I'm Being Too Negative

I am going to confess something to you... I'm really being too negative about the wool selection here in Prague, and partly that has to do with my own insecurities. The first month we were here, three years ago, we walked into a store (I was trying to come up with an adjective before "store" but didn't know what to call it... yarn, woman's clothing, notions, accessories. It had it all). One of those places that is probably a holdover from the Communist era. Anyway, the yarn was behind the counter so you had to ask to see it. I tried, but didn't speak Czech, so we struggled. The place was packed and the woman just didn't have the time or patience to deal with some stupid foreigner (I can see her point). That experience scared me off of going out to find nice wool in a hole-in-the-wall place.

I think the first nice wool shop I visited was on the street of the American Embassy, Trziste 6 in Prague 1. The store is called Textilni Galanterie. What I liked about the shop was that all the wool is displayed on the wall in front of the counter. I just needed to point at what I wanted and tell them I wanted enough for a man's sweater. The woman there was obviously a knitter and knew what I needed. She didn't really speak much English, but she was certainly helpful. There was quite a bit of wool here and every time I've stopped in, there have been great sale bins.

I have shopped at Kotva, a huge department store quite a number of times. They have a large selection, but like many other places, you find mostly synthetic or wool mixed with synthetic. However, if you just need to knit, visit the top floor of Kotva at Namesti Republiky 8, Old Town, Prague 1.

Across the street from Kotva is the new mall called The Palladium. It's a gorgeous building and just as you go into the mall from the metro (Náměstí Republiky on the B line), you will see a yarn and sewing store. Nice sales people and a similar yarn selection to Kotva. They love the bulky wool (synthetic version) so that's what you find a lot of.

Other great knitting stores in Prague:
Marlen : Beautiful place, but not open long hours so for those of us who work, sometimes hard to get to.
Dalin : This place will give lessons on how to spin wool. Check out the pictures of the outing where these women and men sheer sheep, spin wool and knit a sweater all in one day. I've contacted the woman there and would like to sign up for a class. I'll let you know if I ever do it.

These are the ones I know. If I find more, I'll let you know. I've walked by others that look good but don't have long Saturday hours so were closed. There's always Tesco downtown, which has a small selection. And I'm sure if I had more free time (no kids, no husband, no dog, no work...) I'd have found more hole-in-the-wall places. I'll keep you posted.