DeAnne Jacobson made a life-changing decision as she sat in the ICU with her 79-year-old mother, Arlene, who was experiencing a rapidly worsening infection after contracting shingles.
At her mother’s side, Jacobson uttered the words: “Don’t worry, mom. I’m going to keep Needle Nook open.” Unable to speak, a single tear rolled down her mother’s face.
Needle Nook is a mainstay of Atlanta’s knitting culture, started in Toco Hills in 1976 by Arlene Jacobson. The shop is marking 50 years this month.
Jacobson remembers being in the hospital in December 2023 with her sister, Lori London, as they assured their mother that they were “going to take care of everything.” Surprising herself and her sister, London burst into tears.
“I did not know I was going to do that. It just came out of my mouth. And I sat there thinking, ‘I’m going to keep Needle Nook open. Yes, I am.’ That’s when I made the decision,” Jacobson said.
With the support and knowledge of three longtime Needle Nook employees, Jacobson has successfully taken over the shop and expanded the knitting community in Atlanta. Needle Nook is celebrating its 50th anniversary on Friday, March 20 with an open table for projects, tarot, henna tattoos, and guided meditation.
Jan Goodloe, Margie Evans, and Karol Eubanks will be on hand to help crafters find the perfect tools for their projects at the all-day celebration. The women have a combined 33 years of experience at Needle Nook.
Needle Nook’s early days
Needle Nook opened in 1976 when the Jacobson sisters were three and seven years old. Milton Jacobson, owner of Sterling Jewelers on Peachtree Street, recognized an entrepreneurial spirit in his wife, Arlene, and he encouraged her to open the shop around the corner from their home.
Jacobson was never told the origin story of Needle Nook – she discovered it in newspaper articles she found while she was going through her mom’s things. After her death, Jacobson renovated her childhood home and now lives there.
“I’ve pretty much taken over my mom’s entire life,” she laughed. “It’s been very rewarding. Emotional at first, and now, [running Needle Nook] is near and dear to my heart in a very positive and loving way.”
Reopening and reinvigorating the shop
After Arlene’s death, Needle Nook reopened with a loyal clientele who knew the original owner intimately. Feedback was encouraging, Jacobson said. People were thanking her for keeping open a place they’d been frequenting for decades.
Jacobson said she “had to take a crash course” when she took over the shop. She was up-to-date on knitting, it was learning everything else about running a shop that she was missing.
“I never worked in the shop. We never talked about me taking over the shop,” Jacobson recalled. “Everyone’s like, ‘It’s so nice that you took over the shop. I’m sure you and your mom had planned on this.’ No. No, we did not.”
She described it as “flying by the seat of her pants” but two and a half years later, it’s clear Jacobson has a good handle on Needle Nook. The former fitness professional said she went from the service industry – creating fitness programs for clients and managing trainers – to creating relationships with vendors, taking inventory, and ordering supplies.
While Arlene was supportive of the community around her by holding fundraisers for the local women’s shelter, her daughter is focused on building community at the shop. Open table nights and weekends welcome everyone: Come in and sit at the table to draw, crochet, cross stitch, or craft with a hot glue gun.
“I’m a different person, and I have a different philosophy than my mom did,” Jacobson said.
Being crafty and hanging out together in the evening and on weekends, Jacobson said, has created a welcoming environment for younger people. Needle Nook is keeping the doors open by evolving.
“There’s no judgment. It’s not a class, it’s not a help session, it’s just a group of people who are doing similar things,” she said.
Needle Nook offers a full calendar of classes, too. This month, dear friend and 23-year customer Rebecca Rakoski – nicknamed Needle Nook Sock Ambassador – is running the March Madness Sock Make Along. She teaches knitters to love making socks as much as she does.
“The fun part is making something creative together. We have a couple of sock patterns, but everybody chooses their own yarn and puts their own spin on it,” Rakoski said. “It’s a good, old-fashioned competition to keep you focused with your head in the game.”
Rakoski is “all about successful crafting.” She hopes to get crafters enthusiastic about knitting socks, her hobby for 20 years. “I want to give them my tips, my tricks, my shortcuts for successful sock knitting, and get them hooked on this slow crafting, old timey project that brings me joy,” she said.
Celebrating 50 years
“Color drives everything in the shop,” Jacobson said. “It’s what people come in for.”
Jacobson could talk about color and yarn for hours. She once spent nearly two weeks of her vacation in Alaska looking for hand-dyed yarn from a shop located there.
“I bought the yarn and I’m waiting for the perfect project to knit it with,” Jacobson said, adding that the magic is buying something you cannot find elsewhere. “It’s from the local sheep. It’s from the local artisan.”
She said that yarn has become more beautiful over the last 30 years because it now can be made from different types of fiber. Shiny and glossy silk yarn that drapes the body is in contrast with stiff Icelandic wool with bristly pieces for cold-weather clothing.
To mark the 50th anniversary, Jacobson collaborated with Freckled Frog Knits from Savannah to create exclusive three color ways. Arlene’s Baby is a rich teal and purple; Family Jewels, after Milton’s jewelry business, is ochre, purple, and teal; and DeAnne’s Dotty Daydreams, is a speckled combination of cream, ochre, purple, and teal.
Arlene Jacobson loved to celebrate, whether it was a birthday, anniversary, graduation or another occasion. Needle Nook Bingo cards and wall of memories are small ways Jacobson is honoring her mother’s fiery spirit.
Jacobson said those close to her mother would describe her as bossy but caring, and “one of their favorite people on the planet.”
Rakoski said when she reflects on Needle Nook, it’s on a “web of community of friendships” that taught her tips and tricks to knitting. She described it as a community of wise women, opened up to the entire crafting community by Jacobson.
Needle Nook will mark the 50th anniversary on Friday, March 20 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.