Last week I found myself wandering aimlessly in a local Michaels store. It is the store in my area that has a pretty decent fabric inventory and sewing support, but I found myself uninspired, unmotivated, and frankly – unhappy. A couple days later I was feeling some sort of “inspiration” (urge?) to craft-shop and thought about a local yarn or quilt/fabric shop and just couldn’t find enough excitement to turn my car in those directions, so I went home.

Now, in one way that’s a WIN because I have plenty of fabric and yarn in my stashes at home, but combined with my lackluster trip to Michaels earlier in the week, my thoughts wandered back to a time when Joann stores were aplenty.

I can’t be alone in remembering that there was something special about Joann stores. It might have been the memories around choosing patterns with my mother or grandmother who were planning to sew me something, or the rows and rows of fabric in every imaginable fiber combination, color and pattern, or even the variety of general craft projects that were available in the store. For whatever reason, the impulses that often sent me over to the closest Joann store are not having the same impact on me with the remaining options.

Try as I may, I just don’t “feel” it when browsing in a Michaels store; and if I end up in a local fabric or yarn store, it’s still not the same. Yes, I will find things, but nine times out of ten I will end up buying fabric or yarn for projects that need to get in line behind 325 other projects in waiting. It saddens me to say that these, too, have not yet replicated that “Joann crafting/fiber arts joy“.

In their defense, most of them are not trying to; and I understand that. Running a small business is extremely hard, especially right now, so this is NOT a slight to small fabric and yarn stores. I shop to support my local fabric and yarn stores as much as is feasible.

As I thought about this “meh” feeling, it just so happened that I was also experiencing some serious Mean Girl behavior on Reddit. I wrote about one of these experiences in a previous post but have noticed a trend: there are some really nasty folks in some of the Crochet threads online.

Vitriol in the fiber arts community is not rare, as noted on the YouTube channel “aspen in the moment” who has outed a number of dramas, including Ravelry troubles, the Wool & Folk debacle, and the Chunky Boy crochet tool fiasco. Plus, it’s a poorly kept secret that some (not all) local yarn shops are knitter-friendly but look down on crocheters. Knowing all of this, and being a big fan of the channel I mentioned above, I should NEVER be surprised when people on ANY fiber arts channel acts a fool,… but I am.

The latest Reddit discussion was talking about selling crocheted lip balm holders at a craft show and I shared my experience (outlined in this earlier blog post), and got some spicy comments!

Here are just a few:

• “…I wouldn’t buy a chapstick holder for 50-cents.“
• “I wouldn’t buy a chapstick holder even if they were 5 for $10.“
• “I personally think you didn’t get sales because that’s just not an item that anyone wants.“
• “Nobody needs a chapstick holder and also nobody wants one.”

It’s a good thing my self-worth and esteem aren’t dependent on responses to comments in online communities!!! Sheesh!

The funny thing about these comments is that on Etsy, lip balm holders are selling well, so SOME people certainly find them useful and desirable.

I would not be comfortable sharing any of the snarky things I may think about someone else’s work, and I cannot understand why others find the behavior acceptable. My reasons for keeping things to myself include having NO IDEA what that person may be dealing with in their personal life. If they ARE going through some things, they certainly don’t need some online stranger kicking them – especially when they are down.

I never want to be the person that adds more misery to someone or who “kicks down” just because I have the opportunity to do so. I also have strong opinions about things, but it’s NOT my place to be the judge and jury on someone else’s fiber arts activities.

I try hard not to react in an argumentative way to these kinds of people because it never moves their “needle” AND it brings me down to their level. If I want to counter a point they have made, I will do it in a way that is still cheery and kind, but I refuse to argue or slap back.

This just adds to my melancholy around missing the quiet, creative vibe that was always available at the neighborhood Joann store – no matter what city, town, state or side of the Mississippi.

I wonder if we will ever again have a place as special as Joann stores were before they were purchased by Private Equity. I’d like to say that I’m hopeful for this, but I won’t. I think we’ve entered a sort of “brave new world” and that the Joann experience will be something older folks talk about in wistful reveries.

Here’s to you, Joann. More than a year later, we still miss you – a lot!

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