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A Place Where Fibers, People and Creativity
Come Together
Jan Hurwitz, Owner and Knitter in Chief, describes her vision for Knitting Arts as the
creation of ‘a knitting community.’ She goes on to say that ‘Knitting is a
hundreds year old craft, taught woman to woman, or person to person. This is what happens
with all the classes we do. One woman passing on her knowledge
and craft to another.’ Jan also loves to see ‘Customers inspiring and teaching
each other as they hang out in the store.
Tradition Reinvented
Knitting Arts continues and reinvents the Braid Box, a 30 year Saratoga knitting
institution formerly located across Big Basin Way from Knitting Arts. When Pat Ferguson,
the proprietor of The Braid Box, decided to retire, Jan, a long time customer and more
recent employee of the Braid Box, decided the time was right to fulfill her longstanding
dream to create a knitting studio.
Knitting’s popular resurgence includes movie stars and Silicon Valley executives.
Herself a former globe trotting software company vice president, Jan taught herself to
knit 12 years ago. ‘I was in a fast paced, stressful, high tech environment. I found
knitting gave me a sense of balance and serenity, of being centered. Therapy, if you will.
I would steal away on my lunch hour and knit. It was the best part of my day. So I joined
a group of knitters and learned more from them,’ she says.
Great Customer Service and The Knitting Doctor
‘Great customer service is our highest value at Knitting Arts,’ says Jan.
‘We make certain we have ample staff on duty. They are, to a person, knowledgeable
and friendly.’
The Knitting Doctor is a complimentary service offered to Knitting Arts customers.
Maggie is on duty Wednesday from 2 - 6pm and Thursday from 11am – 4pm and Gunilla wears
the stethoscope Sunday 11 - 5 and Tuesday 2 - 6.
They are Knitting Arts’ most experienced knitters. Customers call
ahead for appointments, or drop in and sign up. That way they are assured of undivided
attention for their personal Doctor’s appointments.
Hours are another part of Knitting Arts’ service philosophy. Open
six days a week and until 8pm on
Tuesday for social knitting, and also
9pm on Wednesday, the hours are
designed to make it easy to knit.
An Art Gallery For Yarn
The look of the store is modern and high style. Designed by Bruce Levin of San
Francisco's StudioLevin, with custom made furniture by Peter
Doolittle, also of San Francisco, the brightly lit, clean and colorful interior is
routinely described by customers as ‘inspiring.’ One customer went so far as to
exclaim ‘it’s like an art gallery for yarn.’
Simple Knitting. Fabulous Yarns
Aside from classic wool yarns that our grandmothers knit with, now we have
bamboo, linen paper, silk that looks like delicate raffia, and yarn made from pineapple fiber! We’ve even got a silk stainless steel yarn.
We carry a beautiful selection of hand-dyed fibers from small artisans. Not to mention luxury fibers like silk, cashmere,
mohair, angora.
How about buttons and other adornments? Handmade buttons made out of fused glass. Woven
straw flowers. Recycled glass with texture buttons and beads. Horn. Shell. Ceramic.
Fabric. Semi-precious stones.
Bringing all this together, Jan describes her knitting philosophy as ‘simple
knitting, fabulous yarns.’ She goes on to say ‘Let the
yarn - its texture and color - make the statement. Customers say all the time when looking
at a great piece ‘I can’t do that’. I say ‘Yes you can.’ Yarns
today, with their innovative fibers, colors, and textures, take beginning knitting to a
whole new level.’
Serving the Greater Silicon Valley
Knitting Arts draws in knitters from San Jose, Los Gatos, Cupertino, Santa Cruz, Palo
Alto, Menlo Park, Santa Clara, Los Altos and even San Francisco. It is the destination for
modern knitting.
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