lori l. , who will visit Istanbul soon, asked my recommendation for yarn shops in Istanbul. Well lori, there are 2-3 good brands: Feza (the best yarn), YarnArt and Anchor (in this order). You will see Bravo (which looks so nice, a true eye-catcher), but I don't recommend unless you never wash your knits. One brand is very popular here: Nako. It is quite cheap, they have mostly acrylics. From Nako I suggest only yarns with minimum 50 % wool.
Yarn shops are everywhere here, as 90% of Turkish women are knitting. But, the magic yarn land, a street only with (cheap) yarn shops is in Eminőnű district and the place's name is Kűrkçű Han. Actually, this district of Istanbul, Eminőnű, is the shopping paradise. Words are not enough to describe the experience of shopping here. One day is not enough. Here you can find everything (gold jewelry, yarn, clothing, kitchenware, spices, beading accessories, fabrics, etc) at any price. As a foreigner, YOU MUST BARGAIN. The rule is: you say you like the goods (never offend a Turkish seller by telling him his goods are not nice just to get a discount) but you can't afford this price. You pretend you leave his shop, he calls you back to "talk again", you still say you don't agree and leave again, he calls you again. Patience. This "game" might be tiring for you but is usual here.
It seems lori l. will have a great time in Istanbul.
7 comments:
Good to hear you are back!! I hope you had a great time.
I did have my birthday...the best part was just spending it with my daughter and husband. I ate so much birthday cake.....
I haven't been on my blog in a while b/c my daughter and I have had colds but we are better now.
Take care and can't wait to hear about your trip!!
Debra
Funny story about birthday cake.....my daughter's birthday was on August 26 and mine was August 29, We normally order one huge cake for her birthday party..well we didn't have time to order one this yr. so we just bought two smaller ones. Well, we ended up having an one to many cakes, so we ate cake from Sunday to Thursday..It was a white cake with sprinkles! And it was toooo good, I do believe I gained 15 pounds in that week! :-)
Ooooh - I can't wait to rearrange the trip to Istanbul that had to be cancelled in May, due to my husband's ruptured achilles tendon.
Yarn Street - here I come!
THANK YOU....Yes the link worked great. I love the bag pattern. Thanks so much...you are so sweet!!! ;-)
Have a great day!
Debra
Ooh, thanks for this - we're going to Turkey for Kurban Bayram and we always shop in Eminonu anyway... somehow I never found the yarn street before though.
Hello,
I will be visiting istnabul next month and read your response to Lori L (from 2007) today with great interest. I am interested in purchasing wool tops for felting, that is wool that has been washed and carded, but not yet spun. Is this available in Istanbul?
Thank you!
Jill
Hi there,
someone gave me some Nako Bambu yarn and I am wondering about the fiber content. Can you help? Thanks!!
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