StevenBe – A Yarn Garage Workshop

Having just returned from a visit to Minneapolis, I have now had the full experience of what StevenBe’s yarn shop has to offer. I couldn’t have been more welcomed and fully inspired than I was while there.
The Booty fashion show was incredibly fun and if it happens again, I will have to be there for the experience. It was an absolute riot! Both Steven Berg and Stephen West were there, so good times, super fun and inspiration were all there in buckets.
I really appreciate the Tour Colorways that they carry that are unique only at StevenBe’s shop in Minnesota and Stephen West’s in Amsterdam, or if you can catch them on tour. The standards that are in the shop are great, with a huge selection of cotton, wool, alpaca, linen, blends and textured things that I use a lot of personally. But, their Special Tour colorways by Hedgehog Fibers, Three Irish Girls and other companies are just delightful and give choices that will not be found anywhere else.
When people go to the shop, it is best to really plan to spend some time to look around at everything. There are two floors! Since meeting the Steph-​vens, I enjoy putting lots of different yarns together at the same time and adding texture as I go along, wether I am following one of Steph/ven’s patterns or doing my own freeform stuff. So, I spent many happy hours checking over everything before making my final selections. I found cloth yarn, tassels, fur yarn, crazy buttons of all colors, even dried and dyed fish skins! There is just no limit to the possibilities, whether people are more traditional, or knit (crochet or spin) out of bounds.
The staff was so accommodating and willing to help with any question I had or give free rein to look around. There are ample places to sit together and knit, class area and the never-​ending creative energy of Steven Berg is just plain awesome. I wonder what he will come up with next!
I have been to a lot of yarns store in my knitting years and this shop has them all beat! I had an absolute blast.

The selection in this store is amazing and the staff is really funny and helpful. It isn’t your «traditional grandma» yarn shop at all, it’s very young and inventive feeling with lots of great colors and custom spins and dyes. If you’re in Minneapolis you’ve got to go!

What a breath of fresh air after having already been deeply disappointed with my first yarn foray in Minneapolis. As soon as walked through the door, I knew I had arrived in yarn heaven! The staff here is exceptional and the selection is staggering. My only regret is that this shop is so very far from home. I can’t possibly plan a return trip soon enough.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first shopping experience here! It’s a funky, eccentric store staffed by lively, passionate people. I paid a little more for yarns than I’m used to at most stores but I was OK with it because the overall visit was positive and that means a lot to me. They carry a few brands I’ve only seen at Stitches, never at any other LYS, which was awesome. Every member of their staff was fun, engaging and helpful. I will definitely be back!

I love this shop for the yarn and for many other reasons as well.
1. In my view, StevenBe is not only the best shop in the city but one of the best shops in the country. I’ve been to many shops here in the States and also across the pond. It would be really hard to rival the selection of beautiful hand dyed yarns from across the globe — artisans in Ireland, Germany, Iceland, England and Australia to name a few. I never have a hard time walking out with a cartfull!
2. The sense of community here is wonderful. It’s like you are walking into your local only it’s a yarn shop instead of a pub. I always feel at home here.
3. Steven is such an amazing person who is so caring and really appreciates his customers. He travels the world as a teacher and a personality yet always finds his home back in Minneapolis and his loyal customer base. I would never go elsewhere.
4. The staff and teachers are AMAZING. Jeremy, Bridgett and Michael deserve a special shout out. They always go the extra mile. The teachers are extraordinary. I thought I was a pretty good knitter until I met Nancy Wynn. I’ve made many sweaters and all manner of accessories. Nancy teaches the absolute, Master Knitter, «State Fair ribbon winner» way to knit. No stupid stuff with sloppy seams. No shortcuts that make your cash outlay something for the goodwill bin. Your finished product will be a beautiful bespoke piece — something you would be proud to wear anywhere. Shelley Hermanson is yet another amazing teacher who works with the beginning knitters at the shop. My daughter-​law was one of her students and learned so much she us now staring classes with Nancy. I would give this shop six stars!

