Are the Edinburgh yarn shops worth visiting?
Yes they are! I went all of them with a couple of mates (we all LOVE yarn) and we had a ball choosing lots of yarns and walking around the city together.
Edinburgh is very well covered for yarn and wool shopping, across different spending budgets. I’ll guide you through all of the yarn shops (and even the shops that sell wool that aren’t really yarn shops) so you know which yarn stores to visit during your next trip to Edinburgh, Scotland.
If you have limited time for yarn shopping in Edinburgh, I have suggestions ranging from 30 minutes to 3 hours and beyond in the city.
Here’s what I cover in this Edinburgh Yarn Crawl blog post:
- Fibre Yard (Edinburgh’s newest yarn shop)
- Be Inspired Fibres
- Ginger Twist Studio
- Kathy’s Knits
- Places to buy yarn in central Edinburgh
- Edinburgh City Yarn Shops by Location & Opening Hours
- If You Have Limited Time for Yarn Shopping
- Food & Drink Suggestions near Yarn Shops
Fibre Yard
If you are looking for a beautifully curated yarn shop in Edinburgh, then Fibre Yard is the one for you. They are on Instagram and their address and opening hours are here.
It feels very different from the other yarn shops I visited. It has a slightly vintage feel to a very well laid out shop.
The shop is full of beautiful yarn blends where wool, mohair and cotton feature most heavily. What I really love is that even though they have beautiful yarn blends, they were also offering options for most budgets – cotton or Norwegian wool to cashmere and hand dyed.
Here’s a link to the brands they stock. I bought myself some Rauma Garn Finull and Alpakka Lin and also some Cardiff Cashmere.
The person that served me was lovely (one of the two owners). They were keen to represent both knit and crochet (often yarn shops forget about crochet) and even showed me what was in the delivery that had just arrived!
The next yarn shop is just a 10 minute walk away and these two shops give you the best opportunity for a Mini Edinburgh Yarn Crawl.
Be Inspired Fibres
To say I LOVE Be Inspired Fibres is a bit of an understatement.
I will always visit it when I am in Edinburgh because the shop is unapologetically chaotic. There is yarn everywhere (and I do mean everywhere) and thats what I love about it.
Be Inspired Fibres won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you know your yarns you can find treasure in this little space. It is brimming with different brands and blends and has lots of Scottish yarn and hand-dyed options too.
Please don’t be put off by the trolleys, shelves and bags everywhere. If you ask the owner, Mei, if she has something, she will know exactly where it is and hunt it for.
They are on Instagram and their address and opening hours are here.
It was a real pleasure to be in this yarn shop – it is FULL of yarn. Mei is always friendly and helpful.
I suspect that Be Inspired Fibres has the largest range of any of the yarn shops in terms of yarn weights, blends, brands and colours. You just need to prepare to have a proper rummage through all of the stock.
So, if you need a specific weight of yarn but are open to different brands, this shop would be the first place I would go to.
Ginger Twist Studio
Ginger Twist Studio is a riot of colour. The owner Jess is also a hand dyer and the skeins are displayed open and hanging along the shop walls to great effect.
They are on Instagram and their address and opening hours are here. This is the closest yarn shop to the city centre, just a 10 minutes walk from the Royal Mile.
Beyond selling their own hand dyed yarn, they also sell lots of other yarn brands, notions and have a smaller back room with fabrics, notions and patterns for dressmaking.
I was after a specific type of yarn in this shop and although they didn’t have what I was after, the person serving me was very knowledgeable and pulled together options that might have worked.
There are lots of recognisable brands in Ginger Twist Studio, such as my good old favourites, John Arbon Textiles, but others that I have earmarked for a future purchase such as Gepard and Kremke.
There were also lots of books and notions available to buy, but don’t expect a lot of crochet related stuff.
Kathy’s Knits
Kathy’s Knits is the most traditional of the Edinburgh yarn shops but that doesn’t mean it should be missed. It is full of well known Scottish and British brands and Kathy has a genuine love of yarn and a willingness to help her customers.
They are on Instagram and their address and opening hours are here. This yarn shop under 20 minutes walk from the Royal Mile.
Beyond the commercial yarn stalwarts of brands like JC Rennie and West Yorkshire Spinners you will also fine beautiful skeins of yarn dyed in Scotland by Abercairn and Ripples Crafts. There’s also Scottish wool galore with Jamieson & Smiths, Urudale and Uist Wool.
When I was in the shop, Kathy was just swatching with some new brushed yarn from Baa Ram Ewe called MoWool. I was allowed to knit a row of the swatch to test the wool out. <<< obviously I then bought some!
