Canada

STASH Lounge, Calgary

Originally from Corner Brook, Newfoundland, STASH owner Veronica Murphy grew up surrounded by traditional knitting. She dove headfirst into the craft during university and hasn't put her needles down since! After studying visual arts and earning her degree in sculpture, Veronica worked in the fine arts and museum industry before opening STASH in 2013.

This strong background in the visual arts allows Veronica to have fun with all forms of craft, and she spends most of her days spreading crafty joy to other people. Veronica and the team at STASH love to teach people to knit and crochet, and work hard to create a fun, welcoming, and creative environment for crafty peeps of all skill levels.

And because owning one craft store wasn't fun enough, Veronica opened RICK RACK Textiles, a garment-focused sewing store, in 2019 and has been having double the fun ever since!

Head over to www.stashlounge.com and follow @stashlounge on Instagram to find our Yak Sock and Mohair Silk bases!

The Knitting Loft, Toronto

Bruna (right) and Maria (left) form the mother-daughter duo of The Knitting Loft, a local yarn shop and knitting café based in Toronto, Canada. While Bruna’s expertise is in yarn selection and talent scouting, Maria’s is in marketing and business strategy, which makes them a dream match for this kind of business.

“As a new company—we opened in 2018!—, we have a long way to go in achieving their ultimate vision, says Maria, but we love the journey so far, including introducing new brands like Dyed by Delz!”

Head over to theknittingloft.ca and follow @theknittingloft on Instagram to browse their AWESOME collection of yarns and other items!

Switzerland

Lainitude, Bulle

Lainitude is a new shop that opened just recently in Bulle, Switzerland. Pascale contacted me to share her plans, and I loved her vision for the shop.

Knitting has been a part of Pascale's life since she was a little girl. Her mother passed on her knowledge and every time they went to a wool store, Pascale felt in heaven. What started as a hobby soon became a passion. The idea of opening her own store has been on her mind for a long time and she is very happy to have been able to make this dream come true at the end of 2021.⁠

Lainitude carries our BFL Sock, Yak Sock and BFL Twist DK bases. You can find her shop at lainitude.ch or @lainitude on Instagram.

Taiwan

Tingknitting, Taipei

Never in a million years would I have imagined my yarn would travel this far this quickly when I first started dyeing. Ting is the first person who reached out for wholesale when we launched Les Garçons. I was not ready to take that step at the time, but she was patient!

Ting is a former programmer. She started to knitting in 2012, learning from YouTube, and it quickly became an addiction! In the following years, she travelled the world, and local yarn shops were always a must-see destination. Seeing as her addiction was not subsiding, she started to build her business—Tingknitting—in 2019. At first, her space was very small, and customers had to walk up 6 floors to reach her studio. In 2020, she decided to make Tingknitting her full-time job. That’s when she found her current space, which used to be a factory. She and her dad spent 4 months renovating the space. The current Tingknitting store opened in July 2020. ⁠

“People are not familiar with yarn shops like Tingknitting in Taiwan, says Ting. I know I will have to face many challenges. But I wanted to fulfill this dream, and failure is better than not trying, right?!”

Visit her shop at shop.tingknitting.design or @tingknitting.design on Instagram.

United Kingdom

A Yarn Story, Bath

Meet Carmen, another Les Garçons' stockist! In 2018, Max and I went on a roadtrip around England and Scotland, visiting numerous cities, but also numerous yarn shops! Bath, and A Yarn Story, definitely was a highlight of the trip.

Carmen is the owner and founder of A Yarn Story. Born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, Carmen went to uni in California before leaping across the pond to Europe where she first made Germany her home. She then headed to Ireland where she found her love of knitting, before eventually settling in Bath.

Her earliest memory of yarn involved creating endless i-cords with her French knitting dolly, as well as weaving rugs for her doll’s house, and winding and re-winding yarn on her Mom's ball-winder. To this day, Carmen is still a ‘product knitter’, and loves creating everything from socks and shawls to mitts, hats and sweaters – as long as it is beautiful, useful and full of colour.

Armed with an MBA from Goethe Business School and heavily influenced by her parents who ran a successful restaurant, Carmen combined her business brain with her passion for yarn to launch A Yarn Story in 2014… and has never looked back!

She says of her love of knitting, “With yarn you can take that string you love and turn it into whatever you want – absolutely whatever your heart desires.”

Head over to ayarnstory.co.uk and follow @ayarnstory on Instagram to see what Carmen has in store for you. ⁠

United States

Black Mountain Yarn Shop, Black Mountain, North Carolina

This is Danni, the new owner of Black Mountain Yarn Shop! Danni is originally from New York, but moved to Greenville, South Carolina, in 2013, where she met her husband Jason. Shortly after, she discovered Black Mountain Yarn Shop. Walking into the shop took her back to that first LYS experience she had all the way back in NYC. She was completely stunned by all of the gorgeous yarn and just how beautifully Donna, the previous owner, had curated the shop.

Jason and she feel extremely honoured to have had the opportunity to take over Black Mountain Yarn Shop after Donna and her husband retired. Knitting has been such a gift in their lives and they are so excited to share that gift with others.

“Knitting has gotten me through a lot of tough times, helped reduce stress and has led us to meeting some amazing people, including some very close friends. I love to help other knitters and crocheters pick out new projects, find the right yarn for what they need and to match colors so that their project turns out perfect!”

You can browse our BFL Sock and BFL Twist DK bases at www.blackmountainyarnshop.com and @blackmountainyarnshop on Instagram. ⁠

Brooklyn General Store, Brooklyn, New York

Meet Catherine! She is the founder and owner of Brooklyn General Store.

Catherine has been knitting, sewing and designing since the age of 5. She has always designed her own knitwear but it wasn't until recently that she began to write down her patterns. Her passion is to knit garments that have a story and create an intention when worn. In addition to knitting and sewing, dancing to Western Swing and singing harmony are her favorite things to do. Her favorite color is where blue meets green...when it is hard to tell where it falls.

You can find Brooklyn General on Instagram @brooklyngeneralstore and online at brooklyngeneral.com. You can also find Catherine's design work on Instagram @loveisinthemaking.⁠

Starlight Knitting Society, Portland, Oregon

Let's all give Melissa the biggest welcome to the Les Garçons family!
Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Melissa has a fine arts degree specializing in fibre arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After working in yarn shops in Chicago and Los Angeles, she moved back to Portland to open her first shop at the age of 26. Talk about impressive! She eventually closed that shop, and took time to raise her 2 children and become a labor doula, attending more than 500 births.

In 2015, she decided the locals of her sweet neighbourhood needed a place to buy yarn, so she put together a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds needed to get going. We can safely say that Starlight is truly a supporter-driven enterprise! What Starlight has become is really the work of their incredible team and their wonderful customers whose passion for knitting keeps them inspired.

Visit starlightknittingsociety.com and @starlightknittingsociety on Instagram to learn more about Melissa and her shop.