there's a brand spankin' new woolstore in melbourne - "knitters workshop" which is at 506 lygon street, brunswick (a 01 or 22 tram to coburg/east moreland, get off at the stop before mcdonalds and the huge curve in the road). open mon, tues, wed 10 till 3pm, thurs, fri, sat 10.30 am till 5pm, and sunday (call to check - usually closed during summer) - 11 till 3pm, phone (03) 93837933.
the store has only been open a couple of weeks, and is currently heavy on the oz yarns - jo sharppatons, heirloom. etc. they also have a small range of books and magazines and are planning on introducing knitting workshops. for a new knitter, knitters workshop is a great place to go to get your first project sorted - they have a nice relaxed feel, complete with chairs and magazines, plus accessories - knitting needles, stitch markers etc. while we're getting more rounded resources information online, if you'd like to find stores in another area, woolworks.org has a great listing. (edit - terribly sorry, but woolworks has a cruddy directory, which hasn't been updated properly for a good 3 years or so...if you know of a good online directory, do get in touch).
there a sale on at a place that's closing down - M Beresh & Son pty ltd. they specialise in textile yarns and fabrics, which includes 1kg wool cones for $15-20, and $50 for silk. they're at the corner of albion and inverness streets, brunswick. call 'em on 9386 6874 to make sure they're still open - planning on closing in a month or so. open mon - fri 10-3pm, and sat 10-1pm.
on the subject of yarn and sales and whatnot, 2 local guilds are having special days this weekend - check out the handweavers and spinners guild of victoria and handknitters guild of victoria for more info.
a little lowdown in regards to what's available through the public library system (in this example, http://ymrl.org.au) who have a decent collect of recent knitting books - 2000 to present: