There's a new yarn shop in town! This weekend is the Grand Opening of Yarn-Love in Hummelstown. I found out about it in an email to our Shawl Ministry, and sent an email out to everyone on our CGOA Chapter list. Four of us met up at the shop at 10:00 this morning.
I drive through Hummelstown regularly, so I knew from the map approximately where the store was, but still missed one turn. It's only one street off the main road, though, once you find the store, you won't have any trouble getting there again. It's an easy 20-25 minute drive for me. This will be nice when I want a little something a little better than standard Red Heart, Simply Soft or Homespun. I don't foresee it replacing my current favorite LYS, Knitters' Dream.
The shop had a nice selection of wools, beautiful colors, I can't name specific brands because I stayed a healthy arm's length away. They also had a nice selection of non-wools. That's what I look for, quality non-wools. The had some great sock yarns, along with superwash wool blends, including a wool/silk blend, they had a bamoo/elastic blend, and a corn/elastic blend. I fondled quite a few colors before I decided I have too many projects ahead of a pair of crocheted socks. They had the new Borrocco Comfort in worsted weight, and in a DK/Sport weight. If you haven't tried these yarns, cuddle a skein at you LYS, it's a super soft yarn. I was tempted by all the pretty pastels in the worsted weight, but bought only a couple skeins of the DK/Sport as a contrasting neck/button band on the baby sweater.
The shop had a good selection of pattern books, and individual patterns, organized by type in 3-ring binders all laid out at a large table with comfy chairs, we had a good time perusing patterns. But,...all the patterns were knit. There were a few crochet books on the bookshelf, but not a great selection. They had a good supply of knitting needles, several brands, including cable and double pointed sock needles. There were only a few crochet hooks, Addi Turbo. The handles looked like they might be helpful for people who have arthritis or other hand troubles, but the hooks had a super short throat, it looked like the yarn would be popping off the hook all the time.
Although I felt that crochet was not well represented at the shop, we talked with Pam, the owner and she was crochet-friendly. I asked about bringing in a flyer about the CGOA Chapter and she was very supportive. I think there's potential for improvement in the crochet supplies.
They're having an open house the weekend of January 25 - 26, the Chapter is already planning another field trip. If you're in the Harrisburg/Hershey area check out the new shop.
http://www.yarn-love.com/