*My own trip and opinions, not sponsored and all purchased by myself with my own pennies.
Click here to access the YouTube video
Lancaster is a lovely city in the North West of England. It’s a ‘me’ city, meaning it doesn’t have that stressful and speeding metropolitan atmosphere. It also feels pretty safe when it is dark or in the evenings. I have probably been about six times and at just half an hour direct train, it makes for the perfect day trip.
The architecture in Lancaster reminds me of Yorkshire, specifically Skipton. Light brown sandstone buildings make the city feel cosy and not as rushed, although it was quite busy when I visited.
I love the shopping because it isn’t derelict, which is a rarity for high streets up North. It has your usual high street shops, in addition to lots of independent retailers: I get the impression the latter is something Lancaster really champions with various competitions throughout the year. Lancaster has a university, which is quite far out, but means there are lots of young’uns and international students, which genuinely does make Lancaster pleasant and vibrant. Unlike where I went to university in Ormskirk, which was drunk students with nothing to do except wake up the otherwise elderly population.
So, to the crafting. I started at Northern Yarn-spoilers it’s a wool shop-and their vibe is British wool where possible and if not then responsibly sourced from abroad. I love how they create an interest in forgotten styles, or those people perceive too challenging so don’t try. By this I mean traditional Shetland Fair Isle and Gansey sweaters. They also do kits to get people started. Northern Yarn does sell gifts for woollies such as wool fat soap; non-woollies can be treated to a pair of already knitted WYS socks.
The shop has a quiet feel to it and by this I mean calming, not deafly silent. The ladies in the shop are always helpful but not overbearing, which is just what I like! I feel like I always learn something new when I come to Northern Yarn. And then I come home and also place an online order. Nothing beats seeing the colours and squishing the textures in real life. Today I had arrive De Rerum wool in a beautiful ochre colour. I always say ‘I can’t wear yellow’ because of my blonde hair and skin resembling the shade of an A4 piece of paper, however, this has now changed I have found the perfect goldy shade of yellow.
So, what did I get when I was there? Well, I knew they had just got the Lettlopi Lopi wool back in stock, which is an Icelandic wool. It isn’t stocked much in the UK, so where it is there are usually months of sold out stock. But it was back and I got some! I am currently knitting with it the Moraine jumper by Tin Can Knits. I have jumped into knitting it in case I run out and need to get more before it is out of stock! For the rest of my shopping trip I had a massive bag to carry…well done me.
I feel I should mention their British Breed wool whilst that is what they are passionate about. Northern Yarn stock all the West Yorkshire Spinners you could ever want, they also have The Fibre Company and even their own brand named Methera and Mamo. We can’t wrap up Northern Yarn without mentioning their huge stock of Jamieson’ & Smith’s of Sheltand and they stock many patterns to suit everyone’s tastes. If I didn’t have so many projects in the pending tray, I’d be getting their new fair isle glove kit.
Budget wise, this shop could be considered on the more expressive side because they don’t stock acrylic and wool is more expensive, however, there are lots of affordable gems such as Jamieson’ & Smith’s of Shetland 25g, sock yarn or their plentiful stock of pattern books. I also really rate their website as navigable and user friendly.
My next stop was Fabrix, which is a fabric and haberdashery shop in the main town centre. It has been there for years and my school art/textiles teacher used to go there for her fabric when she was little, such is the crafting circle of life.
The vibe in here in classical music and the owner has the most fabulous orange hair. Customers are chatty and the shop is busy, but not crowded. Fabrix is a nice gentle introduction into indie patterns; brands such as Tilly and the Buttons and Merchant and Mills. There are lots of lovely garment and bag samples (not just fabric pinned to a dress form) and the middle is an island of colour organised fat quarters, which makes me happy.
Fabrix has plenty of different fabric types, I especially like their up to date quilting cotton releases (think Lewis and Irene/Dashwood/Makower). In fact, this is a really great place if you are a quilter, with plenty of samples and in house kits. I feel like this would be a ‘safe space’ to get into quilting, as I certainly get put off by all the official blocks and patterns. Fabrix have a really good range of children’s quilting projects too, such as baby book panels.
