The Golden Fleece Grand Re-Opening

THE GOLDEN FLEECE: A GRAND RE-OPENING CELEBRATORY EXTRAVAGANZA

Santa Cruz, CA – The Golden Fleece, a locally owned yarn store, will celebrate a grand re-opening on Saturday and Sunday, June 4-5th, at its store location (317 Potrero Street, Santa Cruz).  The shop will open from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm both days and there will be trunk shows, free spinning workshops, weaving demonstrations, raffles, prizes, and refreshments. 

The Golden Fleece has been a fixture for fiber enthusiasts in Santa Cruz for over 15 years.  The new shop owner, Gunilla Leavitt, is perhaps most notably known as the Knitting Doctor at Knitting Arts in Saratoga and Green Planet Yarn in Campbell, along with three stores in Santa Cruz County, over the last 7 or 8 years. She has helped everyone, from little old grandmas to celebrities, with their projects.  Gunilla moved to Santa Cruz from Sweden in 1996 and The Golden Fleece (at its previous location) was the first yarn store she shopped in.  As a little girl, Gunilla was taught to knit by her grandmother, but didn’t get into it until she was about 17.  Somewhere along the way she picked up crochet, and really enjoys finding creative ways to combine the two.

Since taking over the shop, Gunilla, her husband, Thomas, and daughters, Lynnaea and Lynessa, have been tirelessly painting, rearranging furniture, and ordering, tagging and shelving yarn, needles, and notions.   Decorative changes aren’t the only new things at The Golden Fleece: Gunilla has set up a Pattern Station--a computer where customers can search for, purchase, download, and print online patterns; the shop stays open until 9:00 pm on Tuesdays for Social Knitting where knitters and crocheters can relax and work on their projects; and Knitting Doctor hours are Tuesdays from 2:00 to 6:00 pm where Gunilla is available to help solve any fiber arts problem—she hasn’t been stumped yet!

During the grand re-opening weekend, there are two trunk shows scheduled:  Saturday, June 4th from noon to 2:00 pm, Laura Schickli from Handwerks (www.handwerkstextiles.com) in Palo Alto will visit with her hand dyed yarns plus samples and patterns; and local Spinner Extraordinaire Heather Bloom will be on hand Saturday from 3:00 to 6:00 pm and Sunday noon to 3:00 pm.  During their respective trunk shows, both artists will be available to visit with customers and answer questions. In addition to showing off her handspun yarn, Heather will teach spinning on a drop spindle to anyone who wants to try it out!  Weaving maven Jill Sanders will be making an appearance; and continuing with Gunilla’s commitment to showcasing local talent and products, the shop has an extensive selection of knitting bags, purses, and notions bags from Mackerilla Design. Grommeted project bags from YarnPop (out of San Luis Obispo) will be on the shelves too, along with yarn, yarn, and more yarn! Raffles and prizes from Plymouth Yarn, Cascade Yarn, BeSweet, and more, as well as gourmet cupcakes from Starz Cupcakes in Capitola, round out the offerings of what promises to be an exciting weekend.

For more information, please visit www.thegoldenfleece.com or call 831-426-1425.  Regular shop hours are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm; Tuesday from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm; and Friday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. Starting in June, the shop will be open on Sundays as well.