New yarn store with ‘calm environment’ opens in SLO County. What’s for sale?
Crocheters, knitters and crafting enthusiasts rejoice: A new yarn shop has arrived in San Luis Obispo County.
Morro Bay Yarn Shop, 739 Napa Ave. in Morro Bay, will celebrate its grand opening from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29.
Yarn shop owner Rae Odom said the brand-new business is meant to be a place where the community can find connection, creativity and calm.
“I wanted to build a place where people can slow down, try something new and enjoy the process of making with their hands,” she said in a news release.
Here’s what to know about the new fiber arts shop:
How SLO High School grad launched new business
Odom, a SLO native and San Luis Obispo High School grad, started knitting right before the coronavirus pandemic.
She said her casual hobby turned into pure passion while she was studying education at UC Santa Cruz.
“Knitting was really huge for me at that time, because I was doing online classes for two years in a new place,” she told The Tribune. “So it was really awesome to be able to, while I was on Zoom, be doing something else and knitting.”
When the university returned to in-person classes, Odom brought her knitting to school with her.
She lugged skeins of yarn to lecture halls to work on sweaters, scarves and beanies. The textile projects kept her hands busy and helped her focus on the lessons delivered at the front of the class, she said.
After graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Odom moved back to SLO County and started working as a teacher’s aide at Santa Lucia School in Templeton. She also picked up shifts at Cambria yarn shop Ball and Skein and More.
In the meantime, she browsed real estate listings, dreaming of opening her own wool-focused shop one day.
Odom was still in her early 20s at the time, so she didn’t feel quite ready to jump into small business ownership.
Instead, she focused on using her education degree, but also carved out time to teach some schoolkids how to knit.
That’s when the light bulb fully flicked on for her.
“That was kind of a big moment for me, where I was like, ‘This is what I’m actually passionate about,’ ” she told The Tribune while wearing a gray sweater she knit herself. “When I go home, I’m looking at knitting stuff and researching yarns and wools online, I’m not super looking into educational things.”
At 26 years old, she found an affordable storefront to rent in Morro Bay and decided to finally make the leap.
Morro Bay Yarn Shop opens in SLO County
Morro Bay Yarn Shop is the only yarn store in town, although The Quilted Otter fabric shop opened in Morro Bay in October.
Inside the shop, soft light splashes on white-painted brick walls. Shelves are chock-full with balls of yarns containing all the colors of the rainbow.
The store houses about 25 types of yarn from 10 different brands, ranging in cost from about $10 to $20. Fibers are wool, cotton or wool-cotton blends, though Odom hopes to stock alpaca and yak yarn in the months ahead.
“I’m excited for in the future to be able to expand and have more brands,” she said. “I wanted to have room to talk to the community and see ... what they love and have some room to bring in some other things.”
Currently, her curated selection of yarns features high-quality fibers that are traceable and humanely produced, originating from Denmark, Spain, Portugal and the United States.
The shop carries yarns in weights ranging from lace to super bulky from popular international brands including Retrosaria Rosa Pomar, WoolDreamers, Knitting for Olive and Sandnes Garn, the release said.
The first two brands are particularly great companies to source from, Odom said, as “they’re really uplifting the farmers in their area, because they’re paying premiums for wool that would otherwise be disposed of.”
American-made skeins also line the walls, including wool yarn made by Kelbourne Woolens in Philadelphia and Outlaw Valley Ranch in Santa Maria. The latter specializes in Central Coast-raised Navajo-Churro sheep, Odom said.
Shop has knitting books, kits and sweaters for sale
Besides skeins of yarn, Morro Bay Yarn Shop sells crochet and knitting craft kits, visible mending materials, fiber project accessories and how-to books, Odom said.
There’s also a rack of hand-made wool sweaters for sale that she and her mother-in-law have knit.
Will local fiber arts store offer classes?
Odom also plans to eventually offer private and group introductory classes on knitting and crocheting.
One-hour private lessons and 90-minute four-person classes will each cost $45, though group workshops will have materials included, she said.
Odom said it’s essential to her that classes remain tiny so beginners can learn in a less chaotic space.
“I like them being small — I know it’s not as profitable — but it’s really important to me that people have a good experience in a calm environment,” she told The Tribune.
How to visit new SLO County yarn store
Morro Bay Yarn Shop is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
At its Saturday, Nov. 29, grand opening event, the store will hand out snacks, drinks and gifts to customers, Odom said.
