Do you have a LYS (local {or little} yarn shop)? I do! Hearthstone Knits is a small, cozy, crochet friendly local yarn shop stuffed deep and high with all kinds of wonderful yarns. It’s housed in a humble building that it shares with a print shop. Next door is a restaurant and other restaurants and shops are nearby. The prices are reasonable, special orders are welcome, and the staff is friendly and warm. It’s about a twenty minute drive from my home – but well worth the trip – wherein I pass two Michael’s, a HL, and other ‘big box’ stores like Walmart and Gardenridge.
In St. Louis, we are fortunate to have three shops that I consider crochet-friendly. The Weaving Department and Chris’ Needlecrafts are the other two – running second place behind Hearthstone Knits. You’d think with names that included knit or weaving, they wouldn’t have much to offer crochet enthusiasts. That’s wrong. Yarn is yarn – and we all know we can crochet with just about anything. But, for a primo yarn shop (for the crocheter), more is required than great yarn. What about thread? What about books? What about staff expertise?
Hearthstone is the only local shop I know of that has a dedicated crocheter on its staff. Valli is a gifted crocheter and a good teacher. Georgia, the owner, also crochets but much prefers to knit. She’s no snob about it though. BTW she has at least one knit pattern in publication this month! The only thing lacking at Hearthstone is a wide selection of crochet threads. But, that’s easy to overlook since we have Michael’s and Hobby Lobby who both stock a good supply of thread. Georgia stocks a wide variety of hooks, from steel, to Clover Soft Touch, Addi, rosewood, and bamboo, all at very reasonable prices. One is always welcome to ‘test drive’ any hook.
Hearthstone is a welcoming place. There’s a big table in the back of the store. At any time of the day – and on our special Crochet Club evening once a month – the table is surrounded by knitters and crocheters, sipping the shop’s teas and coffee, chatting, sharing, and creating. Wish I had more time to sit with them.
The shop has been responsive to crocheter’s requests for classes, too. Valli has taught toe-up sock making and is currently offering a class in cables. Our little crochet club has been the stimulus for the shop to invest in more crochet books, leaflets, and classes for us. We can’t ask than much more than that. And, Georgia is always ready to special order hooks, books, and hand dyed yarns for us. We are also offered the ‘Frequent Fiber’ discounts that many shops limit to knitters or members of the local knitting guild.
Local Yarn Shops face stiff competition from the chains. They can’t compete with the coupons and generally lower prices offered by the chains. But, I’m willing to pay a bit more for the atmosphere and to assure that we’ll have that crochet expertise available to us for generations. Just try getting help with a pattern stitch at HL or Michael’s! You’d have to sign up for a class and wait possibly weeks for the same help that Hearthstone offers on the spot. Service is the name of the game at a LYS. That’s the ‘secret ingredient’ that comes with your yarn or hook purchase. They will also happily wind off those bothersome hanks of yarn into nice wheels on their handy yarn swifts, saving hours of aggravation at home!
CARPET WARP
I’ll also put a plug in here for the Weaving Department because they offer a unique service that is a boon to the freeform crocheter (and knitter). They will sell you many of their yarns by the foot! That is a really inexpensive way to build up a great stash for freeforming. Also, weaving shops typically carry a line of cotton yarns called CARPET WARP. If you are interested in making potholders and other items that will receive hard wear, carpet warp may be a good choice for you. Typical carpet warp is 100% mercerized cotton available in a wide array of colors. As the name implies, this is the stuff that is used to thread the loom with vertical rows so that the design can be created with the shuttle going in and out through the warp. So, this very hardy thread is a good choice for crocheters. Some of it is linen or of mixed fibers. Check to be sure. A cone of carpet warp goes for approximately $5 locally and will make several potholders.
Here’s a skein of Bernat Super Value with the sample of ‘Think Pink’ – my fave!!
A plug for Chris’. They carry general crafts and a great selection of Bernat yarns. I was able to special order a large batch of a Bernat yarn with the guarantee that it would all be the same dyelot and I didn’t have to pay any shipping charges. That’s a pretty good deal. Chris’ is one of the few LYS that carries the more mundane yarns (like Bernat) in addition to the pricier, luscious yarns we all recognize from local yarn shops.
I hope you have a LYS in your community. If you do – please support it. Ask for what you want! Ask for classes, books, yarns, threads, hooks. When I longed for a set of Clover Soft Touch thread hooks, I was able to get them special ordered from Hearthstone with no additional shipping expense and was able to use my Frequent Fiber discount to purchase them. Now, that’s the kind of service I appreciate.
I would LOVE to learn the names of other LYS around the country and to hear your experience shopping at them. Please feel free to add your comments in the comment section below so we can all benefit!
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