Alameda Yarn Company

I took up knitting again after a couple of years. Gail at Alameda Yarn Company is great. She helped me pick out beautiful yarn and get started on a pattern that I thought would be easy but initially was difficult. When I ran into problems, she patiently helped me. I am very happy that I came back to this shop.

Fantastic little yarn shop. I stopped in here with 2 of my girls and asked about classes and the shop owner said she didn’t offer classes but would help get my girls started with knitting/​crochet one on one.
The selection of yarns isn’t huge nor high end like some shops. That being said its not the kind of yarn you would find at JoAnn or Michaels either. I appreciate that the prices are reasonable, the yarns are well organized and the owner is nice, not pushy.
On our first trip we walked away with several skeins of yarn and I even got a pattern for one of the shawlettes she had displayed. I look forwarded to having the time to come back for evening knitting and seeing what new yarns become available for fall as my girls are looking for more bulky yarn.

Accessible shop, excellent owner/​teacher. Great selection!

I had an hour to kill in Alameda, so I looked up yarn stores. I walked in, and there was a group sitting around a long table working on bracelets or some such. I smiled at them, but didn’t say hello because one woman was talking. No one looked at me. I worked my way down the other side of the store from the table, admiring some lovely yarns. I went in the back room, and saw it was mostly baby yarn. When I came out of the back room, a woman finally asked me if I needed help. I said I was looking around. Nobody else acknowledged my existence. I then discovered I couldn’t look along that wall as there was no room to get past the women still ignoring me. I went around the other way, found some lovely sock yarn I was interested in, but decided the store felt very, very unwelcoming so decided to leave. Nice yarns, but I obviously wasn’t part of the in crowd. I think I looked the part of a knitter. I had just come from a meeting of the Knitting Guild of Santa Cruz. I won’t be reccomending a fieldtrip to Alameda!

Knitters will know, there are several yarn stores in CA where when you enter, you’re greeted by an «icy» reception. Not so at this cute little place.
Great selection of interesting yarns, lots of different fibers. I have never been able to make it out without buying at least 2 project’s worth.
The owner, Gayle, is very helpful, she has consistently gone above and beyond to teach me stitches and help me wind the skeins into balls of yarn. She is very skilled– many of the yarn companies ask her to write patterns for them.
One of my favorite parts of this place is they have a giant table in the middle where you’ll inevitably find a handful of women sitting down and working on their projects. They’re all very friendly and you can sit and work and ask questions. Really feels like a cozy community, wish I could visit here more often.

Small store but great selection! Fits perfectly into the Alameda vibes. Nice staff and visitors sitting at the large knitting table. Good mix of yarn varieties, although mostly the essentials. Would like to have been able to move all the way around the store, but one lady always seems to be sitting in the same spot when I come in, forcing me to back track around the table to get to the other side. Not a big deal, just kind of annoying. Maybe all the gems are behind that chair, who knows!

Shop owner is a wonderful lady and very helpful. The store has a great selection of yarn and lots of project ideas.

Just visited this store for the first time.
Nice selection in a small store, and well organized. I was greeted when I walked in — I don’t know if the lady was the owner or an employee. She was sitting at the central table helping a knitter with a project. She let me browse, and when I had a question, she was immediately ready to help.
I found just what I needed and the price was very good. Her credit card machine had a fit of piqué when she rang me up, but she solved the problem in less than two minutes. I was very pleased with my visit!

Small but super sweet. Also seems way cheaper and less pretentious than the other East Bay yarn stores.

Great yarn selection. It’s all nice and soft with plenty of knitted samples. I had no idea what I was doing and Gail, the owner, taught me to knit on the spot. She picked the yarn, the pattern and the needles and got me started. I’ll definitely be back for every project even though I don’t live in the neighborhood.

I love the Alameda Yarn Company! I was contemplating learning to knit and walked in and Gail the owner taught me the knit stitch on the spot. So the customer service is beyond welcoming and helpful. I was surprised to see negative reviews because I have been there a ton of times sitting at the table knitting and buying supplies and have always left with a positive experience. This place is a treasure.

