Seaport Yarn - CLOSED

Elite '08

34

113

Hannah L.

Hoboken, NJ

5 stars for selection, but I had to take away a star for general weirdness.  The place is part yarn store, part telemarketing company, and part Being John Malkovich.  It has the most inefficient floor plan ever.  The store is mostly narrow hallways lined with yarns floor to ceiling.  Every once in a while you'll pass a tiny room with floor to ceiling yarn and there's a person or two who've made work spaces in the piles of yarn.  And they're telelmarketing - I think they're calling about financial surveys.  And you shop around them.  They pretend you're not there so you do the same.  But aside from the weirdness, there's a lot of yarns to choose from.  It's overwhelming to the point that it feels like torture.  It's just too much to see and touch.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

Elite '08

105

140

Tracey N.

Dorchester, MA

EDIT 6/2008: they haven't closed, they've moved to 181 Broadway AND they now take credit cards in the shop.

Yarn heaven! I've shopped online through their website and had been meaning to get here on the last couple trips to NYC. Finally made it down and, wow, it's my new fave NYC knitting store.  It's in an unassuming office building. The rooms and hallways are jammed with unique yarns. There is an entire sale room. The work-room is well-lit with as much natural sunlight as they can get and a huge table.

The owners are incredibly nice, knowledgeable and chatty (all good things). If you call and need directions, they will tell you not only which train to take but which car to get in and landmarks. Their quality control is well-known in the industry. They are totally honest about the yarns, and they won't try to upsell you if you're up front with your budget. Not knowing they only took cash or checks, I went in with only $20, and came out with some snazzy new circulars and a skein of new hand-dyed Araucania Nature Wool (a hard decision between that and the Aussie Wool). I will definitely look forward to visiting again!

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

 

0

6

Mallory M.

New York, NY

An incredible selection, in a horribly disorganized space.  If you've got the time to pick through boxes and bags scattered throughout this weird office space, you will be handsomely rewarded with some very cool and unique stuff.  The last time I was there the owner was having a bit of an emotional meltdown, so it wasn't exactly a relaxing shopping experience, but I left with a bag full of beautiful yarn.  Bring cash - no plastic.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

Elite '08

14

102

Dani F.

Brooklyn, NY

Opened in the the wake of the NY attacks to fill a void in the owner's marketing business, Seaport Yarns is a wonderland filled with well yarn. They also offer a great selection of knitting books and other notions you may need to complete a project with. I have to say that I was overwhelmed when I entered the office space. It is comprised of a winding hall with many rooms jutting off on either side, all are filled to the hilt with yarn.  I'm sure you can find just about anything you're looking for here.  I took my time checking out the different textures and colors each room had to offer.

I ended up purchasing some Rowan yarn in a pretty hue for a project.  Luckily there was a waiting area with a couch when I first walked in or else my boyfriend would not have been pleased with the amount of time I took to browse.  

It's located in an office building so unless you knew to look for it, you wouldn't stumble upon it.  You should go into your shopping experience knowing that they only accept cash or checks.  Fortunately I had enough cash on me for my purchase.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

Elite '08

305

303

Maria W.

NY

Lots and lots and lots of yarn. Interestingly set in office space that still looks like office space with tons of yarn on shelves. The items are organized according to what room you're in.  Each office room hold specific types of yarns: bulky in the back section, fine yarns in the front corner office, etc.

Ok selection of books, not anything like the extravaganza at Nancy's Custom Handweaving, but adequate. That said, I drop a boatload whenever I go. It's those Bryson needles, I'm addicted to them.

Andrea, the owner, is a sweetheart. I can't recall the name of the other nice gal who works there but the both of them knew there were only two skeins of the exact color of Brown Sheep I needed, got them for me and ordered the rest I needed.

Good selection of needles and knitting notions. They even have roving for spinning and spinning and knitting get together every month. I signed up for their email notification and got heads up to some pretty good sales.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

Elite '08

11

118

Dorim L.

Flushing, NY

Lately, I've gotten the knitting bug so I looked up a bunch of knitting/yarn shops and visited Seaport Yarn.  

As soon as I went in, I was in awe.  There were so many yarns.  A gentleman asked if it was my first visit and I said, yes.  He told me to feel free to look around and that a woman was in the next room if I needed help.  Well, I was looking around for a good ten minutes.  There were so many selections I was overwhelmed.  The woman finally popped her head in the door and introduced herself.  She gave me a tour of the place explaining what kinds of yarns she had.  

After a thorough tour, she sat in her office and told me her love of yarn an knitting.  She showed me some socks she was making and said they just recently had a sock course.  She gave me business cards and suggested I give them to my friends.

