BY BRIA SCHIRRIPA

Most days, downstairs at 225 W. 10th Street, Kiana Malekzadeh, owner of West Village Knit and Needle can be found surrounded by four walls of hand painted canvases and yarn. With an upbringing steeped in Middle Eastern tradition, Kiana learned a few of the essentials - knitting, sewing and cooking - from her mother and grandmother. 

A hands-on way of life beginning at a young age led her to quickly discover how drawn she was to creating and why she now refers to her childhood self as a “crafty kid”.

But this New York small business story really begins in 1998 when Ms.Malekzadeh was an unemployed postgrad living in Manhattan looking for ways to fill the day. Regular strolls to Yarn & Co. on the Upper West Side did just that. When Kiana slid down the West Side to Greenwich Village, she began frequenting a yarn shop on Bedford Street called The Point Cafe. In true West Village fashion, the owner was warm and welcoming and Kiana, who at that time was working for the family business as a commodities broker, found that knitting was a way to keep sane and asked for a part time job. Working a few days a week led to teaching group classes and unwilling to stop there, Kiana enrolled in a graduate program at Fashion Institute of Technology. For the next two years she worked on a Master’s degree that would allow her to morph two passions into one: Art Business.

In 2020, Kiana, who by this point was a decade-long West Village resident and the ultimate textiles enthusiast, joined a virtual board meeting during COVID lockdown and got wind of a space opening up directly downstairs from her apartment. “I immediately said ‘I’ll take that!’” recognizing opportunity and a silver lining of the pandemic.

Kiana worked on composing a forty-two-page business plan filled with financials and market research on the fabric arts industry. She wanted to differentiate herself by taking a more sustainable and thoughtful approach to the materials she would offer in her shop. “I decided not to sell any yarn that carries polyamide acrylic or nylon, only premium yarns” Kiana says, noting that 99% of everything in the shop would be biodegradable.

Familiarizing herself with studies from the American Sheep Association, Kiana decided that she would not work with any vendors that source their raw wool from a mulesing farm (a practice which shaves too close to the skin of sheep). Much of her yarn is GOTS certified (Global Organic Textile Standard) which means that it has achieved the highest level of textile sustainability and is proven to be fair trade.

Even though it is ever-changing, Kiana has committed to a sustainable shop and her commitment has proven effective. Due to its location, West Village Knit and Needle is often the first stop for NYU, Parsons and FIT students seeking art supplies, many of whom are eager to take a more sustainable approach.

In addition to the students, the shop attracts mostly downtown neighborhood folks (think Greenwich Village, Tribeca, Chelsea), tourists and a handful of uptown devotees. Kiana credits the loyalty of their customers to her small, but mighty team of five who are always available for free help on any project. To date West Village Knit and Needle has 3,500 paying customers and 56% of them are return customers. This shop owner’s favorite part of the business? The people she gets to meet day in and day out. “Every single day someone says I want to learn to needlepoint. Seeing that excitement of getting started on their faces is the best!”

Kiana wants to give back to small artists, many sourced through Instagram and Etsy, by displaying their work on the shop’s walls- just as she did in her gallery years before. Today, she has four artists exclusive to the store, among their work you can find a variety of hand painted canvases from Seinfeld quotes to the “David” to Formula 1 drivers.

From day one, Kiana’s wish for the shop was to be fun, warm and energetic. And on day 431, the 80’s music that is so often blaring through the speakers, free classes, champagne Saturdays and amicable staff have helped to exceed the expectation. In her original mission statement, West Village Knit and Needle wanted to be known as “the friendliest needlepoint store in the city” and so far seems to be succeeding. 

The restorative properties of needlepointing and knitting are apparent. “They are good for mind body and soul” Kiana says, the reason she began in the first place “It forces you to be present in what you’re doing. For needlepoint, the repetitive motion is very soothing and meditative”.

Every month stitch and sip hosted by Stitch Club of NYC. huge following. People who participate are fun. Once a month they do a free tarot card reading night with Paul Flanagan, partnerships with Shop the Village, most classes are free besides the $25 for materials and NYC in October yarn crawl.