The Knit & Stitch Shoppe

I love this huge and well stocked yarn hot spot hidden downstairs on marine drive before 25^th. Ingrid the owner is a well of information and is super helpful/​friendly.
While no regular knit nights are scheduled outside of regular business hours, there’s always an open invitation to drop by.
Check it out!

I have been to this shop before, when I happened upon it by accident a few years ago. I wanted to revisit it, to see if it lived up to my memory of it. I was not disappointed!
Walking along Marine Drive, you might overlook the shop altogether, if you didn’t notice the signs around it: it’s just a door between two other shops. But what a huge shop this one is! It is downstairs of the 2 shops beside and above it, comprising the basement area of both shops above, and it opens out into the back where there is ample parking. the store is huge! Last time I was here, I collected items in my arms as I walked down the stairs and past the displays, until my arms were so full that I could carry no more! I couldn’t buy it all — there was no room in my suitcase :-(This time, I tried to choose wisely, with specific projects in mind. Still, I walked out with 5 projects! My queue is very long… Still, this time, it’s a hat, 2 pairs of socks, and 2 dishcloths; not too overwhelming! Last time, I chose a Koigu yarn, which is hard to get back home. This became a pair of socks for me.
I like to pick up yarn when I’m away from home (especially unusual yarns, which I cannot purchase easily at shops near home) — as a souvenir of the places I’ve visited. These souvenirs are best knitted up into useable items rather than stored in my stash.
It’s an awesome shop with plenty of yarns to choose from, and the staff is very helpful.

I have been a customers for too many years to remember, but I was also a customer
of Ingrid’s dad when she was still a young girl.
I have always found help when I needed it and the service has always been A1

Best wool store in Vancouver, hands down. There is something for everyone here, with affordable-​to-​fancy yarns. We live downtown and I’m so glad I made the drive to Dundarave to visit this shop. The owner is so helpful, she gladly answers any knitting or crochet questions you have. I am starting to crochet and she spent some time helping me to pick a wool. I appreciated that she didn’t take me to the most expensive yarns in the store, as I’ve had happen before with a few other stores. She also spent some time going through how I should be holding my yarn etc. So helpful and I look forward to returning to this cosy little shoppe.

I’m going to be in the minority here, but I’ve tried Knit & Stitch multiple times over the last 6 years and I’ve almost always walked out empty-​handed. Every time it’s the same experience — initial elation when I see the amount of yarn in the store, then frustration and ultimately dejection as I realize that despite the amount of yarn in the store, there’s nothing there that works for my project.
Basically Knit & Stitch is the perfect example that quantity does not equal quality. Other stores in town may not have as much yarn, but they’re better edited. Yes, Knit & Stitch has a lot of yarn, so much yarn that it’s a bit overwhelming. Once you look closer, though, you realize that they don’t have much nice yarn (here are my yarn snob prejudices coming out). They have a handful of Jo Sharp yarns, and one or two Rowan and Debbie Bliss yarns that I could find. There were one or two wool cashmere yarns, but not in the gauge I needed. They have a fair amount of Noro, if you’re into the multicolour thing. But the rest of the store seems to be flooded with cheap acrylic /​polyester yarns like Sirdar & Phildar, or cheap, scratchy wools like Cascade & Lang. You can get any colour and just about any type of yarn you want from those brands.
A few positives: 1) Knit & Stitch is the only shop in Vancouver that carries Dale (although mostly only the baby yarns, not the whole line). 2) The staff is quite helpful — were helping a patron learn new techniques so she could finish a project when I was in the store today — they have more room for this than other places in Vancouver. 3) If you don’t mind acrylic & polyester blends, or aren’t looking for soft wools, you will likely find everything you could ever possibly need.
One last thing to note: the owner is deathly allergic to alpaca, so there are no alpaca yarns in the store. She’ll suggest substituting an angora yarn, of which they have a few (but as my husband is deathly allergic to angora, that doesn’t work; besides, I prefer alpaca’s texture to angora).

Not already a knitter? A quick trip to the Knit & Stitch Shoppe is all you need to get started. If you’re already addicted to knitting, this is the place to go for all things needle and yarn. Entering the store, it’s more than likely you’ll encounter staff and customers knitting and chatting on the couches, while all around the walls are lined with cubbyholes bursting with colourful yarns.
The shop carries yarns in every material and at every price, as well as books, patterns, needles, and accessories. You’ll find everything from baby-​fine acrylics to chunky wools and mohairs, to luxury yarns in silk, cashmere, and merino blends. To demo how particular yarns look and feel when finished, staff have knitted swatches and small projects for customers to fondle.
Speaking of the staff, the experienced knitters and crocheters on staff can help you choose the right materials for your project and budget. Also, the store also offers ongoing informal knitting lessons at the Monday night Knit and Bitch. It’s not hard to see why knitters flock to this Dundarave institution from across the Lower Mainland.

Completely worth the trip to Dundarave. It’s a yarn temple. The ladies can be kind of intimidating in their all-​knowing command of knitting, but there are smiles beneath their initial stern gazes. Definitely take their advice if you’re looking for a yarn to match the pattern you’ve picked out, or if you’ve tangled yourself up, so to speak, with a project.