Some Unilocalers had a negative customer service experience here, so I feel obliged to chime in and say that was not my experience. The owner/​proprietor was happy to assist me, answer my very rudimentary questions and suggest products without exerting any pressure to buy. She also let me know that there are knitters that stop by each day to sit around the table, knit together and share tips. That sounded like heaven for crafters to me. So, I think this place deserves consideration. To me, if feels very consistent with the Alameda way of life — unpretentious, low-​key, no hurry, etc. I don’t like going to «big box» craft stores, so I’m glad to find this little gem.

I really like this store. Last time I came in, I browsed around, looking at all of my favorite lines of Noro and considered spending a fortune on the Alpaca that I love so much, but alas, my financial circumstances are not those of a Kardashian sister, so I needed to get serious about what I came in for, namely three skeins for a Xmas scarf that was due at the end of the week. I found what I needed and for $ 50, I was all set. The service was friendly and there were lots of people were sitting around the table, engaging in a lively stitch and bitch session — cool!

Yarn Heaven?
Is there such a place — the Alameda Yarn Company certainly seems like it. Yarns of all textures, colors, weight, and many oh so so soft.
My eyes are always overwhelmed when browsing this store because I can’t not look at it all.
The owner is a very pleasant woman, and she is more than happy to help you with your yarn needs, and to also teach you a stich.

I needed more yarn and didn’t want to head out in rush hour traffic to article pract, so my girl drove me down to alameda yarn company. We saw that they closed at 5:30pm and got there around 5:15. When we walked in, I smiled and said hello to the woman knitting at the table… I think she was counting stitches so she just looked up at me and kept knitting… understandable. But she could have atleast smiled… we heard her say hello to other customers. Strange.
We quickly found the yarn I needed and stood near the register waiting to be rang up. After about a minute, the lady that didn’t speak to me told me that the lady that works at the shop had to run an errand and would be back soon. We wandered around but it’s a small shop and quickly ran out of things to look at, so we sat down at the table and waited.
and waited.
and waited.
And then it was 5:30 and I was annoyed so we just left.
The yarn I was interested in was cheaper than it was at Article Pract, which makes me want to come back. But I really have no patience for wasted trips… I can’t decide if I should even bother trying again. I know shit happens, and errands need running… but if purchases can’t be made, the shop shouldn’t be open. I would have been less disappointed by a «closed early today» sign on the door.

The charming & colorful Alameda Yarn Company should have 5 stars. Based on the positives (being close to my beau’s house, good yarn selection, has a good tree out front to leash the puppy while I’m inside, supporting a local business) it should have blown all other local yarn stores out of the water, except for what happened today on my second visit.
After spending over $ 100 on yarn there last weekend, I went in this evening to see if I could get a large hank of that yarn rolled into a more usable fashion, as it had tangled even though it was still in the wrap from the store. While I know it was near the end of the day, (the hours leave a little be desired too, as they close at 5.30 on weekdays and are closed on Sundays) the woman working* there refused to help me wind it, saying it was too difficult, even though I’d already found the end-​piece and was willing to help her & to pay for it and/​or do it myself! (the winding service) Instead she tied a piece of lighter colored yarn to the end bit I’d already found and said «there’ ya go» as if she’d done some hugely helpful thing!
Great, now i have this beautiful expensive yarn that is more tangled now than before & delicate and utterly unusable until it gets into some kind of order. So much for step-mama’s prezzie, it will take me longer to get this yarn organized than it will to make her the wrap intended for her!
The old Artfibers shop (one of my longtime favorites and recently closed and mourned) in SF used to help others wind and fix rolls of f’d up yarn, some of which wasn’t even from their store sometimes! I remember helping someone in another store (Imagiknit, i think) get their yarn organized so it could be wound, now here I am being told that she won’t even help wind & ball a hank of yarn from her own shop? Major bummer and responsible for the loss of at least one of the two stars.
They did however have enough of the other item I went in there to get, the yarn for a scarf for my honey, at a reasonable cost and plenty of it, even from the same dye lot, which is AWESOME. :)
The customer service (I noticed this last weekend too — loss of star 2) leaves something to be desired, but it *is* a cute little shop with lots of great yarns. I will certainly be back, because as any addict will tell you, bad customer service is hardly the thing that keeps you from your desire! and i *do* love me some yarn.
Overall, the service here could be better, however, they aren’t pompous or over-​bearing, which is nice, but they could be more available for questions and other basic services (like winding an unruly hank of their yarn into a usable ball for a new customer, who, if you know knitters, has the potential to be a nearly daily visitor) because if it’s close by and the supply is good — which is the biggest plus of the AYC, you’ll be there as often as you can. Should the service re-​inspire me, I could potentially spend all the grocery money there without batting an eyelash. shhhhh… don’t tell my honey!
This shop is small, but it is crammed to the roof with gorgeous yarns and what look like great sales. It has a good selection of needles and notions, but could have more in the way of pattern books & space/​ability to try stuff out. I’m not sure that a wheelchair could easily maneuver around in there, but it is at the very least accessible in the sense that you could get in from the sidewalk.
They are also supposed to be getting the addi-​turbo kit (
) replacements in the near future; when this happens, perhaps i’ll add another star…
*working = sitting at a table knitting with no other customers in the store. can i get *that* job? please?

