# Knitting in Geneva



## hsp65 (Nov 21, 2012)

Hi
We're moving to Geneva next week from Bristol, England, where I have some favourite knitting shops withing walking distance. I was wondering if any of you KPers out there can tell me whether there are any good yarn shops in or near Geneva and whether they are as expensive as everything else there! Should I stock up on enough yarn and patterns before we go to keep me knitting for the 7 months we'll be there?
Thank you


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## Howdi95 (Apr 17, 2011)

hsp65 said:


> Hi
> We're moving to Geneva next week from Bristol, England, where I have some favourite knitting shops withing walking distance. I was wondering if any of you KPers out there can tell me whether there are any good yarn shops in or near Geneva and whether they are as expensive as everything else there! Should I stock up on enough yarn and patterns before we go to keep me knitting for the 7 months we'll be there?
> Thank you


I can't tell you about Geneva (altho' everything in Switzerland seems to be expensive), but I can tell you that you can order yarn and patterns on the internet from lots of firms. I order yarn from Colourmart.com in the UK and pay via paypal. They send the order by first class post and it arrives within a week of ordering. I know there are lots of other yarn companies KP-ers order from. My sister has ordered from Deramore (she lives in Canada).
I hope your move goes OK and you won't be affected by the current bad weather.


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## Cathryn 2ed (Feb 1, 2011)

How wonderful for you. You will get to see spring and summer arrive in all their beauty. I'm sure that is the best time of year to be there. Send pictures back to chit chat for sure.


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## hsp65 (Nov 21, 2012)

Thank you both. 

I think it's likely that ordering online will probably work out cheaper than buying locally, although it's not quite the same. I really enjoy browsing in yarn shops (although I made the mistake of taking my toddler with me the other day, which I won't do again for a while!) though so I will miss that if I can't find one.


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## jenven (Dec 5, 2012)

Try Manor - La Placette. It is a large department store in Geneva near to the railway station. I only know about them because they have a store in Morges, near where my sister lives and I have seen some lovely yarns in there and not too expensive. Incidentally Morges is a lovely town to visit especially on a Sunday when the locals promenade along the edge of the lake. Mind you the wool shop will be closed on a Sunday! There is also at least one good bead shop,there!!
I hope to get over there after Easter!


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## rosw (Sep 19, 2011)

Interested that you use Colourmart. They have just sent me samples but I am having trouble getting my head around the thicknesses. In a note with the samples it said yarn might be thinner than shop bought!
I need 4 ply something very soft for cowls, Dk for young grandson and maybe Aran. What should I order? They also say they will wash, ball and twist! I am now completely lost and any advice ould be welcome before I ring them, probably making a complete idiot of myself!
Any help VERY much appreciated


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## rosw (Sep 19, 2011)

Sorry should have said message above is. For Howdi95 in Germany and her comments on Colourmart!


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## Bearlakenana (Jan 17, 2011)

I visited in Geneva last summer and had trouble finding yarn. I found 2 shops in Carouge although one of them was closed for a Long holiday and the other had a very limited supply. It's a lovely city full of historic buildings and beautiful parks. Enjoy!


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## hsp65 (Nov 21, 2012)

Thank you. Hopefully I'll be so busy enjoying Geneva that I won't notice the lack of knitting shops!


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## Howdi95 (Apr 17, 2011)

rosw said:


> Interested that you use Colourmart. They have just sent me samples but I am having trouble getting my head around the thicknesses. In a note with the samples it said yarn might be thinner than shop bought!
> I need 4 ply something very soft for cowls, Dk for young grandson and maybe Aran. What should I order? They also say they will wash, ball and twist! I am now completely lost and any advice ould be welcome before I ring them, probably making a complete idiot of myself!
> Any help VERY much appreciated


