Adela’s Yarn

Wow, glad she’s closed. Never been treated so rudely in my entire life. Owner is an evil hag. still makes me bristle thinking about how I was treated.

Per the company’s website, the owner has closed the doors at this location in the Village & will be relocating to another to-​be-​announced location.
The owner, Toni, is an interesting character & takes some getting used to or getting warmed up to.

I hate giving little local places low reviews, I really do. But, unfortunately, I see that my own experience with the place isn’t as isolated of an event as I wish it was.
Boyfriend and I had walked and driven past Adela’s Yarn at least a million times before I finally decided that, yes, I wanted to go in and see what they had in stock. I’ve always been curious about knitting and crocheting (skills that I sadly lack), so I wanted to go in and take a look around and perhaps ask if they offered any classes that I could sign up for.
Walking into the store felt like walking into a tomb. It was dead silent in there. I browsed around a little, touching this ball of yarn here and stroking that ball of yarn there, when I hear a woman’s gruff voice asking, «Can I help you?»
I whirl around to face the back of the store, where the voice and woman so mysteriously appeared from, and smile sheepishly, saying, «Oh, I’m just browsing.»
The woman apparently didn’t share my amusement. «Do you know what you’re looking for?»
At this point, I can feel myself slowly start to blush and I stammer out, «Well, I don’t know how to knit or crochet, but – «
“We only carry yarn here,» the woman cuts me off rudely.
«I… I realize that,» I manage to stutter out, taken back by the dirty look she’s now giving me. Behind me, I can practically feel Boyfriend’s indignation rising. «But I also wanted to know if you offered classes for beginners???»
«Fliers are by the counter,» was the brusque reply. The woman continued to stare at me as I moved to the counter and snagged a flier. Not comfortable with being scrutinized disdainfully, I beat a hasty retreat, dragging Boyfriend out with me.
I understand that it can be frustrating to have people walk into a specialty store and not know anything about what the store carries. But she lost a potential customer that day when she practically chased me off. I still really want to learn to knit and crochet, and I would’ve loved it if she could have pointed me in the right direction in terms of what tools a beginner should use and what type of yarn is easiest to work with. I’ll just stick with begging my knowledgeable friends to be patient with me and show me how instead.

Been in there once, the lady who owned it was very unfriendly. She does not like knitters with a budget.

My mom doesn’t ask for much, but she asked for yarn for Christmas. So for «Small Business Saturday» I decided to favor local businesses rather than Michael’s. Most of my Small Business Saturday stops were warm and delightful. Unfortunately, Adela’s was not.
I did get greeted when I walked in, and the selection was really nice.
However, when I found some yarn that I liked, I started to take it to the register. «Don’t take that off!», I was admonished. With no further explanation as to how I should make my purchase. I saw some numbers on some of the products, so I asked, «Am I supposed to write down the number and take it up to the register?» «Yes», she said, and went back to her conversation.
So I started to do so, but my selection didn’t have a number. I tried to find someone who would help me to purchase this yarn, but nobody seemed interested in talking to me further. So eventually, I left.
And immediately went to Blenzers and Jazzy Crafts, where I had much happier small business experiences!

Been in there once, the lady who owned it was extremely rude. Big selection, tiny brained lady.

I am a semi-​regular customer, not by choice, but rather by lack of options. Toni is the owner, and i have to agree with the other reviews, the store smells like stale smoke, and the yarn while pretty, is overpriced and full of knots. She is a whiner, and again agreeing with other reviews, she complains constantly, both about her personal issues, and about other customers, sometimes while they are still in the store. I like some specific brands of yarn that only she carries locally, but after travelling to seattle and popping into the yarn shop there, i will order from their website in the future.

I love that there’s a local store to find felting supplies! I don’t understand all the negative reviews about Adela, it’s like complaining that Roseanne’s voice can occasionally be shrill. Whenever I’ve visited she’s been friendly and helpful, if a bit of a character. Isn’t that what makes Castro Willage fun?
On to the merchandise – I’m super crafty and needle felting is a great way to get out aggression, it’s like creative voodoo stabbing (and at the end you have a pretty scarf or pin or little animal). Adela’s has a good selection of pretty colors of wool, and also starter kits, and needles, foam and other basic supplies.
They also sell «Artfelt» paper here, a fast and easy way to make really intricate, stunning purses or scarves. Given that you can’t find wool at Michael’s or JoAnn’s Fabric, Adela’s is an invaluable local resource.

