had to go beyond the building, cross the tracks and then come back.

The shop is located in a large old house. Yarn is spread throughout several rooms. My friend loved the yarn she found in the sale room.  The staff was very friendly and answered all our questions. The Black Sheep Yarn and Fiber Arts does not have a website and does not sell online. You can learn more about them on their Facebook page.

The shop carries a large selection of yarn, including the latest by the popular indie dyer, Baah Yarns. I was very tempted to pick up the latest Baah yarn, but didn’t. Instead, I bought a skein from Inked Sheep Fibers, a yarn dyer from Muncie, Indiana. I like to support local dyers when I can.

Always in Stitches

As we approached Always in Stitches – also in Noblesville – we could see that it was more than a yarn shop. In fact, about three-fourths of the store was dedicated to quilting. My friend and I have both done some quilting, but we knew if we spent time in the fabric area, we would never get out of the shop.

The yarn section seemed small compared to the fabric area, but it was about the same size as an average yarn shop. There were several shop samples that interested me, so I took note of them and will check them out on Ravelry.

Always in Stitches has a detailed website that includes fabric, yarn, and supplies. They allow purchasing from the site. I didn’t purchase any yarn at this shop, but I could do it from home if I want.

Broad Ripple Knits

Located in the Broad Ripple area of Indianapolis – which I had never heard of before – Broad Ripple Knits is a cute and friendly yarn shop. Again, we had a little trouble getting to the shop, but this page on their website gives good directions.

The shop seemed a bit overwhelmed with all the yarn they had in stock, but we could still shop easily. There was a large table in the back for classes and drop-in knitters. The shop’s website has information, but it is not possible to see or shop for yarn.

I found a cute shawl pattern in the shop – I just need to figure out which yarn to use for it.

Willowe’s Basketry and Yarn Haus

To the east of Indianapolis in the city of Greenfield,  we found Willowe’s Basketry and Yarn Haus. As is evident in the name, the shop carries basketry supplies and yarn. The website seems up-to-date for basketry supplies, but the last entries in the yarn section are several years old. The contact info seems current.

The clerk was pleasant and helpful. The shop carries some common name brands, but very few hand dyed yarns. There was a clearance section with good prices – in fact, even the regular prices were reasonable and less than we expected.

Shabby Sheep and Ewe and The Clay Purl

The two shops south of the city were too far away for us to include since we only had one day to shop. I was told by another shop owner that both of them are very nice shops, so I plan to visit them on a different trip. (I’ll update this post when I do).  Shabby Sheep and Ewe specializes in yarn made in the USA and is located in Columbus, Indiana. The Clay Purl sells yarn and pottery and is in Nashville, Indiana.

Mass Ave Knit Shop

The Mass Ave Knit Shop is located downtown Indianapolis in the Fountain Square neighborhood. Billing itself as “Indy’s Premier Knit Shop,” it is the largest one we visited. With rows and racks of yarn, you’ll be sure to find something you like.

This was the sixth shop on our list, and so far I had kept my spending in check. I browsed around looking for nothing in particular, while my friend checked out the large clearance section.

Near the back I found the sock yarn area. I noticed they had Opal sock yarn – one of my favorites. When I met up with my friend, she mentioned that there was a display of Opal yarn near the register – I had missed it. The display contained Claude Monet sock yarns. Of course, I had to get some. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the yarn is brand new on the market – I wish I had bought more.

Starstruck Cat Yarn Studio

I am familiar with Greenwood, Indiana, because of Back Door Quilts – one of the best quilts shops I’ve ever been in. In fact, my friend and I stopped in to say hello even though we were not looking for fabric or quilting supplies on this trip.

Just around the corner from the quilt shop is Starstruck Cat Yarn Studio. The shop was a bit small, but the yarn they carried was nice. I especially liked the Sirdar collection. I didn’t find anything to purchase at this shop.

Nomad Yarns

We visited Nomad Yarns in Plainfield, but I can only recommend you go there if you will visit by the end of the month. The storefront is closing and the owners will be opening a yarn truck.  The new truck will travel to Greencastle, Terra Haute, Bloomington, and a few other place in addition to stopping in Plainfield.

The company has started their own line of hand dyed yarn which will be available on their truck. They also plan to carry yarns from other dyers and suppliers, including Good for Ewe yarn (Indianapolis) and national brands. They will sell online in addition to on their truck although I found their website a little difficult to use at this time. Their hand dyed yarn is very nice.

Roving Indiana Yarn

Roving Indiana had a special yarn created by Wonderland Yarns based on a painting by Indiana artist, Jim Gray. The painting is called Iris Garden and as I shopped the crawl, I looked for a skein of yarn that included what I thought included the best colors of the painting – some skeins had too much beige for me. I found the perfect skein at Mass Ave Yarn Shop. I don’t know what I’ll make with it, but the project will be my special souvenir from Roving Indiana 2019.

Bonus

After I returned home, I received a call from Mass Ave Yarn Shop. The informed me that I had won a door prize – something that rarely happens to me.  The shop was one of the best in the crawl even before I won the door prize.

If you are ever yarn shopping in Indiana, be sure to check out this list of wonderful yarn shops.