“The Community”

Last year about this time, a friend confided to me her first thought on hearing that Linda and I were opening a yarn shop.  Note that she waited until we were busy with customers and new ideas before admitting thinking “who opens a yarn shop in Alabama, in the middle of a recession, in the summer, are they crazy?”  Note that my friend is from Wisconsin and her mother is a wonderful knitter.  And also note she is one of our biggest fans.  Realize there have been days when Linda and I have asked ourselves the same question.  We are delighted at how much we have enjoyed our first year here are “Yarns”.  It seems yarn shops are more than just retail outlets.  “They are more than the yarns that line the shelves, they are the people that bring life to the place.”  For the Love of Knitting.  They are a community.  I read once that the yarn shop is a place of respite, where knitters can turn with confidence when they run into snags along the way.  Sometimes yarn snags, and other times life snags.  We are amazed at how many of life little problems are solved at the Thursday Night Knit Along.  We once laughed that our classes should be free, and that therapy and entertainment should cost extra. 

The yarn shop is the knitter’s candy store.  We always visit LYS when traveling the country.  Linda was recently in the French Quarters and didn’t miss the chance to visit the Quarter Stitch yarn shop.  It is a wonderful way to meet new people in the “community,” and get fresh ideas for new projects.  I found a yarn shop in Sacramento named Rumpelstiltskin’s.   I’ll stop by when I head out to California in July to see my grandson Derek and his parents.  We can all visit yarn shops all over the world using the net.  How about stopping by a LYS on your next summer vacation, then come by and tell us all about what you discovered and who you met in the “community.”