Yarn Shop Reviews

Needleworks is down in Champaign near First and Green streets, and is the
only yarn shop I'm aware of in Champaign. It is not open Sundays. The
staff is absolutely wonderful, quite knowledgeable, and they carry a good
selection of yarns. As a matter of fact, the owner has expanded her yarn
selection considerably.

Hours: Tues & Wed: 10 to 2, Thurs-Sat: 10-6
Their web site does not do this shop justice. The owner said they had been open for 3 years. It is in a huge old building in the old part of town. They have a great selection of yarns, including their own brand.
They have bulky yarns that they have dyed themselves also. I was looking for 100% Cotton Chenille and you could get as much as you wanted from spools of yarn. I paid .75/2 ozs for the chenille, which is a fraction of the price that I pay for Crystal Palace Chenille!
They have quite a few of their own "kits" that are very reasonable. I bought a beautiful cabled scarf kit for $14. I also liked that they were offering a lot of knitting patterns I had not seen before for $1/per pattern. They also have a knitting book lending library that is FREE. You have to bring the book back within two weeks for someone else to be able to use.

One of my favorite yarn shops. Easy to move around and nice variety. Plenty of room to sit and knit or browse through the great pattern selection. Owner very helpful. Has an area for needlepoint. (Note: Shop now closed)

A medium sized yarn shop with a wonderfully cluttered and 'jam-packed full of yarn' atmosphere. The store has yarns of all price and fiber ranges. At the front of the store are the baby yarns, sock yarns, patterns, books and magazines. The aisles are barely wide enough to fit two abreast. The aisles were short, about 4 or 5 feet long, but tall, about 5 or 6 feet, made up of wire storage cubes filled with yarn. The sale yarn was located in the back of the shop, and there was a lot of it! (One whole 3 foot wide x 6 foot tall aisle section.) Also, at the back of the shop was a table covered with more skeins/balls/hanks of yarn where those already finished with their shopping, or not up to the intense competition among the sale yarn aisle, could sit. The owner gave us each a free back issue of Knit N Style magazine, and samples of Euclan wool wash.

This was one of my kind of shops! Packed wall to wall, floor to ceiling with yarns of all ranges, both fibers and prices. Very helpful and knowledgeable owner and worker who handled our invasion wonderfully when we visited on a yarn crawl, while still trying to help their other customers. And they showed their appreciation to our group with the gifts of free back issues of Knit N Style magazines and samples of Eucalan wool wash. Very thoughtful! Having a full rack of discounted yarns to choose from was lots of fun, plus they kept bringing out more from the stock in the back to tempt us with. It was fun to see some yarns that I'd never seen, or even heard of, before, and I was very happy with my purchases.

A small to medium sized yarn shop with a cozy, warm feeling. At the front of the store there was a lot of wool and cold-weather yarn. Toward the front of the store was a display of sweaters hanging from the ceiling. There was a variety of lighter weight and baby yarn in the middle section of the store. The sale yarn was in a trunk at the end of the counter where the register was located. Toward the back of the store was a small table where you could sit and look at the patterns, books, and issues of knitting magazines that were on the back wall. Knitting needles were behind the counter.

Small, but still had a nice "feel" to it. Had some of the nicer wools and basics, plus a generous selection of Jameson yarns, a favorite of the owner. Fun as always to find a discounted sale trunk of yarn, with nice wools and other natural blend yarns.

A large sized shop with an organized, uncluttered, spacious atmosphere. It is divided into two large rooms with a couple of 'comfy' chairs, and a big table for classes in the far room. Framed posters/artwork relating to knitting decorate the walls and give it a warmer feeling than Caroline's Fine Yarns. The yarn is displayed around the walls of the rooms, contributing to the open feeling. The shop contains mostly higher end yarns, but also a few basics like Encore and Cascade 220. The sale yarn was in a back room, but when asked about it, the owner was happy to let us quickly look through a bin.

A small, one room shop, carrying some different lines of yarn than the other Loves Park shop, including some small mill/handspun wool. Since it was spring when I visited, it was stocked mainly with light summer yarns, and the usual novelties. A decent selection of needles and gadgets. One small bin of sale yarn, but nothing to tempt me.

Lisa is the owner. Store hours are as follows: Mon-Fri 10am-5pm and Saturday 10am-4pm.They are closed on Sundays and Holidays. Loves Park is a suburb of Rockford. It took us about 50 minutes from Woodstock this morning. She used to be in Belvidere and has now moved to a larger store in Loves Park. She had a lot of sale baskets of yarn, a good selection of sock yarn, and a lot of striping yarn, novelty yarn, etc. Her prices overall seemed to be cheaper than around here. She also deals with machine knitting.

