NYC YARN CRAWL - 2012 NYC Yarn Crawl Diary Here you'll find our ongoing journal on what's happening during the preparation and execution of the 2012 Yarn Crawl. As usual, we'll be listing a bit about each store's efforts and we'll make it easy to visit their on line sites by including their logos and/or blogs right here, as well. We'll be updating regularly, so check back often.

NYC YARN CRAWL
NEW YORK, NY 10025
phyllis@nycyarncrawl.com

2012 NYC Yarn Crawl Diary

Here you'll find our ongoing journal on what's happening during the preparation and execution of the 2012 Yarn Crawl. As usual, we'll be listing a bit about each store's efforts and we'll make it easy to visit their on line sites by including their logos and/or blogs right here, as well. We'll be updating regularly, so check back often.

Downtown Yarn

Sept. l4, '12

Everyone we've ever talked to about knitting stores in the city just loves this store. Perhaps it's the warm sound of the screen door as it closes behind you or maybe it's the sweet Golden Retriever that loves to lay her lovely self across the width of the store. When you combine it with owner Rita Bobry's deep knowledge of and love for the yarn, it's a place where you just want to stay and visit forever....Of course, the fact that she has a brilliant and knowledgeable staff also helps make this a yarn lover's home away from home, too. As she has in year's past, Rita will be offering 10% off during the weekend of the crawl and lots of surprises, as well.

Special Note: During the weekend of the crawl, Downtown Yarns will be offering a door prize, each day, of a skein of handspun cashmere from Afganistan, plus a free pattern.

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Knitty City

Sept. l5, '12

Knitty City, often referred to as one of NYC's friendliest knit stores, is chock-a-block filled with an incredible array of yarns. Owner, Pearl Chin, seeks out beautiful colors and smaller brands (in addition to the well known ones) in an effort to give her customers as many options as possible. An artist in her own right, she is the store's most prized "brand name". She's much respected in her community and dedicated to customer service. Lots of that is due to her upbringing as the daughter of small business owners as well as her "can-do" spirit. Very dedicated to loca work and spirit, the store gives free knitting lessons all summer at Bryant Park and supports various charities that benefit health, children and women. Be sure to ask about the upcoming big effort in Bryant Park on September 27 (there will be sheep!) and consider joining Team Knitty City as they walk for the cure for breast cancer on October 21. See more info on the blog pate at www.knittycity.com

Promotions during the yarn crawl will include 10% off on all stock in the store - and a 20% offer on all books. More will come on this as Pearl cooks up additional ideas to support the yarn, knit and crochet activities in NY. We don't think she'll be satisfied until she turns NY into a city of knit and crochet enthusiasts.

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Brooklyn General

Sept. 17, '12

Brooklyn General is one of the most charming stores in the city; especially so, if you love vintage, since owner Catherine has an obvious affection for the heritage associated with making things by hand. You'll find some wonderful Waldorf type toys and materials there as well as a lot of great yarns that are American in origin. It's also a good resource for classes on both knitting and sewing arts. All help at the store is versed in the crafts and speak with knowledge about projects.

During the weekend of the crawl, Brooklyn General will be offering 10% off, storewide, and the store will help promote infant health by offering the following:

If you bring in and donate a hand knit OR sewn forest animal you will get 20% off. Animals will be donated to the pediatric floor at SUNY Downstate Long Island College Hospital. If animals intimidate, you can knit a baby hat and BG will donate it to the NICU at the same hospital.

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Come Meet us in Bryant Park!

We will be there!

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School Products

Sept. 18, '12

School Products Yarn Shop is often referred to as cashmere mecca. Not only do they have a great selection of high quality yarns (cashmere, silk, baby camel, yak, merino) their prices are great, too.

The store owner designer Berta Karapetyan is the author of Runway Knits, a wonderful collection of some of her elegant designs. The store offers an extensive variety of classes (from beginner level to advanced).

School Products just moved into a beautiful new location at 135 W 29^th Street and is now open 7 days a week.

For the crawl weekend, they will offer 10% off any yarn in the store and 50% off any book in the store. Here's more than a little temptation: Lace Merino Silk at merely $6.99/skein.

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Annie & Co.

