Tawas Bay Yarn

Its funny, I was in the store and the owner was talking to a customer telling her how important it is to be friendly and helpful. They had a quite the conversation on the importance of customer service and yet they ignored me. I decided to give them another chance and I still did not get any help and I wound up walking out of the store with nothing. Very sad because I am an avid crocheter and I am Tawas all the time and pass right by the store.

What a diamond in the rough! I have been meaning to stop by this yarn shop for years and I sure could kick myself for not doing so sooner! I never expected such a fabulous yarn shop here in East Tawas. First of all, this place is so much BIGGER on the inside than it looks.
There is a wide selection of Jo Sharp, Rowan, Plymouth yarn, Brown Sheep, and many, many more, you just want to roll around in the snuggly bliss of it! The wide variety of color selection is also bliss although I am partial to blues and neutrals. The owner, whose name I have forgotten, is quite a gal! Just from a brief conversation you can tell that she really knows her stuff AND she wants people to enjoy knitting, more so than make a profit.
I think it is very difficult to run such a boutique business, and many yarn shops I have seen seem to suffer from some kind of stinginess, but not this owner: she was great! When I told her I primarily knit in the round from my laziness and dread of sewing seams, she offered to show me how to sew seams the next time I drove up, even before I had purchased anything! Although she was very busy, she spent a good amount of time with me, helping me select yarn and make a purchase, although I was just selecting yarn for a baby hat (initially). She was so pleasant, I ended up buying a bunch more yarn. She also is a thoughtful person and recommended needles that are distributed through Michigan, so she researches things well and supports local people when possible, which I really liked. I just haven’t been knitting, since I haven’t had a place to buy nice yarn. Now I finally have a knitting home again! Thank you!

My first impression was that this is the biggest yarn shop I have ever been to! It’s like a house with many rooms, all full of the most beautiful yarns! Most were brands I’d never seen before, and so much more wool than I’m used to seeing in my San Diego stores (I know, duh, it’s Michigan, haha!).
I got there less than an hour before closing so I had to sort of hurry my way thru but I saw a lot and bought a few favorites to knit as I travel. And I even had time for a nice conversation with the owner, Peg, who turned out to be a retired teacher from my high school in Livonia! She started three years after I left but remembered many of my old teachers and informed me that some of them get together on Monday mornings at the Thomas’s Restaurant on Plymouth Rd. in Livonia so I made a mental note to try to go there when I got back.
Talk about a worthwhile stop, this was definitely one. For the yarn, and the visit, and the info. Win, win, win!