I promise this is my last arts and craft store review! I am pretty much over my knitting phase until next fall, but I do want to review this shop because it’s in my town.
If you are just interested in buying yarn, then this is the place for you. The prices are reasonable and there is a lot of variety. There’s also a table where you are welcome to work on your projects.
Gail the owner is a very nice lady. Granted she’s not overly friendly, but frankly, I like it better that way. I’ve been in a couple of times and she has offered advice without being too pushy, and I had no problem when I needed to exchange a couple of skeins… look at me knowing the lingo!
This is a mom and pop shop, so I always feel better giving stores like this my money. Happy Knitting!

I thought I really liked other yarn shops in the Oakland area, but this is a wonderful and warm setting.
You don’t have to dive into narrow aisles to find yarns you cannot see, and you don’t have to search for textures you really want.
Gail is very welcoming.
I really enjoyed the patterns and knitted items she keeps around the store.
I have found my new paradise on earth. Working on a great leafy pattern shawl with a grown up diagram pattern to follow. It might mean I have to go back to ask some questions and I know with Gail’s help it will turn out fine.
I found several items which were lower in price than the other shops but then yarns and needles are always expensive.
Love giving the business to a small community business instead of M — — ‘s or B — — «s too.

Alameda Yarn Company is an extremely charming yarn store on the east side of the island. I recently moved to Alameda and have found that I love the small town feel, and AYC is no exception. The yarn stock is well organized and the clerk was super nice and welcoming. This was probably the fastest trip I’ve ever made to a yarn store, and pretty much because the clerk was so helpful and patient in helping me find exactly what I needed.
I live within walking distance, which could become dangerous, but fortunately the prices here are reasonable and cheaper than the stores in Oakland’s Temescal and Piedmont districts.
As I left the clerk invited me to come on Thursday nights to the open knitting circle to meet the other local knitters, how cool is that?

I am fairly new to Alameda, and had previously been doing my yarn shopping at Beverly’s. I grew tired of the generic yarn (no offense to Beverly’s), and wanted something more luxurious for my stash.
Then I discovered Alameda Yarn Co., and went for my first (and last) visit.
There was an older lady working there that day, and she didn’t breath a single word to me until I asked her a question about knitting gauge and the different yarn weights that certain patterns called for.
She gave me this look that read «are you serious???» …and then told me gauge doesn’t matter, and I can use whatever yarn for any pattern so long as I know what I’m doing.
Great.
So basically, I was back at square one, and decided to not ask any more questions.
Regardless of the lack of customer service, I purchased a few skeins of this gorgeous purple wool yarn.
The store is organized extremely well, but I don’t suggest this shop for any knitting newbie. This lady (not sure if she was the owner), was a bit snotty, and I did not feel comfortable shopping here at all.
I would’ve given more stars, had my visit been just a bit more pleasant… they do have a nice assortment of fibers.