I really like Adela’s Yarn. It is the first and maybe only yarn shop that acknowledges that there is such a thing as left-​handed knitting (e.g. knitting from right to left, rather than left to right in the Continental method). That alone earns Adela’s my undying loyalty, having been to other yarns shops (whose selection I love but from whom I would never take a class) where the party line is «knitting is a two-​handed activity; just learn to knit the «right» way and you won’t have problems. BS! Knitting is two-​handed, but most everyone has a dominant hand. The yarn selection is also fairly good. There are a number of basic brands (Cascade 220 anyone?) in a variety of colors and types. Sure, I go to K2Tog in Albany or Article Pract and even order online (recommend Jimmy Beans and Paradise Fibers), but you can’t beat the basics here. I also found the staff nice and helpful.

I’ve been obsessing over yarn since forever but after going to this place, I think I would rather drive the extra half hour and go somewhere else instead.
I have gone to Adela’s Yarn twice. There are two main problems: 1) The store itself 2) The service
1) The store was really dark and kind of musty. Although there is a great selection of yarn, there is no cheap yarn. Most of the place is filled with specialty yarn including mohair yarn ranging from $ 8.50 to $ 100 and something. Their plain yarn is located in the back with plain yarn in several colors but it is very thin and soft.
2) The service was awful. The first time was the old lady who smoked who was very cranky and didn’t like me. The second time was a kinda more happy lady but she upset me because she told my mother straight up that she needed to practice her English more. My mother is an RN who’s lived in america since she’s 21. After her slightly racist comment, I think I might have to take my business elsewhere.

I live within 15 minutes walk of Adela’s and I only go here to buy notions and tools that I need right away and can’t wait to have shipped to me or to get to another store.
I’m not terribly fond of the selection of yarn — not a lot of basic, good quality natural fibers or luxury natural fibers, and a lot of foofy, crazy yarns. The presentation is weird… draped liked cobwebs instead of in skeins, for the most part.

Like many others I wish I could rate with ½ star. The first time I visited this place was at their old location next to the sushi place. The new spot is roomier and brighter however the customer service still sucks! The cigarette/​CHF lady is rude and condescending. I was looking for a nice yarn to make a baby blanket that would hold up through time and would soften up. When I asked her about how a particular blend would hold up she was snooty and said it is soft now, how much softer would you like it. She just gave me the creeps and if I didn’t need the yarn right now I would not give her my business. They do have nice high end yarns but I’m not the type of person to drop $ 60 on one skein. Maybe if I was older I would get better service. This will be my last visit to this store. Will have to try the place in Alameda.

Drove by this place so many times without realizing what it was… finally went inside yesterday. Not too impressed. She had a huge selection, yes, but most of it was rather pricey. It seems good quality, so that’s fine — whatever. The atmosphere was just… not clean. It was dark and stale inside and just overall uncomfortable. Maybe that was somewhat due to the lady, who was friendly enough, but a little awkward to talk to. She told me that it was hard for her to know which yarns had been discontinued because so many were. I would think she should have a better grasp on her inventory.
I may come back, but not anytime soon.

I’ve been to Adela’s yarn twice now. My boyfriend lives in CV and it’s within 10 minutes of his house. The first time wasn’t a good experience only because I didn’t feel comfortable in the store. My second experience was better. I was asked once if I needed help and then left to browse on my own (which I like). Adela’s has some nice high-​end yarns for a not-​so-​bad price. I bought some Tilli Tomas 100% cashmere yarn for around $ 30 (165 yds, you can’t go wrong with that!). They were fairly busy when I went in so I had to wait awhile to have my yarn wound up, but no problem… I managed to find something else to buy while I was waiting!
I’d have to say that the sales people (person) in Adela’s aern’t overly friendly, but sometimes I just want to be left alone to check out the products and not have someone breathing down my neck at all times.

