Because there are no good yarn stores near where I live here in Florida, I shop online for my yarn.  I’ve had to discover good yarn by reading reviews and discovering what expert knitters are using.  And by simply taking a chance and buying unique yarn. (Yarn shown is Miss Babs, Yummy 2-Ply fingering,” Sorcerer”)

As time has passed and I am knitting more, I have found some additions to my list of favorite online shops.

Click on the titles below, which are links the shops.

Four Purls (LYS)

Four purls is a local yarn store here in Florida, but they sell online. They are located in Winter Haven which is in Central Florida. It’s quite a drive for me, so I have never been to the store. However, I do visit their Yarn Truck when it comes to the East coast. How fabulous is that?

They don’t travel around in summer because of the heat (they set up outdoors), so I must order online, and that experience has been quite good. Shipping is Free for U.S. orders over $49 (as of this writing). Emma’s Yarn is some of my favorite yarn ever and I have made the Dewdrops shawl and Sun-Kissed shawl with Emma’s Yarn. She offers bright tropical colors, which are perfect for us Florida knitters. Shipping is super fast – I’m just a couple hours away!

I like the fact that I am supporting a local store. One day I would love to visit the Four Purls shop.

Wool & Company

I can’t remember how I came across Wool & Company Fine Yarn but they are a favorite place to shop for two BIG reasons: They offer FREE U.S. shipping on any size order, and they will wind the yarn for FREE!

Their shipping is fast and the yarn is packaged in pretty dotted paper, like a gift to open! It’s the little things… and you can see below I got a free little stitch marker as well! (Miss Babs gives gifts like this too.)

Wool & Co. offers a wide selection of great yarn. It’s my favorite place to order Mohair because they will wind it for me! I once asked them to wind 2 of the 7 skeins of Shelter I purchased and discovered they wound all 7 for me! So customer service is above and beyond, IMO.

Yarn.com

The link takes you to “Webs” which is a site full of various types of yarn.  This site also lists reviews by purchasers which I’ve found to be very helpful, and they have free patterns to try.  They offer yarn discounts for certain types of yarn, according to how much you buy.   When you see the blue icon and “webs discount” on the yarn page, the discount applies.  Depending on how much yarn you buy, get either 20% or 25% off.  That is a nice discount!

Shipping can take a while and often color selections are limited.

Thumbs Up: Good discounts, big selections, and sell yarn of all prices, so you can find cheap yarn here.

Purl Soho

This site has some very pretty yarn for sale, some of which is their own brand.  I’ve bought and used the Worsted Twist to make a scarf and hat.  It is beautiful yarn.   They offer many wonderful free patterns (this is great for any beginner knitter) and wonderful knitting tutorials.  However, often the types of yarn which can also be found on other sites is a dollar or so more expensive at this site.  They don’t give regular discounts, that I’ve seen, but do offer free shipping if you spend a certain amount of money – $110 at the time of this writing.  They will wind the yarn for you, but I don’t know if there is a cost.

Thumbs Up: Unique Yarn and Color Choices, Free Patterns & Excellent video and picture tutorials. Allow comments from readers / buyers.

Miss Babs

This site offers gorgeous hand-dyed (in Tennessee) yarn.  They will wind a skein for you at a cost of $3.00 per skein.  I used this service for a 1750 yard skein!  This site has named yarns such as “Wild Iris” and “Babette” and I only recently figured out what that means.  The “Wild Iris” label means the color is not repeatable and when it’s sold out, it’s gone.  “Babette” means more will / can be made.

I love the yarn I’ve purchased, and they have sent little gifts with a couple of my orders – a few stitch markers, and a tiny sample of some yarn.  Also they sent a nice thank you card with info on how to reach them if I have questions or need help.  I love to feel appreciated, and tiny touches like that do the trick.

I have knit a Mystery Knit-along Shawl and the Bays Edge Shawl and Fine Sand sweater with Miss Babs yarn.

Thumbs Up: Beautiful & unique yarn and nice product images. Sell partial skeins for small projects / color needs.

Jimmy Beans Wool

This is a fun place to shop for yarn. Their product views are nice on this site, showing 2 or 3 images, with close-up views. In fact, that is how I found this yarn site. The Webs site, mentioned above, often has only one (not very good) image of yarn colors. When I first signed up, I got a discount coupon for a following order – I always appreciate discounts!

Thumbs Up: Great Images of Yarn & Good Sales & Fast Shipping!

The Woolly Thistle

I’m adding The Woolly Thistle as a favorite shop for online ordering of specialty wool yarn imported from the UK, Scotland, Scandinavia, and other far off places. The shop is located in New Hampshire (which definitely caught my attention) and I recently purchased some wool and a book from them (because it’s about NH crafters). Check out this store (and her podcast) if you like to do stranded colorwork with nice wool. Shipping is free if you spend over $99 and it is F A S T!