Sept. 19, '12

This friendly and warm store on the Upper East Side, started life as a needlepoint store and added knitting yarns and accessories to its roster many skeins ago. Stocked with an impressive array of beautiful yarns, its owner, Annie Goodman, is as smart about the people she works with as she is about yarns. Manager, Alyssa, grew up around the yarn business and is as saavy as she is nice. The entire lower floor is devoted to the craft of knitting and crochet and there is a big work table at the far end that makes sitting and comparing projects natural. When Annie & Co. has a sale it's always a good one and the weekend of the yarn crawl is no exception.

There will be a door prize every day of the crawl, plus, the storewide sale is going to be 20% off, iand include needles, books, cashmere, etc. They are also marking down "tons of goods" by up to 75%. When they do a sale, they are not shy about it.

Be sure to check out their buttons and accessories. I am an inveterate button collector and I have found some there that I have never seen elsewhere. Have fun and for those who love the art of needlepoint, don't forget to go on upstairs. It's a wonderland.

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Sept. 26, 2012

Well we're off to the "Wool Uncovered" Event tomorrow. We'll be in Bryant Park from 9 or so until about noon. Please stop by and say Hello if you see me running around like the mad knitter I am.

Bryant Park,

40th & 6th Ave.

Sept. 27, 2012

I will have a name tag and, and the good people who are producing the event have given us permission to hand out information about the NYC Yarn Crawl.

Today, we got a good call from the Time Out NY Editors who are listing information about the Crawl in their magazine next week. I also picked up all the cute and cuddly creatures for the Scavenger Hunt - see the Scavenger Hunt Page for details. I have the biggest shopping bag just filled to the brim with cute (and not really frightening) little critters. Right now they are resting, comfortably, in the foyer of my apartment but they cannot wait to be placed in their host stores next week.

We also got word today, that Seaport Yarn will NOT be in the Yarn Crawl this year. Andrea explained that they recently moved and they are not nearly ready, so this is the official notice that they will not be participating. We wish Andrea and staff the best luck in their new digs. (Same building as the old, just another floor).

Some Store News from Argyle

Argyle Yarn Shop is located in lovely Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn at 288 Prospect Park West. They offer a wide range of beautiful yarns to suit every taste and budget. Since they are new to the Crawl, we hope that everyone will make the effort to welcome them to the event. To welcome all the yarn crawlers, Argyle is offering a store-wide 10% off sale during the weekend of the event, and in addition to the gift basket, they also will raffle off a prize from Imperial Stock Ranch.

Argyle carries a full and impressive range of yarns - at all price points -- Take a look at their site: http://www.argyleyarnshop.com.

I really responded to this gorgeous shot that David (one of the owners of Argyle) sent to us. I guess because I am always "following the yarn", I found this picture evocative of the road I feel I have traveled over the years.

We'll be back in another few days to write more about the newest member of the NYC Yarn Community but I could not wait to share this gorgeous display with you. It's obvious that a lot of lovng thought went into this styling. I hope you visit this interesting store next weekend. I know I will be there this week. Back later with more about Argyle.....

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Sept. 27, 2012

It was a big day for wool in Bryant Park today. It was the Celebration of Wool, sponsored by a host of 3rd parties and the Campaign for Wool from the UK. The sheep were there, along with the farmer and hs wife. They were mostly merino and they came all the way from Wooster, Ma. Here's a shot of the sweet animals:

And a few more....of knitters in the Park:

You might recognize Dana Freed, one of the teacher/associates at Knitty City here. She was there all day long!

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String

Well, it was a nice morning, especially after the sun came out, but let's get back to the important subject:

We heard from Linda Morse, today. She's the owner of one of the most elegant stores in NYC.

String is located on the Upper East Side, at 33 East 65th St, (Between Madison & Park)

Rated by Zagats 2012 Shopping Guide as the #1 Knitting store in New York City and featured in major publications from Vogue Knitting to Interweave Knits to Better Homes and Gardens, String is committed to providing the best fashion-forward knitting projects that marry traditional knitting techniques with a tailored, modern sensibility.

String offers a collection of distinctive yarns at excellent prices, including an exclusive line of cashmere yarns and cashmere blends from the finest mills in the world. Every yarn is specially selected by owner Linda Morse to ensure that her customers receive the highest quality and the most sophisticated, saturated colors.

String is also your first source for expertly customized patterns and professional finishing as well as a premier provider of trunk shows featuring designers and yarns from around the world, themed knitting events, and private and group classes on numerous knitting techniques.

String is the ideal destination for knitting in an intimate, relaxed atmosphere in our wonderful city. You won't want to leave!

For the weekend of the Yarn Crawl, String will offer 15% off on all yarns!

