I can’t even remember how I got there, but once I was (online) strolling through Four Purls yarn shop I saw Anzula yarn on sale! Regular price, on average is $35 per skein, and I bought these three skeins for $24.15 each.
I believe I was searching for washable worsted yarn. Whatever, I snatched up these pretty colors: L-R, Temperance, Terra Cotta, and Seaside. I don’t have any project planned, but soon. Probably a hat or three.
Anzula on sale – couldn’t resist!
Four Purls also sells my favorite cotton yarn for making dishcloths. So I added more tropical colors to my stash. I’m making little cloths to give away at Christmas. Except for people who use sponges in the kitchen (yukko) they will be appreciated. See more colors in The Sassy Skein at Four Purls.
I needed new cotton yarn
Both types of yarn are favorites of mine. I first used a bit of Anzula for the Quince Wrap and fell in love. As is true for most nice yarn, it is pricey. I feel lucky to find a sale, and the yarn is really hard to find online these days, and colors are very limited. It may be due to Covid, I don’t know.
Four Purls offers free shipping on orders over $49 and the shop is close to me here in Florida so the package arrives in no time.
A few months ago I visited the Four Purls Yarn Truck for the first time. I bought lots of wonderful yarn and learned a little about their store and the family behind it. Both daughters of the owners do their own hand-dying to create some beautiful hanks of yarn. It’s a family run store. I’ve met the husband and wife team, who are helpful and friendly, both times I have visited their truck stopover in New Smyrna Beach.
Outdoor tables full of yarn
My knitting experience with Emma’s Yarn was such a delight that I had to be sure and buy more when the yarn truck came to town.
Located in Winter Haven, in central Florida, the Four Purl’s yarn store takes road trips in their colorful yarn truck to share their wares with those of us who have no local shops. They show up in New Smyrna only a few times a year, but I am grateful that they do. It’s always nice to be able to handle yarn, and see colors in person!
Shawls and sweaters knit from patterns, which are listed on their tags.
Pattern Samples Already Knit
A rack of clothing was displayed at the outer edge of the yarn tables. As I browsed, I realized these were patterns (name of pattern on tag attached to item) already knit up for us to see. This is a clever idea and next time I may do some pattern browsing before I buy my yarn.
As it was, I already needed quite a few skeins for patterns I had in mind. Hand-dyed yarn is gorgeous, but it is not cheap. One must restrain oneself when surrounded by all that pretty yarn. As it was, I still bought a lot of yarn!
My purchase of Emma’s Yarn, hand-dyed in an array of beautiful colors
My Knitting Plans Using The New Yarn
Sun Kissed is a free shawl download which I have been planning to make for a while now. I’ve been waiting to find the right colors. For the time being I am thinking of using “Gatsby” (mostly white yarn with dark speckles) and “Farmer’s Market” (look at those colors!) to knit it.
Emma’s Yarn colors: Gatsby and Farmer’s Market
Even though I recently purchased Stephen West’s “Mohairino Medley”, I didn’t find the right colors at the Yarn Truck. But I do love a couple of WestKnits shawls and was thinking of the Sea Swell Shawl pattern in particular when I bought the three skeins below. Or, I may knit another favorite by Westknits called Slumber Shawl.
L-R color names: Malibu, Turtle Haven, and 10 Questions
I found a skein of “Denim” blue for the border color to finish up my Dewdrops Shawl. I began the triangle shawl with Emma’s Yarn in “Main Squeeze” color which reminds me of pink grapefruit.
Denim blue color ball of yarn to finish my Dewdrops shawl.
And inside the truck I picked up a DK weight skein in “Don’t Call Me Peaches” color (below). This one is part nylon, with merino wool, and I am using it to attempt a pair of socks – again. Emma’s “Simply Spectacular DK” yarn is combined here with some fingering yarn from my stash to make a heavy-weight pair of socks (fingers crossed). For some reason I gravitate toward peachy colors!
Sock Knitting
While I was paying, the husband of the Four Purls team mentioned that they would not be back to New Smyrna until next Fall. They don’t go out in summer, which I can’t blame them for. It’s a really hideous time of year here in Florida and no one wants to be standing around in the Florida sun. So I will have to use up my yarn over the next six months while I wait.
Hanks of yarn purchased from Four Purls
Four Purls sells more than Emma’s Yarn, but it turned out that that was the only brand I bought. I also picked up a gauge counter.
Summer in Florida is a good time to stay inside in the AC… and do some lightweight knitting.
Although I live in a busy area, craft stores, and in particular, yarn stores, are scarce. Sure there is a Michaels in Daytona, but who wants to go there? And they sell mostly synthetic yarn I think. New Smyrna Beach is a very built up area and there is nothing here. We did just recently (end of last year) have a new yarn store, She Sells Yarn, open up north in Ormond. That is not too far away, but still a drive on busy roads. I do plan to visit the store one day.
The largest yarn store in Central Florida is Four Purls and it is located in Winter Haven. BUT…and this is cool… they have a yarn truck which they drive all over to visit areas like mine to sell their goods. Every few months (except in summer) they travel the 2 hours it takes to get to New Smyrna and set up on the grass behind “Hottie Coffee” just off Route 1. What a great idea!
I’m so glad they do this, and I missed the truck’s visit in October because I was in New Hampshire. Happily, I made it to the truck to shop on their latest trek. Sure enough, there was beautiful yarn everywhere. I was so excited that I forgot to take truck photos for my blog! (But I got some in April when the truck returned). I did spend lots of money on some pretty yarn.
