shopping for yarn in istanbul

Shopping for yarn in Istanbul

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

Emino"nu" district and the place's name is Ku"rk�u" Han. Actually,

this district of Istanbul, Emino"nu", 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.