Discover hard-to-find unique yarns at The Yarning Portal in Blackfoot
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BLACKFOOT — After Joann Fabric and Crafts closed down in Idaho Falls, a new business owner said it left a hole in the yarn retail business. That’s why she and her husband have opened up a shop to help fill that gap by providing unique yarns.
The Yarning Portal, located at 97 West Pacific Street in Blackfoot, is owned by husband and wife Tim and Angie Everett.
The Grand Opening
There will be a grand opening for the business on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 11 a.m. The Greater Blackfoot Area Chamber of Commerce will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony. There will be music, and the first 20 people will receive a small gift. Wild Cow Handicrafts will be there to offer handmade plushies.
Why the business was created
“We offer yarns that you don’t typically find in big-box stores,” Angie said. “When Joann’s went out of business, the availability of the yarn kind of just almost disappeared overnight.”
RELATED | Fabric and craft retailer Joann to go out of business and close all of its stores
Michaels and Hobby Lobby have yarn, but not the selection Everett was searching for. She told EastIdahoNews.com that she and her best friend, Holly Reid, created a business last year: Wild Cow Handicrafts.
“Crocheting and knitting are kind of a dying art. With the newer generations, they’re not really getting into crafting as much like the older generations did,” Everett said. “It’s kind of fun that we do this because we feel like we’re bringing it back to the younger generations.”
They crochet handmade plushies and sell them.
“We were creating stuffed animals. Our main yarns are the soft yarns, and we really struggled finding anything in town in Idaho Falls because if they did have it, it was gone within a day,” Everett said.
The Yarning Portal was created to help those seeking specific, hard-to-find, distinctive yarns. She found a need, and now people don’t have to order online, pay shipping, and hope that the yarn color is correct.
What’s in the store
“Yarns will range anything from soft yarns that you use for stuffed animals or down to fibrous ones, like wool or alpaca, and then just some that are good for sweaters and hats,” Everett said.
The store will be offering crochet and knitting books, crochet hooks, and knitting needles. She hopes to add instructional classes one day, which will be open to people of all ages.
Everett is selling “Premier Yarns,” which is made by hand and made to stand out, according to its website. The Yarning Portal additionally offers local alpaca yarn from Windbreak Farm Alpacas out of Rigby.
The store carries different types of plushies, too, anything from dragons to dogs and unicorns. It’s a fun store, she said.
“We had a lady come in, and she was like, ‘This store is just happiness! It’s just colorful animals everywhere,” Everett said.
She said the location in Blackfoot is a good halfway point for Idaho Falls and Pocatello, so they can serve both of those communities too.
“We are really hoping to help build the community, encourage people to use yarn to create things, teach skills, and hopefully build up Blackfoot’s downtown community a little bit more,” she said.
The Yarning Portal is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 12:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and on Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
