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With the recent demise of Joann Fabrics, Peninsula residents may be looking for alternatives to buy fabrics along with sewing and knitting supplies.
Thankfully, there isn’t a shortage of locally owned, independent stores with similar offerings.
The Six Fifty interviewed three of these business owners. Find a list of other shops on the Peninsula at the end of this article.
Uncommon Threads, Los Altos
Uncommon Threads in Los Altos has become a “happy place” for a community of knitters, said owner Stephanie Hein, who took over the business in 2009 when the previous owner retired. The business has been around for over 40 years.
Hein is looking for a new space for the shop, as the owner of the building told occupants their leases wouldn’t be renewed and would end in February 2026, according to the Los Altos Town Crier. Hein said she has leads on a new location in downtown Los Altos, where she wants to stay because there is “so much good foot traffic.”
Hein, who lives in Los Altos, has a background in fashion and costume design. She grew up outside of Chicago, making clothes for animal figurines since her parents wouldn’t let her play with Barbie dolls.
“I kind of feel like I’ve been doing it from the time I could hold a pair of scissors,” she said of her crafting work. She started sewing in high school and worked in costuming for her college theater program at Santa Clara University. “For my study abroad year in France, I couldn’t bring my sewing machine so I tried knitting — I just needed needles and a ball of yarn.”
She spent several years as a customer at Uncommon Threads herself. When the prior owner fell ill and needed to sell the business, Hein stepped in.
“I thought, ‘(You) spend all your free time there anyway, so you might as well be the owner,’” Hein said. “Before I had kids I was a project manager for a web design company, so I’m used to juggling things. It’s been a really great fit — I have to wear so many different hats as a business owner…It’s so wonderful to be in a hobby sort of business.”
Hein finds joy in encountering people who come into the store wanting to do something nice for themselves or someone else. It might be a grandma finding out they are welcoming a new grandchild who needs help picking out yarn for a baby blanket. It might be someone who just got a new pair of shoes and wants to make a sweater to go with them, or a chemo patient who wants a really soft cap.
Hein described how people in the shop often exchange “knitter’s handshakes” — when you pet someone’s sweater in admiration.
“The openness and sharing — that is so wonderful,” she said. “It really fills me up.”
Hein said she and her staff know the store inventory well. They know how the yarn will behave and how it will work, and they can direct shoppers to different pattern choices and price points. And the store’s Tuesday night knit group is so popular that they often run out of chairs.
The shop used to have a reputation for being snobby, Hein said.
“Not everybody is born a natural crocheter or knitter,” she said. “Some people have limited budgets. I really want people to feel like they can come in and be treated like a human being…We really want people to be successful.”
Uncommon Threads, 293 State St., Los Altos; 650-941-1815, Instagram: @uncommonthreadsyarn. Open Tuesday from noon to 8 p.m. (Open Stitch Night), Wednesday-Friday from noon to 6 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. uncommonthreadsyarn.com.
Nordic Nest, San Carlos
Started as a gift shop and importer of Scandinavian goods, Nordic Nest eventually evolved primarily into a yarn store.
Owner Anette Grøstad started selling yarn in the store in 2019, and the last two years the store shifted its focus to selling yarn and knitting products. During the pandemic, she said, people became more interested in developing the creative parts of themselves, so hobbies like knitting caught on.
“I am an artist and do a lot of creative things for the store,” said Grøstad, a San Carlos resident. “I have the flexibility to be creative and teach crafting classes and help other people be creative.”
Grøstad grew up near Oslo, Norway, and was an illustrator for Norwegian children’s books previously. She moved to the Bay Area to attend college at Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
She hosts birthday parties, along with knitting, crocheting, ornament sewing and yarn spinning classes. The store has a free open knit/craft night on Thursdays from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Participants must bring their own yarn. Grøstad is also in the process of adding more crocheting and knitting classes for kids.
The store also carries homeware, lotion and crafting supplies from Denmark. Grøstad makes trays, crafting kits, mugs and cards, which the store sells. The store carries yarn from long-established Norwegian companies like Sandnes Garn, which was founded in 1888.
Nordic Nest, 781 Laurel St., San Carlos; 650-592-5500, Instagram: @shopnordicnest. Open Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. shopnordicnest.com.
Cottage Yarns, South San Francisco
Since 1966, Cottage Yarns has been a staple for yarn, knitting and crochet supplies and buttons in South San Francisco, just three lights up from See’s Candies.
Current owner Kathryn Mulgrew, a longtime resident of the city, says the store carries a prolific number of yarns — 500 — ranging from angora to yak.
Mulgrew formerly worked as a broker and in biotech but always wanted to own her own business, as she was influenced by her father, who ran his own carpentry business. She also had a knitting background — she learned to knit as a middle schooler in Minnesota.
“I love being a mom and pop business,” Mulgrew said. The store is a family affair: Her daughter worked in the shop after school as a teen and Mulgrew’s husband, now retired, helps around the store.
