Urban Fauna Studio

Once again, these guys have moved. It now appears that they are online and delivery based now. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to pick my hobby back up. I loved that little store.

Always have great service and find something special at this great local shop.

After seeing all the great reviews (and noticing on their site that they sell Hamanaka kits), I decided to check it out this past weekend.
The yarn they had was gorgeous, as were their packets of wool. The guy at the register noticed that I was looking for something (that I obviously could not find), so he asked me if I needed help. As soon as I asked him if they had Hamanaka kits, he led me to a basket on their only table and showed me what they had. There were 3 kits, two of which were the same. He also promptly apologized for the lack of variety and selection and told me that it was getting harder for them to get the kits (due to the events in Japan).
Basically: 4 stars for the great customer service and products (PLUS, THE GUY WAS WEARING A KILT!!!)… They’d make 5 stars if they had some more Hamanaka kits. :)
Next time, if they have more, I’m definitely buying more than one!!!

This place is fantastic, but oh boy, is it small. Well, for yarn I guess «carefully curated» is a better phrase… but having schlepped all the way out to Sunset, I was a little disappointed by the size. The selection is great, the prices are pretty competitive, and the items are all hand-​dyed, selected with care, and the staff know their products forward and backward. So you can’t go wrong with that.
Some things are a bit expensive, but the price reflects the quality and dye process. I saw this one ball of yarn that was the most gorgeous blend of turquoise and purples. It was handpainted and SO SO SO soft. And $ 60. I loved it, but never in my wildest dreams could I ever afford buying yarn that costs that much!
They also have some cute kits and knitting accessories. I couldn’t quite bring myself to buy yet more yarn without a project in mind, so I bought adorably cute stitch markers that are metal rings with a small bamboo charm with images of sock monkeys and yarn and such on them. The stuff in the store was so great I couldn’t resist leaving there empty handed, especially after going out of my way to check it out! And those stitch holders are sickeningly adorable and I am going to love using them.
But if my husband asks, I bought them months ago. Our little secret, Unilocal.Our little secret.

I absolutely love this place! I am new to knitting and decided on a whim to walk into this cute little shop one Friday afternoon. I had a pattern in mind, but not a clue as to how to begin the project. I was assisted by a lovely woman who was not only keen on making sure I purchased exactly what I needed, but she went the extra mile and looked up the pattern for me online, then patiently explained the way to work cabling, which size needles I should purchase depending on my knitting style, and a whole host of other knitting factoids. I left with a lot less intimidation for the craft and a whole lot of enthusiasm.

I love this LYS so much, I wish it were actually local for me, as I live on the other side of the country (literally). The selection for the space is fantastic, I found myself touching nearly every skein they had. Wool, cotton, alpaca, llama, you name it, they have it. Their wall of hand-​spun and hand-​dyed yarns looked amazing, and I was surprised to find that some of them were decently priced. The girl working there was very kind and helpful, but definitely gave me enough space to wander around the store and do my own browsing. After I made my purchases, I was given a token for their little dispensing machine that had different prizes and things inside. I won a postcard and a button that said «I Heart Yarn». I would come here again and again, and probably spend way too much money on all the wonderful things they sell!

This really isn’t a review. I’ve only just became a friend on FB. But my request was handled so quickly, I want to make a trip to SF just to see the store.

They just moved into a new location, which is huge, full of light, and well planned. I must admit I was a little nostalgic for their former space, which was about the size of a closet, but cozy. What really makes the new space great is that you can see all of the yarn and fiber goodies in really good light. If you get too excited by all of the cute items you can spin around like a crazy person with your arms outstretched — the new place is that big.
If you like knitting, crocheting, spinning, felting or any other fiber related craft, this is your place. They have a nice selection of wheels (some new Greensleeves spindles!) and other tools to indulge your crafty side.

A little out of my price range as a poor grad student, but everything is reasonable. The fair trade/​eco friendly stuff is just expensive! There are also some more moderately priced items such as some very cute stitch markers made by a local crafter. What will keep me going back (other than the fact that is’ only a few blocks away) are the owners, who are very friendly and welcoming. The website is great for finding out about events such as sales and knitting nights. See you guys again soon!

Urban Fauna is a teeny-​tiny, blink and you’ll miss it kind of place. Matter of fact, I did miss it the first time I was looking for it!
I’ve bought yarn there before for my girls, and kinda forgot about it. Then, I got an email from the friendly folks at UF about a free hands-​on demo for felting, they were having on a Friday evening at the de Young, last March.
My daughters and I showed up; my daughters had a lot of fun making felted pictures, which inspired me to sign them up for a class at UF. I looked at their online schedule and decided on a beginners amigurumi knitting class; however, the scheduled date wasn’t going to work for me. I emailed UF, and got a prompt reply of, «No problem, as long as there are 2 students, we can do a private class at your convenience.» How cool is that!
My girls have had two fun and productive classes at UF, and I want to keep signing them up for more. I also really love that they’re in my neighborhood; makes it super convenient to drop off and pick up.

