Yarns On First

I have been to this store many times and have always been helped and all questions answered the owner Marcie and her daughter could not be more helpful. I say go see for yourself when I read any of the negative reviews on here, well I think those few have a bug, you know where!!!
And the one about the size of a Store well I am sure they are not that smart because can you imagine how much yarn has to be sold to pay Napa Downtown Rent…
Love this Store and the people that run it.

At the end of a long day on the road, I followed my nose to Napa specifically to visit Yarns on First. I didn’t plan to make a purchase, but as a fairly new knitter, was curious to check it out.
As it turned out, I was there shortly before closing and was the only customer. The salesperson (I wish I’d asked her name!) was a tremendous help as we talked about «newbie» projects. In fact, the front table held a display featuring a simple cowl knit from Madeline Tosh hand dyed bulky yarn. I decided to give it a try — we discussed yarn options, but I stuck with a hand dyed beautiful choice. The pattern was free with the purchase, and even close to closing the sales associate was happy to wind my yarn for me.
The pattern was perfect for a newish knitter. I finished my project within a day (such fun!). I appreciate the conversation and guidance offered at Yarns on First. I don’t live in the area, but recommend this story highly. Make this a stop on your Napa tour!

My husband and I stopped here on a whim. They were having a car show that I didn’t know about so parking was a pain, but on a regular Saturday I’d think it would be much easier.
Large selection of great yarns, a lot of Malibrigo and MT. They had a locally done yarn, it was a lighter weight and not my style.
I was impressed with the help, after reading the reviews I was a bit leery of going in. I didn’t get the woman’s name but she was quite friendly, but allowed me to browse to my hearts content.
What really made me SO happy was they had just had the MADDER truck show. All the items were there and the shop lady said if I wanted to I could try the items on. Check em out.

I am writing this review for my mother, who is a very friendly, artsy-​crafty Napa LOCAL. She is always a supporter of small local business owners. anyway… She was not treated very nice in this store. I saw another review stating that if you weren’t a «frequent buyer» or in their «yarn club» that you would not be treated nicely or appreciated for business. They were very rude to her, had horrible attitudes, and quite frankly didn’t give a rats ass any questions or help she needed while visiting the store. It’s a small town & word does get around. It’s really unfortunate even having to write something negative like this, we will not be back. People usually need some help with arts and crafts or have questions and it’s unbelievable how rude the employees were.
:(really sucks!

I love love love the way that the yarn is organized here! All of the blues are together, then all of the greens, pinks, etc. It’s a gorgeous rainbow of yarn that just makes me smile. Plus — a whole wall devoted just to Madelinetosh, my new favorite yarn. I love stopping here every time we go up to Napa :)

From the moment I entered this nicely organized and pleasant shop I was greeted by the kindest crafters and shop keeps. I was blown away not only by the intricate selection of yarn and accessories but also by the many tips I received on my craft. I may just have to drop in on one of their many Wednesday or Friday crafting groups to partake in the knitting, crocheting, and other goodies. Thanks for the experience!

I’m so grateful that Napa has this gem of a yarn shop. With the advent of big box stores and online shopping, we’re blessed to have somewhere with a knowledgeable and passionate staff, and a great selection of yarns. Organizing the selection by color is a brilliant idea. I no longer live in Napa but visit at least monthly, and I try to treat myself to a visit to Yarns On First as much as possible.

I popped in this store partially as a means to pass time to sober up after a tasting, and partially hoping to convince myself to buy something nice. My mission was successful on both accounts.
I had personal one-​on-​one attention of the woman working there (I presume the owner? Super nice!). I pitched a very vague need (a gift for someone I don’t know very well — I gave her more context, but that was essentially it), and was guided both in terms of pattern selection and yarn colorways appropriate for the situation. The options I was shown varied comfortably in price, so I never felt like I was being upsold something, which was also nice.
I ended up buying enough yarn for my project and a super soft clearance yarn for myself. She offered to wind both without my asking. (SoCal stores never seem to offer, which drives me crazy because I always forget to ask!)
I passed a fair amount of time just looking, and felt very welcome, and attended to as needed. I often feel like an outsider in LYSs that I’m new to, but this one felt very friendly and if it weren’t late in the day (and if I’d had a project with me), I probably would have felt comfortable enough to sit and knit — which pretty much is never the case for me.
I liked the selection a lot. It felt nicely curated with a broad selection of yarns and colorways. I’m not a huge yarn snob myself, but there were some brands I’d never heard of along with the classic standards, so it seemed like a good variety by my read of it.
I hadn’t intended to buy yarn this trip, so I hadn’t looked up yarn shops on Unilocal.I found this one by just walking by, rather than browsing on Unilocal.When I saw the reviews after I’d left, I was surprised by them, to say the least. I can’t imagine my experience was actually all that unique, because I think the questions I asked were really annoying and I know I wouldn’t have been treated half as graciously at a lot of yarn shops I’ve frequented. This place was great and I’d hate for someone to write it off from a handful of negative reviews (especially ones that are apparently about a previous ownership!)

