A Threefold 'Thank You' to Los Angeles
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7 Reasons to Love L.A.
Dear Los Angeles: I'm Thankful For...
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A Photo Gallery of the Things I am Grateful for This Year
Crazy Aunt Purl is the true-life diary of a thirty-something, newly divorced, displaced Southern obsessive knitter who has four cats. Because nothing is sexier than a divorced woman with four cats.
We were stoked when Zach brought her to our attention this fall and doubly stoked when she said she would give us her list of LA yarn emporiums...
Los Angeles has more yarn shops than any place on earth. That is probably not a real fact, but it sounds plausible and I'm sticking with it.
I was pretty convinced I would never have the patience or coordination to knit, but when I got divorced and found myself alone with four cats and a growing Cabernet problem, knitting became my new obsession. For one thing, you can do it in your pajamas while drinking wine and watching bad Tivo. Sexy! But you can also do it in public, wearing four-inch heels and drinking wine with the eclectic, lovely, gorgeous and talented women (and
men!) of the West Hollywood Stitch 'n Bitch group.
I had no idea that knitting would both help me meet people and also make me broker than a three-dollar bill. Yarn is not cheap, folks.
But you know what they say: Love is expensive. Love costs.
This list is not in order of which yarn stores are best-to-worst, but it is ordered by how much money I have spent in each one.
1. Unwind
816 N Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA
Unwind is light and airy and you can sit and knit and chitchat without anyone pressuring you to leave or buy anything. I adore owner Stephanie Steinhous and the whole staff there is real friendly and never makes me feel like a weirdo.
2. A Mano Yarn Center
12808 Venice Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90066
Cute store, awesome yarn selection and really nice ladies running the show.
3. Stitch Cafe
12443 Magnolia Blvd, Valley Village, CA
The Valley is the coolest place on earth for so many reasons. For example, we have your porn industry, your movie studios, and your eleventy-two fabulous yarn shops. Stitch Cafe has all sorts of gorgeous yarn, and plenty of fiber for hand-dying, too.
4. Stitches From The Heart
3306 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA
A fully nonprofit store that sells yarn, needles, books and has classes, too. Ana and Brandi are a hoot and a holler, too, and will help you with anything from yarn selection to coming up with just the right pattern for any skill level.
5. Yarns Unlimited
828 Pico Blvd Ste 1, Santa Monica, CA 90405
I LOVE this store. I'm not very high-maintenance when it comes to yarn shopping. I like to browse and meander and touch everything in the store before buying a single thing. This place is stocked floor-to-ceiling with amazing yarns, everything from affordable acrylic blends to butter-soft alpaca.
6. Lani's Needlepoint
12416 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, CA 91604
Super-cute store on the Boulevard in Studio City has a fine selection of unusual yarns, classes in both knitting and needlepoint, and this is the shop where I learned to knit my first stitch and walked out with a shocking amount of yarn for a scarf that I ripped out no less than 16 times.
7. Yarn Garden
437 E Tujunga Ave., Burbank, CA 91501
Cute shop with excellent prices on Noro Transitions (a yarn you will swear is the fiber equivalent of chocolate-covered-sex) and they have an adorable garden patio where you can sit and knit and chitchat with other Valley knitters.
8. SuperCrafty
Not a brick-and-mortar store, but my friend Allison runs this yarn shop through her eBay store. She is honest and helpful and puts customer service above all else. If you're an Internet shopper, SuperCrafty is your online yarn pusher extraordinaire.
9. La Knitterie Parisienne
12642 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, CA 91604
Be prepared to feel your credit cards vibrate when in this little corner of yarn fabulousness. Floor-to-ceiling Rowan, Debbie Bliss, and whole corners of pure alpaca. Bonus: Merrill Eig, the guy who invented lighted knitting needles works the counter most mornings!
10. This is rather a cop-out for a top ten list, but anyone who reads my online diary knows I never quite make it to number ten. Most of my Top Ten lists stop at seven. If you want a full rundown of all the local yarn shops in the Los Angeles area, check out the Stitch 'n Bitch L.A. website.
