Knitting shops

I guess I'd say that my favorite would be Loop in 15 Camden Passage, Islington, London https://loopknitting.com/en-us

And then there is Wild and Woolly 116 Lower Clapton Road, London https://www.wildandwoollyshop.co.uk/shop/yarn/

Both have a wide selection of British wool. No criticism of Wild and Woolly, but it is a small store.

I love MacCulloch & Wallis, on Poland Street, near Liberty London. https://www.macculloch-wallis.co.uk/

I’m usually there for fabrics and trimmings, but they have mountains of beautiful knitting wools. Just gorgeous!

I will second MacCulloch and Wallis! Went there a few years ago and picked up a few skeins of two different yarns. One I turned into a hat and fingerless gloves the other became a much loved chunky scarf.

Definately Loop then M&C. Also check if your trip over laps with the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ali Pali

Last year I ventured into 2 knitting shops and was utterly captivated by Loop--bonus points for a small antiques/collectibles show going on across from it on a Sunday. I probably spent a solid hour in there and ended up with a fun scarf kit and some other hand-dyed yarn as a gift for a knitter friend. They have yarn from the UK but the hand-dyed brand that had me the most giddy was La Bien Aimee, from Paris, and also another French brand, Vilaines.

I also visited a very tiny shop in the Pimlico area called Beautiful Knitters on Moreton St--this was planned to coincide with a visit to the Tate Britain and was a short walk from the Pimlico tube station. For a small space there was a lot to choose from--I always focus on sock yarn when traveling as one or two skeins are easy to tuck into a suitcase. Nice selection of quality notions and tools--I bought some teeny tiny scissors in a leather case and a set of buttons with birds on them for some yet-to-be knitted sweater.

If I could only visit one, it would be Loop. And now I have added MacCulloch & Wallis to my must-visit list as I love that area--never miss a chance to shop at Liberty--they also have a varied craft department.

We visited Beautiful Knitters, too, last October. It is small, but very well stocked and the employees are lovely. We enjoyed meandering around Pimlico as well as we had never been in that area of London. Easy to get to. My daughter is the bigger knitter of the two of us and found some great kits and yarns. We could have spent our entire souvenir budget there!

Edited to say we are hoping to get to Loop next time, Christa. Sounds wonderful. And MacCulloch & Wallis! So many choices!

Camden Passage, where Loop is, is a nice little street in general. If you like browsing collectibles and antiques, there's several shops there.

Lower Clapton Road, where Wild and Woolly is, is just a few minutes from my flat. I mentioned their window display in another thread. Here's a collection of their displays from 2024 in one handy page.

https://www.wildandwoollyshop.co.uk/knitting-stories/a-year-in-the-life-of-a-woolshop-window/

Thank you all for your wonderful responses to my knitting shops question. I will do my best to visit every one of these shops during our visit in early December! My yarn stash thanks you as well!

The John Lewis department store on Oxford Street has a haberdashery department that sells some wool.
It’s not as good as it used to be but it’s near Liberty so worth popping into when you are in the area.

I just realised I said almost the same thing about Camden Passage as Christa further up the thread. It is a nice little street / lane though. It's not actually in Camden, but Angel, Islington. That's a pleasant area with lots of choice for places to eat. It's a good spot to end up at lunch time. Loop is five minutes walk from Angel tube station which is on the Northern Line.

Now don't be a idiot like me and forget to check on a shop's opening hours before setting a day aside to visit. This year I didn't get to Loop because I just assumed they would be open on a Tuesday, so it was a disappointing surprise to check hours on Sunday evening and see they are closed Mon and Tue.

They have posted their holiday hours https://loopknitting.com/en-us/pages/visit-us

When the independent haberdasher by me closed down a few years ago, I started shopping for wool at the John Lewis haberdashery department as mentioned above. Their selection is quite good.

A brand I like a lot and have used for many blankets is Sirdar: https://sirdar.com/en

VAP - I will definitely check days and hours when in London. Thanks for the reminder!

Catvh I have purchased yarn in John Lewis on a previous trip, when it was not on my radar so I was pleased to find the department. It is getting more difficult to find actual yarn shops in the USA.

We just had a new yarn shop open up here in Colonial Williamsburg's Merchants Square. It seems around here a new shop opens up does a brisk business, eventually slows down then closes. As soon as they close a new one immediately pops up.

I do tend to get yarn off Etsy and have ordered from knitpicks.com in the past.