Castle yarn – visit to Ewe Felty Thing

Whenever I think about Wales, castles and beaches are never far from my mind – and Nikki, the owner of North Wales yarn shop Ewe Felty Thing, has managed to have a shop right next to both of these!  Back in 2020, before the pandemic lockdowns which changed our lives forever, I went out to see her at Ewe Felty Thing when the shop was based in Llandudno, a popular seaside town with long sandy beaches on both sides of a promontory, a pier, Punch and Judy … it was a busy place!

Now, four years and what feels like a lifetime later, Nikki has moved premises and location to Conwy, another seaside town just a few miles down the road from Llandudno which also has a beautiful sandy beach – and a castle!

It was a dismal day at the beginning of December as I drove into Conwy but Conwy Castle, over 700 years old and still with its battlements intact, is an amazing sight to see as you drive across the bridge into the town, and an even more fabulous sight right next to the castle on Castle Street is … Ewe Felty Thing!

A man and a woman standing outside an old brick building with ornate windows. The sign above their heads, attached to scaffolding, reads "Ewe Felty Thing"

Nikki and her partner Andy look very proud of themselves and so they should be – this photo was taken on opening day and it was incredible to see the work that had been done in a short space of time to turn this lovely old bank building into a wonderful space for a yarn shop.

Would you like to have a look around?

A round wooden sign fixed to the stone wall of a shop entrance. There is a drawing of a sheep made from a ball of yarn and the words Croeso - Welcome on the sign

To the right of the main entrance door is the shop.  It’s light and spacious and absolutely filled with yarn …

A view across a shop filled with display stands of yarn A view across a shop filled with display stands of yarn taken from the back of the shop

There is pretty much every kind of yarn here that you could need, no matter what project you intend to start.  Nikki sells a good range of commercial brand yarn – West Yorkshire Spinners, John Arbon, Rowan, Juniper Moon Farm – and more hand-dyed yarn than you can shake a stick at.  You can see it all down one wall, skeins and skeins of it in the most beautiful squishy rainbow, all colours and weights – oh, you are really spoilt for choice!

Nikki supports a LOT of indie dyers (she’s a dyer herself so appreciates the time and effort that goes into producing the yarns) and you can find Abercairn Yarns, All Wool That Ends Wool, Bear in Sheep’s Clothing, Burrow and Soar, Cat and Sparrow, Dina’s Home of Crafts, Ewe Felty Thing, Handmade by Joe, Hey Jay, Knitter Scarlet, Occasional Purl, Sionnach Yarns, The Woolly Tangle, Truly Hooked, Woo! and Woolly Wumpkins all displayed in their full glory along that wall.

Two people with their backs to the camera standing in front of a display stand of yarn. Behind them is a wall full of skeins of hand dyed yarn

But there’s more!  The old bank vault has turned into a knit n natter space, there’s a small kitchen area right outside the huge metal vault door (don’t worry, no knitters are left in the shop overnight) so that you are never far away from your next brew, and across from the main shop is a workshop area that is going to be used for a wide range of workshops – you can book onto those now through the Arterium Hub – there are classes for crochet, felting, loom weaving, Dorset buttons, craft and chat sessions … there’s already plenty of choice and considering that the shop only opened at the beginning of December, it’s definitely a promise of great things to come!

Now, you don’t just have to be a knitter or crocheter to want to visit Ewe Felty Thing – Nikki is also passionate about spinning and Ewe Felty Thing is the North Wales stockist for Ashford wheels and equipment.

A large space at the back of a yarn shop dedicated to spinning wheels, weaving and their associated accessories

There are all kinds of spinning wheels for you to try out, from the traditional type with the big wheel (they always make me think of Wales – you can see one in the back right of the photo) to more modern-looking wheels and even travelling versions so that if you are someone hooked on spinning, you don’t need to leave the house without your wheel!  I do like the idea of learning how to spin, but it feels like another rabbit hole that I don’t have the spare time to start disappearing down so I have resisted … but when the day comes that I do want to find out more about it, then Nikki will be the person to speak to.  She offers advice, lessons and spinning wheel fittings so that you can make sure that you buy the right one for you – they’re a bit of an investment so you’d want to get it right!

If you are a spinner or a felter, there is a big range of fleece to spin or felt with …

A tall stand of multi-coloured fibre for spinning next to displays of sheep fleece in a brightly lt shop space

The stand in the centre is crammed with hand-dyed fleece rovings, there are whole sheep fleeces to the right of the photo if you’re someone who likes to prepare your own fleece, and more rovings over on the display units behind.  It’s not something that every yarn shop has space for or chooses to sell as, after all, they need to stock what their customers want, but it makes life so much easier if you are someone who uses rovings to be able to see and feel them for yourself before you buy.