Alright. Dropping it down back to 3 stars. The old cigarette lady is just horrid. I bought yarn from her, then I had questions on technique, and she helped a little, but basically said if I wanted to know more, «that’s a class».
When I was at San Mateo’s Nine Rubies, the lady couldn’t have been more helpful when I asked her about my technique.
3 Starts bc I will go back to buy yarn, but that’s it, the lady is horrid.

I heard there was a knitting supply place in Castro Valley.
Having visited there, now I know there is not, if you want customer service, a good variety of what most knitters want, or a good atmosphere.
One visit was enough.
Smokers, possibly, had been there, it was very stale.
I felt like I was in a dark alley somewhere. yuk.
There are so many other places in Oakland, Dublin, Pinole, that I am happy with the people who act like they want to have customers and keep them happy. Beware, it is very very expensive too.

I would have preferred to rate this business with only ½ star, but Unilocal does not provide that option. I have been to Adela’s a number of times over the last few years, and agree that the new location is nice upgrade. It’s not the best quality yarn or the widest selection, but until today, it was close and convenient.
And then today, I walked in to buy yarn… I chose the yarn I wanted, and after waiting for Adela to finish chatting, she went into the back to get the four skeins that I needed for my project. When she checked me out, the yarn registered at $ 9.00 per skein. I went back to retrieve the display skein, and showed her that it was marked as $ 5.75. Adela offered to give me the one skein at $ 5.75, but told me that the remaining three skeins of the same yarn would be $ 9.00 each! I told her that I had expected to pay the marked price for the yarn, and she proceeded to return the yarn to the supply room.
Needless to say, no matter how convenient it is, or how desperate I am to start a new project RIGHT NOW, I will not be going back to Adela’s. I believe that I should be charged the price marked on a product, or at least be notified if a price is marked incorrectly. Adela did not offer an apology, or make any attempt to provide another option. She is certainly not customer focused!

Beware knitters! Look elsewhere for quality yarn!
Adela was nice to me when I first walked in, helped with a pattern and everything. I purchased yarn to make my mom a sweater for xmas. I was very disappointed to find over 10 knots in ONE skein! (NOT kidding folks! 10!) I had to complete the sweater with this yarn since it was so close to xmas. I went back to return the one skein left over. I mentioned to Adela the knot problem and she just looked at me like, so? When I asked if I could have my money back for this unused skein, she only offered merchandise credit. After my disgust of all the knots wore off, I tried to cash in this credit only to have Adela, very rudely, tell me it had expired after only 6 months. Spend your hard earned money elsewhere. The yarn here is expensive but crappy. And that stink is not just the cigarette smoke, its the customer service.

Oh Adela, I’m sorry. I’m sure it could be worse. But, well, I’ve seen a heckuva lot that’s better.
Don’t get me wrong. You need yarn … they GOT yarn. It’s just that I would rather travel 15 miles and pay a $ 4 bridge toll to go to my favorite LYS than go to Adele’s. Because it’s just not my bag.
The customer service is fair. It’s not horrible by any means. This just isn’t the kind of place that inspires creativity. I agree with the other reviews that it’s more appropriate to call this store the «Yarn Barn.» But the prices are just as expensive as my favorite LYS. Sooo, other than the proximity, what is the benefit to shopping to this store? I couldn’t find anything :(But if you do not need inspiration and don’t mind dusty yarn, this place really isn’t that bad. I need, however, beauty and light to get the juices going!

I always want to call this place the Yarn Barn. Not sure why. Probably because that sounds better than Adela’s Yarn though I’m sure Adela would disagree with me.
I’ve stopped by several times for yarn (duh) and have been underwhelmed by the selection and the overall dreariness of this place. Mind you, I probably should not be allowed to comment as I am nothing but a novice when it comes to yarn selection. I just want to knit a lopsided and holey scarf in a pretty color with hopefully a soft feel.
This place has so much potential. Brightening up the store and changing the name to Yarn Barn would be a good start.