Saturday, July 28, 2007

Bay Area Yarn Stores - Any Recommendations?

I received an email from Midori, who is coming to California and wants to know what yarn stores I can recommend. If you live in-state and can contribute to the list, please add your picks in the comment section.

These are the stores I know about in the Bay Area.

San Francisco

Artfibers - I absolutely love this store! The yarn they carry is manufactured for their store alone. They allow you to sample the yarns before you buy them; you can park yourself in their sitting area and knit up a swatch from the yarn samples they have. You can learn more about Artfibers through this review.

I have to admit, with the exception of Artfibers, I have not shopped for yarn in San Francisco. I have heard good things about Noe Knit. The review from Knitter's Review. If you find yourself in the Castro District, you may want to drop in on ImagiKnit. I only know about this store by word of mouth and this review.

East Bay

Article Pract is easily my hands-down favorite yarn store in the East Bay, if not the entire Bay Area! I know I am not alone in this thought, as the store is frequently mentioned in glowing terms in the Bay Area blogs that I read. Article Pract has a great selection of yarn, no matter what your price point is, and I've never gotten that "yarn store attitude" thrown at me. They are located in the Temescal section of Oakland, on the Oakland/Berkeley border. Another great feature of this neighborhood is Bakesale Betty, which is just a few doors down!

On the rare occasions that Article Pract doesn't have what I am seeking (and I need it right away), I have also dropped in on the following stores:

Stash - located on Berkeley's Solano Avenue, which is a great street to explore. You can spend the day poking around the boutiques, drinking coffee at Peet's, and eating pizza at Zachary's. Oh, but this was supposed to be about the yarn...Here's another blogger's review of Stash.

Knit This, Purl That! - located just off Main Street in Pleasanton, this store has a little bit of everything. If you like Noni patterns, you can find most of them here.

Most of my yarn buying is restricted to the East Bay, but I have also heard a lot about the following stores:
North Bay - Marin Fiber Arts located in San Rafael. I haven't had a chance to go to this store, but you can see what's in stock on the store's blog.

Peninsula - Nine Rubies Knitting located in San Mateo. I haven't made it to this store, either, but I've heard good things about it. I've met some of their employees while taking classes at Article Pract.

That's the end of my list, can you think of any I need to add?

1 comment:

DaFawnz said...

South bay, speaking up...
Purlessence in Sunnyvale and Yarn Place just a couple of blocks from that. Commuknitty in San Jose, Knitting Arts in Saratoga, Yarn Dogs in Los Gatos. Full Thread Ahead in Los Altos and a block from there Uncommon Threads. There are a couple of other stores down here, but your not missing much... Btw, Nine Rubies... not South bay, they count as Peninsula.... Carolina Homespun in San Francisco, also nice