Mulgrew added that chain store employees won’t necessarily have the same knowledge of the products as local business owners like herself.
The storefront is too small to accommodate classes, but Mulgrew points patrons to nearby resources. For example, the South San Francisco Library offers a Thursday “mending hour” at 901 Civic Campus Way, where people can use sewing machines, thread and needles to repair torn items. Library staff is also available for assistance. On Saturdays at the same location as the mending hour, there is a yarn crafting workshop. Mulgrew will also spend time at the front desk with customers to answer questions about their yarns.
Cottage Yarns, 607 W. Orange Ave., South San Francisco; 650-873-7371. Open Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. cottageyarns.com.
Other shops
Yarn stores
Peninsula Flock Knits, Burlingame: This recently opened knitting shop is located on the border of Millbrae and Burlingame and offers classes. The store is the only stockist in the United States for several of the brands of yarn, according to its website.
The shop owners will soon be announcing an expanded curriculum of classes that will be starting in June, according to Peninsula Flock’s Instagram. The owners also plan to share more information about their upcoming Knit Along event, which runs from June 14-July 26.
Peninsula Flock Knits, 1816 Magnolia Ave., Burlingame; 650-678-0968, Instagram: @peninsulaflockknits. Open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday from 4-8 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The store is closed through June 4 while the owners embark on a yarn shopping trip. peninsulaflockknits.com.
The Royal Bee Yarn Company, Pacifica: This Coastside shop specializes in natural fibers that are ethically sourced and dyed and has its own line of eco-friendly yarn. Former owner Kelley Corten recently sold the business, and the shop is temporarily closed while the new owner “restocks, reimagines, and adds her own flair,” Corten said in a recent Instagram post. A soft store reopening is set for June 7, with a grand reopening party June 21.
The Royal Bee Yarn Company, 1922 Palmetto Ave., Pacifica; 650-898-8329, Instagram: @theroyalbeeyarncompany. theroyalbeeyarncompany.com.
City Needlework, Burlingame: Located in a small shopping center in downtown Burlingame, City Needlework has been around for over 25 years. Before moving to Burlingame in 2023, the store resided in San Mateo.
It carries handcrafted pillows, ornaments and furniture, along with crafting supplies such as trim, thread and other sewing supplies. The store also offers custom project finishing services.
City Needlework, 1375 Burlingame Ave. #202B, Burlingame; 650-348-2151, Instagram: @cityneedlework. Open Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. customneedlepointfinishing.com.
Fengari Fiber Arts, Half Moon Bay: Located in downtown Half Moon Bay, Fengari Fiber Arts sells yarn, needles, patterns, buttons, books, knitting accessories and gifts. Fengari is Greek for moon, meaning “the thing that gleams.” The shop also offers all-level classes for knitters.
Fengari Fiber Arts, 415 Main St., Half Moon Bay; 650-726-2550, Instagram: @fengarifiberarts. Open Sunday-Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. fengari.net.
Old World Designs, Menlo Park: Linda Mendenhall purchased Old World Designs in 1991. Originally located at Allied Arts, the store has been on Santa Cruz Avenue in Menlo Park since 2002.
It’s a full-service needlepoint shop with a variety of fibers (silk, metallics, wools, cottons and more), as well as tools and accessories such as beads, cutters and more. The store offers private and group classes for stitchers of every level. It also hosts weekly stitch-ins on Fridays, plus workshops and other events.
Old World Designs, 727 Santa Cruz Ave., Menlo Park; 650-321-3494, Instagram: @oldworlddesigns. Open Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. oldworlddesigns.com.
Fabric stores
Coastside Quilt Studio, Pacifica: Open since 2023, the business mainly serves as the headquarters and studio for owner Dana Miller’s custom quilt projects, but she also offers community classes and a small selection of fabric for sale.
For $25 a day ($35 includes sewing machine rental), crafters can take advantage of open studio time for sewing and crafting. The studio also rents out a long arm – a large computerized sewing machine – for those who want to make their own quilts.
Coastside Quilt Studio, 1305 Palmetto Ave., Unit E, Pacifica; 650-733-7200, Instagram: @coastsidequiltstudio.
Needles Studio, Los Altos: Opened in 2019, Needles Studio moved to downtown Los Altos in 2021. The store sells fabric and supplies, and it offers classes in sewing and other textile crafts. There is also open studio time for people to use the shop’s sewing machines, cutting tables, ironing stations and other tools.
Needles Studio, 334 State St. #101, Los Altos; 650-521-0791, Instagram: @needlesstudio. Open Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. needlesstudio.com.
Always Quilting, San Mateo: This San Mateo fabric store specializes in quilting fabrics, notions and sewing machines. It also offers classes, including a beginning sewing class, a kids’ camp and technique classes.
Always Quilting, 4230 Olympic Ave., San Mateo; 650-458-8580, Instagram: @always.quilting. Open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. alwaysquiltingonline.com.
