Hello fellow fiber artists!
The FKG went on a field trip yesterday. Since our LYS closed down last year we went in search of one to support. That took us to Columbia, SC to visit Luna Lola and to Irmo, SC to Copious Fibers. Finding a yarn store in SC is hard to do; to have 2 within 30 minutes of each other is extremely rare so we wanted to be sure to support both. We had a total of 12 ladies who made the trip and we had a wonderful time sharing our love for all things yarn related.
Luna Lola was our first stop and I must say I was quite pleased with the store. While a bit on the small side, it was packed with goodies, from yarn, yarn accessories, roving to teas and soaps. It was quite an eclectic shop. They had the fixing for mimosas, really delicious pretzel bite and homemade cookies all laid out for our enjoyment.
Skein Deep Yarn was there with her hand dyed yarns. She was excited because it was her first trunk show. She had a colorway dyed especially for NLYSD as well as a colorway especially dyed for Luna Lola. As a fellow hand dyer myself I was really impressed with her colorways.
My purchases from Luna Lola was an autographed copy of Intrepretations by Joji Locatelli and Vera Välimäki. I am huge fan of Joji’s designs and I may have a sqeuealed a little when I say the book and when the owner pointed out that it was autographed there was no way I was leaving without it. I also bought a Chinchillin’ pin to bling out my Fringe Supply Co. bag. I am trying to step up my pin game.
After doing our part to support Luna Lola, we headed to Copious Fibers in Irmo. I must say we were all quite disappointed in that store. They had made no extra effort for NLYSD, they literally had 3 bags of chips laid out that they didn’t even bother to take out of the bag. Not sure if they were for customers or themselves so no one bothered them. They do not, for some reason, price their items. They have clipboards around the store with the prices on them. I was not going to bother to price my
own yarn so all I bought was a set of Addi 12” needles to make children’s hats. And I had no idea of their cost until I was handed my receipt.
At Luna Lola we were welcomed and made to feel like the owners appreciated our patronage. Not so at Copious Fibers. In their defense, we did get there 30 minutes before they were supposed to close but they acted like our arrival was bothersome rather than being welcomed for the added income we brought. I can honestly say, I have no desire to go back to Copious Fibers and I wouldn’t recommend them. And that saddens me as LYS are so few and far between in the South but if you’re not welcoming then you can’t expect return customers. Especially when it’s a 2 hour drive for me.
All in all, it was a good trip and I was really pleased with the turnout. That being said, I must say as a long time crocheter I am always disappointed in the lack of designs, sales, extras available to us hookers. Luna Lola had a free pattern designed especially for that day but it was a knitted pattern. I am bi-stitchual and now both knit and crochet but I feel a lot of times that LYS treat crocheters like red headed stepchildren and we are often overlooked.
For our field trip in May, we will be heading to Savannah. We’ll decide on the date at our monthly FKG on Tuesday so keep an eye out on Facebook for the date and times. Please comment and let us know your latest experience at a LYS. Who would you recommend? And why?
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