Knitting addicts + baked goods = good times
By Lyndsie Bourgon
Photographed by Christa Treadwell
If you’ve never been to the AlterKnit Café, you might think it sounds like your grandma’s kitchen. The café has cases and trays full of decadent baked goods, a wall lined with yarn, and a whole lot of knitting.
But grandma’s house it isn’t. The café mixes locally baked goods, wireless internet, hand-crafted gifts, artwork, and a weekly Stitch n’ Bitch with modern décor and atmosphere.
Co-owners Revital Grunberg and Terri Quinn opened the café in mid-October 2006. Both knitters, Grunberg and Quinn wanted to merge starting a business with their love of knitting.
AlterKnit is in their St. Clair West neighbourhood. “This area is really evolving,” says Grunberg. “We thought [the café] would work really well here, so we gave it a try.”
And so far, business is good. The café gets a wide variety of customers, from university students, older people, and corporate types, to Oakwood Collegiate across the street, where a group of students recently started a knitting club and buy their supplies from AlterKnit. “We welcome everybody,” says Grunberg. “You don’t have to be a knitter to come to AlterKnit.”
It’s hard not to see why. The coffee and baked goods are popular, in particular a chocolatey delight called a Skor square. “Some people come in just to pick those up,” says Grunberg. “It’s somewhat of an addiction, but a good addiction.”
AlterKnit is a mix for knitting addicts too. The back wall is lined with supplies and the café provides classes and knitting nights. Knitting has made a comeback in popular culture, and Grunberg sees it in AlterKnit.
“I don’t think people really thought about it for a long time,” says Grunberg. “All of a sudden it did come to the forefront, and I’m not sure why. The face of knitting has changed, it’s not what it was and it’s not what people think. [Knitting] is so varied; it’s young children, it’s 20-year-olds, it’s corporate lawyers. People come together from totally different backgrounds and interests, and knitting is the common source.”
No matter how knitting came back into popularity, it’s back. Knitting cafés are making their way across Canada and the United States.
Saturday, June 9th was the fourth TTC Knit Along. Knitters find themselves going from yarn stores to knit cafés, knitting along the way and taking TTC public transit. AlterKnit is a starting point for knitters during the Knit Along.
“It’s great that they involve us,” says Grunberg. “We’re really happy to be involved in it.” Grunberg says she and Quinn want AlterKnit to be a place where community can come together, and they’ve received great feedback. “We’ve been told that people really feel comfortable here,” says Grunberg.
Grunberg and Quinn want to expand the yarn and gift selection of AlterKnit. “We’d like to see [AlterKnit] do well,” says Grunberg. “I don’t think you can ever say that it’s good enough, we want to keep it moving and expanding and nurturing.”
AlterKnit is located at 1024 St. Clair Ave. West.
For information on the TTC Knit Along, visit this website.