A word of warning that the shop is in a basement, so the only access if down the external stairs.
Here’s a link to all the brands she stocks.
Edinburgh City Yarn Shop Locations & Opening Times
Fibre Yard is in the Marchmont area (click the link for transport information). We walked there from the Royal Mile and it took about 25 minutes through The Meadows. Monday & Tuesday closed, Wednesday and Thursday 11am – 6pm, Friday and Saturday 10am – 5pm, Sunday 11am – 5pm. Fibre Yard, 93 Causewayside, Edinburgh, EH9 1QG.
Be Inspired Fibres is also in the Marchmont area and about a 20 minute walk from the Royal Mile through The Meadows. Monday closed, Tuesday to Friday 12pm – 4pm, Saturday 11am – 5pm, Sunday 2pm – 5pm. Be Inspired Fibres, 30 Marchmont Road, Edinburgh, EH9 1HZ.
Ginger Twist Studio is in the area of the city, about a 10 minute walk from the Royal Mile (click the link for transport information). Monday 11am – 5pm, Tuesday closed, Wednesday 11am – 7pm, Thursday to Saturday 11am – 5pm, Sunday 11am – 4pm. Ginger Twist Studio, 60 Montrose Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5DP.
Kathy’s Knits is a 20 minute walk north of the Royal Mile, beyond The Botanics (click the link for transport information). Sunday and Monday closed, Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 4pm. Kathy’s Knits, 64a Broughton Street, Edinburgh.
Other Edinburgh Shops with Yarn
So we have already covered the four ‘yarn shops’ that Edinburgh has to offer, but there are other shops that also sell yarn. The good news is that they are in the middle of town, just along from the Royal Mile.
Ragamuffin is full of colourful knitwear and garments from Scotland and beyond. It is open Monday to Saturday 10am – 6pm and Sunday 12pm – 5pm. Ragamuffin, 278 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8AA.
Beyond ready to wear items, they also have yarn at the back of the shop by JC Rennie and Jamiesons, both of which are Scottish wool producers, and some British wool from Baa Ram Ewe and West Yorkshire Spinners.
If you are after some hand dyed yarn, Ragamuffin also sells skeins from Zakami who dye beautiful yarn in Edinburgh.
The Scottish Textiles Showcase is just a few doors down from Ragamuffin. It is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 5.30pm, Sunday closed. Scottish Textiles Showcase, 20 St. Mary’s Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SU.
Again this shop mainly sells a lot of ready to wear items that are knitted or woven but they also have yarn from two very Scottish brands, Birlinn (wool from sheep that live in the Outer Hebrides) Di Gilpin’s luxurious lambswool yarn.
They also have copies of the Journal of Scottish Yarns, which is always full of knit and crochet and essays on Scotland’s textiles through the years.
If you Have Limited Time for Yarn Shopping
So, you are in Edinburgh and you don’t have much time but want to buy some souvenir yarn, here are my suggestions.
You have 30 minutes spare – go to Ragamuffin and or Scottish Textiles Showcase to buy some Scottish yarn or yarn hand dyed in Edinburgh.
You have about an hour to spare – head to Ginger Twists Studio. Forty minutes for shopping and 10 minutes walk each way from the middle of town.
You have 2-3 hours to spare – walk through The Meadows, go to Be Inspired Fibres, grab a coffee to go from Toast Cafe just over the road and sip and walk to Fibre Yard before walking back into town.
If you have a few days in the city, you can easily visit all of the yarns shops. Click here to screenshot their opening times and addresses.
Coffee & Food In Edinburgh
- If you need a coffee, look for an indie coffee chain called Black Sheep Coffee. It’s consistently good.
- If you are up near the Royal Mile, check out Rocksalt Cafe. They do great coffee (eat in or take out), their tray bakes are awesome and so are their breakfasts.
- If you are up by Be Inspired Fibres and need to refuel before you go to Fibre Yard, I can thoroughly recommend Toast which is just over the road from Be Inspired Fibres.
- If you are near Ginger Twist Studios, try out Herringbone, a beautiful little restaurant that used to be a public toilet. The food is lush and portion sizes are large!
That’s It!
Hopefully I have pointed you to some excellent choices for buying yarn in Edinburgh. It’s a beautiful city full of wool, heritage and good food. Enjoy your trip!
Rosina and Michelle also wrote blog posts about Edinburgh yarn shops. Have a read of the here:
Zeens and Rogers – Woolly Good Gathering & Yarn Shopping in Edinburgh.
Dora Does – A Yarn tour of Edinburgh and the Woolly Good gathering yarn festival.
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