yarn shopping in Leuven

Yesterday I went yarn shopping with a Finnish and an American knitter in my home town, Leuven, Belgium. I found Heli from Finland through SP10. I was surfing through the list of participants, and I read on her blog she would be visiting Belgium. So, I proposed to show her around. And Cheryl, contacted me. She found me through Google. (I tried it, when you enter 'yarn stores Brussels' you will find a comment I made on Polly's blog ). I love yarn shopping with fellow fiber addicts !

I live in Leuven, a city of about 100.000 inhabitants. It's 23 minutes by train from Brussels (direction Liège-Luik).

First we hit 'hexagoon', not a yarn shop, but a shop filled with beads, buttons, ribbons, cards and other craft supplies. I was looking to shop for beads for my MS3. Hexagoon is a tiny shop in a backyard street, if you don't know it, you won't stumble upon it. Apparently, lots of people knowabout it, it's always busy. I love it that they really take the time for you, help you find that single button that really finishes of your knit project. But, that also means they take the time for other people, and sometimes you have to wait. Sorry, no pictures, forget to take one !
I bought some beads for my mystery stole 3, but in retrospect they probably are too big.

Hexagoon - Ravenstraat 81 - 3000 Leuven

Then we hit the Bergère de France shop. Their yarns are mostly blends, and not very expensive. They carry BdF, and some novelty yarns by On-line. I love it that they have a (free) catalogue with yarn samples . The new catalogue has arrived, and there are some interesting new yarns (I noticed a wool /alpaca blend, and an organic cotton). Cheryl bought some On-line ladder yarn to 'weave' a necklace, something that the LYSO was demonstrating to her. Heli bought the wool/alpaca to knit some gloves (it can get very cold in Finland!). And I was happy to find the tiniest crochet hook for my mystery stole3, and bought the new pattern book.

Bergère de France - Louis Melsensstraat 1 - 3000 Leuven

We walked into another craft shop, where I bought some more beads. In retrospect, these are too small. I wasn't allowed to take them out the container to try with my new crochet hook.

De Banier creatief - Jan Pieter Minckelersstraat 29 -3000 Leuven

We walked into Veritas, a shop that is part of a chain - they carry a limited yarn selection of Italian yarns (Adriafil), and sock yarns. Their selection changes with the season, they don't have much wool on offer now, it's all about summer yarns. And they have a lot of haberdashery, and lingerie. They had beads, and for the first time I found some indication of size (I am new to beads).

Veritas- Diestsestraat 101 - 3000 Leuven

It was time for some coffee now - we had one in the reading café of the public library. There was a book sale going on, and on each table there was a book. On our table the book title was 'wayward women and wicked ladies' ....

openbare bibliotheek - Rijschoolstraat 101 - 3000 Leuven

After admiring the 500 year old city hall, we went to my favorite yarn shop : 't Wolwinkeltje. They carry everything, from very affordable to very luxurious fibers. Brands are : Scheepjeswol, Anny Blatt, Schachenmayer, Lang, Katia, Lana Grossa, Gedifra, Grignasco, Noro, Rowan ... I love their collection of sock yarns. There are always some sale bins outside. For cross stitch or patchwork crafters, they also have a nice selection. It's a small shop, but it's crammed with good stuff.

For the first time somebody knew what I meant by 'size 8 beads'. So I bought some more . Fortunately, you can get a lot of beads for not much money. And I bought some more yarn to finish of my Lizard ridge afghan. Heli bought sock yarn, and Cheryl found the right size circulars for her felted bag.

't Wolwinkeltje - Parijsstraat 25 - 3000 Leuven

I had a great time, and I think my guests liked it too. So do you want to see some bead shopping?