Knitters can savor a coffee, share a chat at SF yarn shop

Shimmering skeins of silk, merino wool, cotton, alpaca, bamboo and even yak beckon from black cubicles as the scent of fresh coffee bubbles and brews within this industrial space behind The Pantry restaurant on Cerrillos Road.

When California transplant Deborah Grossman got laid off from her Santa Fe IT job, she knew exactly what to do. The dream of owning a yarn shop had been festering inside her for a good 10 years.

Grossman turned that dream into reality this month. And on the city’s south side, which until then had been fine yarn-deprived, Yarn & Coffee is open at 1836 Cerrillos.

To prepare for the move — she had never run, let alone owned, a business — Grossman loaded her arsenal with experts from the Small Business Development Center at Santa Fe Community College, retired executives from SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), and the Santa Fe Business Incubator off Airport Road, all nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping fledgling businesses bloom.

“There’s a lot of support in Santa Fe for small businesses and I used all of it,” Grossman said. “You walk out after 2 1/2hours with a checklist.”

She also visited the LambShoppe, a Denver yarn-and-coffee emporium similar to what she envisioned.

Grossman called on the city’s existing yarn shops, all located near the Plaza. Most were gracious and surprised that Grossman planned to display their business cards in a vintage wooden Velveeta box next to the cash register.

“Part of it was not wanting to overlap with the other stores,” she said of her business plan.

Glass bowls spill over with yarn balls rather than fruit atop the cafe tables. A caffeinated beverage station serves Fat Boy Coffee Roaster from Tijeras.

Nationally, the knitting trend took off at the end of the 1990s and hasn’t stopped since, even within a lingering recession, said Mary Colucci, executive director of the Gastonia, N.C.-based Craft Yarn Council.

“It’s just astonishing,” Colucci said. “It continues to be a hobby that one can get into at any price point. We haven’t seen a real downturn. I don’t think sales were as robust in ’09 as they are now, but they were there.”

Celebrities like Julia Roberts started picking up needles in the ’90s, shattering the grandmother-in-the-rocking-chair stereotype, she added.

“Then, after 9/11, people were just looking for something to ground them,” Colucci said. “There’s such a social aspect of it because people come together. Somebody could be making a simple scarf or someone could be doing fabulous lace. I think (the shops) become meeting places in the community.”

According to the council’s 2011 survey, the age range also crosses all boundaries. Eighteen percent were 18-34 years old; 19 percent said they were 35 to 44. Thirty-two percent were 45-54. Twenty-five percent were 55-64.

Grossman sees nothing gutsy about starting her business during the country’s prolonged economic woes.

“I’ve heard from other people that I was brave,” she said. “I don’t feel brave; somehow, I feel persistent. I felt compelled to follow this.

“People are coming in and thanking me for opening,” she continued. “People are coming in offering to teach classes.”

A devout crocheter, Grossman learned to knit from her mother when she was 10. She isn’t really sure how she chose a single hook over a pair of needles. Her original designs hang around the yarn bins. Customers are already asking for the patterns.

Two private knitting groups occupy the shop on Sundays. The 1,400-square-foot space hosts its own public knitting group from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. Classes in beginning knitting and crochet have already begun. Expect future classes to include toe-up socks, beginning lace, cables, Tunisian crochet, Continental knitting, crocheted edgings and embellishments, and project classes.

“It sort of fosters community because people tend to gather to knit and crochet,” Grossman said.

Somehow both intimate and industrial (Grossman draped fabric over the garage door), the store was once All Appliance. At least one person has stopped by in search of a repairman.

The customers aren’t always women.

“Once, a couple of men came in and said a friend asked them to make a doorknob cover,” Grossman said. She cheerfully supplied them with double pointed needles and showed them how to make a tiny hat.

So far, the Chicago-based Dream in Color yarn is a top seller. Several local hand-dyers have approached Grossman about carrying their products. She told them all to bring their work in.

“There’s a woman who spins buffalo wool,” she added.

On Tuesday, Santa Fe customer Cynthia Selene gushed over Grossman’s crocheted samples hanging from the display boxes and a rolling dress rack. The examples include wraps, cowls, shawls and tops.

“It’s easy finding crochet patterns,” Selene said. “But I believe it’s challenging to find crochet patterns that are not frumpy. Her patterns are the nicest I’ve seen. They’re just graceful. And they have a nice drape.”

Selene said three friends had emailed her about the shop’s opening within the last two days.

“I used to joke that I had a yarn store in my home,” she said.

Along with a melange of needles and notions, the store carries yarns by Brown Sheep, Cascade, Dream in Color, Berroco, Spud & Chloe, Plymouth, Lorna’s Lace, Blue Sky Alpaca and Southwest Trading.

To contact Yarn & Coffee, call 780-5030 or see www.yarnandcoffee.com.