This weekend is the 2nd Annual New York City Yarn Crawl, so this post will showcase what I purchased and reviews of the stores we went to.Here are my reviews on the stores we crawled to. (The list is in the order that we went to them.)
THE YARN COMPANY
2274 Broadway @ 82nd St, 2nd fl
212-787-7878
www.yarnco.com
My review:
I would only send my most hated enemy to this store. This store is awful! They have decent merchandise, but the customer service is the PITS. This is the second time I have gone to this store. I didn't like it when I went before and I will make sure never to go there again. The sales people act if they do not want my business. I would love to do a social experiment to see if they are snatchy with everyone who walks in there or just snatchy with certain types of people.
I wanted to buy a pattern for this really cute kid's sweater and the woman couldn't even bother looking to see if she had the pattern. I am not even sure if I told her that I wanted to buy the 24 balls of yarn I would need to make the sweater if she would have even moved. The last time I checked a small sale was better than no sale at all.
Items purchased:
Nothing - never going back
Attempted to buy a sweater pattern
Recommendation:
Stay away
I would only send my most hated enemy to this store. This store is awful! They have decent merchandise, but the customer service is the PITS. This is the second time I have gone to this store. I didn't like it when I went before and I will make sure never to go there again. The sales people act if they do not want my business. I would love to do a social experiment to see if they are snatchy with everyone who walks in there or just snatchy with certain types of people.
I wanted to buy a pattern for this really cute kid's sweater and the woman couldn't even bother looking to see if she had the pattern. I am not even sure if I told her that I wanted to buy the 24 balls of yarn I would need to make the sweater if she would have even moved. The last time I checked a small sale was better than no sale at all.
Items purchased:
Nothing - never going back
Attempted to buy a sweater pattern
Recommendation:
Stay away
Knitty City
208 W 79th St (bet Bdwy & Amst)
212.PURL.TWO (212.787.5896)
www.knittycity.com
My review:
For some reason every time my friends go to Knitty City I am always busy. They would come back raving about the store. I keep saying I gotta check it out, but never made my way up there until this weekend. After going there I see why everyone loves it. It is awesome and I can see myself spending my a good chunk of cash there.
The customer service was great! The store was packed with people participating in the yarn crawl and they had a table full of regulars sitting around the knitting table, but some how they managed to interact with everyone who came in the store. I felted welcomed and started pursuing the walls.
They have a lot of great yarns, but I have to go back and really look at the everything. For some reason I was over stimulated there and it was hard for me to focus on all of the pretties. I am not sure if it was the way that the store was laid out and that it was a little cluttered. (For those of you who don't know me clutter makes me insane and makes my mind melt.) Or was it Every section I went to had such amazing yarn. I didn't know where to look or touch and I was afraid to buy anything because I didn't want to blow my $100 budget there so I stayed close to Suzy and tried to hide my excitement. I think I just keep repeating we have to come back here another time, so that I can really look.
The good thing about staying close to Suzy was that she discovered all of the cool knitting accessories that were for sale.They actually had things that will help me with the BSJ. (Ha ha I'm already thinking about the next BSJ I haven't even finished this one.) So I got a bunch of accessories there. I was happy to spend money there and can't wait to go back with a project in mind.
Items Purchased:
Kitchener Stitch Key Chain
Stitch Markers with Information
Double Pointed Needle Holders (for small needles) - can't find links to show you :(
Double Pointed Needle Holders (for large needles) - can't find links to show you :(
Recommendation:
Go and go often!! :)
YARNTOPIA
974 Amsterdam Ave. (SW Corner of 108th St.)
NYC 10025
212.316.YARN
www.yarntopianyc.com
Review:
I really liked this store. It was organized well. I was able to focus in this store and didn't feel over stimulated. Each section was organized by the weight of the yarn. They had great merchandise. I wrote down a couple of things that I wanted to go back and check out. Because I was not familiar with a lot of the products I am not sure how the prices compare to other stores. The staff was friendly. I would go back.
Items Purchased:
Nothing
Recommendations:
As a Brooklyn girl I am willing to make the trek from Brooklyn to East Harlem to go to the store. I think it is well organized and they have late hours for us working stiffs.
Lunch
Before heading to the East Side we grabbed pizza from a place that sales JUMBO slices. The pizza was good, but I wish it was a little crisper. I would go back and try it again. Sorry, but I don't remember the name of the place.
Annie & Co.
1325 Madison Ave (bet 93rd & 94th)
212.289.294
www.annieandco.com
Review:
Cute store. A little on the pricey side. The staff was super nice and friendly. Chatted with several staff members and customers. Jotted down A LOT of names of great yarns. I picked up this skein of yarn and it was $47 dollarsssssssssssssssssssssss. WTF! Who pays for $47 for one skein average size skein of yarn. Not me. I have to admit that the sales table had some great but nothing was calling me. Suzy bought a bag of Rowan yarn that was 50% off the original price.
I would go back there again.
Recommendation:
Go there and touch the expensive yarn. It feels so good. You may find something you can afford on the sales table.
Downtown Yarns
45 Avenue A (bet E 3rd & E 4th)
212.995.5991
www.downtownyarns.com
Review:
Great store is in the heart of the East Village. When I arrived in front of the store. I realized that I have walked pass it a million times and never paid attention to it.
The store has a lot of character. The front door is a screen door. For a typical for a store that you will find on Avenue A. It looks like it is really small from the other, but it is well organized and there are a lot of goodies to find. I enjoyed looking at all of the samples hanging around the store. I also had a great time meeting other yarn crawl participants in the store.
The staff was really sweet, funny and super helpful. I asked about some cute children sweaters hanging around the store. As soon as I asked the girl about the sweaters she immediately went to the pattern book and started showing me the patterns (what a novel idea). Of course I had to get the pattern for the little sweater.
The store had a great selection of yarns and their prices were great. So great that I had to buy yarn. I was proud of myself that I didn't buy yarn all day, but I could help myself when I saw good quality wool yarn for $7 dollars a skein.
Items Purchased:
4 Skeins of hunter green cascade yarn
4 skeins of aqua cascade yarn
Pattern for a kid's sweater
Recommendations:
Go there! Even though there aren't any other yarn stores around it is still worth the trip to the neighborhood. Great bars and restaurants near the shop. Prices are good. There is something there for everyone.
I would love to hear what you guys think of these stores.
Time to rest. That was just the first day.
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