I wanted to like this place, I really did. I’m an avid knitter, and was lucky enough to grow up in a town with an amazing yarn store. After I moved to Minneapolis, I was hoping this would be my yarnery-​away-​from-​home (if you will.) Here is what I found:
— Poorly organized: As a knitter who knows what they are doing, I’m usually coming in with a project in hand. I want yarns more-​or-​less organized by weight, or fiber at the VERY least. After asking several times how their store was organized, after several blank stairs someone finally said «…by creative potential.» Great. That doesn’t help me.
— Overly Priced: If i’m not coming in for a specific project, I’m looking for a deal on some yarn I wouldn’t normally buy. No deals to be found here. All of their yarns are $ 2 – 3 more expensive than what you would pay at any other yarn store around the midwest.
— Rude: They ask that you take off your shoes and put on community slippers before entering the store. I’m sorry, no. I’m not undoing the solid foot of shoelace on my big winter boots in the middle of January in MN just so you can help protect your floors or create «ambiance» or whatever the hell you’re trying to do. If you didn’t want shoes around your yarn, you should not have opened a yarn store.
They also don’t wind your skeins for you. I’ve been to approximately 30 million fine yarn stores and have never found a single one that does not wind your skeins after purchase. They do have a ball winder available for your use. However, I gave up after waiting 25 minutes for a woman to wind her one skein because she didn’t know what she was doing and broke the machine.
Staff: This is a tough one. Clearly, the staff are dedicated people and very passionate about fiber art, especially spreading their love around. That’s great, I really like that. Unfortunately, there seems to be this air of pretension through everyone that works there. They followed me around the store, commenting on every skein I picked up with a «oh no, that just won’t work for your pattern.» or «hm… that could be nice.»
I don’t care what you think. I just want to buy some yarn.
To some, especially beginners, this yarn store could be a great place. Full of fun styles of yarn and it’s staffed by enthusiastic people. It isn’t the yarn store for me, however, and I’ll be searching elsewhere for my knitting needs.

Have you ever decided to set up your yarn store to best display your chandelier? Perhaps this question is not foremost in every knitter’s mind, but maybe it should be. My friend took me here because she needed some needles she didn’t have and I found myself overwhelmed by beautiful yarn and felt the crawling compulsion to knit all the things.
StevenBe has an absolutely delightful selection of yarn and knitting supplies, a circle of armchairs to sit around and knit in, and have I mentioned the chandelier? It’s nice. Staff were helpful and I got a short tour of how things were organized and the section of specially-​dyed Doctor Who inspired yarns. They’re nice if that special someone needs a scarf in those colors but don’t need it to be 26 feet long.
Color selection rotates to some extent by what they have in, and if you want to nerd it up with a skein inspired by Van Gogh’s Starry Night or by Doctor Who, you can do that. The selection of notions, and specifically of odd buttons, is peerless. The prices are a bit on the steep side as you may expect for this quality of yarn, but this is certainly a situation where you pay for quality.

Fun shop! Worth the trip if you find yourself in Minneapolis. Store reflects Steven Be’s personality — fabulously over the top. Great space, ambience, and people. Fab selection of yarn. Would love to have stayed longer!

They make you take your shoes off and wear slippers they’ve provided so that if yarn is dropped, it doesn’t fall into shoe dirt or melted snow puddles. I selected the leopard-​print fuzzy slippers and spent the rest of my shopping experience feeling fabulous.
When I first crossed the entry’s threshold and the store opened up before me, I nearly S’d my pants. Nothing can prepare you for the palace of yarn this place is. I read some other reviews that said it’s from floor to ceiling, and they weren’t exaggerating. There is so. Much. Yarn. Overwhelming? Absolutely, but slap me in the face if it wasn’t a blast to browse and get inspired.
«Omg this yarn is so cool I want to make something with it!» I said for the 10,000^th time before I finally picked out some yarn and left. And the finished projects on display all over the store don’t help either: «Omg this is so cool, I want to make THIS!» I said for the 5,000^th time before I left.
Prices: Yeah, the yarn’s marked up a little. The yarn I left with got me for like a buck-​something more than I paid for the same yarn elsewhere. I definitely saw a (small) skein of yarn for like $ 34 and I was like, yeah no. But that’s because I’m cheap. The truth is it was worth that much — some exclusive brand called Freia with some of the loveliest, color-​shocking dye I’ve ever seen. There’s also a discount room in the back corner which I believe you have to ask to see, but there’s a good selection in there too for the fellow penny-​pincher.
Lastly, the employees. Totally not in-​your-​face obnoxious (ever been to Teavana?), but absolutely present and helpful. And not just helpful like they’re-on-the-payroll helpful. They were so freaking nice. Just… genuinely kind people. They’re interested in helping you, they’re interested in the projects you’re pursuing, everything. I wanted to hug every one of them. And I was lucky enough to meet StevenBe himself while I was there, and the man is completely fantastic.
Locally-​owned, mind-​blasting selection, incredible and passionate staff — they absolutely deserve the minor markup on their price tags. Yarncraft fanatics, give them your dollars.

This feels like a home away from home: wonderful atmosphere and fabulous yarn. The people are the heart of this business. The staff is exceptionally friendly and helpful. You quickly feel like part of the family. The inventory of yarn is constantly changing. It’s the best place to go find new yarn and engaging ideas. I used to live a few blocks away but recently moved to the North Metro. I still drive the 20+ miles to visit this store a couple times a month. LOVE IT!

