LYS

Whenever I am working a craft show one of the questions I most often get besides "did you knit all of this yourself" is "where do you get your yarn." I talked early on in my blog about my favorite on-line yarn stores here. I feel a little guilty for not supporting my local yarn shops more but when you knit for profit it is really hard to pay full price for yarn and make any kind of profit at all. I really don't think most people realize how expensive yarn is, especially the yarn I like to work with. I went to a yarn store in Rolla called Uniquely Yours with my mom, uncle, and sis this weekend. I love this shop since she carries yarn brands I've never seen in the wild before and it gives me lots of ideas. Unfortunately I rarely can afford to buy much of anything there unless it is for me, but I had my Mom and uncle buy some things in payment for scarves they were getting to give as gifts. I think it really opened their eyes to see how much good yarn costs. I wish everyone, particularly the people who put in a bid on Etsy's alchemy for $20 wool items, would spend a few minutes in a yarn store to get their eyes opened. It really isn't cheaper to make something in most cases than it would be to buy it off the rack and buying handmade shouldn't mean buying for less.

There are several yarn shops in St. Charles that I enjoy wandering into but I rarely come out with much. The one nearest to my house has an owner that really makes me uncomfortable. It is in an old house and she has a lot of yarn in the back area. She lurks and watches me as if I'm going to stuff my purse with alpaca. And she tries to talk to me about random things so I tend to not go in if I see her car in the parking lot.

My favorite yarn store in the area is the Myer House, Weaving Dept.. They are in Florissant which isn't too far for me to drive. They have a Barn where they have all of their discontinued or spare balls with heavy discounts. A few times a year they also have a big 75% off everything in the barn sale. I always leave with several full bags and a smile on those days. It is perfect for a scarf knitter like myself who just needs a few balls of a yarn or complimentary yarns to work together. It wouldn't be ideal for a sweater knitter though.

The little yarn store near my mother in law's house just went out of business recently. It must be really hard to stay open with all of the options on-line these days. There really isn't a substitution for touching or fondling yarn and seeing the color in person. And most yarn stores have very friendly and helpful staff with classes to help you conquer new skills. I wish I could give them more of my yarn dollars but I have to do what I have to do to keep my business going. I hope they would understand.