Loopy Mango Brings Chunky Knitting to the Hudson Valley: Specialty DIY yarn shop opens in Beacon

  |  March 15, 2018
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Inside of Loopy Mango in Beacon

It’s time to get your DIY on—Loopy Mango has arrived. The Florida-based oversized yarn producer recently opened its flagship store in Beacon, NY.

With chunky knit blankets and scarves on the rise, Loopy Mango is making a well-timed entrance to Beacon’s trendy Main Street. The shop sells its signature Big Loop, Big Cotton, and Merino No. 5 yarns in a range of soft and vibrant colors, as well as knitting tools and premade knitted products. They also offer DIY kits, in-house workshops, and video tutorials.

A DIY Duo: The Loopy Mango Story

Owners Waejong Kim and Anna Pulvermakher started the business in 2004 in Manhattan. For a few years, they struggled to find their niche in the DIY fashion industry—until they realized what knitting was missing: big yarns.

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Anna Pulvermakher and Waejong Kim love their new shop!

Pulvermakher says that big yarn is perfect for teaching beginners to knit. The thickness makes the process of knitting a lot quicker—about 20 minutes for a hat and two hours for a blanket.

“It’s not just about speed, it’s also about the aesthetic,” she says. “You can get the same thickness by tying thin yarns together, but that’s not the same look. This is clean and modern—simple, but in a good way.” Not to mention very cozy.

Loopy Mango’s yarns are produced at their own mill in Key Largo, Florida from 100 percent domestic merino wool. It is some of the thickest, softest material on the market and is currently sold in almost 200 stores worldwide, from small yarn shops to select Bloomingdale’s stores.

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Loopy Mango offers knitting classes for beginners.

Previously, the crafty entrepreneurs had a shop in Manhattan, which closed three years ago. Since then, the DIY duo has been searching for their new homebase. After visiting Beacon last summer, their decision was clear, and Loopy Mango’s flagship store opened in December 2017.

Loopy DIY in Beacon

Pulvermakher and Kim immediately fell in love with Beacon when they visited for the first time in August 2017. “We were there for only 20 minutes and loved it so much,” Pulvermakher says. “It has this creative energy. We saw there was an open storefront and thought it was great.”

The store exclusively sells Loopy Mango products, both crafting supplies like yarns and knitting needles and finished products like handmade dresses, cardigans, and sweaters. Their custom DIY kits come with everything you need to complete a project: yarn, needles, and a knitting pattern. They have kits to make everything from beanie hats to blankets. To get started, beginners can either attend one of Loopy Mango’s classes in Beacon or watch their video tutorials on Vimeo.

“You can come to a two-hour workshop and make half a blanket in class,” Pulvermakher says. “A smaller project like a hat only takes two hours and you walk out with a finished project. That’s why we started making this yarn in the first place, it’s beginner-friendly.”

Upcoming classes are set for March and April. They include scarf, blanket, and beanie workshops, as well as general classes about learning to knit.

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Loopy Mango’s storefront on Main Street in Beacon

For Kim, Loopy Mango’s designer and creative director, setting up shop in Beacon is a new beginning. While Pulvermakher will split her time between Beacon and Key Largo, Kim will settle in Beacon full time.

The business partners used to knit out of Kim’s Manhattan apartment. Now, she has a studio right upstairs from the Beacon shop, where she hopes to knit in a more relaxing environment. They also plan to use the upstairs studio space to host guest crafters to teach DIY classes. “We want to knit more here, be a little more creative, and build a crafting community,” Pulvermakher says.

Loopy Mango is open on Thursday through Saturday from 12pm to 5pm and Sunday from 1pm to 4pm.

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