The Shopping Edit
Today I’d like to indulge in my recent craft shopping trip to Latvia. I’ll be sharing where I went and what I bought, in addition to what each store had to offer. I do have a YouTube video on this as well, where I share the wool I bought and projects in mind.
The first thing to mention, is that I went to Riga, the capital city of Latvia. And spoilers, I was spoiled with craft shops a-plenty. Quite a few weren’t even on my pre-prepared list; I love stumbling upon things.
Latvian knitting styles are becoming more popular in other countries for knitters. Previously, I have taken an interest in Norwegian knitting designs, which feature only two colours on a row. Latvian knitting differs as it often can have three colours on a row. Despite being a little fiddlier, this third colour really does seem like a jewel in the fabric and adds a pop of detail.
Riga also has plenty of stationery and book shops, with many books in English and other languages. I even found a mitten book in Japanese. This blog is ‘The Shopping Edit’, so I will include those here too.
In another blog (out 26th May 2024), I will share my experience of Latvia and, crucially, if I’d return.
These shops were the closest to my hotel (excellent planning on my part).
Tīnes
Well, this was 100% a nice surprise. I bumped into this shop after a busy morning and on my way for something to eat. It looked like a wool clothing shop, but I thought I’d go in anyway. I rarely buy knitwear because ‘i can make it myself’, however, I did purchase a beautiful beige cardigan with reindeer on. I’m wearing it now as I write this.
The lady in the shop was very inviting for me to try things on and it is just so warm. It is made from their own yarn and with how fine it is, there is no way I would have time to make it. My cardigan was expensive, but I know it will last a long time.
Anyway, the really exciting bit. As mentioned, Tīnes produce their own yarn and you can buy this in the store. It is a fingering weight (which is thick for Latvian wool!) and produced in Latvia. And it is an absolute bargain! 3 euros for 100g! In the UK it is £10 for Yorkshire wool. They had so many colours to choose from-including variegated. I found it really inspiring that the knits on display to purchase were made from the yarn you could buy, so I could see how it would knit up.
My only downer is that the wool was kind of hidden away in baskets. They were laid on top of each other, so I didn’t even know there were so many shades until a removed some from the top. Their own brand wool should definitely be celebrated more!
This shop still brings a smile to my face as I didn’t even know about it and found Latvian produced wool.
Jānis Roze
This is a lovely and rather large book shop in Old Town Riga covering two floors. It also stocks quite a few puzzles and games, in addition to a small range of kid’s craft supplies. What struck me about Jānis Roze is that 1) they had a craft section 2) quite a few books were in English. They had some really unique books on Latvian culture, textiles and lacework.
From here, I purchased a book, in English, on Latvian symbols. Traditional Latvian colour work knitting patterns have symbols in the design which mean different things, such as fertility and contentment. This shop opened late, so perfect to mosey in after tea and pick a book for bed time.
Zvaigznes Grāmatnīca
No, I don’t know how to say it either. This shop also has an evening closing time and sells books and art supplies, such as painting, envelopes and kid’s crafts. Zvaigznes Grāmatnīca has a café inside also. This is a nice spot especially for solo travellers who want to be out in the evening, but are after more of a cosy hot chocolate and chill vibe, rather than bars.
Manilla
Manilla is a chain of stationery shops in Latvia and I went into a couple on my trip. I didn’t know about this before my trip and I would recommend going in. There are also plenty of greeting cards in English too. I’d say it’s more stationery and DIY focussed, than greetings cards. What took my eye was a section with wax and seals. The price range was mid to expensive, depending on what you are buying. They also did handmade paper which would be nice for scrapbooking. It was nice to see some indie Latvian artwork on the greetings cards.
Knitting Shop Sia Dzijas
This shop only opened at half past 10, but I stumbled upon a little museum with fabulous global textiles to pass the time and, I’ll share this in my next post. Anyhow, when Knitting Shop Sia Dzijas did open, wow…there’s a lot in there. And not necessarily in a good way.
This may seem like a silly moan and if you disagree, remember, it’s only wool at the end of the day. I did go with a list of a few 4ply projects and what I’d need for those, so the problem wasn’t I didn’t know what to get. They had a massive selection in a small space, which can sometimes make spaces look cluttered (I should know, my bedroom is like that!).
There’s some images below. I will say they had a strong selection of sock yarns, of varying thicknesses, so big happy face there. Also, there was plenty of that fluffy loopy yarn: I love a good colour range to choose from. They also sold plenty of yarn by Drops. This shop is an ideal place to go if you are looking for acrylic, or are on an economical budget. I also spotted some King Cole and other UK brands.