All this when I didn't even buy anything.  I'm definitely going to go next time with my friends and buy a bunch of yarn.  Oh, good thing to know is she doesn't accept credit cards; just cash and checks.  If you're a knitter, you definitely have to check this place out!

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

 

0

8

Sara L.

New York, NY

This is by far the strangest knitting store I have EVER seen. There is absolutely no organization and it's like a maze, you have to go into various rooms to see what they have and yarn is piled everywhere, even on the floor, which doesn't make me want to buy it. The people who work there don't know what they have, so if you ask for more yarn you get to watch them dig around in cabinets and closets to see if they have it, only to find out 20 minutes later that they don't have anymore (or at least they can't find any more).

What they have that is good is a huge selection of books, probably the biggest I've ever seen in one place.

The store is hard to shop in and it really bothers me that they don't take credit cards, so I have only been there once and never went back.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

Elite '08

19

68

Amy D.

NY

ok, when you walk into this space on the 5th floor of an office/residential building, you will say, Holy S#$!.  This is a knitters HAVEN.  Wall-to-wall yarn, pattern books, needles and accessories. It is hard to believe with the amount of yarn in this store that they don't carry EVERYTHING, but there is so much there that you are sure to find something that will substitute if they don't have what you're looking for.  
Be ready to spend a few hours wandering in and out of rooms and rooms and ROOMS filled with treasure.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

 

0

13

Trudy M.

New York, NY

Finding this place is an adventure, as detailed below. And, once you have found the store, finding the yarn you want is no easy task. It is in the hallway, in various unmarked and disorganized rooms, on the floor, under tables, everywhere. But, once you corner an employee and force them to dive into the mess to find what you desire, the shop can be very rewarding.
The store also has a web site, where I assume most of their business transactions take place, which is why I find it perplexing that they do not take credit cards. They do, however, take personal checks, which you will want to bring, since the nearest ATM is 4 blocks away, as I learned on my last visit.
Checking the web site before you visit is a good idea. It lists all the stock, which may aid in the hunt once you arrive. Although challenging, the selection can't be beat in the city.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

 

0

2

Nile B.

New York, NY

First thing you should know is their location has changed (now 181 Broadway). They're on the right side of Century 21's shoe department, on the fifth floor, in a building that also sells men's suits on another floor. The organization of the new location is much better than what I've heard the previous store had. It is now in two big rooms with most of the yarn in one and the books and extra yarn in the other. With the whole move the owner is obviously still transitioning. She (Andrea) told me that her book selection, though amazing, is not as big and beautiful and wonderful as it normally is and a lot of the yarn is still stored away. Still, I was definitely impressed by what she had out and available. The selection of yarn, books, and notions is mind boggling. She had the Barbara Walker Knitting Treasury Volumes that I'd been dying to get but only found online, and at the same price too!
I'm a big online buyer and do most of my spending there. This store is now, definitely a contender and somewhere I'll most likely be coming back to again and again.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

 

1

3

Altaviese W.

Maplewood, NJ

If you're into any craft that uses yarn; you'll fall in love the minute you walk through the glass doors. Seaport also carries a wide variety of Needles, books, and magazines. But the their yarn selection is all emcompassing. Unlike most local yarn shops, their selection caters to every budget. From Cashmere, and alpaca to acrylic. There is something there for everyone. Andrea (and the rest of her staff) are very pleasant and helpful. If you have a yarn obsession, this is definately the place for you!

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

Elite '08

35

59

Tory S.

NY

I don't really know what to say about Seaport Yarn other than that it left me in a state of paralyzed perplexity for about half an hour.  Attempting to choose only a few yarns from their stupefyingly complete collection is enough to drive any knitter to their knees delivering incoherent lachrymal professions of gratitude to the knitting gods.  This place has it all, even the "hand-dyed and air-dried in the salty Santa Cruz breeze" yarn that I haven't been able to find outside of California.  I wandered up and down William Street for a good while in bumbling confusion, for the building is nondescript and there is nothing indicating that Seaport inhabits one of its floors.  Upon haltingly inquiring of the doorman if there was indeed a yarn shop in the building he gave me a look and said "Yes. Fifth floor. First time?"  I'm sure I'm just one more in a long line of crazy-eyed newbies he has witnessed exiting the elevator bathed in the blissed out glow of a knitter who just found enough tweeds to cover the moors with sweaters.  The prices are good and they have a whole room of sale items that are actually quality yarns rather than the ill-conceived crazy puke colored varigated spangled yarns one usually finds in sale sections.  I'm a fan of Purl and Downtown Yarns as well, but I'll forsake twee window displays and knitster cred for the comforting wool-muffled aisles of Seaport from now on.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review