Yarn in Krakow

 Of course when my mother and I were in Krakow, we had to go on a yarn hunt.  We'd found this list on Yelp only to discover it was total rubbish.  Pasmentaria Klebuszek at #46 Karmelicka street was the only viable yarn shop we found.  Lucky for us, we saw it every day at our Batorego tram stop.  We investigated almost all the shops on this Yelp list and most were non existent or if they did exist, they were a combination of hosiery (WHY that pairing?!?) and an extremely limited selection of yarns--as in maybe 20 skeins, all acrylic and 3 colors--I'm not exaggerating.

 So many of the shops in Krakow reminded me of St. Petersburg and Budapest.  You'd see these window box type advertisements when you looked for the street number.  Then you had to look for the main doorway/gate into the courtyard of the building.  So many apartments were also arranged like this. 

 Once you find the main door, you make your way down the hall into the courtyard and look for your business.

 This yarn shop was the most extensive we found.  The shop owner didn't speak much English but was very helpful in spite of the language barrier.  The store had signs and placards all over advertising Katia yarns.  I asked him if they sold only Katia yarns and he pointed out different brands throughout the store.  Some were Polish, some Czech, some English, "but no Turkish yarns," which struck me as funny.  In big chain craft stores in the US, all the acrylic blend yarns are made in Turkey.  That was just fine with me because I am very anti-acrylic when it comes to yarn!

 This shop also stocked embroidery and needlepoint kits and supplies.  We noticed right away kits for the current and former Pope.

 They also stocked ribbons, buttons, zippers, appliques, sewing thread, sequins, trims, crochet thread and cord, knitting needles, crochet hooks, beadwork findings, etc.  This shop was the most extensive of all handiwork shops we'd seen.

 Here is the proprietor with his assistant.  We gave him some candy after our transaction and I told him I'd write about him in my blog.  He paid me the best compliment when he said, "I appreciate you!"  We saw him a few days later on our way home from Wadowice on the tram but I was too shy to run up and greet  him.

 I bought 6 balls of superwash gradual color changing wool yarn for about $6.50ish/ball in 2 different colorways and 3 meters of beautiful folk edelweiss trim for $1.50ish/meter.  I took this picture against a Russian style shawl that I might use for a Christmas doily.  I can't be earnest enough, we checked all the shops on the Yelp list that lay in our paths during our travels and the only one worth the trip was # 46 Karmelicka.  I don't know what I'm going to knit from that yarn but it was my favorite from the shop!  And you can't beat such helpful staff!