Volume NYC.com: Knitting in the City
VALERIE REISS
December 01, 2003
With your eyes shut, this place might sound like a candy store filled with dieters. Overheard: “No, I can’t, I’ve got too much already,” “I’m kind of in overload” and “I have to be good!”
But they are not talking about sugar. In fact, they just blew by a bucket of Halloween treats for the real goods: yarn. At Seaport Yarn’s three-day “Midnight Madness” sale on October 30—which was held well before midnight − customers ogled ball upon ball, skein after skein of luscious, colorful yarn. There was buttery cashmere, hefty hand-dyed wool, sparkly “eyelash” acrylic, delicate sock-knitting cotton, slippery chenille, fluffy angora, cheek-soft merino, rainbow-flecked tweed, glittery pink yarn and a sensible blue blend.
Though the knitting buzz began a few years ago, it has now reached full pitch and a younger audience – according to the Craft Yarn Council of America (CYCA), the percentage of women under 45 who know how to knit and crochet has doubled since 1996, going from nine percent to 18 percent. More than half of the women surveyed agreed that knitting and crocheting are “cool.”
As ultimate proof, the number of knitting shops downtown has grown from two to six in the last two years.
Many say knitting comforts and relaxes them—perfect for frazzled New Yorkers seeking the latest chill pill.
“It’s better than therapy,” says Yvonne Tate, handling a roll of brown chenille she’s planning to crochet into a shawl. This is the 40-year-old’s first visit to Seaport Yarns on William Street; she stopped by on her way home to Brooklyn.
Tate wends her way through the store’s narrow halls—the space also doubles as a market research firm—and proclaims the shop “a bit like an office,” but with a good selection of yarn, accessories and books. Though she’s a legal secretary by day—”I have to support my habit”—Tate teaches crochet in Brooklyn and has two crochet websites. A lot of what she makes goes to charity and friends. She picked up crocheting again four years ago when her mother died, as a way of reconnecting with the craft her mother had taught her as a child.
“You’re BrooklynVonne!” says a young woman standing nearby, recognizing Tate by her story; this is Tate’s online moniker. While the two women talk, store owner Andrea Waller walks the five small rooms dressed in black and glasses with magenta-colored frames. “Last call for Soy Silk,” she yells to half a dozen shoppers. Every half hour a different yarn goes on sale. They pulled in over a hundred shoppers in the three days, said Waller. They have no sign outside, so the extra traffic is welcome.
Waller, who has lived downtown for 32 years, opened the store a year ago. She tries to stock it with unusual yarns that other stores don’t carry and tries to keep prices low: “Down here people have taken huge cuts, love to knit and don’t have the money they used to have,” Waller said.
Waller tries to be aware of community. She doesn’t carry certain yarns that other stores do because, “If you step on somebody’s toes, it’s going to come back at you,” she said.
The shop, like most yarn stores, holds a variety of classes and has a free weekly knitting circle.
One downtown shop, Make, on the Lower East Side—open by appointment only—has about 10 classes a month. They opened as a fiber school in March, 2002 and began selling yarn in September. Run by two 30-something designers and knitters, Cal Patch and Diana Rupp, the store discards the old-school image of knitting. They dye yarn with Kool Aid and make sweaters for their Chihuahuas, Rita and Gertie and cool knitting samples hang on the walls of the spare, airy fifth-floor space.
Patch, wearing a sweatshirt with crocheted edges and split arms, hates to see knitting denigrated as “women’s work.” “It’s crazy that these things are considered domestic and not cool—that these amazing things are seen as some kind of chore you shouldn’t be proud of,” Patch said. A new knitting book by Debbie Stoller, a founder of the feminist magazine, Bust, Stitch ‘n Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook confirms this notion.
Perhaps this feminist reclaiming has surfaced a rare breed of knitter: men. Rob Steiger, 26, is a teacher at Seaport Yarns—he is also engaged to one of their employees—and has been knitting for four years. He likes to make up his own patterns and uses a lot of color.
Stieger squeezes a ball of purple, blue and brown Diakeito yarn that just came in. He revels in it and then says what all knitters feel when they’ve found the perfect yarn for their perfect craft: “This is just heaven for me.”
Knitting stores downtown:
Seaport Yarn. 135 William Street, 5th floor, 212-608-3100, www.seaportyarn.com
P&S Fabrics. 355 Broadway, 212-226-1534 or 212-226-1572 or (Toll Free) 866-740-0316 www.psfabrics.com
A fabric, craft and yarn mega-store that has been on lower Broadway since 1984. They have a great collection of inexpensive acrylic yarn like Lion’s Brand.
Purl.137 Sullivan Street, 212-420-8796, www.purlsho.com
Joelle Hoverson’s tiny, pretty shop in SoHo sells high-end, gorgeous yarn. Adorable window displays. When it’s crowded you may have to wait for help. Before or after, though, you can grab a treat at the equally quaint Once Upon a Tart next door.
Downtown Yarns. 45 Avenue A, NYC, 212 995-5991
Push open the screen door and you’ve entered homey, hip yarn heaven. Owner Rita Bobrey’s three-year-old, 300-square-foot place is stuffed with many varieties of yarn. For a long time it was the only knitting place downtown. Bobrey’s dog, Frankie, often sprawls on the wood floors. They have a full roster of classes from Hats to Unfinished Projects to a Toy Workshop where parents can help their kids make a stuffed toy.
Make. 195 Chrystie Street #502, 212-533-9995 www.makeworkshop.com
A school and shop with comprehensive classes in everything from basic knitting to sewing. Run by two young designers, the atmosphere is relaxed a welcoming – aided by two cute Chihuahuas.
Knit New York. 307 East 14th Street. 212-387-0707. www.knitnewyork.com
This café-slash-knitting store is slated to open on November 17. Owner Miriam Maltagliati wanted to create a place where knitters and non-knitters feel comfortable chatting and snacking: “People become very friendly when they knit,” she said. They will offer a full menu of classes.
Books:
Stitch ‘n Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook (Workman Publishing Company, October 2003) by Debbie Stoller
Websites:
The Stitch ‘n Bitch website: www.bust.com/knithappens
Extensive knitting portal full of resources: www.theredsweater.com/links.html
Blogs:
Fluffa: www.skinnyrabbit.com/
KnittyLittle: Purls of Wisdom: www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall03/index.html: Less of a blog, more of a zine with patterns, advice and articles.
At My Knit’s End: www.crazydaisy.us/
Purls Before Swine: www.purlsb4swine.blogspot.com
Really extensive list of other blogs and a daily commentary on www.craftyarncouncil.com
Yvonne Tate’s crochet site: groups.msn.com/VonsCrochetCyberspace