Yarn@ the river? Stillwater's Darn. Knit. {Anyway} is your shop hop stop!

 Where do you Yarn@?

That is the theme of this year’s shop hop.  IYarn@_______.

So, where do you yarn@? 

Every shop this year is going to show where they yarn@.  We know the grammar isn’t perfect, but the idea is. 

We thought long and hard about how Darn Knit Anyway was going to show where we yarn@; so many choices.   We settled on a good one.  The River.  We are in Stillwater, a historic town on a scenic river.  When you live or work in a river town, the river is a major player.   Is the river rising?  Is the bridge working?  Is the river frozen?  Will there be a new bridge? 

Our shop is 100 yards from the St. Croix River.  We see it out our window when we knit in our lounge.  We sit on the banks of the river and knit on beautiful summer days. 

Yep, the river.  Perfect theme for Darn Knit Anyway!  What is the yarn and pattern?  Those details you’ll have to wait for – see you at the hop!

Lakeside Yarn is back for more! Add Excelsior to your shop hop adventure.

Lakeside Yarn, formerly Coldwater Lakeside Yarn, formerly Coldwater Collaborative – whew!  It is, in fact, the same shop in Excelsior that has participated in all seven hops since 2007, with only a small identity crisis.

 It’s taken us a little time to figure out exactly who we are to you, our customers, and we hope you like our new identity as Lakeside Yarn.  In the coming weeks, watch for a fresh new website design and storefront to go along with our new logo at the top of this page.  It is an exciting time for us, and we hope you will enjoy getting to know us and spending time at the shop. You can read about how Cynthia came to own Lakeside Yarn in the March, 2012  blog posts, if you missed it last year.

This year, the Shop Hop welcomes 3 new shops to its lineup, offering even more breadth and depth to the experience.  What a world class, creative and innovative fiber community we have all created together with the support of our amazing customers!!   We will be sharing with you some of our favorite places we “yarn” – knit or crochet--  and be looking for you to share yours.   For example, we all know that knitters and crocheters are some of the most patient people—well, as long as they have something to work on – when waiting for just about anything.  Any spare moment is the opportunity for a few more rows, whether at the doctor’s office, the baseball game, or a long traffic light.  Yes, I admit I knit at traffic lights, which reminds me of a story.

While waiting at a particularly long light near my kids’ school, I knitted patiently, waiting for the green.  The driver in the car next to me (obviously, a non-believer), rolled down her window and motioned for me to open mine.  When I did, she chastised me in no uncertain terms:  “PUT AWAY YOUR KNITTING!!!”  Dumbfounded, I explained, “Well, it’s not lace, it’s only garter stitch.”

Thanks for your continued support and enthusiasm and we’ll see you in April!

Put Amazing Threads on your Minnesota Yarn Shop Hop map for 2013!

Amazing Threads was launched in 2002.  There were only 8 yarn shops in the Twin Cities and nothing in the NW suburbs. Amazing Threads had simple beginnings in a small space in Osseo, MN.  However, we soon outgrew our space as the textile industry made new and fabulous fibers available to us and our community of knitters grew.  In 2004 we moved to new digs in Maple Grove that included a bigger sales floor and a large classroom space perfect for classes, knit groups, and hosting guest designers.  We now have the perfect yarn shop full of wonderful yarn, needles, books, patterns, bags, notions, accessories and more.  Our library of books is second to none. 

Yarn, knitting, friendships, shared passions…”So much yarn, so little time” we often lament.  We only do yarn for fiber enthusiasts while specializing in yarn and color coordination for any project.  The MN Knitters Guild tagged us years ago as a “hand dyers heaven.”  We carry a great selection of hand dyed yarns (Prism, MadelineTosh, Malabrigo, Claudia’s, Zen Garden, Dream in Color, Shibui, Alchemy, Baah Yarns, Great Adirondack, and more) plus lovely base fibers from a great selection of vendors (Rowan, Berroco, Classic Elite, Plymouth, Knitting Fever, Euro, to name a few).  We are a Rowan Shop within a Shop.  We have space dedicated for Rowan, SMC Select, & SMC yarns. 

