Windy Knitty

The owner, Mandy, totally grasps customer service and is very good to interact with; she will offer value-​added info, website suggestions, etc.
Not exactly sure about how she chooses the other staff; I’ve encountered a new woman on weekdays and she seems kind of frosty and defensive (or overwhelmed) in interactions. Reading some of these other reviews, looks like some other staff stuff going on, too. I think Mandy needs to look at how she chooses/​trains staff.
Good yarn selection, lots of fun stuff. People do really want warm, with-​it staff to interact with and in a boutique atmosphere they will go elsewhere. Knitting is meant to be a relaxing, fun experience– including the store.

To me, a yarn store is no good unless the staff is friendly and knowledgeable about yarn, and knows at least a little bit about knitting, crocheting, gauge, et cetera. (Ever been to one of those shops where the people who work there just sit on a couch working on a project, acting like you’re intruding?) Windy Knitty carries a wide selection of yarn that’s budget-​minded, all the way to the high-​end stuff. There are also classes and drop-​in knit sessions. When I first moved to Chicago, I had such a nice interaction with the staff at the store, one of whom not only recommended an apartment in her building, and the other of whom walked me part way to my El station. Again, this is when I was new in Chicago! I emphasize the friendliest factor because anyone who has frequented a lot of yarn stores appreciates the difference between the snooty places where you feel dumb asking any questions and the places where the staff is willing to help.
Let’s please support our local stores where the staff can give advice and help you learn how to knit or crochet, as opposed to the big-​box stores selling the low-​end stuff and whose staff can’t really answer your questions.
Windy Knitty is officially my favorite yarn store in Chicago!

They have a nice enough yarn selection but wow are they rude and unhelpful. My friend and I had planned our whole evening around starting new knitting projects. We showed up about a half hour before closing and spent several minutes picking out about $ 80 worth of yarn. We went up to pay and were told extremely rudely by the male clerk that he wouldn’t wind our yarn (some of which was lace, so there is NO way to reasonably wind at home) because they were «technically closed.» At that point I looked at my phone and saw it was indeed 3 minutes past closing. However there’d been no warning, and there was no reason for him to be so rude. They were happy to take our money, so I’m not sure what he meant by «closed.» Obviously we left without buying anything. I’ll be ordering my yarn online now!

I travel a lot and go to yarn stores wherever I land, and this is one of my favorites! Sometimes yarn stores can be a little too upscale fancy in the brands that they carry but this was not the case at Knitty City. It’s beautifully curated for the trendy city knitter, and they carry everything from basics like Cascade to niche faves like Brooklyn Tweed and Mad Tosh. The must like color because the color selection was awesome. There aren’t too many sample garments, but they do have a lot of swatches to help see how the yarns knit up.

Lovely place with a nice selection of yarn that ranges in price. They’re very helpful here. I walked in with a pattern that required aran weight, which I learned is a European weight, and they helped me find a good substitute.

I love these guys! Excellent, well-​curated and –priced selection of sumptuous yarns and –even better– EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE. For some reason, people skills can be in short supply in a lot of yarn stores, but that is not the case here, and to that I say HOORAY. You CAN be nice and sell pretty yarns. These folks are proof. I knit a lot, and they get all my business.

I love Windy Knitty so hard. It’s on my way home. Which is full of win. I also love the selection that they have. I find myself walking around, fondling yarn, looking at tags and thinking to myself, «AHHHH! So this is what all the fuss is about with *insertpopularyarncompanynamehere*! It’s where my mom wants to go look at yarn when she is in town. And she always finds something to buy. I have always had good experiences with the staff there too. I had a friend visiting from the UK. She also loved Windy Knitty. And loved it even more after we had gone down to the South Loop to yarn shop. That was super sad and super disappointing. Said friend was quite glad that she had purchased yarn at Windy Knitty.
Oh and I don’t know if they still charge a dollar to wind skeins that you don’t buy there, as stated in another review, but I fully support their decision to do so. Seriously? You bring in yarn from another store, or worse, that you bought online, and you want them to wind it for you for free? NO. Just. NO.

Love finding local yarn shops on my explorations, and Windy Knitty is a gem. They stock a wide variety of gorgeous yarns at a wide range of prices. Lots of patterns, needles, and accessories too. The sales associate was friendly and helpful, but also just let me browse and wander at whim. As a veteran knitter (over 20 years), I appreciate a thoughtful, well lit, well organized store, and Windy Knitty gets it all right.

Just love.
I learned to knit here two years ago and I’ve been knitting ever since. Yes, online yarn shopping can be a bit cheaper and I’ve even checked out other local knitting stores. But even if Windy Knitty wasn’t my closest knitting store, I would keep shopping here because I’ve always felt welcomed and the store is well-​stocked, CLEAN as a whistle, and competitively priced.
And, of course, I’ve received lots of expert advice from Tara and Grace. These are people with wool in their blood and they happily share their time, care, and advice!
Apologies in advance for feeding your knitting addiction and your stash. You’ll thank me later.

