Category: Knitting

  • Caring for local fiber businesses

    Caring for local fiber businesses

    NOTE: I originally wrote this specific to yarn shops, but in light of the closing of Joann stores, I have updated it to include BOTH yarn and fabric. Do you have a local fabric or yarn shop in your area, and by “local” I mean an independent store that is not part of a national…

  • Not-so-Secret Shopping

    Not-so-Secret Shopping

    Today I traveled south of my home by just over 1-hour to the 1st annual Fayette County Fiber Festival. I was not disappointed! There were multiple YARN and WOOL vendors there as well as a number of vendors with related, non-yarn items. The booths/tables were set up in a logical manner and there was plenty…

  • Stitch by stitch

    Stitch by stitch

    I don’t know about you, but I sit down to crochet or knit for a lot of different reasons. Some days it’s to work on a specific item that I plan to give to someone as a gift. Other times it’s to make something for myself. Still other times I may be teaching myself a…

  • Badges, medals, reminders

    Badges, medals, reminders

    In one corner of my office, I have a bulletin board where I hang little reminders of my creative side. It helps keep me grounded, reminds me that there are many aspects to me as a person, that I have unique and creative skills, and since I first learned to crochet from my grandmother, who…

  • Day trips are Self-Care

    Day trips are Self-Care

    In my previous post I highlighted the important role of Local Yarn Shops (LYS) in being a place for people with a fiber/yarn orientation to connect. In today’s post let’s celebrate warmer weather and the official end of the public health emergency (May 11) which means we have lots of opportunities to get out and…

  • New normals: adventures in yarn

    New normals: adventures in yarn

    I originally wrote this back in the midst of the pandemic. The life lessons seem timeless, and worth sharing again. The pandemic brought a lot of “new” things into many of our lives. Some were scary and frightening, while others were pleasant and even welcome! As part of my own journey, I have decided to…

  • Meditation, of sorts

    Meditation, of sorts

    I learned to crochet at around age 10. My grandmother taught me how to crochet a chain stitch and that Summer I made countless bookmarks from yarn. Years later with young children of my own, I went to the local yarn shop in Emmaus, Pennsylvania and learned how to knit. I made a number of…