What damage did I do? Well, I went for pyjama fabric! I really wanted the Lewis and Irene flannel, however, it would have been too expensive (like £72 too expensive) for the amount I needed. I had seen the week before on their Instagram and website some interesting brushed cotton in a harvest print. I fall (pardon the American pun) for this fabric more each time I look at it with all the different shades and soft feel. It was already much cheaper than the Lewis and Irene flannel and it had a sale discount! The lady in the shop was kind enough to say I probably didn’t need five metres, but then I was inspired (or tempted?) by a customer who suggested it would make a lovely and warm working from home dress.
I bought a metre of jersey in a neutral floral print, as I want to practice more with jersey t-shirts before I go onto more difficult projects. I will be using the Emporia pattern I purchased in Wales. Finally, mum spotted some fabulous yellow needlecord with butterflies: the pattern really broke up the yellow, so I think I’ll be able to wear it with my complexion. I’ll be making a pinafore using the Tilly and the Buttons pattern. They had in the right size narrow buckles and I also got some top stitch thread, or rather my mum did as this latter project will be my Christmas present. So, that is something to look forward to.
If you are used to shops like Abakhan, Fabrix can at first appear on the small side, but I assure you it is not and I have spent well over an hour in there in my time. The shop isn’t cluttered, yet manages to fill the space with all types of fabric and different projects. I feel Fabrix is the place to try new things with confidence. The only thing I would prefer is for all the stock to be on the website for home order. I completely understand this is a massive job, however I am sure I saw some jersey and needlecord which I hadn’t seen on the website. Because I do know their website practically off by heart! It is really easy to navigate and I have made successful online orders in the past.
Our final stop on the Lancaster crafty tour (I’m nearly out of pennies!) is Ethel & Em, right next door to Fabrix! Ethel & Em is the most unusual wool shop I have even been in…totally in a good way. The first time I went in they were playing metal music and this time it was Spice Girls. The owner is really groovy, but hasn’t been in my last couple of visits, however, her young staff are awesome and knowledgeable in their own crafty passions. There is a lot going on in Ethel & Em, however the staff always greet you and ask if there is anything you need, so if you want DK cotton, they can take you straight there.
They are a stockist of Rowan, so I had a look at the new colours in the AW range. They stock your typical commercial brands, such as King Cole and Scheepjes, up to your more expensive and harder to find like Lang and Malabrigo hand dyed. Oh, if you want floofy mohair, Ethel & Em is the place! Again, this shop is also regularly busy, so that’s nice to see from all three I visited. It was at Ethel & Em I discovered Schoppel, so again great to learn about new styles and products on the market. I’d say this shop caters best to all budgets, meaning there is greater choice of affordable yarn: Ricorumi minis and a wall of acrylic to give a couple of examples. Finally, there is a mighty section of knitting and crochet books.
At Ethel & Em I made a small but exciting purchase, which was some sparkly lace weight. I had been thinking about putting it with my Rowan Big Wool for a while, but didn’t know if it would spoil it. I told mum and the lady in the shop my plans and they encouraged me it was a good idea. There is a lot of meterage, so I only needed one. Kremke Stellaris, which I originally saw in This is Knit, Dublin and has been on my mind ever since. The only teeny niggle is the Ethel & Em website, again the inventory of an entire shop is a massive job! I love all the products are on there, however I wish I could refine the search by all the different brands and by weight, or an easier pattern search. I’d probably order online more if it was easier because their parcels do really show the customer they appreciate their spends.
There we have our crafty shop around Lancaster. Have you visited any of these shops, or will you be? There is a haberdashers a bit further out (near the theatre), but perfectly walking distance and they sell acrylic and stuffing. Are there any craft shops I don’t know about in the city centre? Let me know and I may have to go back for ‘research purposes’.
Little Miss Drop Stitch 