Atlanta Knitting News

Now for some knitting news from Atlanta.

I got these articles from the local paper and news station. The first article is the origional story and the second article is the follow up.
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Women Accused Of Stealing Yarn

POSTED: 4:43 pm EDT May 24, 2006
UPDATED: 6:39 pm EDT May 24, 2006

WOODSTOCK -- A grandmotherly-looking woman is one of the two people accused of stealing thousands of dollars in yarn from stores in metro Atlanta.
Skeins and skeins of yarn has become the target of thieves in Woodstock.
“She looked like your typical grandmother,” says Debi Light.
Shop owner Debi Light says one of the accused thieves is 68-years-old. Light says the woman looked at yarn, pretended she needed to go to her car for her pattern and check books – she never came back.
“We looked all over the store for all the yarn that she was holding in her hand, and it was nowhere to be found,” says Light.
Ms. Light told police that a second woman in her mid-40’s got away with a whole lot more – a little bit at a time.
“She was actually the friend of a lot of people here and would come in quite regularly,” says Light.
One of the most expensive pieces that either lady took – a silk skein – they cost just under $40 each.
The trail led to thefts at other yarn stores in Dunwoody and Roswell, where police arrested the 2 women. Woodstock Police haven’t added additional charges because they’re waiting on Ms. Light.
“She hasn’t made a decision on whether she wants to press charges against these subjects or not,” says Lt. Will Merrill with the Woodstock Police.
Ms. Light is perhaps indecisive, because the husband of one of the accused thieves invited her to his home to recover her yarn.
“We came back with 12 great big, huge garbage bags full of yarn,” says Light.
“We thought, maybe, you know, a couple of thousand, but we totaled it up and Debi and I both just went white,” says shop manager Caryn Southwick.
Shocked because the total was almost $13,000!
The accused yarn thieves are 68-year-old Audrey Yandel of Atlanta and 46-year-old Michaeleen Rose of Woodstock. We got their voice mail, but so far we haven’t been able to talk with either Ms. Yandel or Ms. Rose.

"Yarn thief gets year in jail

By BY CHARLES YOO Published on: 09/25/06
A woman prosecutors called a serial yarn thief will spend a year in jail after pleading guilty to shoplifting Monday in DeKalb County.
Audrey Yandel, a 70-year-old Atlanta grandmother and a retired nurse, has been convicted 12 times in the past two decades, mostly for stealing yarn, according to DeKalb Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney John Melvin.
In the DeKalb cases, Yandel was caught stealing yarn at a Decatur shop in January 2005 and knitting needles at a Dunwoody business in May 2006.
Her attorney, Charles Pekor, said she's been suffering from "compulsive behavior disorder" and has been seeking psychiatric help.
After serving a year in jail, Yandel will be placed on probation for six years. She's now forbidden from entering any specialty store that sells yarn.