Japan 2015 Yarn Crawl

This year, Hubby and I decided that we'd do a camera (he's into old school film cameras now) and yarn crawl in Japan, specifically in Tokyo and Kyoto. :)  We had a grand time searching and actually finding our stores.  It was one thing to map it out on Google Maps and quite another thing to actually find these places! :P  All in all, we had a great and relaxing time. :)  I didn't hit all the places that was on my list but, I'm not worried, there's always a next time for us. ;)  So, here's the low down of the yarn places I did go to:

Yuzawaya:  This is actually a craft (chain) store and is really all over Japan.  Since it's actually a craft store, that means this place carries not only yarn but materials, beads, and other craft items as well, including sewing machines!  It's really awesome! ;) My favorite one is in Tokyo at Takashimaya Shinjuku, on the 9th floor (yes, I've been here before but never to seriously check out their knitting section).  I also found one located in the Kyoto Yodobashi building in B2 (that's the basement 2nd floor; yes, this means there are 2 basement floors), Kobe (this one has 3 whole floors!!), and Umeda, Osaka (the smallest one I've been to).  Their yarn selection was mind boggling; at the Takashimaya store, it was about half the floor.  At the Kyoto Yodobashi location, it was about a quarter of the store.  At Kobe, it was a quarter of a floor (I stopped looking by the time I went to the Umeda store).  They had TONS of yarn in every type and price point.  They had several brands including Puppy and Noro (the main reason why I wanted to check this particular chain).  It was amazing! :)  I was completely overwhelmed seeing all that yarn.  It also had a small accessory section, including knitting needles (relative to the amount of yarn it had, their accessories was minuscule).  Ultimately, I bought a few knitting accessories (KA plastic darning needles & knitting markers and some chain knitting markers (found in the beading section)) and Yuzawaya's brand: Munsell fixed circular 80cm Jpn 0 knitting needles and some other craft things (like coin purse clasps and material to hold my knitting items - of course! ;)).

These darning needles are LARGE .... only the smallest one (on the far right) fits in my needle case.  At least it'll be TSA safe and approved. :P

I love using these KA knitting markers for my sweaters.  Now, I (think) I have enough for my sweater! ;)  (And, no, I didn't get the coin purse at Yuzawaya; I got it in Kyoto, in a shop along the main street that leads to Kiyomizudera.)

These knitting markers are awesome!!  Bright, colorful and light!  Now, all I need are connectors so I can make both larger and smaller rings! :)

I couldn't resist ... I had to try their brand! :P  Too bad they don't have a set of interchangeables.

Keito, located in the Nihombashi, Bakuro-cho area in Tokyo.  It was a very cute and small store (well, compared to Yuzawaya at least!). It actually is quite a decent sized store (slightly bigger than most of our yarn stores here) and had quite a bit of yarn stuffed in there.  The main brand that it carried was Lana Gatto, an Italian brand.  I bought sock yarn here.  I couldn't resist and really wanted to give that brand a try (despite my resolve to buy Japanese yarn! :P).

Yarn bombing!

 Isn't the color so cute?!

Okadaya in Shinjuku: they have two (2) buildings, one that's very deceptive as the first floor sells cosmetics (that's the building that has yarn on the 4th floor); the other building is only for material (seriously amazing for the sewers out there).  This was the second place we hit and I was still quite overwhelmed.  I ended up not picking up anything (but I was quite tempted to! ;P).

Hobbyra Hobbyre usually located in a Takashimaya department store on the "craft" floor (generally on the 7th or 9th floor depending on how tall the building is).  It's a knitting, crocheting, sewing, needlepoint place in which it promotes these types of crafts.  The one I was able to go to (this time) was in Nagoya Station (yes, I've been to this store in Tokyo before I really got into knitting).  It a great little shop to check out. (And, no, I didn't pick up anything here - nothing too tempting thankfully! :))

I also know of another yarn store: La Droguerie  usually located in a Seibu department store on the "craft" floor.  I wasn't able to go to one this time around (although I'd gone to one during one of my previous trips to Tokyo).  This might've been a good thing that we simply didn't have enough time in Tokyo this time around to see this place; who knows what I might've been tempted to bring home! ;P