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The Yarn Company

The Yarn Company is a Manhattan-based yarn store with a 34 year history and a brand new vision.

New owners Tavy and Assaf Ronen have renovated and revitalized the high-end shop to showcase all the fiber arts, with a strong emphasis on the unique and handmade.

From the lush walls of yarns to the latest fabrics, the new Yarn Company is a modern and clean gallery space brimming with creative energy. Solid metal industrial elements, such as the elegant manual swift winder, and meathooks for hanging yarn, uniquely complement the ethereal plushness of the fibers

Knitting magazines beckon behind bars, and thousands of buttons line up in jars like colorful pills in a medicine cabinet. Yarn, roving, and threads are presented as art, in a 70s-inspired gallery; windows, highlighted by little orange trees, flood the shop with warm natural light. Exposed brick walls create an atmosphere that invites you to touch your way through a garden of colors and textures. Redesigned by Assaf, a lawyer who built many of the minimalist fixtures himself from pipes, the store now includes a bright, airy workspace for classes and shows. Here, and on their colorful website with its online store, the new Yarn Company turns crafting into fashion and an art form.

To complement the stores new focus on artisanship, the owners have amassed a vast collection of hand-spun and hand-dyed yarns and fibers -- many of which are only found directly through the artisans that dye them or at fiber festivals. The wide selection of exclusive colorways and yarns, designed in collaboration with the Ronens, has garnered The Yarn Company widespread recognition, from knitting related publications to local TV and national coverage on television networks, such as NBC, and on The Martha Stewart Show..

The think-tank structure of classes features weekly, and semester-long courses of study in everything from the most basic to the esoteric. Classes are taught by The Yarn Companys star-studded design staff and hand-picked industry teaching experts.

Guest artists from around the world grace the NYC boutique for workshops, events, signings and more. The Yarn Companys parties, events, trips and theme programs (they are the official knitting theme provider for Mohonk Mountain House, voted Code Nast's # 2 resort in America) elevate fiber arts to fashion.

The result: Creating unique and exclusive yarns, colorways and designs with the industrys top designers, is in keeping with the store's high-fashion NYC aesthetic.

The Yarn Company will be offering unique sales and promotions during the crawl weekend. Back room clearance items will be 40% off, including many high-end selections, with rotating stock. Front room promotions will include daily raffles for qualifying (non-clearance) purchases of $40 or more of yarn or fiber. In addition, Yarn Crawlers will receive 10% off all fiber, fabric, books, needlepoint, embroidery, felting and dyeing supplies, and 15% off all weaving supplies. Additional Surprises and Promotions will be announced during the crawl. Please check the website at : www.theyarnco.com for newer promotions, closer to the crawl. Or better yet, join our 6,000 plus Facebook fans for constant updates and secret surprises.

Important Update about The Yarn Company as of today!

Extended hours & huge promotions this weekend!

Special store hours for the crawl: They have extended their hours this one weekend!
Saturday October 6: 11-8pm
Sunday October 7: 11am-8pm
Monday October 8:12 noon-9pm (tthese are usual Monday hours)

2012 Raffle Baskets

Well, we've begun the delivery of the baskets along with the drop off of Anna's Scary Monsters. All but 4 baskets are in place and they will be by tomorrow. Here's a quick rundown of what's inside each basket:

BERROCO

1 Skein of Ric Rac Yarn

One Book: Comfort Knitting & Crochet for Babies & Toddler

CLASSIC ELITE

One Hat Kit, Containing 2 skeins of Kumara Yarn

KNITTERS PRIDE

One Crochet Hook

One Circular Needle size 4

One Circular Needle size 6

LOUET

One Skein of Louet GEMS Fingering Wool

3 patterns

POTTER CRAFT

One of the following new titles
Knitting the Perfect Fit by Melissa Leapman

Knitting in Circles by Nicky Epstein

Super Scary MochiMochi by Anna Hrachovec

SKACEL

One Sock Kit, containing pattern + 1 Skein of Austerlitz "Step" Sock Yarn

TAHKI STACY CHARLES

One Hat Kit containing 2 skeins of Celine Yarn

VOGUE KNITTING

FALL 2012 VOGUE KNITTING MAGAZINE

HOLIDAY KNIT SIMPLE MAGAZINE

ONE FREE ADMISSION TO THE KNITTERS MARKETPLACE

@ VOGUE KNITTING LIVE 2013 JANUARY, NYC

WESTMINSTER FIBER COMPANY

ROWAN YARNS

1 skein each of Panama

1 skein of Colorscape Chunky

1 skein of Highland Alpaca

ADDITIONAL YARNS from

Fiber Company

Shibui

Please remember: One raffle ticket per store over the weekend of the crawl. All Raffle tickets are FREE. There's no charge for entry into the raffle, ever! Also be sure to check out the Scavenger Hunt Prize and see if you'll be entering that, as well.

