NOVEMBER & DECEMBER
Extended Hours
Monday - CLOSED
Tuesday - Wednesday 10 am- 5 pm
Thursday - Friday - Saturday 10 am- 7 pm
Sunday 12 pm - 4 pm
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Dianna Judge - Owner, Longmont Yarn Shoppe
Hello and Welcome to Longmont Yarn Shoppe! I’m Dianna, the proud new owner of this beautiful shop and the leader of this amazing team. I am so lucky to be a part of this community and to continue the legacy of Longmont Yarn Shoppe.
My love of yarn began at 8 years old when my grandmother taught me to make a simple granny square. Since then, my love of crochet has grown exponentially. Originally from the East Coast, I moved to Colorado in 1999 to attend CSU in Fort Collins. I began teaching crochet to my friends in college and realized how much I loved sharing my passion with others. It wasn't until I was in my twenties that I finally learned to knit.
My husband and I spent a few years traveling the country for work and I had the opportunity to teach crochet at a few different independent yarn shops. In 2022 we returned to Colorado with our son (and way more yarn than I left with!)
Knitting and Crochet are the two crafts I have done the longest. I love to learn new things, which is why I enjoy working at Longmont Yarn Shoppe! I also love to help others and am always happy to help our customers with their latest projects. Sometimes I'm referred to as Lacy Knits - and helping to teach lace at LYS is something I am excited about!
Cheryl Szydlo - Before I was 10 when my family moved to Colorado my paternal grandmother taught me to sew and I also enjoyed embroidery. I don’t have a vivid memory of my mom teaching me to knit but it was sometime in that same timeframe. My first project memory is of a sweater I knit in the 6th grade for a friend. I’m afraid it had very long and much too narrow sleeves that could’ve fit a stick figure, LOL! It didn’t deter me from a love of the craft and knitting has been my go-to creative outlet ever since despite forays into quilting and needlepoint too. I knit for hire when I was pregnant with my first child – working from home in Glenwood Springs and blasting out sweaters in bulky mohair yarns for a woman who sold them to an upscale sports store in Vail. I got to move back to my hometown of Estes Park soon thereafter, began working for the Yarn N’ Needle and became a partner in that business from 1984 until 1987. I loved everything about my time there but my favorite thing was teaching classes. I have always knit more for friends and family than for myself and love creating just the right thing to gift.
I was thrilled to discover Longmont Yarn Shoppe soon after it opened and am proud and grateful to be a part of the community created there. Currently I am excited to be a part of the staff and always look forward to sharing and creating with coworkers and customers alike.
I’ve realized (or maybe remembered) that focusing on creativity and allowing myself to spend more time painting and knitting is something I am compelled to do. For the past several years I have been knitting almost daily with a goal of improving and leaving my comfort zone. Recently I’ve been trying my hand at creating without patterns and learning more about techniques and fiber. Having a connection to this inspiring and creative Longmont Yarn Shoppe community is amazing. As I settle in at the shop, learning so many new things, I think I’ll find a way to use my knitting, group facilitation and teaching skills to participate more fully. I welcome the opportunities.
The best part about finding LYS has been connecting to a community of makers that speak my language. I love hand and machine knitting, weaving on a floor loom, painting, illustration, and trail running. I’m learning to spin, crochet, and sew. If you find me in the shop, ask me about the magic loop method, sock knitting, continental style knitting, knitting machines, weaving, or fiber history.
Jennifer teaches at Stitches and appears regularly at fiber festivals and yarn shops around the country. She is happy to call Longmont her home base and LYS!!
Heather McChesney- Heather Is a native to Boulder county, raised in the mountains above Boulder. She is married, has two wonderful children, a beautiful dog, several cats and an angora bunny.
As a child her mom kept her and her sister busy with fabric, yarn, beads and books which led her to her continual desire to create beautiful things. Heather learned to knit and crochet when she was less than 10 years old and mostly crocheted off and on in her youth. In college Heather took fiber arts classes in between the classes for her child development degree and fell in love with fiber even more. She started spinning with a drop spindle, knitting, dyeing, and wet felting. After college and once Heather started her family her fiber arts passion became something that she did more frequently and she started to teach her children and the children in her daycare.
