Woolworks

For every unfriendly yarn shop I go to, Woolworks stands in stark contrast. They are warm, friendly and extremely knowledgeable. I go to this shop as often as I can – I live a good 45 minutes away and each time I come to the shop with my knitting friends, we are greeted by the owner and staff who are genuinely happy to see us. No matter how busy they are, and they are usually very busy, they never make me feel rushed or that my questions are silly. They yarn selection is amazing and their customer support is unbelievable. If you want to feel special, go to this shop. They will «oohhh and ahhh» over your knitting (even if the yarn was not purchased from them). They will make you feel like the most talented and creative knitter they have ever seen. I HIGHLY recommend this shop. Its probably a good thing that I live farther away… I would spend ALL my $ here. I look forward to going to this shop and usually make an entire day out of it. Go — you won’t be disappointed.

This place rocks. Was reluctant to go back after a bad experience with customer service about 10 years ago, but the ownership has since changed… for the better! Wide range of yarns and selection of natural yarns compared to other yarn stores in the Baltimore area which have a majority of synthetic blends. Great colors. Highly recommend this place to anyone.

I took a private lesson and we so happy with all the help I got. They special ordered the yarn I needed and balled it up for me. They have a great selection of yarns and buttons!

Love their needle selection a little more than I love their yarn selection, honestly! Every time I’ve had a weird needle need, they’ve had it, and it’s my favorite brand, too!
Yarn selection is good, but I kinda wish it were organized more specifically by yarn weight, because it’s a little distracting when I have something I’m looking for.
Parking lot can be a little dicey, so drive carefully!

A great selection but I’ve found the customer service to be pretty iffy — sometimes staff are friendly and approachable, and sometimes seem preoccupied and fail to communicate things like changing event times/​dates, prices, etc.

This yarn shop has it all. It was warm and welcoming plus they have a lot of yarn. We were greeted promptly and asked a few times if we needed help or direction. Not overbearing but in a very gentle manner. They had a group of Knitters at the table and everyone seemed in high spirits. The atmosphere was friendly and at home with a splash of cozy. It’s definitely worth a trip!

UPDATE: Happened to be in the area again and decided to give Woolworks a second try. This was a very different experience. I was greeted immediately upon entering the shop and received plenty of friendly help.
I really like the patterns they display. They all have a younger style and vibe going on which I really appreciate. I wanted some yarn that they didn’t have quite enough of and they ordered an extra skein for me while I was standing there and, sure enough, I received it exactly when they said I would.
If I didn’t live out of state, I’d probably be here every other week.
³⁄₂₀₁₃
Came into this small store and wandered around for about 20 minutes without being greeted or spoken to by either of the two employees that were working. They weren’t busy, but they much more interested in the yarn rep. that was there than me. I was interested in a particular yarn and after waiting another 5 minutes, making eye contact, I finally spoke up and asked for help. Once I did that, they were friendly and helpful. When I went to check out, I when through this whole thing again — waited, waited, asked to check out, and then treated very friendly.
Overall, it’s a cute little shop with some nice yarns and interesting patterns. However, their attention to customers needs improvement. It wasn’t that they were unfriendly, but simply not attentive. So, I gave them 3 stars. 4 stars for the yarn and patterns, 2 stars for customer service.

