Welcome to Around the Table Yarns!
Dear Friends,
Years ago, this shop started as a conversation about all the things we wished we could find in our local yarn shop: great yarn, obviously, but also a place to be with others who love the crafts of knitting or crocheting.
We want you to have a smiling welcome, good light, a place at the table and a comfortable chair. We open daily and stay later some evenings so that everyone has a time when they can come in. We develop lessons so you can try new things and free help when you get stuck so you can finish things. Having in-store access to Ravelry and the ability to print patterns in color means you are never without a pattern.
We used the pandemic downtime to create a more robust website: everything in the shop is available to purchase online 24 hours a day. Social distancing helped us polish our Zoom skills and we still use Zoom every week to offer social time and educational content to our community near and far.
In our fourth year we added free weekly series of classes shared in store and on Zoom called Project Monday. We have added more knitting and crochet skilled teachers to help people work on their ongoing projects and offer even more classes. Scheduled every weekday afternoon, there is no better source for advice or help when your project is stalled, or guidance when you want to start something new. They join our amazing helpers in the store who are committed to the same goal of creating community in the shop.
There's always been a shop dog or two. In September 2022, we welcomed Thiebaud (sounds like tee-bow) a male whippet who is very friendly and also sometimes has something to say. He's still learning not to jump up to say hello. Please know he is just very excited to welcome you to the shop.
In March 2023, we moved our retail shop and social table to a new location (20166 Van Aken) on the opposite side of Shaker Plaza, keeping our original space (20085 Chagrin) for a classroom. It meant more space to show off the yarns we carry while allowing us to offer more classes and private instruction.
We remain committed to community building and have hosted 3 off-site retreats at Bellwether Farm in Wakeman, OH. The last retreat in February of 2024. We had Toni Lipsey, Gaye Glasspie and Max Daniels join us as our special guests and welcomed participants from Wisconsin, Michigan, Vermont, New York, Texas and Mississippi, 92 of us in all! The next retreat will have a very similar line-up of guests and will be July 31-August 3, 2025. Mark your calendars and join our e-mail newsletter to get news about it as soon as we announce.
In the meantime, we are planning our first in-store retreat weekend for August 2-4, 2024. What's an in-store retreat? A chance to gather with your fiber friends or make new ones away from the distractions of home or work, but without the overnight commitment. For a $30 fee, participants will receive a welcome gift, 6-10 free patterns for knitting & crochet featuring many of our current yarns, and a 20% discount on our in-stock yarns purchased throughout the weekend. The retreat will be held in our classroom and retail spaces (after hours), and participants can come and go as they choose from 12n-10p Friday, 10a-10p Saturday, and 12n-4p Sunday.
We are bringing Hand-dyers, Makers and Designers in to the shop for special pop-up events throughout the year, as well as book signings or trunk shows.
If there is something we aren't offering and you need it, please contact us and we will see what we can do. 216-230-9224 or info@aroundthetableyarns.com
Yours,
Pam Berkson and Beth Billings
Co-Owners