After doing daycare for eight years, Heather moved on to become a full time Realtor in Longmont. This transition allows Heather to be more present with her two kids, the flexibility to create more, and the ability help people in our community. Christmas of 2018 her husband and mom gave her her first spinning wheel which quickly became her favorite creative outlet. Heather loves to spin, knit, needle felt, crochet, quilt and is learning to weave with her handspun wool.
I discovered 2D dry needle felting a couple of years ago and am hooked. It’s such a calming and creative way to make art. My day to day work focuses on felting and painting. I’m inspired by the Colorado landscape, farm animals and illustrations from beloved children’s books. I am a member of the Longmont Artists’ Guild and the Boulder Handweavers Guild. My work has been shown locally, most recently in MECO’s. I hope to see you in one of my classes so I can share my passion with you!
Stephanie co-authored the book Woven Scarves: 26 Inspired designs for the Rigid Heddle Loom with Jane Patrick. Her other projects can be found in Spin-Off Magazine, The Weaver’s Idea book by Jane Patrick, and she also Co-authors Yearning to Weave and Spin (a Schacht Spindle publication). All students are sure to find inspiration in any class she teaches. She loves to spread her contagious enthusiasm for spinning with everyone she meets, and is so fun to be around!
Nancy Jencks - In a previous life, Nancy worked as a sales engineer and project manager. When she retired from the corporate world, she followed her heart and began working at a yarn store that supported all fiber related arts/crafts. She is an experienced sewer, spinner, weaver, crocheter, and hand knitter who put most of that aside when, after a long hiatus, she got back into machine knitting. She hasn’t sold her floor loom yet, but she has moved it into a storage area to make room for more knitting machines.
Nancy loves to make useful things. Her mother taught her to sew at age 12 and she's been learning new ways to make things ever since. She can spin, weave, hand knit, crochet and of course machine knit- often combining these skills into a single project. She and Laura started Yarn Squirrel Knitting to introduce the fun of machine knitting to those who have more stash than they know what to do with!
Yarn Squirrel Knitting is a company dedicated to inspiring people to machine knit. Laura and Nancy teach in-person classes and provide pop-up machine knitting studios, focusing on helping students visualize what they’re doing and why. Their goal is to bring new machine knitters into the fold so that they can experience the satisfaction of creating unique garments that fit.
Andee has taught crochet, needle felting and injury prevention classes to students of all ages. She has her Level 1 & 2 Certification as a Crochet Instructor from the Craft Yarn Council. Her teaching has included classes and private lessons at her local yarn shop and schools, as well as at national festivals and conferences. She loves the versatility of crochet and enjoys designing projects that are entertaining to work up. She is passionate about passing on the crochet techniques that she has mastered and teaching others the love of working with yarn and hook. She has been a member of the Crochet Guild of America since 2008 and served on the National Board of Directors from January 2018 – July 2020.
Andee has been writing about crochet techniques, designing, and healthy crafting practices for her blog (www.Mamas2Hands.com) and other publications since 2009. Her articles and designs have been published in Interweave Crochet, Crochet World, Crochet! Magazine, ILikeCrochet.com, and RedHeart.com. Her independent pattern line M2H Designs was launched in Fall 2010 with a focus on creating “teaching” patterns that include tutorials for techniques that are used in the pattern.
I continued my journey in knitting and found my true passion was knitting sweaters. I really enjoy the evolution of a sweater more than any other project. I am excited to become an instructor as I love to share my passion with others and help them dispel the fear of a fitted garment.
As an added bonus, I found a husband who encourages my knitting habit; he ventures with me to knit shops when we are traveling, its always on the itinerary.
It was in the last two years that I found my knitting clan at Longmont Yarn Shoppe and love the sharing, encouragement and support we bring to each other. It’s a wonderful community to be a part of.