I’m just going to make bullet points to keep this to the point.
— The prices are significantly higher than any other yarn shop in town
— They want you to take you shoes off before coming into the store, and take a pair of haggard looking slippers from a bucket to wear (GROSS and NO WAY)
— The yarn is not organized according to weight and you need assistance to even see the yarn out of reach since it goes to the ceiling practically. I personally don’t like a one on one when I’m shopping, but thats just me
— You pay for a class, and they make you pay for the pattern? I’ve taken classes at 3 other shops and NEVER paid additional for a pattern
— They don’t give you a discount for class supplies? Again, never experienced this
— I get to the checkout and they tell me they «prefer cash». What kind of crazy yarn shop is this? You want me to spend 85 $ on yarn for a project that should have been less than half that. Well, I don’t carry 85 $ in cash especially on Chicago and 34^th.
— I personally don’t care for the «spirit» of the shop, but again that is just preference. Yes, people are pleasant enough but I feel like I need to be a yarn snob there, and knitting just shouldn’t be so elitist.
— apparently, you can take down or hide bad reviews? Becasue I took the time to write this, and find it is magically missing from the page

I was truly impressed with the variety of yarn and the friendliness if the people working at the store. They had what I was looking for and then some more that I couldn’t live without. Having an in house designer helps keep things fresh as well. I consider this now a must visit when I come into town. Ranks with some of the best places in the country.

I’m just a beginner and was fortunate to meet Nancy along with the most helpful staff! Thanks!

What a crazy weird places. It is overflowing with so many yarns and you need a ladder to reach them all. I especially appreciated all the delightful sock yarns. The staff was nice, but seemed a little weird that they couldn’t provide info about the knitworks they had on display. The biggest detractor though was the prices. Everything was a few dollars more than other places. And the yarns in the «value vault» were things that I had bought way cheaper elsewhere.
I see why people like it. It is full of delightful colors and yarns with some things I have never seen anywhere else, but I am unlikely to return.

My favorite yarn store!
The staff is great here. They don’t care if you are a new knitter or have been knitting for years. In fact, the first time I went here they were excited that I was a fairly new knitter. If you frequent yarn stores, you will know this in not the case with most shops. The staff was patient and helpful to me and even great with my two year old, who wanted to «touch all the pretty yarn.»
I bought a pattern book and yarn to make a sweater at one point and 4 months after that I realized I would need one more skein to finish the sweater. When I went back, one of the female staff (I wish I remembered her name!) remembered me and my project — amazing. The yarn, unfortuanately for me, was discontinued, but she offered tips and tricks via the web to track down what I needed.
Beat that other yarn stores!

So many yarns, so much joy. The staff was incredibly fabulous, and Steven himself was working the store. Very friendly, warm, professional place to shop.

Love, love, love! I purchased a groupon for a series of 3 classes awhile back and have just recently been able to use them. The staff is amazing including Steven himself. They have been patient with me and my friend while we learn to knit. They also were able to give us plenty of practical advice about knitting and what we should /​shouldn’t buy. All of this has added up to a few cowls, a rag, and a hat’s worth of knitting. Steven let me know during my last visit that they are adding more classes as «next steps» for beginners. I would highly recommend signing up!
The product is also fantastic. As noted below there is literally yarn from floor to ceiling. For those of us on a budget there is a fun deal area as well. I love supporting a fun local business! For those people starting out, it is also really helpful that they have fully made projects on display. It really gives you a great sense of what you can make with all types of different yarn. I can’t wait to go back!

Excuse me, why didn’t I know about this place? This place is so cool and unique. Yarn floor to ceiling! Lots of GORGEOUS hand dyed yarn. If only I knew how to make something other than scarves!
The staff, including Stevenbe himself were extraordinarily friendly and helpful. They have open knitting nights Tuesday and Thursdays and you can also have a fancy catered luncheon at the shop on Sundays. Me and my knitting crew will definitely be back!

My first visit to StevenBe’s in Mpls was during YarnQuest 2011. I was a little confused about how to get into the building — but a nice lady walking her dog down the street directed me to the back of the building where the entrance was. I walked in and immediately got EXCITED! Yarn exploding from every nook and cranny. Steven was there and was just his usual wonderful self — charming and sweet as punch. I was trying to tell him how much I enjoy The Yarn Garage but was stumbling all over my tongue and when I laughed and apologized and said I was too decaffeinated to think he grabbed me and poured me a cup of coffee and told me to sip and enjoy and just look around. He really is just so welcoming and so wonderful. (I have a yarn girl crush on him — does it show?)
I think if I ever hit a rut again in my knitting I will drive myself straight to this shop. How can you walk in here and NOT get inspired??? There are ton’s of sample projects to touch and ooooooh over. The latest and hottest projects and items that I had admired on Ravelry or in a knitting magazine. (I scored a Knit Happy mug that I have wanted forever!) And did I mention Yarn!!! From affordable staples to one of a kind StevenBe hand spun awesomeness.
Really enjoyed shopping here. Great experience and I would not hesitate to come back.