On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about owning a local yarn shop with my guest Sally Moore.

Sally is the owner of Parker Avenue Knits, a local yarn shop in Detroit, Michigan. She opened the shop in December 2021. Sally is also a litigation attorney and has been practicing law since 1986.

To Sally, litigation is an advanced selling exercise. Evaluating facts and assessing circumstances leads to the meaningful attainment of goals whether you’re in the courtroom or selling yarn.

Sally began knitting when she was 10 years old and has been an avid knitter for the past 15 years. One thing she loves about knitting is that it is an exercise in self-expression within the confines of a pattern, allowing her to both adhere to rules and showcase her individuality.

This episode is sponsored by Craftsy.

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A glimpse of the community Sally has created at Parker Avenue Knits in Detroit, Michigan.

We begin this conversation with Sally talking about growing up in Detroit, Michigan where her mother was an educator and her father was a lawyer and a judge. Sally talks about her father’s background and the role model he was for her. Sally’s mother crocheted and knit and, although she taught Sally, it didn’t stick. 

Sally went to college and law school, becoming a litigation attorney. When she picked up knitting again as an adult, she also began working at a local yarn shop in Detroit (although she says it was so much fun that it didn’t feel like work). Although she had no intention at that time of becoming an entrepreneur, Sally says the other employees at the shop mentioned that maybe she should one day own a yarn shop of her own. Sally also learned some valuable lessons during that period including realizing that “no” is a complete sentence and it often doesn’t make financial sense long-term to special order particular yarns for particular customers.

Sally Moore, right, at her shop.

After a period of time working in New York, Sally returned to Detroit with the desire to begin something new. She entered and won two pitch contests and initially thought she would start a nail salon, but pivoted to a yarn shop and never looked back.

We talk about Sally’s goal of creating community over everything else and how she’s done that at Parker Avenue Knits, including setting up a DJ booth and devoting a significant amount of floor space in the store to furniture when customers and sit and chat.

In this conversation, we reference:

• Michigan Women Forward
• Motor City Match
• an article about Parker Avenue Knits that was in the Detroit Free Press

And, of course, I ask Sally to recommend great stuff she’s enjoying right now. Sally recommends:

• the Anya Dress Pattern by Suzie Sparkles
• Into the Echo Wrap
• Fundamentally Different by David Friedman

Keep up with Sally on the Parker Avenue Knits Facebook page, website, and on Instagram.