Yarn Shops....

My yarn shop - the one I love so much - is closing by the end of this month. The owner wanted to retire. I can't blame her, and am happy for her. But so so sad for me....  I went there for years....sometimes two times a month (or more).... It was only a 15 to 20 minute drive from my house. I could spend as much time in there as I wanted... just hanging out, chatting, looking at yarn, buying yarn...  She had such a huge selection of yarns.  Her shop was small, but she had it packed with all types of fibers, brands, colors, from low price to high price - and in between.  Tons of needles, buttons, pattern books, on and on....  I could return yarn with no hassles... She had a good rewards program....

I've gone to 4 other yarn places since I got the news about the closing - trying to find my new "spot".  Here is my review...

the first place has been there for a kazillion years.  She had about two brands of yarn...that was it...  one rack of needles, that was mostly empty.  How she is still in business, I really do not know.

the second place was more of a drive to get to and not a pleasant drive on top of that - lots of construction going on - lots of traffic.  When we got there, it was mainly her own hand dyed yarns.  Only one or two other brand names - and not brand names that I use.  None of my "go to yarns".... Nice yarns she hand dyes - don't get me wrong. But just not what I want.  The yarn shop was cute and had "atmosphere"... but I won't be going back...

the third place is near my house - closer than my favorite shop even.  And she did have some name brand yarns - one or two that I've used in the past. But still none of my "go to yarns".  She also had lots of yarns that are hand dyed by local people.  And I can see myself buying them.  I found out that unless someone takes over the shop - she too will be closing - within the next year.

the 4th place was decent - had one or two of my "go to yarns.  and some yarns that I've seen online and wanted to try... had never seen in person - so that was fun. But her shop is really disorganized and that bugged me. Too many different brands stuffed into the same bins.  It is about a 45 minute each way drive...  But I will go back.  Not often, but from time to time...

I guess I'm spoiled by my favorite shop and it will take me awhile to get used to it not being there anymore. I know, that like me, other people that went there for years and years - are going to be in for a big shock when they start looking around for a new shop.

There is one more place I would like to try - and will at some point. But I cannot see myself going there often.  They have some yarn brands that I use and some that I want to try out. But it is over an hour or more each way - and there is no free parking....

I can foresee myself doing more and more of my yarn shopping online. Not something that I want to do - I enjoy going to the shop and touching and seeing the yarns up close. But if the shops around me do not carry my "go to yarns", then I have no choice...

and I am bummed.  Happy that I can find them and more online, but bummed out that I can't find them in a shop....  sigh....