I love this place! The store offers a lot of yarns from fine lace weight to bulky/​heavy yarn and with a lot of colors (sometimes I even wish they had less so it would make my choice easier!). They also have different types of needles (I personally love the lace needles!). The items seem a bit pricey but I am not too familiar with how much material should cost and I don’t mind paying a bit extra if I get very good quality yarn or needles.
I started knitting in November 2011 and the staff has been nothing but extremely helpful every step of the way. To be honest, I even feel badly for the reviews I was reading that don’t relate to the same experience I’ve had. I’ve been greeted every time I’ve come, people have been helping me personally for the type of yarn I’ve been searching for (I never had to look through a binder and never seen anybody handed a binder to look for yarns), and I’ve always been asked if my skeins needed to be wound.
The first time I joined the place was to sign up for a class. I took the class and loved it so much that I took a second class (Gloves), then a third (Estonian Lace), and now I am knitting by myself. I’ll probably take a new class if I find one that inspires me (e.g., two color work, hat) They seem to offer classes mainly in the Fall, Winter, and Spring, much less in the Summer (maybe because people are away on vacation?).
I also love to go and just knit at the store. Any day and time when the store is opened, you can just hang out and knit with fellow knitters and crocheters. It is a nice small community. There is also a Facebook page and a Ravelry group that helps the building of the community feeling. On Thursdays from 5 to 8pm, they have a knit-​a-​long where people knit together (sometimes the same project, sometimes not). On Friday mornings from 9am to 11am, they often have knit and nosh where you can come, knit, and eat cookies or other things. They also provide help any day. I’ve come several times and asked them for a dropped stitch or weird thing going on with my pattern and they have always been very helpful and patient. I know that if you need a bit more advice, you can also take a one-​hour private class. I haven’t had the need for one just yet because my mistakes are usually easily fixed but I know I can rely on that if I decide to go on a pattern that end up being complicated.
Finally, the parking lot is fairly small so it can become very tricky to go and park during «rush hours.»
In conclusion, I highly recommend that place!

Great little store! I would definitely recommend it to a local knitter in need of help or a tourist looking for a yarn fix.
Pros:
+highly knowledgeable and friendly staff*
+good balance of workhorse yarn and a rotating selection of special stuff (Madelinetosh, Claudia’s Handpaints, Neighborhood Yarn Co., etc)
+extensive selection of needles, notions, and patterns
+it’s a very active shop with good events and sales**
+the «baby room» (section of the shop geared toward knitting for kids) is really well curated***
Cons:
–it’s a small cottage so it can get a bit dark inside (but the shopkeepers encourage you to check you skein colors outside in natural light if you have a concern)
–it’s on the pricier end
*The knowledgeable staff is a huge plus for me. These ladies have been knitting and crocheting (and spinning!) for many many years and are very helpful. Woolworks has by far the most skillful and helpful staff I have come across in the Baltimore area.
**The shop hosts popular designers, has weekly knit nights and knit-​and-​nosh days, and offers tons of classes and knit-​alongs. I know other shops do this but I think Woolworks is unique in its quality — the offerings reflect new popular patterns as well as customer interest, always with multiple options.
***Usually this wouldn’t be something I even notice, but I am so used to brushing past pastel acrylic that it was refreshing to be drawn to a section with lovely yarn and adorable patterns.
Review based on 10+ visits.

It is truly sad that a few people are unimpressed with Woolworks in Baltimore. I am a very frequent customer (read. daily) at this wonderful place. The atmosphere is always friendly, always helpful. This charming little shoppe has taken on a popularity and a life of its own. Yes, I can testify to the fact that on any day and at any time the place can become a can of sardines. After all, the building is only so big people. Further, I can testify to the fact that I have seen an ALARMING NUMBER of women just walk in that store and were just TOTALLY RUDE. They could see that the people who work there who are the owners and that they are helping people who have come in with problems long before they pulled into the parking lot. The four women who own and work there are four of the most wonderful people on this earth, but I hasten to tell you that they are just as human as the offended visitors. If you are doing something that is obviously demanding your attention how would you like someone breaking your concentration? Seems like the offended ones have no knowledge of patience and waiting their turn, let alone having in their vocabularies the phrase…“excuse me or sorry to bother you”.
I could go on and on about this type of rudeness in this country and it certainly again confirms the «me mentality» of our time.
Let me tell you knitters, you should go there and see for yourselves.
These negative and petty reviews about prices on yarn skeins sound to me like a asserted effort to put down a place that is prospering. Come on, have a heart and most of all show some upbringing in good manners. It really is not a hard thing to do.

