Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The "Worlds" Of NYC Knitting

I have noticed a very interesting split in what I call the "knitting worlds of New York City." It seems to me that there are two types of knitters:

     1. The more hipster style knitters who love to buy from local/handspun spinners and who love spend most of there time being social knitters
     2. The "elite" style knitters who buy their products from stores where you have to ring a bell to enter and the yarn is all displayed in crates where you have to remove a lid to touch the product.

I find this very very interesting. Growing up my memories of knitting shops were always very similar. There was always more product in the place than they knew what to do with and people sat around being social and helping each other out. Finding an environment like this has been rather hard in NYC.

I find it very off-putting to have to ring a doorbell and have a store owner unlock the door for me to come inside and look around. It makes me feel very uncomfortable and makes me feel very pressured to purchase something. It is weird to me the idea that you can't just reach out and touch the yarn to feel its texture.

I always like to do the "neck test" before I purchase yarn. The neck test is something I have picked up from my mother. If you are picking out a yarn to make a clothing item, especially if it is something you want to be cozy in, you have to put the yarn against your neck to feel its texture. Is it soft enough? Warm enough? Does it match with my skin tone?

Anyways, I was very put off by two shops I stopped into last night looking for some notions (along with, of course, my needles!). I don't know about you, but I love to be welcomed into a knitting shop with lots of cheery faces and oodles of yarn. Who is with me?

Until Next Time,
Broke Knitter

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