Yotsukawa located in the basement of Kyoto Tower.  It's located in a very old building that hasn't been renovated since it was built so, everything in the building is old, including how this store is set up.  Things are crammed (literally) on these old shelves from the floor to about 5'5" (or to the ceiling in some lower areas) and you'd have to be a very skinny person to shimmy between the isles.  For instance, if someone was already in the isle, I'd go to another isle until that person had moved on (that's how small the isles are and I'm not a big person!).  This store is just like Yuzawaya in which its really a craft store.  Its knitting section was about one eighth of the whole store but boy, was it crammed with yarn! :)  It also had a small area of knitting accessories.  They carried Hamanaka yarn in which I've been seeing a lot of at the Waipahu Savers store.  They had some multi-colored sock yarn which I broke down and bought enough for a pair (I hope). :)  I almost bought this other solid color but stopped myself ... I have too many wanna be projects that I couldn't bear to pick up another one! :(  (I was sorely tempted to though! ;))

You should've seen the swatch for this! :)  That was the reason why I ended choosing this color!

Avril in Kyoto (located on the 3rd floor), near Teramachi dori on the north side.  This store was (also) amazing.  There were spools of yarn on two (2) walls from floor to ceiling, including on a little landing area they created for more space!  It was (also) overwhelming! :P  Fortunately, the kind of yarn they carried was really specialty yarn. A lot of their samples were done as coasters, fringy scarves and bag type of stuff.  While it was all really cool, it's not the kind of knitting I'm into at the moment (thankfully so; I wouldn't know where to begin even if I wanted to buy something there!).

Walnut in Kyoto, on Fuyacho dori on the south side of Kyoto (closer to Kiyomizudera, a famous temple in Kyoto).  It's a tiny little store, located behind another building but, it wasn't too hard to find as they had a good sign up front on the street.  Walnut is your typical neighborhood yarn shop in which if you knit, you go there.  In other words, you kinda had to know what you're looking for (yarn type and/or brand and/or accessories) when going into a shop like this.  Fortunately for me, I was still searching for a few accessories.  Unfortunately, they didn't carry what I was looking for. :(  But, they did have a pair of fixed circular metal 40" US 0 Hiya Hiya which I wanted to try and I broke down an bought a skein of Malabrigo sock yarn.  It was in a beautiful denim blue ... I couldn't resist. :P

The sign was so cute!

Denim is the color for this summer! ;)

*Yay!*  I can finally give this brand a whirl! :D

Masuzakiya in Osaka located in the Umeda Hankyu Sanbancho Town. Actually, I think I've been to the Namba store as well the last time I went to Osaka. :P This is a cute little store jam packed from floor to ceiling full of yarn (and a minuscule section of accessories at and behind the counter). They carried yarns from all over the world and the only Japanese yarn they had was Noro (at a price point that I could purchase it at home :( (or should it be :)? :P)). It was one of those knitting places in which it's really someone's local yarn store (LYS). Basically, it's a store that you kinda had to know what you're looking for or want to start a project with. Not for someone like me - just wandering in the store to look around. :P Nevertheless, this was a yarn crawl and I was hoping to patronize them; so, while the nice ladies there didn't speak much English, with the help of my cell phone and pictures, I was hoping to find accessories - specifically bamboo darning needles and a small double crochet hook. Alas, I ended up not finding anything that really spoke to me there or my accessories. :(


Lastly (on a not quite knitting note but knitting related note), I went to the Kyoto Loft and Osaka Rinku Premium Outlet mall and picked up a new knitting bag and travel knitting pouch for myself:

This is quite roomy and more importantly, easy to open, particularly when crammed in a small airplane seat! :P

 Of course, it's a Le Sport Sac! ;)

And, look!  It fits everything I have (yup, that's mostly all my accessories! :D) with room to grow! :D (I know it doesn't look like it but there is a lot of space left! :P)

Overall, the yarn selection in Japan was AMAZING!!  If it's your first time in Japan, nothing short of the description of overwhelming really justifies these stores!  Seriously, when you go into these places, it's packed from floor to ceiling full of ... stuff!  I've been to Japan many times and also to a few of these places (a couple of times) and I've yet to be not overwhelmed when I first walk into the store! :P  What I did find disappointing was the amount of knitting accessories, including the various types and brands of knitting needles.  Most stores had a small (that's a generous description for most of these stores) selection; and being that I'm in Japan, I was hoping to find all of their brands (and associated accessories) there like Kinki Amibri (KA), Tulip, and Clover.  If I was able to find anything, it was usually the Clover brand and mostly, it was stuff I could find at home - not even items in different colors (it's very common to find the same thing but in different colors in different countries) or Japanese sized needles.  What I was really hoping to find was: bamboo darning needles and a small double hooked crochet hook but, there were none to be had. :(  Oh well, I guess I'll just have to get those items from Amazon or elsewhere on the web. :)