I was not impressed with the people who worked there. I wandered the small store for at least 15 mins with no one so much as greeting me. There was a group knitting at the table and the two women that worked there were obviously socializing. I finally asked someone about a type of wool I was looking for and she reluctantly showed me.
None of the wool was marked with a price so I had to keep asking. It was obvious by the woman’s response that they subscribed to the «if you have to ask you can’t afford it» attitude of over priced shops. I wasn’t all the impressed with the selection, regardless of the price.
If you want a store with personable people and more reasonable prices visit Lovelyarns in Hampden.

I am new to crochet. The day I came here, a Friday in summer, I was kind of wandering around wondering «where are the prices or details about the yarn» but the staff was too busy to notice (no other customers in the shop, but a knitting group was going on, unsupervised.)
When I finally got up the courage to ask for prices (thinking to myself «If I have to ask, I probably don’t belong here!») the lady handed me a binder in which I had to look up each skein by brand name, which I had to find on the yarn skein. I felt silly and ignored.
To make matters worse, as a beginner I didn’t know they should wind the skeins for me. I told them I would be traveling to Maine and hoped to work on my crochet there. They just handed me my 80 dollars of unspooled yarn! In Maine I ended up with a snarled mess. It wasn’t til I ended up at Lovely Yarns on the Avenue that I learned they should have wound it for me and I wasn’t stupid because it tangled.
So, after paying a premium, the shop knowing I was a new customer, and being ignored, I ended up with some very expensive tangles.
Luckily lovelyyarns helped me as a newbie and I have crocheted some pretty afghans since. Woolworks made me feel intimidated and kind of beaten down, which is too bad since it’s actually pretty close to home for me. The whole thing of being handed a tattered binder so they could ignore me more, and then finding out afterwards that they should’ve wound the skeins, made me feel even worse than the initial experience.
I’m giving them only a MEH rating (it should have been lower) because I want more yarn stores around and I hope they can improve and maybe treat enthusiastic, yet clueless, people like me a little better. I wish that small businesses like this understood that maybe their snap judgements – or mood of the day – could actually cost them a lot of business.
I’m not usually this earnest, but I wanted to like Woolworks, and I just couldn’t. I suppose I also believe that people who like to knit and crochet, and who base their business on people who like to knit and crochet, should be a little more welcoming, more like the lady who runs Lovely Yarns… which I shall review (positively!) soon.

I drove a ways to visit this store and was not disappointed. Very friendly and gave me tips, information about meetings, explained the product to me. I will be going back.

In recent months, Woolworks has gone under new management — and oh, what a change! The back room has new shelving, much of the clutter is cleared away, and a bigger button selection.
However, these points are pale in comparison to the shift in customer service. When you walk in the door, you’re made to feel welcomed. Even though I’m not exactly a frequent customer (read: on a yarn budget at the moment), the people in the shop remember me. The employees are happy to answer questions and provide suggestions. People are always hanging around.
You feel a refreshed sense of community while you’re there. And at the end of the day, that’s what I’m looking for in my LYS.

Fantastic store run by friendly people. The store is a mecca for those who knit (or have things knit for them). You can find incredibly beautiful natural fibers, bamboo needles, and lots of hard to find accessories. It’s a destination location, but if you come, enjoy the local parks and the drive along Falls Road.

This is probably the best yarn shop I have been in in a long long time. I went at exactly 5 on a Friday evening (the time they close on Fridays) but they stayed open so I could shop. The women that work at this store are kind, knowledgeable, and funny. The store is small but they have a large range of natural fiber yarns (cashmere, wool, alpaca, silk) in all sorts of colors. They don’t have too many novelty yarns which is a relief but they do have all sorts of buttons (including some so pretty I glued them to ring forms and made cocktail rings out of them). The store offers classes and they have a pretty good website as far as yarn websites go.