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I love Laurie!!! If Crazy Aunt Purl loves the yarn shop then so do I!!!
Thanks for the photo credit. :) I love Crazy Aunt Purl! I'll have to check these shops out the next time I'm in LA!
Great list Laurie! I've been to 6 of your almost 10. I bet the new Santa Monica store Compatto will be on next year's list. Until a few years ago, we didn't have all the choices of shops we do now.
I have about as much chance of getting to LA as to the moon, but knitters rock, especially divorced knitters who live in the Valley and have four cats.
Hooray! There can hardly be a more important list for LAist to publish, or a better choice for the author!
A suggestion for number ten, and one I can personally testify is friendlier than several shops listed: Slipt Stitch in El Segundo. Small and friendly, with a great selection of yarn and hands down the best needle selection of any shop I've seen. Plus they're in a pleasant section of downtown that time forgot, and parking has never been an issue (a big plus in this area).
Now I'm off to investigate the few on this list I haven't been to yet. Thank you, LAist and Crazy Aunt Purl!
Hey Laurie, you rock! I'd just add that for spinning (you know you want to!) you should check out Stick & Stone in Van Nuys http://www.stick-and-stone.com and also A Mano and Stitch Cafe carry some spinning stuff too.
If you feel like a little drive for knitting, Velona Needlecraft in Anaheim hills http://www.velona.com/ is really the greatest knitting store I've ever been in. The owner has been knitting forever and can help you with everything and they have hard to find books and yarns in addition to all the other stuff including those teensy lace needles (I bought some 000000's there).
I've been to most of your picks and I concur that they're fab.
-- Janel Laidman
editor, Spindlicity
an online magazine for handspinners
http://www.Spindlicity.com
Thanks for the list, Laurie. Some friends and I were planning a yarn crawl outside of the San Gabriel Valley, and this list will help us plan our itinerary. We have some great yarn shops out this way, though. Check out Unraveled in Monrovia -- great yarns, great space, wonderful classes.
I'm printing out this list for my next trip to LA. Fabulous sushi and fabulous yarn shops....yummy. Thanks, Laurie!
The Inland Empire finally has a world class yarn shop!
The Yarn Deli
515 New Jersey Street, Suite C
Redlands, California 92373
(909) 793-7301
www.theyarndeli.com
theyarndeli@aol.com
Open Monday through Friday 11 am - 6 pm.
Open Saturday 11 am - 3 pm. Closed Sunday
They are located just off the I-10 freeway, between San Bernardino and Redlands:
Exit the 10 Freeway at California Street and head south on California Street. Turn left onto Redlands Boulevard. Turn right onto New Jersey Street. They on the right hand side of the street in the New Jersey Office Plaza. (If you see Bracken Bird Farm, you've gone too far!)
Dang! I can't believe I am going to have to fly to California to get a decent yarn selection.
Yarn? Crazy Cat Ladies? Excellent!!!
Maybe the sale of maps to movie star homes should be replaced with a map of yarn shops (since there are so many). Thanks for the list! Yarn shopping is a hobby in and of itself.
I go on a yarn safari to LA every so often. I have been to a few of these, now I have more on my list to stop at. Thanks for the list! Knitters rock!
Fabulous...thank you! Going to check out the online shops listed!
Even if she is a crazy knitting cat person, this crazy crocheting dog person loves Laurie! Thanks for the list!
It's not in LA but another great yarn shop is Anacapa Fine Yarns in Ventura. Fabulous selection & great, friendly staff. Road trip anyone??
I don't knit YET, but Laurie told us to comment and I'm on her side with knitterly love and crazy cat lady love!
I have to add my 2 cents here and give a shout out to The Little Knittery in Los Feliz. It is a cute shop that doubles as a clothing boutique. The joint is run by 2 sassy gals who are always on hand to dole out some advice and info.
Oh, now I have to add LA to my growing list of yarn store stops. Great list of places to go and now off to check out the internet stores listed. Gotta love Crazy Aunt Purl!