The owner explained to me that Emma’s Yarn was hand-dyed by her daughters, and the tables were full of Emma’s Yarn. I have begun the Dewdrops shawl using the color “Main Squeeze”, and it is pretty, made of merino and silk. The yarn containing silk is very soft and I do love it. Shortly after I began knitting the shawl, I realized I wanted a denim blue color for the edge. I’ll pick that up on their next truck trek to my area.
Yarn from Four Purls yarn truck – Main Squeeze is on the pink one.
Four Purls also sells yarn online, but it’s fun to see the yarn in person. They come back this way in April and I see myself spending money on lots of new yarn that day! And I will take photos….!
Because there are no good yarn stores near where I live here in Florida, I shop online for my yarn. I’ve had to discover good yarn by reading reviews and discovering what expert knitters are using. And by simply taking a chance and buying unique yarn. (Yarn shown is Miss Babs, Yummy 2-Ply fingering,” Sorcerer”)
As time has passed and I am knitting more, I have found some additions to my list of favorite online shops.
Click on the titles below, which are links the shops.
Four purls is a local yarn store here in Florida, but they sell online. They are located in Winter Haven which is in Central Florida. It’s quite a drive for me, so I have never been to the store. However, I do visit their Yarn Truck when it comes to the East coast. How fabulous is that?
The Four Purls yarn truck visits New Smyrna Beach in April 2019
They don’t travel around in summer because of the heat (they set up outdoors), so I must order online, and that experience has been quite good. Shipping is Free for U.S. orders over $49 (as of this writing). Emma’s Yarn is some of my favorite yarn ever and I have made the Dewdrops shawl and Sun-Kissed shawl with Emma’s Yarn. She offers bright tropical colors, which are perfect for us Florida knitters. Shipping is super fast – I’m just a couple hours away!
I like the fact that I am supporting a local store. One day I would love to visit the Four Purls shop.
I can’t remember how I came across Wool & Company Fine Yarn but they are a favorite place to shop for two BIG reasons: They offer FREE U.S. shipping on any size order, and they will wind the yarn for FREE!
Their shipping is fast and the yarn is packaged in pretty dotted paper, like a gift to open! It’s the little things… and you can see below I got a free little stitch marker as well! (Miss Babs gives gifts like this too.)
Wool & Co. offers a wide selection of great yarn. It’s my favorite place to order Mohair because they will wind it for me! I once asked them to wind 2 of the 7 skeins of Shelter I purchased and discovered they wound all 7 for me! So customer service is above and beyond, IMO.
The link takes you to “Webs” which is a site full of various types of yarn. This site also lists reviews by purchasers which I’ve found to be very helpful, and they have free patterns to try. They offer yarn discounts for certain types of yarn, according to how much you buy. When you see the blue icon and “webs discount” on the yarn page, the discount applies. Depending on how much yarn you buy, get either 20% or 25% off. That is a nice discount!
Shipping can take a while and often color selections are limited.
Thumbs Up: Good discounts, big selections, and sell yarn of all prices, so you can find cheap yarn here.
This site has some very pretty yarn for sale, some of which is their own brand. I’ve bought and used the Worsted Twist to make a scarf and hat. It is beautiful yarn. They offer many wonderful free patterns (this is great for any beginner knitter) and wonderful knitting tutorials. However, often the types of yarn which can also be found on other sites is a dollar or so more expensive at this site. They don’t give regular discounts, that I’ve seen, but do offer free shipping if you spend a certain amount of money – $110 at the time of this writing. They will wind the yarn for you, but I don’t know if there is a cost.
Thumbs Up: Unique Yarn and Color Choices, Free Patterns & Excellent video and picture tutorials. Allow comments from readers / buyers.
This site offers gorgeous hand-dyed (in Tennessee) yarn. They will wind a skein for you at a cost of $3.00 per skein. I used this service for a 1750 yard skein! This site has named yarns such as “Wild Iris” and “Babette” and I only recently figured out what that means. The “Wild Iris” label means the color is not repeatable and when it’s sold out, it’s gone. “Babette” means more will / can be made.
I love the yarn I’ve purchased, and they have sent little gifts with a couple of my orders – a few stitch markers, and a tiny sample of some yarn. Also they sent a nice thank you card with info on how to reach them if I have questions or need help. I love to feel appreciated, and tiny touches like that do the trick.
This is a fun place to shop for yarn. Their product views are nice on this site, showing 2 or 3 images, with close-up views. In fact, that is how I found this yarn site. The Webs site, mentioned above, often has only one (not very good) image of yarn colors. When I first signed up, I got a discount coupon for a following order – I always appreciate discounts!
Thumbs Up: Great Images of Yarn & Good Sales & Fast Shipping!
Hedgehog Fibres “Beach Bunny” sock yarn from Wool & Company
I’m adding The Woolly Thistle as a favorite shop for online ordering of specialty wool yarn imported from the UK, Scotland, Scandinavia, and other far off places. The shop is located in New Hampshire (which definitely caught my attention) and I recently purchased some wool and a book from them (because it’s about NH crafters). Check out this store (and her podcast) if you like to do stranded colorwork with nice wool. Shipping is free if you spend over $99 and it is F A S T!
New England's Narrow Road 