We began with tour in Newport, Rhode Island’s famous playground for the super-rich.  Since the 1800’s Newport’s been home to massive compound-like mansions built by the corporate barons of the 19th century-- like the Astors and the Vanderbilts.  If you walk down magnificent Bellevue Avenue, it feels as though through every gap in the beautiful stone walls, bigger homes keep being revealed.  Many of them are now owned by the The Preservation Society of Newport County and are open to the public.  The piece de resistance is the incredible Breakers mansion, Built by Cornelius Vanderbilt II, it was the family's "summer cottage" for the "summer season" that lasted for just 2 weekswhen the country's corporate titans and therir families gathered in Newport to entertain each other.   This Italian Renaissance-styled "cottage" boasts 70 rooms!  Purchased by the Preservation Society in 1972, it is open year round for tours.  

If you're visiting Newport, you shouldn't miss the Cliff Walk.  This 3.5 mile path along the Atlantic shore has some of the most fantastic views in all of New England.  Sandwiched between the waves crashing on the rocks in front of you, and the awesome scenery behind, including the backs of many of Newport's most beautiful homes, it’s an absolute must. 

Newport sits on a very narrow island, with the Atlantic Ocean and the Cliff Walk on the east side, and a harbor that houses beautiful yachts on the west.  Just off the harbor, Thames Street runs out from the cute downtown district.  This long stretch of boutiques, art galleries, and restaurants could keep a shopper busy for a long time. 

This was where we found Knitting Needles, which has called Newport home for 18 years. Knitting Needles carries Sirdar, Debbie Bliss, Elsebeth Lavold, Universal, Cascade, Artful Yarns, and Queensland Collection, among others.  They also had a beautiful collection of vintage buttons, and were the only shop we visited in the area that also specializes in cross stitch-- Knitting Needles carries over 400 shades of Paternayan Persian needlepoint yarn.  Add in the fact that they have lots of free parking, a rarity on Newport’s tiny streets, and this shop would be a perfect spot to begin any knitter’s coastal crawl.

Knitting Needles
555 Thames Street
Newport, RI 02840-6709
(401) 841-5648

On the short drive from Newport up to Middletown, still on the Aquidneck Island, we stopped at one of the gorgeous beaches.  Even on such a cold day it was impossible to pass up a chance to skip a few shells, and watch the seabirds.  Wildlife is abundant on the shore.  From this small island you can take tours to see sharks, whales, seals-- nature is all around.  Middletown also is home to the Norman Bird Sanctuary, a 300 acre wildlife park that has deer, fox, and hundreds of species of birds along with its nature trails and views of the Atlantic Ocean.

In Middletown we visited Knitting Corner & Scrapbook Nook, which does not actually sell any scrapbooking items.  They do, however, have plenty of beads to add to their wide selection of yarns.  In fact, there’s a whole room of them!  Knitting Corner is a cute little shop just the way we like it, packed to the ceiling!  Their largest selections are from the manufacturers KFI and Louisa Harding, but they also have Misti Alpaca, Malabrigo, Debbie Bliss, Araucania, amazing hand-dyed Chilean Atacama, Noro, Berrocco, Cascade, Ella Rae and many assorted sale yarns.  They have a really wonderful variety that kept our admittedly short attention span engaged and entertained.

Knitting Corner & Scrapbook Nook
575 East Main Road
Middletown, RI 02842-5288
(401) 619-2120

Across the water, near the Massachusetts border, is the small village town of Tiverton.  The Tiverton Four Corners shopping district, on the National Registry of Historic Places, is a collection of 300 year-old restored buildings that date back to before Rhode Island was even a British colony.  The Four Corners area is full of antique shops, art galleries, and restaurants. 

Along this heavily-wooded historic drive sits Sakonnet Purls.  The shop has been open for 25 years, and its owner is a knit designer under the name “Designs by Louise.”  A beautiful two-story house nestled among the trees, Sakonnet Purls is like a gingerbread house in a fairy tale-- except full of yarn!  Ah, that's our kind of fairy tale....  And in the yard behind the yarn shop is a beautiful little woodworking studio.  Since the store has an entire floor of yarn on display, and a second floor full of inventory,  the options for spending a lot of money fast are abundant.  They carry Colinette, Tahki, Fiesta, Sheep Shop, Knit Co, Universal, Frog Tree, Galway, Plymouth, Regia, and Rowan, among others.  They even have a sale shed, that has almost as much space as a small yarn shop in a big city.

Sakonnet Purls has a nice selection of books, buttons, and some handpainted canvasses.  They also operate the website “letsknit.com” where you can see more pictures of their beautiful location, and buy directly online. 

Sakonnet Purls
3988 Main Road
Tiverton, RI 02878-4809
(401) 624-9902

After our trip into pre-colonial New England, we zoomed forward into the not-so-distant past.  The next shop we visited, Bella Yarns, was in Warren, Rhode Island and the village’s downtown looked straight out of the 1950’s.  The skyline was dominated by a puritan church steeple, and right next to the shop was an old pharmacy with a working soda fountain and selection of candy-- score!
 
With its two walls of floor-length windows, not only can you see beautiful downtown Warren from Bella Yarns, but it also lets in an incredible amount of natural light.  Some of theses yarns have never looked better.  Bella Yarns carries Mirasol, Malabrigo, Berrocco, Louisa Harding, Lamb’s Pride, Noro, Debbie Bliss, SWTC, Sublime, and Queensland Collection.  The other thing that sets Bella Yarns apart from the other local shops is that they’re an authorized dealer of Ashford Knitting Looms.  The owner teaches spinning and weaving in the store, and there’s even some beautiful local handspun yarn available for purchase.

Bella Yarns
476 Main Street
Warren, RI 02885-4370 
(401) 247-7243

Wickford, the last stop on our yarn crawl, is one of the cutest New England villages we’ve seen yet.  They have a small well kept harbor, and the main street has a cute old diner and the obligatory seaside oyster bar.  The historic downtown, founded in 1709, is as adorable as can be, and with a yarn shop featuring natural fibers, a pet boutique, an art gallery, and a day spa all within a stone’s throw of each other-- we might just have found ourselves a new home.

The Mermaid’s Purl has been at its location in downtown Wickford for 10 years, though it used to be called “And the Beadz Go On.”  They still have a nice selection of buttons and beads, but the focus is on yarn.  The owner prefers to stock natural fibers, and when we visited they were carrying Manos del Uruguay, Artful Yarns, Filatura di Crosa, Lana Grossa, Misti Alpaca, Berrocco, and Classic Elite Yarns, to name a few. The Mermaid’s Purl had a very relaxed and welcoming atmosphere, with teaching going on at a big table in the back while we visited.  They offer classes in knitting, needle felting, and beading among others, and if we lived in the area you can be sure you’d find us there.

The Mermaid’s Purl
1 West Main Street
Wickford, RI 02852-5111
(401) 268-3899