Creating a Community

We are approaching my second anniversary of owning The Artful Yarn, which means I am TWO LYS years old!  There has been a lot for me to learn in the last two years, as I’m sure there will be more to learn in the next few.

The things that I love best about owning The Artful Yarn:

1. Picking the yarn and colors.  This is some of the most fun.  So often I just fall in love with a yarn and imagine all the possibilities.  Sometimes I get a box full of new yarn and think, “Oh, I must be  in my blue phase.”  Then there are times when I order something so far in advance I forget about it and one day a package arrives in the shop. Surprise Yarn!
2. Teaching classes.  One of the primary reasons I chose to pick up where Cathy Hougan left off at The Artful Yarn was the joy I find in teaching classes.  The warm fuzzy feeling I get when you, the student, understands what’s happening and really gets the new technique is one of my favorites.  Making something that seemed so difficult at first, understandable and accessible to others is so gratifying.
3. The community that is The Artful Yarn.  There’s something about that bond we form over our love of yarn. It comes from that joy we feel when working on a good pattern together and the triumphs we celebrate when we work out a troublesome pattern.  It’s not only fiber! Sharing our lives while helping each other with our knitting and crocheting gives me a feeling of wholeness.  

​We all know that the fiber community is a close knit one (see what I did there?).  We “get” each other and the process of making. It brings us together to share.  We are artists, and though none of the things I knit will ever end up in the Cleveland Museum of Art next to a Van Gogh, I do know that our fiber arts community will celebrate it just the same.  
Seeing the community come together here in our little shop in Chagrin Falls and help one another has made my heart full. Becoming owner and making fast friends who know each other’s names and support one another has been a fabulous and bonkers ride my first two years.  Thank you for joining me. Stick around, we have so much more fun in store!  

Thank you for being a part of my community.
Tiffany
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Favorite Yarn in the shop right now: Woolstok Prairie.  I’m working on my 3rd project with this yarn since it was released in September, and it’s brought me joy each time.
Favorite “UnYarn”: Woolly Wormhead’s Short-Row Colorwork Knitting book.  Her patterns have been some of my favorite for a long time.  This book has 50 stitch projects and 10 patterns that you can use as a template to add your favorite colorwork design to.
Outside of the shop:  Last week I started a linoleum block printmaking class at the Valley Art Center.  We are making holiday cards.  I love getting my hands dirty (for art projects) and am looking forward to getting inky with this one.