Heindselman's Knit and Gift

This unassuming spot on Center Street in Provo, Utah claims to be the oldest yarn shop in America. First opened in 1904 as a side project for a local doctor's optometry practice, the business has stayed in the Heindselman family for three generations. In addition to a vast selection of handspun yarns in all sorts of colors and textures, the shop stocks everything from cricket looms for weaving to specialty Japanese lace.

More than anything, the store has survived and thrived more than a century by cultivating its own niche knitting community. Regularly held classes include everything from how to knit Celtic designs to cardigans, reversible hats to farmers' market bags.