More Store News

PURL

A trip to Purl in Soho will always find me traversing their beautifully curated aisles. This store,with its high celings and library ladder, is home to some of the coolest fabrics and yarns in the business.

The interior has been custom designed to make intelligent use of every inch of space. Purl Soho is known for its generous supply of Liberty of London fabrics as well as its stock of superior yarns, fiber, accessories and a unique variety of sophisticated craft related books and magazines.

During the 3 day Yarn Crawl, Purl will be hosting their own raffle with prizes, and every Customer at the store will receive a small gift! During the course of the weekend, Purl will be discounting Manos del Uruguay's Clasica yarn at 20% off and the fantastic waxed canvas Brave Brown Bags will be offered at 40%. To help get an early start, Purl will be opening at 11 AM on Saturday and Sunday.

For a complete list of the needle-related products, accessories and brands they carry, you can visit them on-line at www.purlsoho.com

To discover additional details on Purl's Crawl-Promotion, visit their popular blog at: http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2012/9/29/the-2012-yarn-crawl-at-purl-soho.html

Thank You to TIME OUT NEW YORK

We so appreciate this great weekly guide to NY and the coverage they give the Yarn Crawl. Thank you to the smart editors and writers who stay on top of an amazing number of events in our teeming metropolis. That said, we feel it's important to clarify a few things stated in this week's coverage of the Yarn Crawl. There are 10 stores on the crawl (when they got the PR release, there were 11) and there is not 40% off storewide at Knitty City. It's 10% off with 40% off only on special sale priced yarns. Now that that is clarified, let's talk a bit about one of the coziest and warmest stores (and environments) in Brooklyn:

LaCasita Yarn Shop.

This charming and home-like store is located on one of the most enjoyable (for me)streets in Brooklyn: Smith St. Known, for a long time now, for its vibrant food scene, it's also a great street for small businesses - and you know how we NY-ers feel about the importance of independent small business! Smack dab in the center of the block, LaCasita Yarn Shop Cafe is filled with quality yarns, patterns and books, plus a couch, a fireplace and a sweet little bar in the back where they serve light bites, great beer and enjoyable wines (They have a Prosecco that I drink whenever I visit, which is as often as I can manage it.)

They have used the space so well that one never feels crowded. The intimate space does allow for easy conversation with fellow customers or Jennifer or Amanda (the owners) and designer/teacher extraordinaire, Hannah. Yes, they also easily manage the space for great lessons. Witness this happy camper who was there for a sewing class ~ they are multi craft saavy.

During the weekend of the crawl, LaCasita will be offering yarn crawlers a complementary glass of prosecco, a mimosa or a bellini and they will be hosting a Trunk Show from Vogue Knitting's 30th Anniversary Issue. Yarn Crawl customers will be allowed to try on the sample knitted garments.

That's it for the moment, but we'll be back again tomorrow with more updates and information. Until then, keep organizing your stash so you can make room for more supplies - At some of these prices, you can't miss! It's also a great opportunity to network and make new friends. Nothing binds people together like shared interest. Don't forget, we're also producing one heck of a fun bus trip to Rhinebeck. We'll be using the two hours to great advantage - with teachers, raffles and giveaways on board. Please visit www.knittingandhowe.com for details. Just click on the trip/events page.

Winners of Scavenger Hunt '12

With special thanks to all who participated in this Year's Crawl and with hats off to the 26 peope who entered the Scavenger Hunt and visited all 10 stores to find the Mochi-Mochi Monsters.

We have it on good authority that the Monsters were very flattered.

First Prize: Tania Navarko
Second Prize: Lisa Grillo
Third Prize: Leticia Villalon-Soler

All have been notified

Partial List of Raffle Basket Winners:

Names will be added as received:

Annie & Co - Chris Laluria

ArgyleYarn Shop - Kim Cherubin

Brooklyn General

Downtown Yarns-Jeff Liesch

Knitty City - Jasmine

LaCasita - Rowena Nixon

Purl Soho - Chris Bragg