Yarn Explosion [Local Yarn Shop]

Yarn Explosion closed in 2021 after 13 years of serving the Roanoke Valley.

🧶 This visit is part of the Ultimate Virginia Yarn Crawl.

Yarn Explosion

For over a decade, Yarn Explosion has served the Roanoke Valley. In addition to yarn, needles, crochet hooks, and notions, Yarn Explosion also carries hand-painted needlepoint canvases and threads.

We were pleased to see that Yarn Explosion was open for in-person business when we visited in December 2020.

At their request, we signed in when we arrived and we provided our phone numbers for contact tracing. We also wore masks and distanced while in the shop, all regulations that were in place due to COVID-19.

The Shop

The shop is located in a house off of Airport Road. There’s ample parking and easy access!

As soon as we walked in, a happy group of knitters welcomed us. I asked for the needles area and headed to the back room.

When I didn’t find what I was looking for, I stuck around and look for some yarn that I “needed.” After all, who can resist a sale?

Traveling from room to room, you quickly realize how the shop got its name!

There were so many options!

There was so much yarn!

Novelty yarns aren’t usually my thing, but I chose Adriafil Cupido yarn when it caught my eye and I couldn’t resist! I purchased a couple skeins.

In the needles and notions room, I also found a Norwegian knitting thimble, an item that has been on my “to-buy” list for a while now. I opened it and tried it on as soon as I got back to my car! I can’t wait to try working with it.

Yarn Explosion is known in the region for their efforts for Knitted Knockers, a charity that connects volunteer knitters with women who have undergone mastectomies or other procedures to the breast.

Twice a month (COVID-permitting), volunteer knitters gather to work on handmade prostheses! Yarn Explosion also accepts donated supplies for this effort.

The other thing that sets the shop apart is the needlepoint. I originally thought the hand-painted canvases that line the shop walls were paintings. When I looked closer, I thought they must be for cross stitch. They’re actually hand-painted canvases for needlepoint!

The designs are gorgeous.

Plan Your Visit

Yarn Explosion
5227 Airport Road NW
Roanoke, VA 24012
website

While in Roanoke, be sure to visit Wool Workshop!