Mesa, AZ Yarn Store: The Fiber Factory

Last week I was in the southwest for work - Mesa, Arizona to be exact. As has become a routine of mine, prior to my departure I checked to see if there would be any local yarn stores near the hotel in which I would be staying. I found two - The Fiber Factory and Yarn Fifth Avenue (formerly know as "Skip One Purl Too"). Only one was within walking distance so that was the one I was able to visit.

The Fiber Factory
216 West Main Street
Mesa, AZ 85201
(480) 969-4346



I walked along Main Street in Mesa until I came upon this cute little store front. I got such an excellent vibe from the place as soon as I saw the painted knitting sheep on the front door. When I walked in, I was pleasantly surprised at the size and cleanliness of the store. There were weaving supplies galore - from roving to spindles to spinning wheels to looms, followed by shelves and bins of beautiful yarns, ranging from synthetics and bargain finds to some rather pricey and exquisite skeins. There were buttons and decorations and a very large library of books, magazines and patterns. There was also a large selection of knitting needles and almost all sizes of crochet hooks. This was a crochet-friendly store indeed!

I walked through the store looking at all the wares. So many colors and fibers and textures. It was wonderful. And the staff - super friendly! I know that if I lived in Mesa or Phoenix, I would be a regular customer at The Fiber Factory.

Now - as my husband and The Queen pointed out, I was not held to keeping to the yarn freeze while on vacation. And I wasn't going to buy anything - until I saw these sweet little skeins in lilac and rose.

Queensland Collection Bebe CotSoy Yarn


I only bought a skein of each (which I thought was very good for me). When the salesperson asked me what I was going to make, I answered truthfully...

"I have no idea. I just liked it."

The other small thing I picked up was a button for my tote bag.



All in all, I left the store with less than a $17 purchase. Pretty good, if you ask me. Now ... what will I make with this new addition to my stash?

Hello from Po-hone-ix

I made it safely out to Arizona. There was some turbulence that was unnerving (nothing like this though) plus a cab ride where the driver seemed to make his job interesting by seeing just how close he could tailgate people. I was white-knuckled for the ride to the hotel.

But the five hours on the plane were quite productive in the crochet sense. I finished the first half of the “A” pillow.



I do love the color – vibrant and fun. I think the hook size I used worked well with the yarn but the overall size was much larger than anticipated. I didn’t bring my tape measure so I included my cell phone there as a reference.

I was hoping to make the entire alphabet as a learning tool for little Brodie but 26 of these might 1) be too big for little hands, and 2) too big to easily store the entire alphabet in a toy box. So this project may be re-thought to just be pillows for their names (Brodie, Grace and TBD). I’m also not a huge fan of the font. Something simpler – sorta like Arial font – might be better for learning purposes. If anyone has different and smaller alphabet crochet patterns, please let me know.

Speaking of TBD, s/he is due in June. The gender will not be known until the big day so I’m making a gender neutral blanket – which was also started on my plane ride out to the southwest.



So far, I do like the new Cupcake yarn by Lion Brand. I think as this blanket gets larger, I’ll like the overall color pattern more. Right now, it’s just a plain old granny square and I don’t like to give plain old anything to a new baby. I’ve got a back up plan if I don’t like the blanket when it’s done. And when TBD gets an actual name, then I can make the pillows for him/her.

I’m planning to make my trek to the Fiber Factory on Thursday night. They are open until 9:00 pm and I’m hoping to be out of work in time to walk over there and actually look around the store. Goddess knows, I’ll need to add an additional 15 minutes to my walk in order to get lost and then finally find the place.

The weather is nice, the work is going well - but I'm so looking forward to going home!

Air Crochet

Howdy all!

I'm off to Arizona tomorrow morning for a week long meeting - actually only Tuesday through Thursday, but Monday and Friday are travel days. My hook will be busy during the flight out there and back home.

Good news is that there are at least two yarn shops in Mesa to visit - one of which is within walking distance of the hotel.

• Fiber Factory


• Yarn Fifth Avenue (formerly know as "Skip One Purl Too")

While I would love to visit both, I'll probably only make it to the Fiber Factory. No rental car for me and I'm not up for walking 9+ miles one way for the other store. I hope to have a review for you all upon my return.

Wondering about the yarn freeze? Oh yes, my wonderful husband did remind me of it. But he also added:

However, as the designated authority for enforcing the moratorium, if you find something that is of such value and usefulness in Mesa that you want to get a travel exemption from the freeze, then I'll consider it ;)

Ain't he great? We'll see if I find anything worthy of breaking the freeze.

The eight-pocket two-tone carryall tote is coming along nicely, though slower than anticipated. I sewed the lining for the side pockets and attached them to the pieces. The bag is put together and the pockets are attached. Next I need to sew the lining to the handles and attach the handles to the bag. This will have to wait until my return from the Southwest.

But it may not get done during next weekend either because Saturday I'm going to be a little busy with my first cake decorating class at Joann's - YAY!!! I'm so excited! I registered today and bought all my supplies. A full update to follow.

Cheers!