Upcoming workshops include The Weavers Guild of Rochester, NY and the Sedona Weavers in AZ. In 2021 he will collaborate with the Spanish Peaks Tapestry Weavers in presenting "Crossovers in Tapestry: a Southwest Conference" in Pueblo, CO. David is currently president of the Rocky Mountain Weavers Guild. To see some of David's work visit his website, ArachneWeaving.com
Kathy Partridge is an avid knitter and social media maven who has lived in Boulder County since 1975, the past 15 years in Longmont. Her grandmother taught her to knit when she was a child, a testament to Grandma's patience as Kathy is lefthanded. Kathy dropped her needles to pursue a full-time career. She picked them up again in 2006 when her then teenage daughter, a talented crocheter, took her to a big box store to buy yarn for a school project. Starting with skinny novelty yarn scarves, Kathy graduated to hats in the round, and then a class at a local yarn store introduced her to magic loop, stranded colorwork, and sock knitting. Kathy loves how the Longmont Yarn Shoppe offers so many opportunities to explore even more new techniques. Since Kathy was constantly on the computer for her job, she was naturally an early Ravelry member, where she has posted over 500 of her knitting projects to date. Almost daily, as LongmontKathy, she explores new patterns and yarns on Ravelry, and networks with Wool-Aid, her online charity knitting group.
Mark Reihm – Mark’s fiber journey began with an interest in rope making and knots as a Boy Scout. In his early teens he took up macrame, making art pieces for his family and friends. In the late 90s he was inspired to become a weaver, expanding fibercraft demonstrations offered in the RenScots Living History Village, a Colorado Scottish heritage nonprofit. He has demonstrated spinning and tartan weaving throughout Colorado and the front range for nearly 25 years.
Darla Landfair – Darla was apprenticed to a German lace maker at age 12 in Ripley, West Virginia after watching her for hours at a local fair. She taught herself to knit and crochet in high school, with the help of a local artisan. Her spinning journey began at age 30, when she met Maggie Casey at Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins in Boulder Colorado. Challenged finding soft wool yarns to knit a baby sweater for her first child, she attended Maggie’s beginning spinning class to learn to make her own yarn.
Weaving classes followed soon after, and she has never looked back. She rediscovered her love of lace making and is active with the Rocky Mountain Lace Guild. Darla is also an accomplished costume designer, and assists with spinning wheel and loom evaluation and restoration.
I moved to Longmont in February 2014, looking for a new place to call home. A few months later, I took a drop spinning class with the incomparable Maggie Casey. While I loved the experience and the storytelling from Maggie, I knew it would really take time from my knitting. I decided I probably wouldn’t be a spinner at this time.
Later that same year, I started a crafting group with our local LGBTQ organization, Out Boulder County, at the urgency of our director to expand the organization outside of Boulder proper. The group, Work in Progress, has been meeting almost every Thursday and we have taught dozens of people to knit and crochet.
I began working at LYS in June of 2016 and couldn’t ask for a better, chosen tribe to call family. You could certainly say I’ve found my home here in Longmont and at the Longmont Yarn Shoppe.
I learned to crochet as a teenager when a lady I babysat for taught me the basics. My mother tried to teach me knitting, but it never really caught on with me until later in life when I learned about continental knitting. That approach had similarities to how I hold the yarn for crochet so with the help of online videos I mastered knitting. I have been “bi-stitchual” for over fifteen years now, but crochet will always be my first love.
I have lived in Colorado for decades aside from a few years in Seattle. I currently live in Berthoud with my husband, our two adorable Cockapoos and my substantial yarn stash. I have seven grandchildren, who provide me continual opportunities for new projects.
I retired from a career in software development, and I have transferred my love of learning new things from that job to my craft projects. With the availability of worldwide resources on the internet, there are always new horizons for even the most experienced knitters and crocheters. I look forward to continue sharing my knowledge and skills in teaching others.
.After nursing school I had time to learn to spin and weave. In 2005 my sister Susan purchased Alpacas- establishing “Wabi Sabi Farm” & I started knitting & spinning in earnest to demonstrate the continuum of Alpaca fiber from the back of the animal to finished product. Later I was asked by the Longmont Recreation Dept if I could teaching knitting- I said "yes!"
After a wonderful career as a RN I was ready to make a change. In September 2012 Longmont Yarn Shoppe opened its doors in the heart of downtown. The store is the same location I used to buy candy and other trinkets when I was just a kid....the Marlou Shop. The response from the community in having a LYS has been incredible - I am so happy that I took the plunge! None of my success in life or at the store would be possible were it not for the support of my husband - Mark, and my family, Michael, Austin, Max and Emma. I am ever grateful to them all for putting up with my piles of yarn and projects around the house over the years.