Twisted is Online Only
Update 3/15/23: Closing
After almost 16 years and an unfathomable quantity of yarn, Twisted will be closing soon.
Thank you for your support through thick and thin (and the eyelash yarn fad, too). We're grateful for the memories and friendships we've made, and for the community we shared with you all. Sometimes we think about all the hats, the sweaters, the socks (the socks!!), and the scarves - about so many unique creations that began as skeins on our shelves. How many are being worn right now? What a thing to contemplate.
We're not doing a big blowout sale just yet, but we'll begin discounting things more and more as we wind down. We hope you'll use up your remaining store credit, rewards, and gift cards as soon as possible. All items are now clearance and all sales are final. The Twisted Rewards Program has also ended.
We have a small team, and are doing everything we can to make the closing as smooth as possible. We would appreciate your patience and especially your kindness during what, as you can imagine, is quite a process.
We will miss you all, and we hope that our paths will cross again in the future. Thank you for your business, and for everything else, too.
Sincerely,
The Team at Twisted
Updated 3/15/2023
Online Only
Twisted's brick and mortar storefront closed on March 17, 2020, and we now sell exclusively online, with no physical store. On March 15, 2023 we announced we'll be winding down operations and closing soon.
We're constantly doing our best to update third-party services like Google and Apple Maps with correct information, but they incorporate information from a variety of sources (sometimes incorrect) and don't always respect our change requests. They also just don't have a clear designation for our status (online-only sales with the option of curbside pickup). It's frustrating for us, too, and we're so sorry for any inconvenience or confusion.
Gift cards, store credit, and loyalty rewards
Gift cards, store credit, and loyalty rewards points are all still usable online just as always!
Gift cards can be redeemed at checkout. Enter your gift card number where indicated in the right sidebar. Some very old gift cards with fewer than 8 digits will need to have zeros (0s) added to the end so that they reach 8 digits. For example, 123456 would be entered as 12345600. Enter all characters as shown, including hyphens (-).
Store credit can be redeemed just like a gift card by entering the code that we emailed to you. If you did not receive an email or phone call about your existing store credit please contact us! There were some instances in which the contact information we had for customers was no longer valid. And, of course, spam filters eat many emails.
Rewards: The Twisted Rewards Program is discontinued as of 3/15/23. Read more.
LIMITED Curbside Order Pickup/Returns Dropoff
Please note that our warehouse is, well, warehouse-y and not open to the public. So we do not offer the ability to come in or browse or purchase additional items while picking up your online order. The bricks-and-mortar shop is permanently closed - this is just for grab-and-go picking up orders already placed online. Thank you for understanding!
Read pickup/dropoff details and available days/times here.
Shipping
Most orders will be shipped within two business days. If we have questions about your order we will delay shipment while we try to contact you. We will usually try to contact you for three days, then make our best guess and ship your order.
We work in the warehouse Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We're closed on the weekends and holidays. So, for example, an order placed on Friday night will be packaged on Monday and ship out on Tuesday.
Please take note of the insurance and tracking information options provided for each shipping method at checkout. Cheaper shipping methods may not come with insurance or tracking, meaning a lost package just falls off the face of the earth without recourse. We recommend priority mail, which comes with both insurance and tracking.
Please see our shipping policies page for more information.
Returns & Exchanges
NOTE: All items are final sale as of 3/15/23.
Please notify us within 7 days of damaged, defective, or incorrect items.
Read our full returns policy here.
COVID-19 Response
We've gone to great lengths to create a work environment that is as safe as possible for our team members. Read more about our COVID-19 prevention policies.
Updated 15 Mar 2023
March 2020 - Online Only
SALE INQUIRIES
Twisted remains for sale. Interested parties may request more information by emailing info@twistedyarnshop.com. Sincere inquiries only, please.
THE LONG VERSION
Twisted owner Emily Williams cannot pick her favorite knit item. Not even close. A Christmas stocking by her mother Carol, a blanket by her grandma Helen, scores of hats and shawls designed by friends… each item, and the person who made it, is uniquely precious. But it is when describing one particular piece that she inevitably cries: the final sweater knit by her grandmother Marian.
“I remember her hands so distinctly,” Emily says. “They were usually knitting, and she used them to make that sweater just for me. She knit every stitch with her hands and mind and memory and time and love.” Emily’s grandmother was unable to finish the last part of the sweater when she grew ill, so Emily picked up where she left off and worked the last few rows sitting at her side. Marian watched, sharing tips for the perfect mattress stitch seam.
Emily had learned to knit years before that, picking up a love of warm woolly yarns and intricate cable patterns from her mother and grandmothers. It would be years before she took up the craft in earnest, when a bad dorm-room haircut left her with a buzzed, chilly head in need of a hat. After graduation, Emily worked in the Mental Health Division at the Portland VA Medical Center. It was a rewarding job but also a taxing one, and to unwind after work Emily would knit in a group with friends. She found herself drawn not only to the process of knitting, of creating something tangible after a day spent on data entry and hard conversations, but also to the sense of community she experienced knitting alongside other people.
Emily and one of those friends, Shannon Squire, hatched a plan to open a friendly, warm, supportive yarn shop that would welcome yarn lovers exactly as they were. A space where knitters of all ages, genders, skill levels, and backgrounds would gather, feel appreciated, and have access to experts who could help them source the best products for their projects. That idea eventually became Twisted.
