A Sheep In Wools' Clothing

Fiberphilia At One Year Anniversary

NAYY.  I love a good yarn shop.  They are like friends, and the staff and customers are like extended family but better, since they have shared interests.  Fiberphilia  is one year old this week.  It sounds like they've had a great first year - their inventory has grown as have their sales and classes.  Michele generously hosts various groups for their meetings, donates items for charity auctions, and has become part of the Orono, ME business community (despite being from "away" meaning she is not a native from several generations back).

Amongst the staff, Michele and Cheryl have cut their hair (could it be that they are too busy selling yarn, knitting and fondling the fibers they wanted to save grooming time?), Berla still cranks out projects with amazing speed and energy for a woman in her eighth decade (I want to be just like her when I get there), and Viriginia - well Virginia has found herself and is hitting a learning/teaching curve few achieve. Those four amazing women are the frontline at Fiberphilia, then there is Jeff in the background crunching numbers and supporting the computer technology, and Michele's family who have allowed her to live in two towns to support the vision...

It has been far too long since I've been able to go in, fondle and drool, sit and knit, and recharge with fiber folk.  I've been able to do it twice in the past week, which explains the Lacy Kerchief Scarf being at the 50% mark now.  I've missed their company!  Happy Anniversary Michele and staff!

Unique One Flavor of Yarn Shop

Unique One is in yet another Maine coastal town near me, Camden.  Larger than Belfast, Camden actually boasts two needlework shops, but Unique One is clearly the knitting one, and the other shop clearly a needle and thread sort.

Unique One has two components.  The front of the shop is sweaters, some commercially made, and others custom machine knits in Maine and nautical themes.  Going past the register to the back, one finds a little treasure of a yarn shop stuffed with wonderful fibers like Schafer & Colinette,  among others.  While tiny in square footage, the yarn shop has finds around every turn, tucked in every nook, ready to greet the attentive fiber enthusiast.  This is where I found my lighted needles, and scored some lupine seeds.  The lupines took about three years to make their appearance, but they are thriving on my hillside and spreading to cover the slope every spring.  (Pictures this year, I hope).

New England I suspect has more yarn shops per capita than any other area of the country, and each one has a different character, or flavor.  What flavor of yarn shop do YOU have - share it with us!  (Just send me an E-mail and I'll post the link to yours in my sidebar under Flavors of Yarn Shops).  It'll be great to see what all is out there.   No deadlines.  No limits.  No contests.

Spunky Junky Shop Flavor

Hello.  My name is Dianna, and I am a fiberaholic.  I am a Spunky Junky.

Of course, no discussion or collage of Maine yarn shops would be complete without a jaunt to Spunky Eclectic  in Lisbon, Maine.  Just a short distance from the world famous Moxie  Museum, Spunky Eclectic is now housed in the "L" of Amy's parent's home.  This area once housed Amy's Gram's pottery business, King's Pottery, founded over 50 years ago.  (The pottery business is now on its third generation of King's as potters.)  Now that a large part of the materials once stored for the pottery business are gone, Spunky Eclectic found a place to move in which was fiber friendly and Boogie Baby and her big sister, friendly.

Now I ask you, where have any of you seen a fiber shop that has this many spindles sitting there begging to be twirled and whirled?

And the help, shown here in a custom blue leopard tunic, is brimming with spindle help, and first hand experience with treadling the wheels.  And, if one is on really, really good behavior, Spunky Eclectic is known to be a hangout for Sparrow and there have been sightings there....

Heavenly Socks Flavor of Yarn Shop

Heavenly Socks is in a coastal Maine town near my home.  It is virtually a one woman operation - every time I've been in, the owner, Helen, is the one staffing the shop with her engaging personality and contagious smile.   Helen's location is in the basement of a vintage Maine building in "downtown" Belfast (all two blocks of it).  It is a couple of blocks from the pier, complete with the Belfast Bears in the past.  In warmer weather, the front door is open and hanks of yarn are hanging to greet customers in the entryway.

She has black and white tile flooring, probably original rock foundation showing, even the pipes running overhead are visible.  All of this contributes to the character of the shop - New England, and Maine are great that way. 

Even Helen's website is unique - links to other business in Belfast, links to regional bloggers, etc.  She is incredibly supportive of her fellow Belfast business people.

I personally think New England shops are the best - what flavor is your yarn shop?

What Flavor is YOUR Yarn Shop?

Now I am curious to see the flavors of yarn shops around the country, from high tech to folksy to messy to creative genius to sterile.  So, I am seeking other fiber enthusiasts to go out and photograph their regional yarn shops, create a post about each shop, and send me your post information.  I'll make a sideboard link with all the posts, so collectively we can see the flavors of yarn shops around the continent, and perhaps around the world! 

So go forth, fiber lovers - photograph and share!  No contest.  No deadlines.  No limits.  We can continue to add on as we check out shops in our areas/states/regions/vacations....

What Flavor Is YOUR Yarn Shop?

Flavors of Yarn Shops

All knitters know that yarn shops come in all flavors.  There are the upscale posh ones with luxury fibers and high fashion patterns.  There are the hole-in-the-wall dusty shops where the owners have knit their entire lives, and there are bare bones wools, yellowed patterns and a cat somewhere on the premises.  There are the artisan shops with handdyed wools, handspun wools, and beautiful handcrafted unique fiber tools.  I sort of collect yarn shop flavors so to speak.  I've started folders of photos of different shops that catch my eye with character and nuance.

This shop is in Portland, Maine on Congress Street.  It is called Knitwits.  The sample sweaters were toddler size.  The "Open" sign on the door was made of hand knit letters.  The front window was decorated with handknit unique hearts, perhaps from a class.  The yarn bins were wooden cubbies lining the walls.  A very L-O-N-G wooden table went down the center of the shop, holding swatches, sample sweaters (again, toddler size), books, class items and inviting customers to pull up a stool, break out their knitting and stay a while.  In the back corner by the register was a small coffee bar, and the ancient building and its probably original floors spoke volumes.

I've sought yarn shops on vacations, in Montana, Utah, Colorado, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Florida, Washington, Maryland - you name it.

What flavor yarn stores do you have in your area?