Needlework Unlimited

Hi, my name is Amy. I am writing to you from the pulling table at Needlework Unlimited. This has been my “home” store for many years – when I lived in Uptown, when I lived in Northeast, and even when I moved to Robbinsdale a couple of years ago.

I participated in (and completed) my first yarn shop hop last year. It was incredible to see and experience all of the stores – I had no idea there were so many fantastic shops all over the Twin Cities.

I made a couple of lunchtime excursions to visit some of the stores with coworkers of mine. During one of the quick shop tours, I brought them to Needlework Unlimited and pointed out all of my favorite things about the store: the colorful wall of yarn, the giant “SOCKS” sign (made out of socks), all of the luxury fibers (isn’t cashmere wonderful?) and the fantastic samples everywhere, of course.

The yarn shop hop was so much fun. I took photos at each shop, and tried to buy a little bit of something everywhere (souvenirs, of course). I’ll confess that I didn’t have the best stash at home, but the shop hop really opened my eyes to quality fibers and impressive patterns. It renewed my excitement to knit!

A few days later, I got a call from Laura telling me that I won the shop’s first place prize. (In fact, I still have the voicemail message.) I was SO THRILLED! I can’t even describe how
 overwhelmed with excitement I was. So even though it was the middle of the workday, I grabbed my coworkers again and drove as quickly as possible back to the shop.

Amazing – Wonderful – Spectacular! I love Needlework Unlimited and I love the yarn shop hop!

The other great part? While I was in the store picking up all of my wonderful prizes, I got to meet Laura and Paul (he took the photo) and Karen. I told them about how I daydream about working in a yarn store on super stressful days at work. And a few months later? Here I am: an employee! I am so proud to be a part of the Needlework Unlimited crew and I am looking forward to experiencing the yarn shop hop from a different perspective this year.

Enjoy the hop, and we can’t wait to see you!

Welcoming new and returning customers, Needlework Unlimited is your next shop hop stop in Minneapolis!

Needlework Unlimited has been serving the knitting and needlepoint needs of Minneapolis and its southwestern suburban neighbors for over 42 years.  After a couple of moves and several owners over the years, it is now located at 44^th & Drew in the Linden Hills neighborhood in a spacious store with a similarly spacious parking lot.  Karen and her staff stock a huge selection of knitting yarns from around the world, as well as locally-dyed exclusives, and display lots of models showing just how lovely the yarns knit up!  They are excited to help find the perfect yarn, pattern, button, needle or other notion for your project.

Karen has had a life-long love affair with knitting, learning at the knee of her mother when she was just a wee little thing.  She received her degree in design from the U of M and has worked for years in the yarn business.  Her goal is to provide the very best materials and advice for your fiber needs.

She has also accepted the challenge of new technology.  Needlework Unlimited is a Ravelry store and provides a laptop on the sales floor for the use of customers to access their Ravelry accounts while shopping.  And Needlework Unlimited has just joined with Craftsy.com to bring national-caliber teachers to your living room 24 hours a day.

Needlework Unlimited looks forward to welcoming new and returning customers during the Shop Hop – drive safely!

Needlework Unlimited

Rejoice!  Needlework Unlimited is back in the yarn shop hop this year! Karen, the owner of this amazing shop has a great story to tell.  Well let her tell it...

"My earliest knitting memory is sitting at the kitchen table in the farmhouse I grew up in, as a precocious five year old. My mother would cast on and start a row and then hand the needles off to me. The rows seemed very long, but they were probably only forty stitches or so. When I got to the end, I needed help to turn the knitting around and begin the next row.  Every row I worked on probably gave my mom another few minutes of peace to work on dinner or some baking. 

My knitting was sporadic then, and every hole became an armhole so one of my dolls could wear that creation. When I was 16, I contracted 'mono' (you can insert a joke here, but I was truly 16 and never been kissed). While recovering, my mom let me choose a knitting project from a current Seventeen Make It magazine. I chose the bright yellow wool halter top with a watermelon design on the front (it was the 70's, after all). I remember putting it on once for about 3 minutes as the wool was extremely itchy. I was proud that I finished, even though it was not comfortable to wear.

Many years have passed since then, but my love of knitting and working with fibers has only grown. 

As a new grandmother, I now have the intense joy of making treasures for our family's new love, Matthew. Sharing my joy and love of knitting with our customers at Needlework Unlimited has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. 

Thanks to you all!"  

Thank you Karen for an amazing fiber shop!