Learn at your yarn shop

Have you been thinking “new year, new yarnie skills”?

If you’ve decided that now is the time to take on a new knitting or crochet challenge, your local yarn shops might be a good place to start.

Whether you are looking for a formal workshop or support as you take on the big project or the “challenging” pattern you’ve been eyeing for a while, a yarn shop might well have the answers.

Plenty of yarn shops offer lessons to learn to knit or crochet, or to take your skills on through making socks, trying Fair Isle, tackling lace or cables, etc. Some classes are run by yarn shop owners or staff while other places invite designers or other experts in for specialist workshops. It is worth checking out what various shops have on offer to see what suit you best.

For one off workshops it can be worth looking a little less locally to find the right one and make a day of it with a nice lunch or afternoon tea after your class.

But it’s not just formal classes that yarn shops can help with. If they run a regular knit and natter type group, that can be a great place to get informal advice or encouragement with that big project. If you are stuck on a line in a pattern or understanding a particular stitch, there may well be someone who can help you out.

In fact, some of our member yarn shops have also started running specific help sessions for people who are really stuck on a project. For a small fee (a few pounds) crafters can bring along the problem pattern and project and an experienced knitter or crocheter will help them sort it out.

So whatever you are looking for to increase your yarn skills, start by clicking here to find local yarn shops and see what they might have on offer.