Was visiting Napa and decided to check out this yarn shop. I’ve been to several yarn shops in the bay area and this is by far one of my very favorites! There is a wonderful selection of yarns here, and all displayed very nicely. There are lots of premade items to get your creative juices flowing. The owner was absolutely a pleasure! She helped me find the yarns I needed for my projects, and she also stayed late to wind all the yarn I purchased. I will definitely be going back when I’m in the area.

A nicely laid out store with a lovely selection of good-​quality yarns. In my opinion, the service is amazing. Yes, if there is another customer before you, you may need to wait as it’s a small store with usually only one staff at a time, but the owners are unfailingly helpful, patient and knowledgeable. They’ are even happy to help with knitting mistakes. If you’re type A and in a huge rush, you may be frustrated by the friendly, personalized service here, but if you can slow down and relax and take advantage of any time to browse their gorgeous wares, you won’t be disappointed!

You don’t have a lot of other choices in the Napa Valley. Maybe none. I have visited this store almost every time I’ve been in the area because the selection is good: quality yarns at a moderate price point, no poly dreck but also no ultra high end products. If you visit looking for a specific item, you may be disappointed by the selection. If your goals are less well-​defined («nice sock yarn») you will have no problem finding a decent yarn.
Service is the issue here. The employees here are pleasant enough, but my experience has been similar to Cathy’s. If there is a regular in the store, you, the out of town knitter, will have to wait while clerk and regular pass the time of day, chat about patterns, etc, while you wait. And wait. Credit card in hand along with skein. The clerk could say «I’ll be with you in a minute» or tell the regular «let me ring her up. It will only take a minute.» But no. The clerk is seemingly oblivious, even when confronted with scowling spouses or whining children.
In the end, I paid and I left. In a few years I will have forgotten and I’ll come back. Meanwhile, I’m glad I have other options.

Gorgeous yarns, always friendly and helpful service… Love this place!

I feel kind of funny giving a review on a yarn store, but I did just start learning how to knit. My mom would probably give it an extra star if she could. Though I haven’t taken any classes apparently they offer them. Besides the all the quality choices in yarn, the thing that makes this place awesome is the service. I love the women that work here, they have now saved me 3 times. As I said I’m a beginner so making mistakes is what I do and when all hope is lost it’s nice to know I can go to their shop and someone is willing to look at my stuff and fix whatever knitting emergency I have.

I stopped in the store last weekend while in Napa for a wedding. I was not disappointed. The owner had a beautiful vest on display. I purchased the pattern. She had used different yarn & wrote down the names. I did not purchase the yarn at the store & will be buying it nearer my home. When I had a question & called her this week, they were very gracious & even took the time to look up something for me on the internet.

Yarns on First has some of the most beautiful yarns I have ever seen! Talk about selection! I am not a great crafter myself but everytime I walk in this store I sure wish I was. The employess are absolutly great with customers and always willing to lend a helping hand. I really appreciate that they do not allow food in the shop, it is distracting and messy. I love that they offer a nice clean space to work on projects and learn for others in a friendly warm atmosphere! Keep up the great work!

I agree that it’s not a huuuuge selection, and the high shelving is a little tricky, BUT–
Seriously, I don’t know how you could not feel welcome here. I’m not a super avid knitter, but I do a few projects a year, and I’ve found that a lot of yarn stores could just care less about me. Both times I’ve been here, once with a friend, once solo, I received warm greetings, offers for help, and just really friendly service all around. No snobbery here — and compared to other places I’ve shopped, I feel like the prices were quite reasonable. The store IS narrow, but there’s a large table up front that is always surrounded by happy knitters, all of whom greeted me with a smile — that just doesn’t happen everywhere, my dears.

This store is OK, but I don’t feel comfortable browsing. The store is long and narrow and it is not possible for the employee to sort of watch because of the narrowness of the store. I never felt welcome here.

summary: decent yarn selection, good customer service, well-​organized store. based on one visit.
ambiance: 3 purls — nicely laid out store, except yarns stored on shelves that went up to the ceiling, so you would have to ask for assistance to see the yarns up on the top… stored in wood shelving, organized by color with the exception of the novelty yarns, stored on their own in shelving in the center of the store.
customer friendliness: 3 purls — friendly ladies that make you feel welcome… it wasn’t cozy, so i didn’t feel like taking a seat and spending more time than i needed to in there, but it wasn’t a bad experience.
yarn selection/​pricing: 2.5 purls — pricing was reasonable. they seemed to have mostly cottons and wools with a novelty yarn section of fuzzies and shinies — not much if any, mohair, specialty yarns, angora, alpaca… sock yarn selection pretty small. relatively small pattern & book section at the back of the store.
My rating schema:
1 purl — so not worth my time!!!
2 purls — not really worth my time, but i might suck it up and deal with it if i’m desperate
3 purls — not too shabby!
4 purls — i love it!