Loop

Great shop and products but very rude service. The woman who served us was very rude, rolling her eyes, snide comments and all in all very unwelcoming. Completely bemused why this was the case, such a shame because the shop is so nice. Lost a customer.

There's a Loop knitting shop in New York and a London branch has been opened by an American ex-pat and very lovely it is. It's a tiny, white-washed room stuffed to the gills with yarn, knitting books and needles. Like most knitting shops the staff are incredibly knowledgeable and helpful, but in Loop they are particularly so. I was taught the magic loop and intarsia there, I've even had help with projects where no part was bought in their shop.
They seem to specialise mostly in small runs of artisan yarn all of very high quality (with accompanying high price) and have a few knitting books. Their magazine selection is pretty good and they always seem to have Rowan Studio which is not always easy to find. Where they really excel though is needles, they have every kind and every size in every material you could want, all of which are good quality, even the plastic ones.
It's a lovely shop but don't go expecting to be able to buy yarns you know, they most liekly won't sell them, but if you want to find some interesting yarns that you would usually have to buy online or at craft fairs or if you need some knitting advivce, Loop is great.