I really want to love Windy Knitty since it’s the closest yarn shop to my house, but I’ve been really disappointed the last few months.
The first issue was when I began knitting a pattern that was on display in the shop, ran into an issue, and came in to ask a question and was totally dismissed by the guy who had knitted the sample. He told me just to rip it out and start over. Look guys, I want to support my LYS, but it IS cheaper just to purchase yarn online, so if I can’t come in and ask a simple question as a paying customer, what’s the point?
Secondly, and most frustratingly, three times, my balls of yarn that have been wound here have ended up containing a rat’s nest of yarn in the middle, to be painstakingly and maddeningly detangled later when I’m halfway through a project.
Simply, life is too short to be detangling yarn, so I’ll be taking my business elsewhere.

Windy Knitty is the best yarn shop in the city. The staff is so friendly and they really know their stuff. They’re super helpful when it comes to picking out colors and figuring what yarn would work best for a project.
They have a vast selection of yarns, all ethically sourced and reasonably priced. So many beautiful colors! They also have a great selection of books, tools (hooks, needles, buttons, etc) and everything else you might need to complete your project.
They also offer a number of crochet and knitting classes, which are super awesome. I’ve taken a few and learned so much! Jill is an awesome crochet teacher! :)

I stopped here after brunch with a friend and he willingly went in with me and didn’t seem tortured by the experience. I loved this shop. I liked that parking was easy, the staff was nice without being annoying, and they had an awesome selection of yarn. I’m sort of on a yarn diet but was traveling for work and needed to get yarn for a class I’m taking, and they had lots of options here. I didn’t ask for help but I saw them helping others and they were very knowledgeable and helpful without being annoying (I hate it when you ask one question and then have a salesperson attached to your side until you leave). I love that they have spud and chloe, malabrigo, and neighborhood fiber co., which is what I bought. Also, the lighting in here was awesome – I don’t understand yarn stores that have dim lighting, how do they expect us to SEE the colors like that? I’ve started to be picky about that in my old age. Overall, great store.

I love Windy Knitty. They are a friendly group of knitters and very helpful. This was my first shop to go to for yarn. Now I have come to the dark side. Yarn everywhere.

I bought 4 balls of yarn to make a baby blanket. They were already wound, but the way were wound was really poor. I don’t know what they did, but I had to unwind, untangle and then rewind two of the four. It wasted hours of my time. It’s apparent they didn’t use a winder, and even if they did it by hand, it shouldn’t have turned out with this tangled mess. I will never go back to this store.

5 wooly stars. Yarny Yarny blissful yarn. Very good selection of yarns. Very helpful ladies running this place. Patterns, needles, kits and yarn. What more do you need???

I’ve been here twice and both times I’ve had a good experience. They had a wide selection of needles, yarn, and samples of patterns to peruse.
I went in today to get a wool wash so I could block the shawl that I just finished knitting, and I ended up talking to the employee working who spent fifteen minutes with me guiding me through my next pattern. I was going to use one pattern for a hat, but when we went through reading the pattern together, she suggested that I either use different yarn or find a new pattern. She showed me a similar pattern on their computer on ravelry, as well as a sample in the store.
I like the ambiance and selection of items here. I would highly recommend this shop.

Cute place, nice staff and lots of events. They even have knitting classes here.

The selection is great. Windy Knitty has some amazing yarns and skips out on the poor quality stuff while still having some cost effective options. It’s brilliantly organised, though some yarns are hard to reach.
But… buy your needles somewhere else. When I tried to exchange an interchangeable set of tips I’d bought three days earlier, hadn’t used and were still within their original, undamaged packaging, for a set by the same manufacturer that included the same tips, they wouldn’t do it.
The store employee claimed they won’t exchange needles even in the original packaging out of the fear that one has secretly used them. When I pointed out that it was a bigger sale, the guy all but accused me of trying to pull a fast one. Fortunately, the kit they sell for $ 82 goes online for $ 61 so the poor customer service is saving me about a third in price.
But they’ve lost my business. This is the kind of experience that makes people who would otherwise ‘buy local’ go elsewhere.

I really want to give this yarn shop 5 stars. Here’s what’s AMAZING: locally-​owned, in my neighborhood, good/​solid selection, beautiful displays, excellent samples, spacious. I am quite glad this shop is in my neighborhood. I have a pretty good place to walk to when I need a yarn-​fix, notion or just to browse. Staff is knowledgeable.
What I don’t like is the snobby, off-​putting staff member. He happens to be male. I have NOTHING against male knitters, in fact, I love love love them. (I know many male knitters that get bad raps.) Anyway, this guy is so unfriendly. He has been so to me in person and over the phone. I don’t understand what gives. Perhaps this is a Chicago thing… when I first moved here, I had trouble finding places that offered good customer service. I feel like I’m interrupting his knitting time or something when I have a question. Yikes, guy, the owner is paying you to help her customers, not for you to just sit there and knit. I used to work at a yarn shop in another city and I would have been fired if I had treated customers in the same way. Perhaps the novelty of having a male knitter work in the store allows him to get away with it.
I like this store enough to either avoid him or just ignore his attitude problem. Other staff members are super-​nice and extremely friendly.

Windy Knitty is great! I almost get overwhelmed because the yarn selection goes up to the ceiling. But the staff has always been very helpful in finding me the correct yarn for my projects. They have a great selection: along with some smaller indie labels, they have staples like Cascade and Berroco.
I took a class there with Jill and we had a great time. She’s an excellent teacher and we have the same sense of humor. Mandy, the owner, is friendly and helpful without being overbearing.
It’s a great lace to spend your fiber dollars.