The Artful Yarn … where every skein tells a story

Seems that our website’s first page is called “Home Page.” Makes sense to my English-major mind, but actually – - for techy reasons, this is not good. “Favorite-ing” our website means that the bookmark will be “Home Page.” Bummer! So we have now connected with a techy friend who is going to help us make that work better.  (Give us a few days. . . . ) And . . . . added to that, you can’t really find our website well on this blog. (So my previous satisfaction making all this social media work, has evaporated very quickly.)

So thanks for your patience as we get all this information up and running the best possible way!

Here’s our website: www.TheArtfulYarn.com  

We’re also on:          www.ravelry.com         (under groups: The Artful Yarn)

We’ve just started a Facebook page: The Artful Yarn – Chagrin Falls     (but it is very much in its infancy)

The website has most of our upcoming October classes and events (the website can’t hold all of them all right now – hence the techy person!) so keep checking back. We’re having a great time and meeting tons of fiber folks – knitters, crocheters, weavers, spinners, dyers, fiber artists, quilters and more!

Have a fun weekend! If you’re in Northeast Ohio – check out The Great Geauga County Fair in Burton! It’s amazing, tasty, fun, musical, thrilling, scent-ful, and comforting all in one!

Cheers!

Okay, time for confession! My name is Cathy and I am a Knitter. That’s “Knitter” with a capital “K.” You will never know this by my Ravelry profile and my two litte projects highlighted in my notebook and maybe a couple of stash pictures that I took when I received a new digital camera for Christmas – which was co-opted by the husband and now we can’t find the right cords for it.

For me a capital K knitter is the person with way more stash than they will ever knit. And I don’t like calling it a stash – sounds cheap and tawdry. And my yarns aren’t like that at all. I have a collection. This description was shared with me a couple of years ago by another stasher – I mean – collector. I like “collector” better. Of course, now I have guilt that my collection has no rhyme or reason to it. I know folks who just buy sock yarns. Or really really like red yarn. You get the ideaa. My yarn collection is just – well – it’s just pretty yarn that I have collected from everywhere I go. And I can tell you where I bought it and what was going on when I bought it. Like the beach yarn I bought when the car battery died and The Boys (sons and husband) went to play laser tag while we waited for a tow and I hid among the cubbies of Malabrigo and loopy mohair in Kitty Hawk. And now I have family and friends who add to my collection. I like to be in relationship with my yarn. That’s why you’ll see little backgrounders in the cubbies at The Artful Yarn. It’s just so cool to know stuff about your yarn! 

A capital K knitter also has more than 3 pairs of size 8 needles because we have 3 sweaters going at once along with a shawlette, a washcloth, a sock and …. that’s all I’m admitting to right now. Confession only goes so far. But this capital K Knitter now owns a yarn shop – how insane is that?! I live inside a yarn collection! Which lives inside an Herb Shop that smells like the Secret Garden! Another confession – it’s not work at all! It’s heaven!

So please know that while I have only 2 little projects on Ravelry, I have knitted cable sweaters for my sons that still endure, socks that I actually wear and show to real people, wraps, several items for girl babies (because when you have sons – girl babies are so sweet to knit for), a top-down sweater that does not see the light of day and my share of felted totes. Right now I am knitting an easy shawlette with yarn from Blue Ridge Yarn, Bambie, that is flying along and gives me a chance to throw a little lace into the mix.

I guess all this is to say that like you, I just love yarn, the act of knitting and being in fellowship with other folks who like to knit and/or crochet too. It’s fun to “play” yarn together and I hope you’ll come visit the shop soon. Introduce yourself and let us know if you’re a captial “K.”

You can check out our website at www.TheArtfulYarn.com or visit us in person at: 17 East Orange Street, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, 44022. Want to talk? Call us at 440.321.9754.

There’s something very satisfying about working directly with fiber artisans. They are so close to their craft that you can almost be in their shoes. Yesterday I talked to the owner of The Imperial Stock Ranch in Oregon. As we were talking I thought I heard soft “baa-ing.” I mentioned that to her and she said in fact that “yes” she was out in pasture where the ewes were calling to their lambs as they moved up the mountain to a different grazing place. I mean, how cool is that?! She even walked closer to them so I could hear them better and she explained the scene to me – old popular trees bounding a green pasture and up ahead the mountains. I could even hear the wind! It was awesome!

In another phone call to Blue Ridge Yarns, the mom of the mother/daughter duo was running in to catch the phone while hanging skeins of yarn to dry. She was so great to talk with! And really coached me on my yarn selections and questions. Inevitably our conversations turned to online fiber sites, email, websites and all things technology. The juxtaposition of these two phone calls with the reality of our techy world made me marvel. If we did not have the amazing access through the internet or even the phone, we probably never would have “met” yet a very “high touch” craft has brought us together. This is what I love about knitting – the ability to connect with people across miles, ages, circumstance and ability to find common ground where we can celebrate beauty, fun and creativity. All of that from one hook, or two needles or one spinning wheel and some amazing fiber. How cool is that?!

Information, stories and thoughts by The Artful Yarn divas on yarns, knitting, life and more. And, oh yes, happenings at our little yarn shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

Life is about moments. Read this amazing line in a Baume & Mercier timepiece ad this past week. It so profoundly resonates with me right now as I thrill to launch The Artful Yarn this summer. Like the moment when I walked into The Village Herb Shop and Kathleen Gips, the owner, asked me, “Cathy, you knit don’t you?” And the moment I said “yes” and knew that I was on the edge of a dream. The moment I contacted the photographer (in Italy!) of a favorite knitting book and asked for permission to use a photo of his in the shop and how much would that cost and he said, “Yes! Use it and good luck. No charge!”  The moment I walked into the space for the shop with my decorator friend, April, and she so totally understood the groove I wanted. The moment I walked into TNNA and nearly cried because there had been many moments leading up to that day when I thought I wouldn’t make it there. My dad had had a stroke and then passed away during all the crazy fun moments for planning for a little yarn shop. And the moments keep piling on – delicious and scary and fun and awesome!

Life is about moments!  Imagine the moments when you knew, just knew, that you were doing something significant for your life story. Maybe it was choosing a major. Maybe it was taking a job or quitting it. Maybe it was getting married or deciding to have kids. Maybe it was saying “no” when everyone thought you were nuts not to say “yes.” Life is about moments. In a world where technology and media and social networking can overwhelm us, knitting or crocheting gives us a chance to take a moment.  To work with something beautiful, to think about a person, to contemplate a decision, to be creative, to connect with something tangible and ethereal at the same time, to be practical and artistic, to reconnect with ourselves. To take a moment for whatever we want in whatever way we want. This week, I’m focusing on moments. I hope you will too!