Purl’s Yarn Emporium opened in 2005 on College Street in downtown Asheville. In 2008, the store moved to its present location on Wall Street. In August 2010, Lindsey Rey, the original owner, decided to retire from the yarn store business and sold the store to her former customer, Elizabeth Schell, along with her husband Rik Schell.

Elizabeth grew up in a yarn store, Happy Hooker's Workbasket, which was owned by her mother, Bonnie, back in the San Fernando Valley in California. Though she took up knitting only in the last few years, Elizabeth has always been involved in doing handwork of some kind. Elizabeth’s first calling is as a worship and theater artist and she loves to help people find ways to express themselves creatively.

Rik has long enjoyed warm garments made by mothers and grandmothers, even his wife, but is now quite an avid knitter himself. He happily hosts the Men’s Stitch Night on Tuesdays, teaches the kid’s knitting classes, and leads most of the Yarn Dying workshops (Elizabeth is too messy an artist to do this too often and not cause a ruckus!). Rik previously worked in publishing in New York and has also pursued certification as a Middle School teacher. He loves teaching people to knit and learning new techniques himself.

Their son, Art, who turned 8 when they bought the store, likes to do needlepoint as well as knitting, and especially loves to write patterns.  He also likes to build machines— so one day perhaps he’ll invent a new yarn winding system.

Jana Bowman, also known as "puggerhugger" on Ravelry, has been working at Purl's since 2008. She’s a great contributor to the general monkey mayhem at Purl’s. Besides great humor and yarn and pattern advice, Jana also offers personal one-on-one tutoring for those in need of extra help with a project.

Marilyn Hastings has been with Purl’s since the beginning. She is our wise and quirky knitting teacher and is personally responsible for the existence of many a knitter on the streets of Asheville.

Rik and Elizabeth have a lot of hopes for Purl’s, but a main one is that it be a place of community gathering—a place where knitters and crocheters can come and find help, laughter, and a space to create.  Hence, the creation of their mission statement last fall:

Every knitter knows that you can't make very much after only a couple of stitches: you need a whole needle full. Purl's is a needle full of stitches, a place for people to get knit together—to gather and swap yarns, patterns, and projects, to get and give advice and ideas. Purl's is proud to offer yarns that are beautiful, soft, and interesting, from around the world or just around the mountain—yarns with stories. If you've been knit together, dropped, frogged, or reworked (like all the rest of us)—come join us at Purl's Yarn Emporium, and you'll leave in stitches.

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