Best Yarn Shop

Urban Arts + Crafts is not your nana's yarn shop -- unless your grandma looks like she spent her youth defining chic on the Left Bank. At Urban Arts + Crafts, fifty-some varieties of spun loveliness, running the gamut from hand-dyed chenille to recycled Chinese silk and back to supersoft alpaca, are seductively displayed in lush baskets and whipped into stylish samples for hip, young knitters to fondle. This is a yarn shop for BUST readers who, whether beginning, advanced or somewhere in between, are more likely to knit arm warmers than mittens. Far from variegated Red Heart acrylic ponchos, UA+C's sample garments are contemporary and -- here's the kicker -- wearable. These are pieces you might actually buy if they weren't more fun to make. Patterns, class schedules and how-to books are also available for perusal or as an excuse to spend more time wandering the store.