Right at the back of the photo are woven blankets for sale, so if the weaving and spinning part isn’t for you, you can still own something wonderfully snuggly and handmade without the effort!

It wouldn’t be one of my blog posts if I didn’t mention sock yarn at any point so let’s head back over to the front of the shop.

A small display of yarn, hand knitted socks and sock knitting books

This was my spec for the day, right by the door (and the heater) with my mug of tea and the opportunity to accost encourage everyone who came through the door to have a good look at the yarns and especially the sock yarns 🙂

There’s a really good selection of West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply to choose from – the Christmas colours in the photo above (it was December when I visited!), and a lot more around the corner including Winwick Mum yarns (thanks, Nikki!) …

A large display of sock knitting yarn in many colours

There really is everything you could need to get started on any project in the shop – yarn, needles (Lykke and KnitPro), project bags, stitch markers, knitting and crochet accessories, buttons, beads, local gifts and soap … it’s a great place to go for any knitter anyway, and I spoke to lots of knitters who were delighted that they had a new local yarn shop to visit, but Conwy is also a really good place for a day out too.  There’s the harbour with the smallest house in the UK, the medieval walls to walk around, walks further out to the marina and beyond, a lovely beach (do be careful of the tides, though), fish and chip shops, ice cream, souvenirs and, of course, the castle.  We’ve had some really good days out in and around Conwy, and I can highly recommend it as a place to visit.

And no visit to Wales is ever complete without a souvenir to bring home – when I was little, it was always seaside rock (I found this video of it being made – amazing!) or perhaps a small animal made out of shells (I had a good collection of shells with googly eyes stuck to them!).  Nowadays, with more respect for our teeth and running out of shelf space for googly-eyed shell creatures, we knitters are much more likely to choose yarn as a souvenir and where better to procure that than a stone’s throw away from one of the best-preserved medieval castles in Europe?

Now that sounds like a grand day out to me!

 

Ewe Felty Thing, 24 Castle Street, Conwy, LL32 8AY

www.ewefeltything.co.uk

 

Thank you very much to Nikki, Andy and Wendy for looking after me so well!

 

 

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14 Responses

  1. Hazel says:

    What a wonderful wool shop, pity it’s so far for me to visit, as I live in Lincoln x

  2. Audrey says:

    oh wow its like Xmas all came together .you could spend the day in that place

    • winwickmum says:

      You really could! Time it right with the craft and chat session, a walk around the walls, lunch out in one of the cafes or pubs (or sitting on the sea wall, although you have to watch out for seagulls!) and the day would be gone! 🙂 xx

  3. Val Hart says:

    Wow what an amazing shop and I can’t wait to find a way to visit as I don’t drive very far these days.

  4. Laura says:

    That looks like a fabulous shop , a must. Can’t wait t9 go and thank you for telling us all about it

  5. Susan Rayner says:

    I want to pack up and go immediately. We spent my 60th between Llandudno and Conwy – in Bodysgallen hall – so if anyone wants to visit this gorgeous wool shop that is the very hotel to make it a super special visit. They have a very good Spa too.
    The shop looks wonderful and quite the best use of an old Bank building yet – much as I hate to see banks having to close.
    I do wish we had wool shops like this in the South East – I know rates and rents are extortionate here but a shame we have lost all of them.
    I am so envious of the people of that lovely corner of NW Wales.
    I am half Welsh so wish we did live closer to visit all of Wales.
    Thank you for such a brilliant blog.

  6. Sandra Dain says:

    What an amazing shop. My daughter and I were in Conwy last March but sadly the shop wasn’t open. Next time…..

  7. TeresaL says:

    Wow, I wonder if I can add a trip there….. Would love it. Along way from FL…

  8. Olwen Graffham says:

    I was there on opening day and have been again since and it is well worth going to. Nikki and Wendy are very welcoming and knowledgeable about all things yarn.
    if you live too far away to visit often take a look at the website. You can join in their online zoom groups or even better join Woolbert’s Flock which gives you access to all the online and in person chat groups plus masterclasses, Q and A sessions and Knit and Crochet Alongs as well as being part of a super friendly group of fellow yarnies

  9. Ariane BERETTI says:

    magnifique boutique de laine !! Une vraie caverne d’Ali Baba!!

  10. Helen says:

    It looks amazing, shame I don’t drive. Although a real life shop has opened in Stockport now!

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