New Local Yarn shop

It seems as if I said, "I'm back", just to disappear again.   I was going to the gym 5 days a week and it seemed as if afterwards the day was shot.   In my usual scattershot approach, I've been working on lots of things and finishing nothing. 

Two weeks ago, after my last class I put my back out.  I spent most of last week on a heating pad.  I can't remember the last time I was in so much pain.  This week we've been working in the yard, Wednesday we kept the two youngest grandkids and yesterday we recovered.

I am teaching Harold to spin.   I'm not altruistic I assure you.  In one day I caught him trimming a plant with my embroidery scissors and he moved my magnetic place keeper on a complicated knitting pattern as he asked, "What's this?" 

Every time I spin he watches me as if to say, "how hard can it be?  or "I can do that."   I could only imagine coming home one day to spinning chaos.  So in the interest of marital harmony I decided to teach him.  So far so good or at least he's feeding his curosity by surfing spinning websites rather than seeing how fast he can make the wheel spin!!

As the title of this post says, we  have a new local yarn shop.  It's 30 minutes door to door for me.  It's a new shop, but it has the feel of an established shop.  Dianna did extensive research and surveys to determine what knitters want in a shop.  And it shows. I didn't participate in the survey, but everytime I visit the shop, it feels as if I did.  From the dedicated, well-lit classrooms with cameras pointed at teachers' hands so the movements are shown on the monitor behind her to the fireplace for Sit and Knits her attention to detail shows.  There is a wide variety of yarn at all price points.  And the yarn at the lower end of the price spectrum feels as nice as the most expensive in the shop.  So if you're on a tight budget you don't feel as if you're skimping on quality.  There is a coffee bar with a gentle reminder to be respectful of others, class policies are well-defined and displayed so there's no room for misunderstanding or hints of favoritism.  I stopped by last night and was really too tired to knit, but it was pleasant just to sit and chat with other like minded people.  Employees are nice and helpful without being intrusive. 

From the first day of the soft opening there has been a roster of classes with both local and national teachers.  Shop events include First Fridays where yarn representatives come in and introduce customers to their products, have yarn tastings and trunk shows.  This month Cascade yarns were featured.  Upcoming will be Malabrigo and Juniper Farms.  There are also Fun Fridays with different activities planned.

The shop has been having its soft opening over the past three weeks so they were able to work out and tweak any problems.  As a customer I can say that any problems or tweaks were invisible to me.   One of my favorite aspects of the shop is that there are several areas to sit and knit so you can drop into and out of as many conversations as you like.

To build awareness and a customer base, the blog, website and Ravelry group were up and running weeks before the shop opened.  Dianna and her staff are serious about the business and are positioning themselves to be a viable force in the local yarn business.

So what's the name of this mavel of a shop?  The Knitting Boutique at 910 Cromwell Park Drive, Glen Burnie, MD.   The Grand Opening is tomorrow, October 15th, from 9 to 6. 

In the interest of full disclosure, as of last night,  I'm scheduled to teach two Intermediate Crochet classes starting in November.  But I have no other affiliation with the shop and had never met Dianna prior to the opening of the shop.   I'm just happy to have another yarn choice on my side of town!

Hope to see you there if not tomorrow sometime soon!

TTYL,

Melodye