In addition to a shop filled with fiber and a classroom for our community of knitters, crocheters and social fiber groups, we have project samples galore.  The staff love to create of samples and it shows.  Our goal is a sample in every yarn with carry.  We love customer show and tell as well.  It’s amazing when we see yarns come alive in a variety of accessories or garments. 

Stop in and become a member of our community of knitters.  Join one of our social knitting groups or register for one of the 30+ classes we offer every quarter.  Visit us on the web to find out “What’s New” (www.Amazing-Threads.com) each week and catch one of my weekly blasts that includes free patterns and knitting resources.  Share the passion for your craft. 

Bobbi, Lindsey, Angel, Carole, Michelle, Judy, Deb H., Cynthia, Sara, Renee, June, Mary Lou, Yvonne, Cathy, Sandy, Susan R, & Deb C.

All About Yarn in Coon Rapids is a new shop for the 2013 hop!

“All About Yarn” is in it’s eighth year of business and my name is Roxanne, the proud owner of our Coon Rapids-based shoppe. Most people call me Rox at the shop and when you visit and check us out as part of the 2013 Shop Hop, I think you’ll find an exceptionally friendly, warm and helpful environment. We have a beautiful fireplace setting in the center of the shop where classes are held nightly and fiber enthusiasts likeyourself can sit and enjoy. My staff and I love new knitters as it just seems like yesterday we were just beginning as well.

In the beginning there were four of us, who opened the shop, each of whom brought something different to the table and to our customers. But after six years together change was in the air and with the support of my family and friends I decided to keep “All About Yarn” going.

As a new owner one of my goals was to bring in new yarns to enhance our selection ofspecialty yarns and I think the shop’s selection of Madelinetosh and Malibrigo is second to none. Another highlight of the shop are the classes we offer, specifically our very unique “Pick your own Project” classes which take place each day (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and (6 p.m. to 8 p.m.) as well as Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon. Each class is a mini social group in which many long term friendships have been developed. Whether you become a new member or have been coming for years, teaching help is provided on as many projects as you desire.

I am very excited to be part of the 2013 Minnesota Shop Hop in April for the first time and I look forward to meeting you! If you have never been to All About Yarn I know you will enjoy your visit. Each shop has something new and different to offer our and we are always changing by adding new yarns, patterns, accessories and samples!

It is definitely “ALL ABOUT YARN” up here in Coon Rapids. I welcome you and hope you become a shop regular!

Unwind

Unwind is a new addition to the yarn shop hop this year.  Welcome Unwind! Here is her story...

Like many of you, I was taught to knit by my Oma. I must have been about 7 years old when she came to visit from Germany one summer. At first my stitches were not very square. But in the morning my stitches sure looked much better. I’m sure there had to be a knitting elf working through the night.

My Oma and mom were also very good stitchers and needlepointers, so the needle arts were a way of life for me growing up. This lifestyle followed me all the way to college. I put off studying for more than one final in college by working on my stitching.

I was bitten by the knitting bug once again when my older daughter was in middle school. Remember those fuzzy scarves? “Mom, can you make these instead of buying them?” and out came my old knitting needles and away I went and went and went….

Knitting by myself or with a class were both such great ways for me to unwind. I often tell people I will never be a “type B” person. As a “type A” person, I am always working or thinking about the next thing that I should be doing. By knitting I can calm down to at least an “A-“ personality type.

A while back, some of my friends suggested to me that I should open a yarn shop. At the time I hadn’t even thought about. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it. And as the saying goes “the rest is history.” With the support of my family and all the gals at the shop, we have created a wonderful place to play with yarn all day. My store is a place where people come to unwind while we help them to unwind their yarn.

What did they win?

Here is a picture of our lovely grand prize winner and her new stash.

Kay our Grand Prize Winner

 We also drew 14 first place prizes from the finisher cards. Check out the goodies in this basket!

Thanks very much to all our sponsors who helped make our prizes amazing!

Thank You

A BIG thank you goes out to the awesome knitters, crocheters and needle artists who participated in the Minnesota Yarn Shop Hop this year. 

You raised $4,880 in cash and 5,700 pounds of food!

AMAZING!

Donations at Needlework Unlimited

We all couldn't be more proud of our very generous fiber community!