A YARN COMMUNITY IS BORN
Twisted opened in June 2007. Across the nation, people of all ages were discovering a renewed interest in DIY and craft, and particularly the arts of knitting and crocheting. Over the years, Twisted contributed to a burgeoning regional craft and DIY community in the Pacific Northwest. Thanks to its wonderfully talented and hardworking staff, the shop thrived.
Over the last 12+ years, Emily met some of her closest friends at Twisted - several she refers to as sisters. She is grateful to her friends, customers, employees, and the Portland small business community for their endless support over the years. “I can’t even begin to figure out how to say how much I appreciate every person who has shopped here. And the team of brilliant, funny, wise, creative, loyal people I’ve worked with is like something from a novel,” she says. “They all helped me make my dream come true. It’s amazing.”
A SMART SMALL BUSINESS
Running a small business of any sort isn’t easy, especially a boutique craft shop focused on customer service. After becoming sole owner of the shop in 2013, Emily worked diligently to streamline operations and run Twisted as efficiently as possible, without losing sight of the original vision for a warm atmosphere where all people were accepted.
Along the way, Emily built an online storefront - often coding the site herself in the wee hours of the morning - to allow customers all over the world to easily find quality knitting products. The online store expanded over time and is now a thriving business in its own right.
THE NEXT CHAPTER UNFOLDS
Over the past dozen-plus years, running Twisted has become an all-consuming labor of love for Emily. She knows every creak of their century-old building, every bug in the point of sale program, and exactly how to Fonzi open the cash drawer when it sticks. Though Emily had obsessively optimized Twisted operations, it required every ounce of her energy, leaving room for little else. In the past few years, it became clear that heaping all her time and attention on work meant she was neglecting other aspects of her life, and that it was time for a change.
Desiring a more sustainable and healthy life and unable to find a buyer for the shop, Emily made the difficult decision to shift her focus to Twisted’s online store, create space for balance, and close the retail location in Portland.
A LASTING LEGACY IN THE KNITTING COMMUNITY
Knitting is as much about legacy as it is about craft. A knit sweater is more than just a piece of clothing; it is a link in a chain of love and learning, a physical manifestation of technique and care passed down through generations. Just as Emily’s grandmother lives on in the knowledge she passed to Emily, Twisted’s legacy will live on in Portland’s thriving knitting community.
You can stay in touch with Twisted through the online store and by subscribing to the Twisted newsletter. Though the retail store in Portland is closing, Twisted’s story is far from over.
A NOTE FROM EMILY
Dear Beloved Customers,
With a new decade comes big change.
Twisted is transitioning to become an online-only shop. At the end of March I will be closing Twisted’s brick and mortar location on NE Broadway to focus on our online store, as well as foster a healthier, more sustainable personal life. Store credit, gift cards, and loyalty points will all remain valid and easy to use online.
This hasn’t been an easy or quick decision, to say the least, so I wanted to share with you more about why this is happening.
A KNITTER’S STORY
I began my knitting journey as a child, learning from my mother and grandmothers. During a year abroad in college, I took it up in earnest. After college I worked for several years in the Mental Health Division at the Portland VA Medical Center, a particularly taxing (and rewarding) job. To unwind, I would knit in a group with coworkers. I found myself drawn not only to the act of knitting, but also to the sense of community I experienced knitting alongside others.
That knitting group is where a friend, Shannon Squire, and I hatched the idea to send our lives on a hard left turn and start a small business. We wanted to create a yarn shop where knitters of all ages, genders, and skill levels could gather, a welcoming place where experts could help them find the best products for their projects. Twisted opened in 2007. It’s been a dream come true, and a labor of love—humbling, hard, joyful, and everything in between.
Thanks to an incredibly talented and generous staff, who I can never ever possibly thank enough, the shop thrived. I couldn’t be more proud of the welcoming environment we created in our shop.
A TIME FOR CHANGE
Running a small business of any sort isn’t easy, especially one so focused on providing exceptional service for luxury goods. After over 12 years of running a retail shop on NE Broadway in Portland I have come to realize that my passion for Twisted means I am neglecting far too many aspects of my personal life. This is not how I want to move through the world, and it is time for a change. Having been unable to find a buyer for the shop, I’m choosing to re-balance my life by closing the brick and mortar shop.
I am so thankful to you for your support over the years. This dream would have never been possible without you. It has been a true joy getting to know you.
COME CELEBRATE WITH US!
These next few months will be amazing, if bittersweet, as we wrap up projects in the shop and prepare to bid farewell to the space. We hope that shop hours will remain the same through the end of March, though that could change as our staff members begin to move on to new opportunities.
Twisted will still participate in the annual Rose City Yarn Crawl March 5-8. Always an extravaganza, this year will be an extra special thank you to the Portland knitting community for its years of support. Stop by to share your memories and chat about your projects. We’ll share more information on our social media and in upcoming store newsletters.
ONLINE STORE + STORE CREDIT + GIFT CARDS + LOYALTY REWARDS
Accumulated store credit and gift cards and loyalty rewards points are valid both in-store and online! The online shop will continue to sell many of the same brands, though some we will not be eligible to carry any more after the retail location closes. The brick and mortar shop will be open through the end of March - about three more months. After that you will still be able to earn and spend your store credit, gift cards, and loyalty points online just as always.
STAY IN TOUCH
I know this change may be hard for you, as it has been and will be for me. When you're feeling sad, please still be kind to and supportive of the Twistedistas, each and every one of whom is an extraordinary human who I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work beside. If you have any questions, you can contact us at info@twistedyarnshop.com.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!
Emily Williams