Official Local (and not so local) Yarn Shop Reviews

***copied from my original post on Knitty Coffeeshop*** ***A little bloggie told me the new Knitty is coming out Monday*** I've been to a few yarn shops, mainly in Socal, but I went up north for Thanksgiving. I'll only note the shops I'll go back to visit again. Socal: Suzoo's Wool Works http://www.suzooswoolworks.com/onlineshop.html They are open by appointment. That means you can call them and ask them to come open the store. I had a great experience there. The people that own the shop are fantastic. They have mainly fashionable yarns, Berreco, Noro, Crystal Palace, Debbie Bliss, Rowan. This shop is where I discovered Brown Sheep Wool-which I love. The shop is focused mainly on rug hooking, so the knitting selection is not as huge as some stores, but as sweet as the owner was, I'll be going back frequently. The prices were about industry standard. They have a good selection of books, needles and notions too. Alamitos Bay Yarn Company http://www.yarncompany.com/index2.html They have plenty of classes and are open a decent amount during the week. I'm excited about taking the 2 hour knitting cruise (the shop is on the bay). Otherwise they are a very high end shop. This place is for you if you like Koigu, Recycled Sari Silk, etc. When I visited the shop was quite busy so I didn't get a feel on the staff, but they didn't leave a negative impression. California Yarn Sales (714) 965-0018 9542 Hamilton Ave Huntington Beach, CA 92646 This is a shop where you find buried treasure. I've gotten mohair for $3-$5 a ball. The owner, Miki makes these custom blends of yarns that are beautiful and strike me as being european. She's been in business for 35+ years so the shop is stacked from top to bottom with yarn, EVERYWHERE. I hope she organizes it so I can find 100% wool, I know she has some in there. There was a knitter in there working on a sweater on size 1 needles. I felt intimidated by her (the knitter). Great shop if you like bargains, and or digging around. Velona Needlecraft http://www.velona.com/ I love this shop! I wish it wasn't such a long drive to Anaheim Hills! The owners are VERY sweet. There were a lot of knowledgeable knitters there. The selection was huge, and displayed neatly. There is yarn for every knitter here, from Lionbrand to Noro. They have lots of notions, purse handles, and even embroidery. I was very impressed with the kindness and attentiveness. The prices were industry standard. The Yarn Lady http://www.yarnlady.com/ I went to the yarn sale yesterday! I would suggest coming at 10 or 10:30 instead of 8am. They restock the sale yarn, and the crowd is gone. The yarn on sale is from seasons past. If they don't sell it, it goes back into storage until the next sale. I got some great deals {and spent too much money as usual}. I'll probably go back this summer. The shop is beautiful! Probably the nicest I've been in thus far. Great selection of yarns, from novelty to silk to wool. Only I didn't find Brown Sheep. But I'll go back for the reasonably priced Alpaca and Cascade 220 that I keep reading about. My only other complaint is they didn't have Inox needles, BUT they certainly had everything else! Great width and breadth of selection here. Also there were many knitters there, many many samples made from the yarns, and a great book selection. The staff seemed friendly and knowledgeable. NorCal The Yarn Place http://www.theyarnplace.com/ I was highly impressed with this place! Mainly by the knowledgeable staff. They have a great selection (silk, wool, name brands), prices were standard. But I can't emphasize the awesomeness of the staff enough. They catered to EVERYONE whether it be sparkly scarf knitters, or people foraging into socks like me. The employee (maybe the owner?!) I was working with brought out her knitting to show me the magic loop with 2 socks, no less! If I lived in Norcal, this would be my shop.