Madrid yarn stores: introduction

[la versión española está aquí]

This tour of Madrid yarn stores will have an introduction, 4 installments and a conclusion. When I finish posting them all, I'll bundle everything in pdf format so you can print it and bring it along when you next visit Madrid.
Other Spanish cities will be addressed later on: Barcelona, Sevilla, Valencia...

These reviews only reflect Urraca's opinions, but I'd like to thank Marta, Sabine, Cheryl, Marisol, Lia, Mae and Liz, for sharing their favourite addresses and opinions with me.

INTRODUCTION

Let’s start our guided tour of Madrid yarn stores. Please keep in mind that knitting is totally un-hip in Spain and that Madrid is pretty much a yarn desert compared to other knit-crazed cities. Acrylic rules and natural fibres are mainly represented by cotton, the thinner the better (if you’re into Fil d’Écosse you’ve come to the right place), as crochet fares better than knitting and Spanish knitters still favour doilies, babywear and lacy stitches. Still, if you follow our tour, you won’t go home empty-handed and will manage to enhance your stash with some very fine fibres and more than enough good-value-for-money yarns.

If you come from a country even more yarn-deprived than Spain, you’ll be glad to learn that a couple of stores in the Chamberí and Salamanca districts carry high-end yarns from foreign manufacturers (Rowan, Debbie Bliss, Colinette, Noro, etc). And if you’re ready to give Spanish manufacturers a chance, you’ll find out that, although most of their productions are blends, they sometimes produce fine natural fibres too. Katia (see also this website in English) is the best-known Spanish manufacturer abroad. But it’s usually its novelty yarns that are sold abroad and at much higher prices than in Spain. Most Katia yarns are in the 2-3 euros bracket here. Their patterns are usually fine for beginners and all Katia books are bilingual (both in Spanish and English) and sell at around 4,30 euros each. Other Spanish mills: Valeria di Roma, Oso blanco, Lanas Stop, Presencia Hilaturas, Luz Color...

Basic glossary

yarn store                  tienda de lanas
notion shop, haberdashery   mercería

skein, ball (of yarn)       ovillo
hank                        madeja
yarn                        hilo, hilado,
                            lana (even if it’s not wool)

wool                        lana
merino wool                 lana merina
mohair                      mohair, pelo de cabra
alpaca                      alpaca
llama                       llama
vicuña                      vicuña
camel wool                  pelo de camello
angora                      angora
silk                        seda
cashmere                    cachemir
cotton                      algodón
fil d'Écosse                hilo de Escocia, fil d'Écosse
lino                        lino
hemp                        cáñamo
rayon                       viscosa, rayón,
                            seda artificial, seda vegetal
acrylic                     acrílico
polyamid                    poliamida
nylon                       nylon, nailón