Quiet is pretty unique these days. Even when we are home alone with no television, computers or phones “on,” our homes still aren’t quiet. I was recently reminded of this when the power went out one day. And boy, it was Quiet. I never realized what a hum goes on in our house until everything shut off. Even Kadee Dogger was unnerved by it. I thought the power would pop on quickly. But it didn’t. “What to do?” I thought. So much of my life is tied to electricity! Can’t watch a DVD. Can’t browse the internet. I could work on my laptop, but didn’t want to run down the battery. I could call someone, but I was sort of relishing the Quiet. Then I realized there was something delicious that I could do. Knit. Knitting requires no electricity. So I manually lit the pilot light on my gas stove to make a cup of tea, pulled out my project and started to knit. In the Quiet, I heard the soft “tip tip tip” of my needles. A comforting, rhythmic sound that I haven’t heard for a long, long time. I thought about women in ages past, who managed through their lives without electricity to raise children, run households and kept the faith. Women who were tuned into the Quiet . . . like I wanted to be.

I enjoyed my hour and a half in the Quiet. I calmed down, focused and felt each stitch in a way I don’t when I’m watching NCIS or the History Channel. I thought about relatives long gone. I thought about books I would like to read. I thought about spring garden plans. I thought about how tall our boys are getting and how I needed to organize the hundreds of photos I have of them. I thought about my dear husband and how hard he works. Then . . . boom! The electricity popped on. The Quiet escaped me and I started thinking about dinner plans, evening carpools and what I needed at the grocery store. My house was loud and I missed the Quiet.

Here’s hoping that you take the time in each day to seek the Quiet in your own life. If you have to pop a fuse to do it, so be it!

Cheers!

Working on a couple of new projects right now (aren’t we always?!) Have been tinkering with a Fair Isle Cowl pattern.  I cruised around on Ravelry forever trying to find something that we thought would be a good beginner pattern. Nothing really jumped out at us. So we all looked at each other and said, “We’re smart women! We’ve knitted a little bit! Let’s create our own!” Like all knitting, math is involved. Some of us are great at math and some of us do not like it. We do not like it in a box. We do not like it with a fox! We do not like here or there. We do not like it anywhere! But . . . Fair Isle is a math project. Soooo . . . . a day later, I have something on paper that looks pretty good – did I say, “on paper?”  Have some beautiful sport weight alpaca burning a hole in my imagination. So armed with that, I set out.  Became enchanted with the idea of an i-cord cast-on. And so I did that! Now I have JUST started the cowl pattern. Three rows in and so far so good. But then my head was turned with another new project – a cute baby playmat in bold-colored nesting squares! It was like the call of The Sirens in Greek mythology. We have some new grandmas and grandmas-to-be at the shop and thought this project would be AWESOME! So armed with O-Wool Balance Bulky, I am knitting away on that!! LOVE IT! Didn’t like the way they started the playmat, so think we will teach a different cast-on for that – and left-leaning and right-leaning make-ones and then, yes, you guessed it, an i-cord bind-off! The little playmat is super easy once you get past the double-pointed needle phase. And I love the fun colors – January is a month that needs fun colors.

During all of this, we’re planning something like 8 classes for February. Our January classes are selling out and we are being approached by out-of-town groups to create fun experiences for them. How cool is that?! Meanwhile, the house is a trashy mess, we have cheese sticks, cereal and onions for food and let’s not even talk about laundry. But I don’t care! Having too much fun thinking about knitting, planning on knitting and actually knitting! And let’s not even talk about my newest attraction to crochet!

The Artful Yarn is a great escape! So fun to come here. So wonderful to meet other fiber friends. So nice to be where people “get it” when new yarn comes in and you have to hug each skein – I mean, fondly place it in the cubbies. I love the new poster we have in our front window. It’s from an Etsy gal and it reads, Keep Calm and Carry Yarn. I love that!

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!

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.

Now we are getting the whole social-networking thing up and running. Thankfully we have a 16-year-old son who can just come click-click something on the computer and there’s a link on the website. I should have the website up in the next day or two. Have to – because the Sun Paper is running a little article about The Artful Yarn this week! How cool is that!

So grab your calendar now! We’ve got some fun class ideas which will be posted on our website: www.theartfulyarn.com  and we are going to be open on the first Thursday night of every month for Chagrin First Thursdays. That night all the stores and restaurants in Chagrin Falls are open until 9:00 PM. So we are having Yarntini Night! Come sit and knit, crochet, spin, anything fiber fun from 6:30-8:30 PM. It’s a great chance to get away from home, work, somebody’s practice, volunteering, whatever! Just come and relax!

We also have Learn to Knit (and Purl!) classes running every Sunday afternoon for just $10. Again, check out the website for the details on that and how to register.

So psyched to be open and looking forward to meeting all of you! Come visit us. Tell us what you think, what you would like to see and what you would like to do in the way of classes or events. And if you’re an awesome teacher, let us know if you are interested in teaching something at The Artful Yarn!

Originally we weren’t going to offer books, but seeing how well our space is being planned by April, our designer, we’re going to offer some books and special edition magazines. One magazine is called, Jane Austen Knits. As an English major and huge fan of Pride and Prejudice, I decided that was a sign! Hahaha! The cover photo of a ruffley scarf/cowl sold me instantly! We’ll have some great yarn to knit that item for sure!

We are also going for a real mix of fibers, textures and colors. A little bit of everything! You’ll have to come visit the shop and let us know what you think. The thing that’s really great about working with smaller producers is how nimble they are. We’ll be able to special order yarns for projects quickly with few restrictions on quantities which will be really nice.

Thanks for checking in at our blog! We’re posting in two categories for now but as things really get geared up, we’ll post new updates in different categories. Enjoy the week!

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?!