Lake Balboa Yarn Store, Friday Stitch Night: Altered Stitch

The Altered Stitch is a yarn store at 6740 Balboa Blvd in Lake Balboa, in the San Fernando Valley, and it opens Wednesday through Sunday: Wednesday 1 pm to 7 pm, Thursday and Friday 12 pm to 7 pm, Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 5 pm. It is closed Monday and Tuesday. Every Friday from 5 to 7 pm the shop holds an Open Stitch Night where you can bring a project, grab a chair and knit next to strangers who quickly stop being strangers.

The shop describes itself as a cozy yarn shop and creative community in Los Angeles, and the line customers keep returning to is the atmosphere: 'grandma's living room with yarn everywhere.' That phrase appears on the shop's own pages, and the reviews quoted there back it up. One customer calls the place a community, another says the owner, Vanessa, will take the time to make sure you find the perfect skein, and a third praises an instructor named Mindy for being knowledgeable.

The address is 6740 Balboa Blvd, Lake Balboa, CA 91406, a few minutes from the Sepulveda Basin. Balboa Boulevard is a wide valley arterial, so plan on driving. The website says in-store shopping, phone service and appointments are all available.

Come with a rough idea of what you want to make. The shop sorts its yarn online by fiber and by weight, and the same logic helps in person: tell the staff the garment, the needle size you plan to use and your budget, and they will walk you to the right shelf instead of letting you wander.

Here is the full schedule from the shop's website: Monday closed, Tuesday closed, Wednesday 1 pm to 7 pm, Thursday 12 pm to 7 pm, Friday 12 pm to 7 pm, Saturday 10 am to 5 pm, Sunday 10 am to 5 pm. The shop therefore keeps weekday evenings open until 7, which is rare for a yarn store and useful if you work during the day and can only make it after the commute.

For a quiet browse, Thursday afternoon is a good bet. For company, aim for Friday evening, when the Open Stitch Night fills the room, or for the weekend, when the Sunday Stitch-a-Long appears on the shop's monthly calendar at no cost.

The shop's class page invites you to join its Open Stitch Night every Friday, and the line under it says: no need to knit alone, come knit with us. The home page describes the evening as 5 to 7 pm, with a chair waiting and a pitch to bring your project and meet new friends. The shop lists no fee for it, only the expectation that you bring something to work on.

This is the best way to judge whether the shop suits you before you spend money. Sit down, take out whatever you are knitting or crocheting, and see who is around. Experienced knitters in the room tend to answer a stuck-stitch question faster than any video, and beginners get to watch how a pattern becomes a garment over several visits. If the Friday time does not work, the Sunday Stitch-a-Long is listed on the monthly calendar at $0.00.

A fair warning: a social night is not a class. Do not expect an instructor to walk you through a cast-on from scratch while everyone else works. If you have never held needles, book a beginner session first, then come back to Friday night once you can cast on and knit a row.

The Altered Stitch offers group classes and one-on-one instruction, and says that you can set your own pace. The current feature is the Puro Cardigan class, which runs on October 17, 24 and 31, 2026, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm with an instructor named Morgan, and costs $70.00. It is a three-session class, so you finish the cardigan's core techniques in three Saturdays.

The class is not for first-timers. The listing says basic knitting skills, meaning casting on, knitting and purling, are required, and the class adds increases, decreases, a slick bind-off and a double-knit button band. The cardigan is knit flat in aran or worsted-weight yarn, or in DK weight held double with mohair, and it has set-in sleeves and raglan shaping. The pattern is Puro Cardigan by Rui Yamamuro, which costs $7 to purchase on Ravelry.

The shop makes one rule very clear: the yarn for the class must be purchased at The Altered Stitch, and the staff ask you to come early to choose your materials and have them wound before class begins. You are welcome to come in any day beforehand. That is practical advice, because winding a few hundred yards of worsted takes time you would rather spend knitting.

The pitch on the home page is that the shop carries yarn at every price point, from beginner-friendly basics to indie-dyed treasures you will not find anywhere else. A featured collection called Handcrafted Hues showcases yarns made sustainably in small batches, and the shop's navigation also lists Needles and Hooks, Accessories, Notions and Classes. Shopping there supports a local business, and the shop also runs a loyalty program that earns points on every purchase to use on the next one.

My honest take: if you are buying a first sweater's worth of yarn, buy the staff's recommendation and start with the worsted weight, not the dreamy indie skein that costs three times as much. Save the hand-dyed yarn for a project that has fewer stitches and more shape, such as a hat or a shawl, where each skein shows well.

The shop's monthly events list is more than classes. In October 2026 it listed an After Hours: 90s Halloween Party for $10.00, which suggests the room doubles as a social space once the register closes. The shop does not publish a detailed description on the home page, so ask when you visit what the evening includes and whether a costume is expected.

Events like this are a reminder that a yarn shop in the Valley competes with online retailers on community, not price. Come for the stitch night, stay for the people, and buy your next skein from the person who helped you fix a mistake.

Lake Balboa Park, with its lake and walking loop, sits along the same boulevard to the south, and the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area around it has trails, so a walk fits easily around a visit. On a weekend, stroll the park in the morning and walk into the shop when it opens at 10 am.

If the shop is closed on a Monday or Tuesday, plan to visit another day rather than showing up and finding a dark window. The alternative is to shop the online store, which sorts yarn by fiber and weight.

The Altered Stitch is at 6740 Balboa Blvd, Lake Balboa, CA 91406. Hours: Wednesday 1 pm to 7 pm, Thursday 12 pm to 7 pm, Friday 12 pm to 7 pm, Saturday 10 am to 5 pm, Sunday 10 am to 5 pm, closed Monday and Tuesday. The Puro Cardigan class costs $70.00 and the Halloween After Hours party costs $10.00.

Bring a project bag, your needles and a water bottle for stitch night. Ask Karpo APP for the next craft or coffee stop near Balboa Boulevard once you are done.