I also couldn't visualise the thicknesses but I read the advice notes (I think that's in the forum) on how to wash the various yarns to get a better idea. If you look on their site, they actually describe the types of yarns in the individual descriptions (DK, 4 ply, fingering, etc). I have since made 2 scarves, one in DK cashmere/linen/silk which is very much like a linen. It was very nice to knit with, altho' I haven't washed it yet. I did do a swatch (for the first time in my life!!) and washed it and it wasn't quite as wide, but otherwise no difference. I also swatched the baby alpaca I bought and there was no difference in size etc after washing. I'd say it's sort of fingering/possibly DK. I swatched the cashmere/merino and that was lovely to knit and measurements stayed the same after washing. It's probably 3 ply. I knitted all the swatches with 3mm needles, but I knitted the scarf in DK cash/linen/silk on 4 mm needles.
The other scarf I did in pure silk DK on 4 mm needles. I didn't swatch it as I didn't want to waste time. I knitted it 63 or 66 cm long and after washing, it was 60 cm long. After ironing, it was somewhat wider (probably because the pattern I knitted comes up narrower before ironing.)

As the yarns are bought from mills who spin for the big names, they need to be washed. (That's also why the yarns are possibly thinner than what you buy in the shops. The big names make the garments on machines.) From reading various comments, I don't think it matters if you wash before or after working, as long as you do a swatch and wash THAT, so you have an idea of how the yarn works out. Some seemed to wash the yarn before knitting, others said they knitted first and washed after. When you're just knitting scarves and cowls, I personally don't think it's SO important. If I was making a cardi or jumper, I'd be more exact about how the swatch came out after washing. They offer to wash and ball the yarn to save you the bother. I prefer to knit from the spool as there are no joins to worry about.

When you go on their site, look at the 4 ply offers (some nice cashmere/merino and 100% merino on offer now) and then go to the DK and the aran categories.

I found the 150 g spools of DK weight I bought had about 660 yds and 540 yds and I have yarn left over. The 4 ply has about 900 yds per 150 gr spool so you have plenty for a 4 ply cowl. The 3 ply has about 1100 yds per 150 gr spool. I think I can actually make myself a plain (st-st) lightweight cardi from that amount (I am size 10 Eng, size 6 US) The aran weights seem to be about 360 yds to a 150 gr spool. I think you might need more than one for a decent scarf.

I hope this has been of some help to you. I'm still having a "learning by doing" experience with their yarns right now, but as I say, at present I'm only knitting scarves.


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## rosw (Sep 19, 2011)

Thanks so much for taking the time to give such a comprehensive answer. I think I will buy a selection and as I am knitting little jumpers for my grandson
will wash the yarn first. Then I can swatch. There was a helpful link recently on this site to allow you to any yarn with any pattern so that will come in really useful. Like you, for scarves I wouldn't bother to swatch and as I am going to have plenty of yarn will probably make some cowls and use those as my samples! Will now have to take the plunge. The number of twists really threw me but in the US they also use this as a gauge, so will report back, in due, if anyone is interested! Again, many thanks


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## Howdi95 (Apr 17, 2011)

rosw said:


> Thanks so much for taking the time to give such a comprehensive answer. I think I will buy a selection and as I am knitting little jumpers for my grandson
> will wash the yarn first. Then I can swatch. There was a helpful link recently on this site to allow you to any yarn with any pattern so that will come in really useful. Like you, for scarves I wouldn't bother to swatch and as I am going to have plenty of yarn will probably make some cowls and use those as my samples! Will now have to take the plunge. The number of twists really threw me but in the US they also use this as a gauge, so will report back, in due, if anyone is interested! Again, many thanks


I forgot to say in my other posting that if you have any questions you want to ask them about any of the yarns you are interested in, email them. They answer VERY quickly and are very helpful.

In the forum, knitters recommend washing the yarn with washing up liquid in hot water to remove any grease. I specially bought a white (couldn't get colourless here) liquid after reading that coloured liquid might affect the yarn colour. Others recommend Dove liquid but I can't get that here in Germany. Read the advice before you wash your yarn.

Let me know how you get on. Good luck.


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