Last week I was at a week-long family reunion in New Hampshire. I was staying in a rental cottage not too far from a lake, the weather was lovely and I reconnected with my aunt, uncles and cousins. ‘Twas a beautiful thing.

But of course I made time for some Social Knitworking. :)

My mom knits. As a matter of fact, she taught me when I was little. And she always has some sort of craft project under construction. She was my partner in crime for an impromptu yarn crawl of the surrounding area.

Our first stop was New London, New Hampshire. It’s a pretty little town with shops along a main thoroughfare. That’s where we visited Knit New London, http://www.knitnewlondon.com.

Knit New London follows the typical LYS layout and stock. There are lots of the imported yarns I’m used to seeing, Manos being very strongly represented. The first floor is a little cramped with shelves of yarn, books and samples. However it is all presented nicely – I do love walking into a shop filled with color. A stairway at the back of the shop takes you to a second floor public workspace. I’m all about the social part of crafting, so seeing a dedicated space away from the shopping area is always a wonderful thing to me.

All in all, I found the store to be very pleasant to visit.

Our second stop was near Newport, New Hampshire. The area is a bit more industrial than New London, what with the mill and all, but nestled in a ridiculously scenic area. Yeah, New Hampshire is very pretty. :) Anyway, that’s where we visited The Dorr Mill Store, http://dorrmillstore.com.

The Dorr Mill Store is a large first floor showroom. I would estimate a third of the space is clothes and blankets. They carry much of the Pendleton line. Very nice quality.

Then there is the crafts area of the showroom. ZOMG! This was fiber craft heaven if you do anything BUT knit. There is fabric for quilting and applique, fiber for needle felting, supplies for punch embroidery, rug hooking supplies, a wide selection of acid dyes for fiber and fabrics and kits and books for most of the crafts represented. Additionally, there are dozens of beautiful finished examples of the crafts and kits.

My mom and I roamed the aisles for quite a while, oohing an ahing over the samples and various supplies. We both ended up purchasing a rug hooking kit. I sense a new fiber obsession on the horizon.

If you are a fan of fiber arts in general, this is is a fantastic place to visit.