Personally, I still come back to it was just so crammed with wool and no real order to things, that it was quite difficult to pick anything. The lady at the till wasn’t for acknowledging my existence and the lighting was a little dark, so I made my exit.
So for this shop – it’s not you, it’s me. Great yarn choices, every colour, weight and texture you could want; just not my cup of tea.
Hobbywool
Hobbywool is a shop owned by the writer of Knit Like a Latvian-the book my mum surprised me with for Christmas. There are two parts to this shop-the front has ready made items, gifts and kits for the mittens. I got some beautiful mini mittens; I like to bring home a Christmas decoration from all my travels.
In the back was the yarn and mostly produced in Latvia, which was great to experience. They also have their own range of 4ply wool for making the mittens, which I would really like to highlight. It was so good going in person and putting all the shades together. I was particularly inspired by their example of dark brown, rust orange and cream together. They also had some single patterns for mittens and I found one for a Christmas stocking.
Their own wool was just 2 euros for 25g. What could be an issue for some people is that is does not contain nylon for socks and not everyone wants to knit with 4ply, preferring something thicker. This could be the case for you, but perhaps it is a sign to embrace!
Oh, they did have some lovely warm blankets, however, I would not have been able to get them home in my small case. The yarn and kits they post internationally, selling on both their website and Etsy.
The lady in the shop was so lovely and friendly, she even gave me a postcard at the end. I did go to Hobbywool twice and it made me laugh as the lady said they close at 5pm (it was 10am at this point…I must take my time!). I’m not sure if she was the author of the book and I was too shy to ask.
Hoorah for Hobbywool is what I say. In England, I love little yarn shops that sell proper wool, locally sourced and Hobbywool is the Latvian version of that. If machine washable or acrylic yarn is a must for you, then hobby wool is not the place for you, my friend.
On their Instagram, the Latvian Army men had been in the week earlier learning how to knit. I’ll leave that there.
Are you still strapped in? Next, I shall introduce you to the shops which were further out from where I was staying. They were a half an hour Rachel speed walk away and literally in a straight line. Along the way I kept falling into sewing, habedashery and vintage shops I hadn’t even got on my list.
Abakhan
We have a few of these shops in the UK, so I knew what to expect. Abakhan is half fabric on bolts and the other half remnant fabrics, which you buy per weight. They also had some of the same Ankara fabric I have purchased in the UK. I enjoyed their haberdashery and Abakhan also have a yarn section. They mostly stocked big brand European yarn, including from the UK (Sirdar, King Cole etc).
I bought some Latvian braid ribbon at only 1 euro 80 per metre. If you want this ribbon as a souvenir, my advice would be to go to a craft shop. The gift shops sell it for 5 and 10 euros a metre, which is ridiculous.
Sometimes at Abakhan you really hit and spy lots of things that you need or you have an idea for, other times it can have crap factory vibes and be mentally draining. As always, it was nice to see so many people in the shop buying to make things by hand at home.
Camellia
I really enjoyed this shop and it is a good mix between well stocked but not drowning the customer in wool. They mostly stocked brands I recognised, in particular, Drops. This is something we can get online in the UK, but I have never seen in a shop. I purchased 3 of the super chunky in canary yellow, to make a chick Easter wreath for my friend at work.
Other brands I recognised were Rowan (the only Rowan I found in Riga) and Wool and the Gang. This shop had a cheerful choice of loopy yarn in a rainbow of colours. I also purchased some buttons with sheep on. The shop assistant I met was very lovely and was friendly, but didn’t bother me.
I would certainly recommend Camellia a visit. I enjoyed seeing Drops yarn in real life; their textures and colours.
Wooly
Well this is an interesting shop – everything was on cones. From what I can gather, you don’t buy the cone. Inside it says how many metres per 100g and I think you take it to be wound into a cake. They had lots of postal orders ready to go out. I really liked this shop for a change and had plenty of unique yarns. The only thing that was a struggle is that they were more grouped together by texture, rather than weight. This can make it challenging if you are going with something in mind to make. Most of the yarn was of finer weight and there were plenty of machine knit swatches. This places would actually be really great for machine knitters…which is also a hobby I do not have the room or money for, she says.
Well, I think that’s enough to be getting on with and do let me know if you have visited any of these shops. Perhaps they are on your travel list! Latvia is a real treasure for craft lovers and isn’t spoken about enough. Perhaps Arne and Carlos will do a trip there one day…
I feel super inspired by the colours put together in the mittens and feel refreshed for my own designing. I should make a scrap book to stay inspired.
My next blog post and video will be about holidaying in Latvia, as well as some sights that I enjoyed and I think other craft lovers will too.
Take care,
Rachel G x
Little Miss Drop Stitch 