a gift for one who knits

September 21, 2005 11:29 AM

What are the best knitting shops online, and do they have gift cards that can be sent in the mail?

I am looking for a gift for someone who knits. The catch is, she will be moving across country soon. Oh yeah...and I know nothing about knitting. I'm leaning toward a gift certificate for someplace nice online so she can shop after she settles in in her new place, rather than giving her something more to pack. BUT, since I'm actually going to see her, I'd like to have something "in hand", too - so I'm not ruling out the perfect something if it exists (<~$50 and can be shipped and recieved within the next 10 days).

posted by krix to shopping (11 comments total)

This place has some superfine looking yarn, hardwood needles, and gift certificates. If you go with yarn, know that natural fibers are better but silk is very hard to work with.
posted by leapingsheep at 11:44 AM on September 21, 2005

Look no further than yarn.com. Don't let their website fool you, they are actually a small, family run store. They'll sell you anything and everything under the sun that a knitter could want. If you call their toll free number, very helpful customer service will be able to answer all of your questions, and I'm SURE that they'd be willing to send a card on your behalf.
posted by TurkishGolds at 11:45 AM on September 21, 2005

Halcyon Yarn
posted by anastasiav at 11:45 AM on September 21, 2005

My sister's recently gotten into knitting, and asked me to get her a gift certificate to PatternWorks.
posted by jozxyqk at 11:48 AM on September 21, 2005

Funny, just ten seconds ago saw the link in Kalimac's profile for her online store which seems to primarily sell yarn. I will take that to be a sign and post it here.
posted by phearlez at 12:09 PM on September 21, 2005

I've been knitting for about a year and have placed many orders at Knitpicks. They have a wide selection of yarn at really good prices (and free shipping if your order's over $30!) and they have gift certificates.

As for something to actually give to her...a lot of it depends on what kind of knitter she is. Fiber and needle preference varies wildly from person to person (some people like bamboo needles and run screaming from acrylic yarn, I prefer metal needles and have no problem with the right acrylics). What sort of things does she knit? I really like The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns and The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns - each book has five or six different patterns that can be adjusted to any size and gauge, so there's hundreds of possibilities in each book.

If you want to go more the "gift" route, I've flipped through At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much and smiled knowingly.
posted by gnomeloaf at 12:22 PM on September 21, 2005

I'm not totally familiar with what she likes or what sort of things she knits. She's in a different town than me, but I will be visiting before she moves. I think I will go with gnomeloaf's book suggestion and then tuck the GC inside. Thanks everyone.
posted by krix at 1:06 PM on September 21, 2005

(Damn this 14-hour time difference! I'm always last to the knitting questions. If you haven't bought anything yet, here are a few more ideas....)

I've hinted to my own family excessively that I would love one of the Jordana Paige Knitter's Messenger Bags in brown for Christmas. More expensive that what you were looking for, but it beats the hell out of the novelty sheep needle holder I once got.

Denise Interchangeable Knitting Needles are also nice because everybody can use more needles. And if she moves somewhere where they're hard to get (like Australia), she'll automatically be the cool girl in her knitting group.

You could also go with a magazine subscription. Amongst my acquaintance, Interweave Knits and Rowan are the most highly coveted.
posted by web-goddess at 3:34 PM on September 21, 2005

Thank you, web-goddess. She's mentioned the JP bag and it was in the running, but I think she may have one already or someone else might also think of it as a gift for her. She's likely hip to the Denise needles as well, but I think I'm going to get a set for my mom for Christmas since I know she has one of the Cat Bordhi books and I'd love her to try one of the mobius bags in it.
posted by krix at 4:12 PM on September 21, 2005

As an obsessive knitter, I can second the recommendations of Patternworks and Knitpicks; I also shop quite often at Elann, a site where the voracious yarn lover can get more for her money. Lovely yarns, books and patterns are offered there at deep discounts, plus a wide variety of tools and needles.

The site offers online gift certificates, too - I checked.

Another suggestion: this is sort of a luxury item, but I recently invested in Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments. I think it's a terrific resource for the ambitious knitter, since it's full of really cool flourishes and finishing touches to make a handmade sweater truly one of a kind.
posted by GrammarMoses at 6:46 PM on September 21, 2005

Tons of resources and free patterns at at straw.com.
posted by al_fresco at 7:05 PM on September 21, 2005