Wool & Grace Knitting Shop Opens on Summit Avenue

Wool & Grace opened its doors on Summit Avenue this January and provides wool and knitting accessories, as well as the classes to teach you how to become a knitter.

Patty Perry and Cathy Donnabella worked together in a knitting shop in Chatham before deciding to open one of their own here in Summit. Although neither of the two co-owners is named Grace, they said they felt the shop and knitting itself was full of grace.

Perry and Donnabella wanted to create a community of knitters, Perry said, a place where people could come and everyone would know their names.

The two have received a lot of business from Summit residents and they offer a variety of classes for beginners who have never knitted before, as well as more advanced classes for those who already familiar with the basics.

The beginner classes at Wool & Grace run for eight weeks and students are taught how to make a mitten.

“When they leave the class they have really good skills,” Perry told Patch.

Perry added that knitting could provide stress relief, while also being a fun hobby.

Wool & Grace is the first business either Perry or Donnabella have owned.

“I think the highlight has been getting to know our customers, it really has been great.” Perry stated.

Each Friday, Wool and Grace holds and Knit Night, where knitters can bring any project they are working on and join others. The shop offers Mother/Daughter knitting classes; crochet classes and more each having a maximum of eight students. Also available at Wool & Grace will soon be needlepoint classes.

Donnabella has been knitting for about 30 years and said it was nice to bring something new to downtown Summit.

“The town has been wonderful to us, we are something different,” she added. “I feel very fortunate we get to do this.”

Thaddea Kuchera, a Summit resident, began knitting at Wool & Grace when it first opened and was visiting the shop one day because she made a mistake in a project she was working on. She said Donnabella dropped what she was doing in order to help Kuchera fix the error.

She also added that the grace in Wool & Grace represents that knitting brings peace, patience and grace to those who knit.

“In this age of technology it is a wonderful thing to do something with your hands that is creative,” Kuchera said. “It answers a very human need of today.”

On April 18 to 21, Wool & Grace will ne particiatping in a Yarn Crawl, where members of local communities can visit area yarn stores. Discounts and raffle prizes will be offered.  According to Wool & Grace’s website, they will be offering Garden State Yarn Crawl Totes to the first 25 purchasers ($30 minimum) on each day of the crawl.

Wool & Grace is located at 102 Summit Avenue in Summit. For more information on class prices and offerings, visit the shop's website.