I spent New Years in Santiago visiting some friends (some of the biggest ChemKnits supporters!) We spent a lot of time exploring Santiago and some nearby beach twos, but we also took some time to explore the street of yarn shops in Downtown Santiago.
The only thing I knew about the yarn district was from a blog post: "A WHOLE street ... yarn shops (Rosas)." I assumed that this meant the street was called Rosas, but I wasn't entirely sure. This is why I've included the picture of the map we used of the city with where I found the shops AND a Google Map so you can get directions for your own shopping purposes.
Each shop has an impressive window display outside with the prices of the yarn listed. This is the best place to actually look at the selection because you can see more of the labels up close. Inside the store, all of the yarn is located behind the counter. You have to ask to touch and the shop attendants select any balls you want to purchase. Describing different colors in Spanish was pretty hard, especially when there were multiple shades of each color! I am thankful that my girlfriends were there to help me with the Spanish and with my color selections.
After you make your selections, the attendant creates a receipt with the total cost. You bring this receipt to the cashier to pay, and then you get another receipt which you use to pick up a bag with your yarn. In total, I spent around $13500 Pesos (~$28.50 USD) in three different shops for 7 balls of yarn including some 100% alpaca. I did not select the cheapest yarns that were available (the stores contain a LOT of acrylic) but I got some stunning thick and thin wools (made in Chile), some hand dyed cotton (Dyed in Chile), 100% alpaca (Peruvian) and a novelty ribbon yarn. If I could have touched the yarns, or at least inspect them closer, I may have come away with more.
Another concept that was difficult to communicate was the concept of yardage. Many of the yarns do not indicate how many yards there are in a ball which makes it very difficult to estimate how much you will need for a project. I had to just guess and hope for the best when making my selections.
I was trying to be really efficient with my shopping, but in the whole process I forgot to take more pictures of the street and the shops themselves! A blog post in Portuguese (shared with me after I returned) has some amazing pictures of Chilean yarn shops and the hand knit items found in many of the markets.
The entire trip was so amazing. It took some time for me to feel confident in my Spanish, but by the cab ride home I was happily chatting along. What made the trip amazing was not just the location (or the yarn!) but the fact that I got to travel with 5 of my best friends in the entire world. I feel so lucky and this was an amazing way to start the New Year!
What an interesting post. All those yarn shops look wonderful. I find it really hard to find any yarn stores near me. There must be a lot of knitters in Santiago.
ReplyDeleteWoohoo! Great post! :)
ReplyDeleteThat is so interesting! Crazy that they keep the yarn behind the counter...I'd feel more like I was buying cigarettes than yarn!
ReplyDeleteIt was strange to walk around the store while unable to touch things. It is also hard to get a good sense of the yarn when are looking at it from so far away. Good thing the window displays were so detailed!
DeleteThanks for the post! I wanted to provide a little more information about how to get the the yarn stores for those of you who might come across this post in the future... to get to this street, take the metro to the Cal y Canto station on the yellow line and exit on Puente street. Go straight off the escalator and the second street that you come across will be Rosas street- go left on Rosas. Rosas dead ends on 21 de Mayo street, and basically into a ton of yarn stores (lanerias, as they call them). It seems like this whole block on 21 de Mayo street is yarn stores. Happy knitting!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for providing such detailed directions!
DeletePlanning a trip in October - Thanks for the detailed directions - so helpful for planning as I am travelling on my own and a little bit nervous - It's my birthday gift to myself!
DeleteHi, I am reading your blog for a cuple of days. And I love all of it. Congratulations!! I live in Osorno, Chile and I was so surprised when I read that you where here in Chile. I find it very dificult to find beuatiful "different" not industrial yarns. Thats why I am trying to spin, and learning to hand dye my own yarn. Your blog is an inspiration to me. Thanks a lot for all the information and time you spend doing this.
ReplyDeleteGreetings
Miriam
Miriam,
DeleteYou're very welcome! I'm glad that I am able to help people all over the world.
I'm also a novice spinner, and received my first wheel as a gift about 7 months ago. :)
-Rebecca
Thank you for this information, it was extremely helpful, particularly about how you are served in the shops.
ReplyDeleteThe street with the yarn shops is Veintiuno de Mayo and all the shops are at the end near the market, around a triangular street section. Behind the market, go in by the river and walk straight through, this street is San Pablo and a couple of tiny alleys with shops lead onto the Rosas. These shops are all habidasheries, ribbon, sewing threads and lots of sewing notions.
I went today 17/11/2016 and did a lot of window shopping, the metro station is "Cal y Canto" on the yellow line.
As previous writers have stated lots of acrylics, some wool inc merino, and alpaca which was not particularly cheap. I did get some lovely space dyed cotton for 1,190 Chilean peasto per 100 grms. I was surprised to see Shetland wool on sale too!
Thanks for the map. I'm happy to find that this area is within walking distance of our hotel....hooray!!
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