Danni Ertter began knitting at the age of 6. Now, she runs the Black Mountain Yarn Shop, a prominent local business offering a variety of products and encouraging newcomers to try knitting.

In December, Ertter took over as the new owner of the yarn shop. Originally from New York, Ertter discovered the shop nine years ago while living in Greenville, South Carolina.

"This was my local yarn shop," Ertter said. "I would drive up here from Greenville and I got to know Donna and Don over the years."

When former owners Donna and Don Farrow were ready to retire, they approached Ertter about taking over. At first, she was apprehensive of the idea but soon agreed and moved to Black Mountain in July to oversee her new role. 

"It was a lot of pressure for me to take on the shop," Ertter said. "Just to make sure I kept the status quo and also improve it."

The shop carries all natural fibers and hand-dyed yarn from all over the world. 

From newbies to experts, the yarn shop caters to all, helping customers hailing from all around the country as well as locally. Due to customers coming from all over to visit the shop, Ertter extended the weekday hours to 6 p.m. to accommodate working individuals.

"She is a master. People come in and they have no idea what they want to knit," said Renee Hollifield, Ertter's co-worker and a crochet aficionado. "She's made it more accessible to a broader range of people."

Hollifield, from Asheville, helps run the shop and teaches a crochet clinic on Tuesdays from noon-1:30 p.m. With a background in big box stores, Hollifield also began crocheting as a child.

As a newcomer to town, Ertter said she's still getting acclimated to Black Mountain but hopes to expand the reach of knitting to all levels of the community, particularly younger knitters.

"For people that don't knit or crochet, there's a misconception that it's all old ladies, but it's truly not," Hollifield said. 

The former owners curated a beautiful shop, Ertter said she wanted to continue that legacy while also making whatever improvements she could. Hollifield agreed, saying the shop was designed like an art gallery rather than just a store.

"It's an old-time craft and it has such history and it's beautiful but also to bring in that young, fresh feeling, I feel like Black Mountain is the perfect place," Ertter said. "I feel like it's up and coming and growing."

Ertter said to stay tuned as the yarn shop has big plans in the works. The shop also offers Knit Nights on Tuesday evenings where the knitting community can come together to knit and crochet in the shop. 

Located at 104 E State St., Black Mountain Yarn Shop is open noon-8 p.m. Tuesday, noon-6 p.m. Wednesday-Friday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.

Ezra Maille covers the town of Black Mountain, Montreat and the Swannanoa Valley. Reach him at 828-230-3324 or emaille@blackmountainnews.com. Please support local journalism with access to more breaking news by subscribing.