Laurie, I am thinking of a trip south (not South of the Border this time) in February. If I show up, I so expect a tour of the yarn emporiums.
Laurie is the So Cal go to girl for yarn. She says it, I'm there (if I can get the chicken off the truck, ugh, I mean, you know, we have farm animals that block the driveway and stuff.....Never mind.)
I love this list!! I know what I'm doin' this weekend!!
Thanks Laurie.
Love and Laughter,
Amy
Laurie, I now have 15 reasons to hope that L.A. doesn't go rumbling and tumbling off into the ocean: You, your four cats, and your yarn shop list. Thanks for the delightful post!
Best,
Dez, who hopes to visit bot you and the shops some day.
Hey Laurie,I just read the contributor's guidelines and they run off a list saying contributors can write about "politics, food, sports, gangs, knitting, books ..." My Gawd, does this mean that knitting is bigger than books, almost as big as gangs and approaching sports in popularity in L.A.? Girl, we need to get out game face on and go take on the crack dealers with our DPNs.
YAY!!! More yarn stores for me to spend my retirement fund in!
Best top ten ever!
Gotta add another vote for Unraveled in Monrovia! Then there's A Stitch in Time in San Marino (which is having a fab sale through the end of the month) and Abuelita's in South Pasadena. Thanks for getting our local Yarn Goddess to give you the "starter list". (from another Krazy Kat Lady with 4 cats)
Crazy Aunt Purl is the cats meow....the list could inspire a trip from Cape Cod to LA and her writing, so honest, entertaining and inspiring, is worth a visit each day!
Great cat photos, too. Watch out for Soba!
I love Crazy Aunt Purl - and her cats - so if these are her favorites, then they are my favorites, too! And I've never even been to LA! But when I go, I will definitely visit these stores. Hey, maybe even Laurie will come sit and knit a awhile.
Hooray for Laurie! I'll definetely check out those shops next time I'm in LA.
Crazy Aunt Purl is the BEST!
So timely!! I'm headin' to LA from TX next week - and have Christmas money to spend on all things Yarny! Love ya, Laurie! You and the kitty squad are the BEST!
I live in Northern Cali, but LisCat in Naples is fantastic. Alamitos Bay Yarn Co is also decent, but the ladies are MUCH friendlier at LisCat. Happy Knitting!
If you end up all the way in Ventura for Anacapa Fine Yarns (which I also recommend), you should also swing a few blocks north to Fabric Town...a totally undiscovered yarn mecca...they have tons of all varieties (anywhere from Red Heart to the kind with Swarovski crystals in it) and most are at great prices. The staff tend to be unsocial, but they are pretty hands-off, if you're the browsing-for-hours type (like me!). This is not a sit-and-knit place, nor a "can you show me how to do a M1 increase" place, but you can find some great yarns at good prices!
Ooops - double check the link for #6, Yarns Unlimited.... the link is for a store by the same name in Indiana!
Great list, Laurie, and as always, your great humor and insight are appreciated! Knit on!
I absolutley loooove Laurie! Thank you for all the great sites, when I'm in the area I'm on the hunt for stash...
A Crazy Aunt Purl list that actually went up to 10? Oh no she di-in't!
Uhhh...do any of you "LA folks" go east of the 405 and 110?
I liked the list until I didn't see Unravelled, in Monrovia, on your list. Then there's Liscat in the LBC (or like I call it, the Hipcat-Knitcat), Skein in Pasadena. Alamitos Bay Yarn Co., but yes, they are less snooty elsewhere.
Oh, and that really cute little shop Knitting Pretty in Whittier and is totally shabby-chic cottage. Fun place.
LAist, bless you for publishing this list. Can I just suggest you supervise the kids who add the links after the article is written? (I know Crazy Aunt Purl didn't put an incorrect link in her work!)
The "Yarns Unlimited" you link to is in Bloomington, Indiana, and is clearly unrelated to the Santa Monica shop of the same name.