Yarn Crawl: Meet Montana’s Little Shop Forming Big Connections

Sue Baker and Linda Heins are kind of a big deal in the big state of Montana. As co-owners of the Yarn Bar, a local yarn shop in downtown Billings, Sue and Linda were named recipients of the 2024 Woman-Owned Business of the Year award for the state of Montana and received a visit from the presidential cabinet member overseeing the U.S. Small Business Administration, Isabel Guzman.

Linda (left) and Sue became acquaintances through what they call the “mom circuit.” Photo courtesy of Sue Baker/Linda Heins

We sat down with Sue and Linda to learn more about the Yarn Bar’s beginnings, what they love most about running their own LYS, and what makes Montana yarn so special.

Farm and Fiber Knits: When did the Yarn Bar open its doors?

Yarn Bar: We opened our shop in August of 2017 in a small space with awkward parking. We very quickly stuffed it with yarn and adapted the space to accommodate everything we wanted in a yarn shop: class offerings, a seating area for social gatherings, and well-stocked shelves full of curated merchandise.

We “expanded” the original space into an office that was a couple buildings down the street in 2020. This allowed for an external larger classroom (during COVID) and for backstock storage. In the spring of 2021, we moved into our current location in downtown Billings, which is much larger than our first location and is pretty much perfect for the needs of the shop. The downtown area lends to the community feeling that our shop cultivates.

Get a closer look! Click any image to open it in full-screen mode and read more about the Yarn Bar’s space.

Owners of the Yarn Bar love being part of the downtown community. Photo by Sue Baker/Linda Heins Linda and Sue have created inviting spaces for anyone to sit and work on a project, allowing them to tap into their friendly and experienced advice. Linda and Sue regularly take to their Instagram and YouTube channel for weekly chats and shop updates, including a peek at the goodies they receive in a new shipment. Linda and Sue curate a wide range of classes to encourage all levels of crafters.

FFK: What is the most popular yarn in your shop? What do customers love about it?

YB: Hand-dyed fingering-weight yarn is by far the most popular yarn we carry. Our guests are drawn to the beauty of a unique hand-dyed skein, and we find that one skein of yarn is an easy purchase to make if a shopper doesn’t have a specific project in mind. We also see a lot of tourists and business travelers who pop in for a “souvenir” skein.

FFK: Do you carry any local-to-you yarns?

YB: We are lucky to carry local fiber and yarn from Ranching Tradition Fiber in Whitehall, where Kami Noyes and her husband raise sheep. They have their fleeces processed and spun locally, then it’s dyed by Kami. We enjoy supporting our independent Billings dyers and showcasing as much as they can produce. The hand-dyed yarn world is extensive, with so many makers on social media. So we try to stock some hand-dyed, small-batch yarns that are not aggressively pushed by the dyers themselves through direct sales, or those who are not easily found in U.S. yarn shops.

FFK: What are you excited about now? What types of events do you host?

YB: We host classes and workshops, trunk shows/pop-up shows, two different weekly social knitting gatherings, seasonal make-alongs, and get-togethers like the Yarn Bar’s Movie Night and knit nights at local breweries/coffee houses. We’re looking forward to our fourth annual Festive Makers’ Night at one of Billings’ historical homes. We’re pretty proud to say that our shop seems to cultivate a good network of yarn-loving friends.

FFK: Can customers shop online? Where can they find you on social media?

YB: Yes, definitely! While we love to personally help our makers, we know not everyone can shop that way. Local customers can pre-shop our website or simply order for a quick local pickup. We’re happy to work with customers over the phone to help them select colors. We have most of our products listed on the Yarn Bar’s website at yarn.bar and we try to keep our social media channels updated: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Threads, and YouTube. We produce a live YouTube video weekly to keep our friends up-to-date on events, new products, and projects.

What do Sue and Linda love most about running their local yarn shop? “The snippets of daily lives that are a part of what makes running a little shop important—face-to-face interactions, a little connection in the bigger community.”

If you ever find yourself in eastern Montana, be sure to pay the Yarn Bar a visit.

Do you have a favorite local yarn shop? What is it that makes it special? Share your ideas via our email address.