Love, love, love this store. I love all things crafty and this store has beautiful products for all kinds of fiber ideas. The owners are eager to help you and even give demos on how to use some of their products. During one of their sidewalk events I learned how to needle felt with Jamie. After, I asked them if they would come to my classroom and teach a group of 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th graders how to wet felt. They came this last Friday and did an outstanding lesson. They arrived with all of the supplies, including the hot water needed! Their natural ease with the kids and desire to teach this fun craft was so contagious that my students begged me to get the supplies so they could make more felt beads and balls. I will for sure be back for those supplies and some goodies for myself.

I came here on the second opening day, and I’m so glad I did. Let me first preface this with a warning that this is not a «craft store» per se. It is a teeny tiny little store brimming with fiber arts supplies. So, needle felting, spinning, dyeing, knitting and crocheting.
They have oodles of fiber (the stuff that makes yarn) here, which is so nice, because you can actually *touch* the fiber, which you can’t do at an online store. Because most people who make yarn also use it, they also stock the basic knitting supplies.
The owners are SUPER awesome, and I even got a free needle felting lesson when I stopped by. Turns out, stabbing brightly colored fluff over-​and-​over was quite therapeutic for me, so I bought some needles and wool to play around with at home.
If you love making things with your own two hands, you should definitely stop by this place.

My mom actually stopped by this store on a walk and she loved all the beautiful hand spun, hand dyed yarn, even though she doesn’t do anything with fiber! She brought me there today and we spent quite a while chatting w/​Blas and drooling over all the different yarns and other fiber arts stuff. We caught Blas just as he was on his way out for a break, but he was kind enough to open up the shop just for my mom and I. We walked away with two beautiful skeins and a new fav place to shop.

This is pretty much the only place in SF to get non-​yarn fiber craft stuff like spinning wheels and colored roving. Yes, it’s tiny, so the selection is not huge, but they had most of the supplies I needed and were able to order in everything they didn’t in a just a few days.
The prices are pretty reasonable, especially on the hand-​dyed yarn, and Blas and Jamie know absolutely everything there is to know about all of the fiber arts. I also really like that they consign for dozens of small fiber artists, hold lots of classes and are a certified green business. Here’s hoping they’re successful enough to move to bigger space soon!

The quest for a knitting shop in SF continues…
The place is tiny but has a lot of interesting-​looking yarn, and apparently they’re all eco-​groovy, so I’m giving them the 3 stars just for that.
I needed some needles, though. Their selection isn’t great. They couldn’t be bothered to stop talking about cats long enough to ask if I needed anything, they avoided eye contact, and I’m not into interrupting, so I decided to take my business elsewhere. Too bad, could use a shop nearby, and I really wanted to like them.

I only came to this shop because my BFF spins and she had to get some stuff to satisfy her retail therapy thing. I was planning not to spend any money because I have tons of yarn but $ 75 later… I love this shop! Blas is the nicest guy and now I want to learn how to spin. (Oh boy another hobby, but spinning goes hand in hand with knitting right?) In the tiny shop there is a lot to enjoy. I love all of the felted creations– especially the little felted Totoro! I bought earrings, needles, stitch markers and this yummy lemon grass colored yarn. Props to Blas and Jamie for this little gem. Best wishes for much success. I plan to go again and again.

5 stars for being so nice! I stumbled across a mention of this little (key word, peeps.) shop on the Ravelry forum and was highly intrigued. Another yarn shop to check out? What a chore. So I think I visited it the next day or so and as we rolled up to the door, on a scooter, I saw that it looked like it was closed. Tried to read what the shop hours were and then the door opened, one of the owners saw us through the blinds (probably heard us too as the motor was still running and we were only a foot away from the front window). She said to come in and take a look around. I think something about inventory was mentioned.
It was really nice of them to open up for me and I really liked what I saw inside. They have some yarns that I haven’t seen at other shops so it was lovely to see different permutations of the fibers. I picked up four balls of a cotton/​bamboo yarn that I was not familiar with.
I hope that they do well enough to make it through this rough economy. I know that I will try my best to make this a some what regular stop.

