A special shop in York...

In 2008 DH and I went on an 8 day bus tour of England, Scotland and a little bit of Wales. You can imagine we didn't really see that much of the countryside as the UK has a lot of places crammed into a relatively small place...we used to learn in Social Studies at school in the 1960s that 6 UKs would fit into the state of Queensland!  ( I have googled that fact and found answers varying from 4.4 to 7!)

Any way in 2008, on one occasion on that tour, we had just 30 minutes to wander through the Shambles district of the city of York. As luck would have it, I found a yarn shop almost straight away! But it was 'speed shopping'...no time to linger and fondle yarns before deciding what to purchase :-). I ended up with some yarns in my favourite colours and plys...and they were mostly Noro yarns (Japanese). :-/

So this year I was more organised when we again visited the Shambles in the old part of the city. Not only did we have a lot more time, but I had done some research about the local yarn industry. West Yorkshire is famous for its wool, so I knew what yarns and brands I was looking for. 

The Shambles is characterised by charming old buildings and very narrow streets. We found out this time that the Shambles area was originally where all the butcher shops were...now the shops sell all manner of goods especially items that would interest tourists...

Quirky shops....bit expensive too :-)

A closer view of my favourite shop in York :-)

After careful consideration of all the stock, this is my 'haul'...it is all yarn spun from Yorkshire sheep...in particular blue-faced Leicester.

I particularly wanted to purchase some Yorkshire sock yarn, as a gift for a friend...on display in the shop was a pair of socks, just like these except the sample ones were ankle length. (Photo taken from the website). I had found the yarn!! This series of variegated yarns are all named after British birds; this one is named 'Blue tit'

I also bought another ball of sock yarn...'Bull finch'...here's a photo also from the website...

It's a long time since I've knitted socks but it looks like I will be trawling through the Ravelry site looking for a sock pattern :-)
DH and I posted a number of parcels home containing items we had bought on our travels, especially gifts for our friends and family...but these yarns stayed with me...just in case a parcel went astray! lol

To finish off this post, I'll share some other photos of the other quaint shops/streets in the old part of York...

The Easter window display in the famous Betty's Tea Rooms

 I was admiring the dachshund ornaments in this garden shop...

 So cute!

This was the front of a florist shop...complete with the topiary poodle with his leg cocked...

 A glimpse of York Cathedral in this street scene...

 One of the city gates in the wall that surrounded York ...

We spent 3 nights in York and walked around each day until we 'dropped'! A wonderful city.