• store: Purl Soho
• address: 459 Broome Street, New York, NY 100130
• website: http://www.purlsoho.com/
• date of visit: June, 2010

Let me begin by saying that yarn store shopping in New York City can be a bit daunting… there are dozens of yarn stores in Manhattan, alone. Since I now live (relatively) close to the city, I thought I should begin investigating- and I began with the one I’ve heard the most about- Purl Soho.

It’s amazing. I’m a ‘color-girl’, and the entire store looks like someone shrunk down hundreds of rainbows and squeezed them into boxes… but it’s really just thousands of beautiful skeins of yarn organized with tremendous attention to color. And, as you can see in the photo above, they even have one of those super-awesome library ladders- that’s how you know there’s a serious amount of yarn.

I’ll admit that, in this blog post, I’m only giving you half of the story. Purl Soho, in addition to yarn, also has a great selection of fabric (also organized into beautiful rainbows) and sewing accessories. But, alas, I won’t be able to do the fabric section justice. If you like fabrics, go check it out. I’m just here to rave about the yarn.

Purl Soho carries loads of awesome brands: Tilli Tomas (amazing beaded and sequined yarn), Blue Sky Alpacas (one of my personal faves), Louet, Habu, Alchemy, Imperial Stock Ranch (a company with its own breed of sheep!), koigu, jade sapphire, lobster pot.. and I could keep going on. It’s a lot of yarn- and it’s all fabulous.

I’ve only listed some of the yarns… but another amazing thing about Purl Soho is that their website is awesome. They don’t just list the brands that they carry- they list every yarn (in every color) that they stock, plus yardage and gauge information. So, you can hop over to their website and have a look at the complete list of what they stock… because I haven’t listed it all!

Okay, back to the yarns in the store. Purl Soho does another thing that I just love: generous swatches of the yarns! Check out the photo at right… oodles of swatches of yarns! The swatches are fairly big (I’d estimate many are 8×8″… probably a full skein of yarn), and seeing them makes it possible to really feel what a yarn will feel like when worked up. It’s just one example of how the store really knows what matters to their customers.

And, as in any fabulous yarn store, the selection goes far beyond just yarn. The books and magazine section is well stocked, as are the notions and needles. In the knitting needle department, they carry Addis, Lantern Moon, Crystal Palace and Susan Bates. In the crochet hook department, there’s a selection as well: Skacel (metal and wood), Boye and Susan Bates (my favorite hook!). And, since they’re a fabric store, as well… the ‘finishing touches’ are well stocked: buttons, clasps, bag handles… even stuffing for amigurumi!

Next time you’re in the New York area, venture to Purl Soho… you won’t be disappointed!

Tags: travel, yarn

In: Store Spotlight