I’d like to give a shout out to a great little place where I picked up some new felting supplies as well as some hand-​dyed, hand-​spun wool yarn. Urban Fauna is a fairly new little shop in San Francisco, located on 16^th Avenue, between Irving and Judah. Although tiny in size, they have a fabulous selection of wool roving, artisan yarns, books, tools and supplies, etc. They also have great workshops/​classes on spinning, weaving, felting, etc. I haven’t taken any yet, but it’s on my short list of things to do. I first heard of this shop through their blog, Mary Jane’s Attic, when they were announcing the opening of their new brick and mortar store.
I’ve never been a serious knitter, but I was so inspired by the beauty of the yarns in their shop that I bought a skein, then went home and knitted the whole skein in one night. However, I found that I didn’t have enough yarn to finish the scarf. So, back to the little shop I ran the next day, only to find out that it was the only skein of it’s kind. What to do??? The shop owner, Blas, who incidentally is amazing, informed me that I could contact the maker of this fabulous yarn on Etsy and perhaps order more directly from her. Fabulous — not only because I could order more, but because they support Etsy artists.
And on a final note, Blas, the shop owner was delightful. He was friendly, knowledgeable, and made my visit to their tiny, but bursting at the seams with wonderful things, shop completely comfortable and enjoyable.

Wow! I was really excited when I heard about this place opening a few weeks ago. I missed the crowded grand opening, which I’m ok with, because as the other reviewers have noted, this place is TINY. They really pack a lot of merchandise into such a small space, though. There are spinning wheels and drum carders, a good selection of hand-​dyed wool, solid-​colored wool sold in small amounts (good for felters), angelina sparkly stuff in every color you could want, yarn from Be Sweet and O-​Wool, and lots of knitting needles, notions, and needle-​felting supplies. There was also lots of other random cuteness — my boyfriend picked up a set of mustache stamps for his sister.
In addition to the merchandise being top-​notch, Jamie and Blas are really great! Both my boyfriend and I had really fun conversations with them. They were both totally knowledgeable about their products and suppliers and really excited about this venture. They are working with some fiber artists to do classes (Blas was telling me about one for spinning art yarn) and Jamie said they were hoping to have some events where they let everyone loose on the drum carders to make their own fiber blends.
I really appreciate that they have established regular hours — right now it’s just Friday-​Monday, but it’s nice to know when I can show up and have them be open. Just a note, parking really sucks in this area (it’s SF, after all), but it’s usually possible to find something within a few blocks. Public transit (like the N-​line) is a good choice. This is a fun, low-​key neighborhood — lots of good restaurants around and only a few blocks to Golden Gate Park. I will be making the trek over here for fibery fixes as often as I can!

I’m not a knitter (well, I knitted a scarf for my wife once — I earned big bonus points for that one, by the way!). I’m not a spinner of yarn. I don’t do fiber crafts of any sort. And yet, I think Urban Fauna Studios is an extremely cool place and a business that I hope thrives.
My wife is a knitter and crocheter and spinner and all of that. She was searching for places in San Francisco that might sell spinning wheels, and she found a listing for Urban Fauna a week before they opened. She called the listed number and spoke to Blas (one of the two people who run the shop), who was happy to tell her all about their plans for the shop, the grand opening, etc. She went with some of her fellow fibercrafters to the grand opening, which was apparently mobbed out the door and a huge hit. She went back again two days later with me.
Urban Fauna Studios is… how shall I put this… tiny. Think shoebox, and you’re on the right track. I honestly can’t say too much about the quality of their wares because, as I said, I’m not a fiber guy. However, I’ve been told by fiber folks whose opinions I trust (my wife and her fellow fiber people) that Urban Fauna’s stuff is excellent.
What I CAN speak to first-​hand is their service. Jamie and Blas (the couple that run the place) are absolutely outstanding to work with. We showed up at their shop 45 minutes before closing time on Labor Day (yes, they were open on Labor Day!), and the two of them took the time to go through all sorts of spinning wheel options with my wife, letting her try them out, looking up info online, showing her how they worked, etc. They weren’t trying to upsell her or put on any pressure or anything. They helped her decide on the wheel she wanted, ordered it for her, and gave her a good price. Jamie followed up the next day to let us know about the status of the order and to send my wife some online videos about how to use her new equipment.
What’s more, they have two adorable dogs. Rocko (the little yellow one) sat in my lap for half an hour while my wife tried out spinning wheels. These are some incredibly well-​behaved animals! Hey, I like cute dogs.
Bottom line: The people at Urban Fauna Studios are the kind of people you want to do business with. They care about their customers, and they provide service the way it’s supposed to be done. And since I’m told their merchandise is top-​notch, I imagine that knitters and spinners and the like will love this new shop. It’s a good addition to our fair city.