Lanas Sixto at last!

Last Saturday, I made my first trip to Lanas Sixto! Lanas Sixto, along with Pontejos and El Gato Negro, is probably among the most famous yarn shops in Madrid. Unlike Pontejos, it deals exclusively in yarns. Unlike El Gato Negro, it does not sell yarn by weight... even though the antique facade of the building still professes "Ventas al peso" (sold by weight). I'm not making it up:

Photo Credit: commons.wikimedia.org

Lanas Sixto is not located in the yarn-opolis near the other famous yarn and haberdasheries, but it is super close! Check out this map:

It was a really nice fall day to take a walk, so we scooted up to Lanas Sixto looking for LOTS of yarn. I am making some crochet baskets using this pattern by Crochet in Color for Christmas gifts, and I wanted to pick up a few skeins of yarn to begin the work.

I had this brilliant idea to do a nesting set of these baskets in fading colors, from light to dark. Seeing as how I was making three baskets (plus a trial basket for hats and gloves in our apartment), and each basket requires 2 skeins of chunky yarn, I knew that I was going to pay a pretty penny for my supplies!

I went to Pontejos, but the least expensive chunky yarn that I could find (that wasn't horribly ugly!) was 5.25€ per skein of 50g. Ummm, so that would make my little "project" total somewhere around 60€! Before I committed, I decided to head to Lanas Sixto, and I am so glad I did!

First of all, the buying experience at Lanas Sixto (on a Saturday morning, mind you, when EVERYONE is buying yarns) was really nice. There were no pushy shop people demanding that you pick out your yarn immediately, and they had lots of yarns out where you could touch them. Here's a photo of the shop so you can get an idea:

Photo Credit: www.libertaddigital.com

Lanas Sixto deals mostly in Katia yarns, and their prices seemed very reasonable. I settled on eight skeins of Katia Alaska:

For now, I won't reveal the color scheme, just in case the receivers of my Christmas baskets happen to read this blog, but I am super excited! I also picked up a 7mm hook to make said baskets.

I finished one basket in about 2 hours for our apartment. I chose mustard yellow to go with our walls, although I'm not crazy about how the photo turned out... apartment lighting is tough! But just to give an idea:

So how much did I pay for said 8 skeins of yarn and hook? Sixty buckaroos? No way!! I paid 24€ for the yarn and hook, and there were lots of yarns in all price ranges at Lanas Sixto.

If you are content with a fine Spanish brand of yarn and are scared to face the crowds of Pontejos or El Gato Negro, I'd definitely recommend walking up the street and see what deals you will find at Lanas Sixto.

And if you're scared about your (developing) Spanish yarn vernacular, check out my awesome English-Spanish Crochet Dictionary!