Visiting Angelfire Studios

Last Wednesday I went to check out Angelfire Studios in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. The shop is both a pottery workshop and yarn store. I’ve been meaning to go here for awhile but it’s a bit further away then I generally have time for during my lunch break.

Thursday at Justine’s
Originally uploaded by throughtheloops

The shop is located in an upscale shopping center. I wasn’t sure what building it was in, but it happened to be the last one so it wasn’t hard to find. I walked in to find the owner, Justine, chatting with another customer. She asked if I needed help and after I declined she basically left me alone.

The front half of the store is the yarn and books. In the middle is a worktable and the rear is for pottery. Angelfire Studios had a wide but not amazing selection of yarn. I had gone there specifically to see Spud & Chloe but they also had of Blue Sky Alpacas, Malabrigo, Manos del Uruguay, Koigu and more. They stocked a bit of fancier/more unusual stuff like Seasilk. They also seemed to have a lot of cotton. The yarn is sort of sorted by brand and type.

There was a table in the front with stacks of books and magazines. I didn’t really like this as it was hard to find anything. I didn’t even notice there were magazines on the table, and I had to ask Justine for help finding a copy of Knitscene Fall 09.

After poking around a bit looking for bulky yarns I did settle on Outer from Spud & Chloe. I got 2 colors that I’m going to use to make Christmas gifts. After I told Justine what I was doing with them, she showed me a sample and some other options.

A note on pricing – Outer was $14 per skein. Online it seems to be $13.80 – $14. I appreciate when shops sell yarn at msrp. I try to support local shops but it’s hard when they’re charging over list price.

Overall I thought it was a nice shop. The owner was on the younger, hipper side of the yarn shop owner spectrum and they seemed to be very up on knitting trends. The one thing I thought was somewhat lacking was a variety of more basic yarns. You couldn’t go in there and buy enough yarn for a sweater without spending a big chunk of change. However this is in a wealthy area so I guess their stock reflects their clientele.