LYS

Since I have started knitting, I have had a LYS, or Local Yarn Shop. Ever since I signed up for my first knitting class, I knew that they were nice, friendly ladies. See, I chatted with them for at least half an hour when all I meant to do was give them money for the class! Throughout the last bit over a year, I have gotten to know them a bit better and become a "good" customer. :)

See, I buy the majority of my wool/yarn from them (and often feel guilty if I don't) and have taken a lot of classes from them, as well as going to knitting night on Thursdays. They have encouraged me to do some of my own designing and wowed over every finished object, and some works in progress that I have brought in. Last night, I wasn't able to go to Knit Night and I got a text from Lisa asking how much yarn I needed for the shawls that I am making for my bridesmaids. I emailed her back this morning and then spoke to her. The yarn they had coming in (and I planned to snatch all of) is on backorder until Sept!!! That just won't do. So, unknown to me, they called a bunch of other Irish shops to see if any of them carried the yarn and had some in stock. They found one company that did and had that information for me by the time I called them back this afternoon! They didn't want me to have a crisis! That just amazes me.

After I got home from work this evening, I called around to some shops back at home since I'll be moving back there later this month. The first shop I called didn't have the yarn but could order it. When I explained that it was back ordered here in Ireland, one of the women took my details and said that she would put my request out on another site and to have a distributor contact me directly! The second shop I called asked me about the yarn and then said she didn't have it. She wasn't helpful (wasn't helpful in person the one time I have been there either). The third shop (sadly websiteless) I called had the yarn I needed and even the amount I needed! After I explained that I was calling from another country, I asked if the woman would mail the yarn to a local address for me. She will!

With the yarn crisis averted, I rang my LYS back and told them how much I had, that I did need their remaining stock and that I was successful in finding yarn at home. The process just amazed me at how much customer service a LYS can give. In many ways your LYS is like a hairdresser. Once you find a good one, you are intensely loyal and feel like you are "cheating" if you go somewhere else, even if they don't have the item you want. You develop a relationship with them. They are not just a shop owner or a shop, they become a part of your life...