The following are the directions to get to this shop: From I90/NW Tollway: Take I90 past Rockford to Riverside Drive/Loves Park. Turn left onto Riverside Drive and go a couple of miles. The shop is on the right hand side. It is in a little strip mall center (brick) just past "Beef A Roo" fast food restaurant. Lisa the owner said to try Basil's Cafe that it is really good. It is up the road from the yarn shop. Also a beautiful Garden Center is located right across the street from the yarn shop. Really nice place to go for a short trip. There is a scenic route, and if you want those directions I will get them for you.

Toni Neil, the owner, is a talented spinner, weaver, and knitter, and stocks many supplies for spinning, and wonderful fibers. A limited selection of handspun yarns may be available occasionally, plus knitting books and needles on a more regular basis (Update: The shop has been expanding to carry more yarn on a regular basis). Her shop is at her home/farm, where you'll see the adorable sheep frolicking in the pastures as soon as you pull in. A fun stop if you are driving "out in the country" between Crystal Lake and Harvard (see the map on her website, linked on the shop listing page), and are interested in natural fibers, and what to do with them.

A small sized shop with a nice collection of yarn, mostly nicer yarn, not much low-end yarn. The shop is divided into two rooms, with the door to the shop opening into a small entryway between the two rooms. Even this space has yarn displayed in it. The room at the front of the building has a table in the middle with yarn and books around the edges/walls of the room. The room at the back of the building had the most yarn, another small table, where a couple of women were working on projects, and the register and counter. There were display sweaters in each room. I didn't see any sale yarn. They did have free cookies for us.

Very small shop, consisting of two small rooms, but still had a nice little collection of yarn. Nothing much on the low end of the scale, but with such little display room, I can understand her wish to have the nice stuff available. The owner is doing a fine job of trying to have a well stocked shop with interesting yarns, and the one skein that I bought was less expensive there than anywhere else I've seen it. Not sure if that's true of all her prices, since I didn't pay that much attention.

Located on a side street, at 5605 Mill St, across from Doyle's Pub (on the main Rt 12) in an old bar. The husband/wife owners both work daytime jobs, so the shop is open in the evenings and on weekends, including Sundays! In fact, Sunday afternoon they hold an "open workshop" time, for everyone to just bring a fiber project and sit around their fireplace and get to know and learn from each other. They primarily stock spinning and weaving supplies, but also have some yarn, needles, and books of interest to knitters, especially felting yarns and books, and socknitting supplies, and said they will be expanding their stock as space allows. If you get the chance to visit the shop, and have never seen antique sock knitting machines in action, be sure to see some socks cranked out on one of their 3 antique machines while you are there! I love watching these old circular machines that can still produce lovely wool socks. They offer classes for spinning, weaving, knitting, and crocheting, and mail a newsletter with info.

I stumbled upon this little shop while wandering around an antique mall, Anamosa, near the Wisconsin border, just a bit off the 90/39 Tollway. The shop is a small room in the mall, where two sisters sell their felted bags, original knitting patterns, Briggs & Little yarn and roving, and a very small sampling of needles and knitting gadgets. The felted bags are made from old thrift shop wool sweaters that they give new life to as felted bags, and they have baskets of old sweaters available to purchase for $5 each so you can do the same, using their pattern for construction help. This was a fun little surprise to find in an antique mall, and an interesting stop if you also enjoy antiquing.

There is a new shop in West Dundee. It is on Rt. 72 near Emmet's Pub. I visited yesterday. I love it!!!!! Very pretty inside. Beautiful yarn, all with price tags! Yes, they do take off a guild discount of 10%. The owner was very nice.

I found a lush and gorgeous shop called Lizzie's in Wheaton. It is only one block south of the RR tracks on Main. Even though it is is only a block and a half from the Never Enough Knitting shop on N. Main, this shop is big and full of some of the most colorful and beautiful specialty yarns I have ever seen. The place looked ready for a magazine spread! I was just driving by and saw a sign saying YARN. I entered and was very surprised. Lizzie is a low key person, she will greet you but let you browse undisturbed. Don't bring small kids, however, she's a bit uncomfortable with them. She started as an antique shop, added gifts, then yarn, and now the good sized space is mostly yarn, with wonderful selection and space to roam. She does not have sales, no web site, or bargain basket. She says she doesn't need them. The prices appear typical. The selection favors shawl, scarf, and poncho types of projects. She has a good choice of sweater yarn and some sock yarns.
Quality and selection of color seems her orientation. Corner 200 block, West side of street, on Main.

