New Location, Long Yarn for Knitting Store

For Linda Goone, owner of , moving her knitting studio to Buffalo Grove from Long Grove was a natural decision.

Goone, a Buffalo Grove resident whose children all attended , said the store’s new location is double the original store’s size, and is also brighter and features heavier foot traffic.

According to Goone, I’d Rather Be Knitting’s original store was in a “secluded” location on Old McHenry Road in Long Grove’s historic downtown.

“I had also outgrown the original spot,” she said. “I looked at the available property for rent in Long Grove for two years, but then I found this location.”

Goone also said she had contemplated closing the store entirely instead of finding a new location, but said she ultimately decided she couldn’t give up.

“I knew I’d miss my customers and my staff if I closed completely,” she said. “I’m here because I want to be here.”

I’d Rather Be Knitting, now located in the Woodland Commons shopping center, opened on Halloween. According to Goone, many of her regular customers continue to patronize the store’s new location.

In addition, her store can remain open late at night, enabling Goone to hold evening knitting classes with lessons focusing on creating accessories like cowls and purses. Classes are available for knitters of all skill levels, and private, one-on-one lessons can also be arranged.

I’d Rather Be Knitting’s website describes the store as a yarn shop “by women, for women.”

“I think it’s so difficult for women in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond to meet other women,” Goone explained. “When women are younger, it’s easier to meet other women through their children. But it’s so hard when you get older. I started my store so women could have a place to come to and make new friends.

“That’s the difference between us and big-box retailers,” Goone said. “Those stores are so cold and impersonal.”

“It’s like comparing McDonald’s to a steakhouse,” said Toby Walanka, a self-described “shop girl” at I’d Rather Be Knitting for the last six years. “There’s no one to help you or correct you at the big-box stores.”

Walanka said that one of the staff members was considered the “knitting whisperer,” and could help knitters out of the mistakes they’ve made.

While there are other knitting studios in the area, including on the Cook County side of Buffalo Grove, Goone said that each store has its own personality.

The store is organized neatly, with yarn categorized together by type, such as novelty or baby blankets.

Finished samples of shawls, sweaters, and accessories are found throughout the store. Goone, a life-long knitter, has knit most of the samples on display. The samples are used to promote a new pattern or type of yarn.

“Shoppers like seeing a finished work so they know what the yarn looks like when it’s all knit up,” Walanka said.

The store has also seen steady sales, even in recent years.

“Knitters will continue to spend money on knitting,” Goone said. “Knitting goes through peaks and valleys, and people will go on to something else. It can be cyclical.”

I’d Rather Be Knitting also organizes an annual overnight retreat in a hotel in January, with activities that include a fashion show featuring retreat participants’ clothing and a lesson on a new knitting skill. The upcoming retreat has been sold out since early fall.