Lion Brand Store: NYC

From Katherine Jane:

When I first moved to NY I had a hard time finding yarn stores I liked (Portland's Yarn Garden spoiled me, I think). However, I've recently found a friend who was excited about exploring sewing and knitting options, and together we've been venturing out to the garment district and beyond. In that spirit, we ventured out one afternoon to find the Lion Brand Yarn Studio. I was very pleasantly surprised by what we found there. Most strikingly, they have a real live person sitting in the front of the window, knitting:

I also love the knitted door handle covers (click here for the full picture if you can't see it). But seriously, doesn't that look like the greatest job ever? Getting paid to sit and knit and look charming--sign me up! The woman in that picture, Tracey, also teaches classes at the Studio, and says that they all take turns sitting up in the window.


I've knit with Lion Brand before (they've formed the basis of many an afghan!) but hadn't realized what a wide variety of yarns they have--everything from the standard DK you find at Michael's, to soft cashmere and fingerweight varieties.


Another thing I loved inside was the Sampling Wall:



What a great idea, I wish more people would do this.

After a happy while poking around the store I ended up buying a skein of fingerweight self-striping yarn to make a pair of wrist warmers for my sister's birthday, which was exactly what I came for. Success!

-Katherine Jane

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Katherine Jane Arathoon lives in New York City and occasionally guest blogs for Knitting Out Loud. She also blogs at Between Ewe And Me.