Caroline's is a medium sized yarn shop with a trendy, upscale feeling. The majority of the yarn is organized in drawers along the wall. Kits were displayed on the wall opposite the wall of drawers. Most of the yarn was expensive, high-end yarn and novelty, textured yarn. No sock yarn was found in the shop. Sweaters were displayed to advantage on mannequins, which reinforced the "boutique-y" atmosphere of the store. There were also artistic arrangements of yarn-for example, skeins of yarn of the same color family displayed elegantly on a three-tiered candy dish. The sale yarn was located in drawers at the back of the shop. Also, at the back of the shop were the baby yarns, a small selection of books, knitting needles, and knitting notions. At a table near the back, a couple of women were working on gorgeous, and undoubtedly expensive, projects.

Just like the shop's name, she did have all the fine yarns. Very upscale shop, both the inventory and pricing, as well as the gleaming white and glass interior. Very "boutique-y". If you are looking for glitzy stuff, this is a place to check.

A nice airy, bright, open, store that is right on the owner's farm. Two very nice-sized rooms of yarns and patterns and supplies. Good selection of basics (best color selection of Cascade 220 wool I've ever seen, as well as Bryspun Kid-N-Ewe wool/mohair), lots of sock yarns and novelties, also stocks a bit of handspun yarn, and a smaller mill wool yarn from Marr Haven of Michigan (nice wool!). Plenty of books and patterns and gadgets, and two tables with chairs for relaxing and browsing, and plenty of room to get around inside the shop. Prices were standard for retail, and a few bins of clearance yarns were out. Also sells big fun coffee mugs with "Knit to Live, Live to Knit" (that I had to have-twice, after I broke the first one!), and some fun T-shirts. Be sure to check out their website, complete with a slide show of the shop. A side bonus, farm fresh eggs available if you get them before they run out! Also open on some Sundays!

Update: I revisited the shop in March, 2005, and found it even better, with more selection, extra helpful staff, and a large clearance corner of yarns and kits. The shop was very busy, bustling with many knitters, and the owner was hard at work helping everyone with great enthusiasm.

Located in an old schoolhouse, this shop is packed with yarn, spinning, and weaving supplies from floor to ceiling. Clearance bins located right at the front door, about 15-20 full bins worth to dig through. A selection of spinning fibers and cones of weaving yarn are available, and many types of yarn for handknitting. Typical supply of needles and gadgets. Because this is in old schoolhouse, the lighting and atmosphere isn't bright, and the shop is so full that it can be hard to maneuver and see everything. Owner was pleasant and helpful.

This is a quaint old house turned into a shop bulging with yarn. The yarns are usually displayed with one of each kind and color. You then request the quantity you want and they bring in from storage. The help is friendly and knowledgeable. Worth the trip.

I almost missed finding this shop, it is in the lower level of a multi-store small building on the east side of town, at the intersection of Wright Rd and County A . The owner, Kerri Shank, was very friendly, and even knew our area, having lived in Crystal Lake for several years. Her shop is one small room, with a sampling of nicer quality yarns, and a good selection of Crystal Palace needles and other knitting notions. She had a small selection of the latest books and magazines. I was tempted by some handdyed skeins from Blackberry Ridge woolen mills, but I resisted, and only purchased what I needed, some Eucalan wool wash. If you are in the area, do make a stop and see what she has in stock.

While I've never had the pleasure to physically visit this store, I've had wonderful service from them. First, I bought a lovely cardigan kit from them at Stitches Midwest in 2006 (I think, might have been 2005), with a gracious guild discount, even though the shop is out of state. A few years later after knitting this kit, I decided to use my leftover yarn to knit a pair of kilt hose for my son, after weighing and calculating that I should have enough, or at least only use another yarn for the toes possibly. Unfortunately, I was way off in my figuring, and I ran out of yarn with more than half to go still on the second hose! After searching unsuccessfully both locally and online for more of the yarn, I emailed Liz, the owner, to see if she might still have a skein. While she didn't have it, she did have a customer with a leftover skein in her stash, and they mailed it to me, no shipping charge even! I offered to pay for the yarn and shipping, but the customer, Kim, only accepted my offer of free patterns in exchange, and Liz said not to worry about the shipping charge. What lovely people, and a wonderful surprise. I wish I did live close to this shop so I could visit often. But since I don't, I'll be sure to continue shopping at Liz's booth at Stitches Midwest whenever possible!