Recently, someone mentioned to me the importance of community in my yarn shop. I had never really thought about it before. I love to knit and crochet, I use it as a soothing meditative activity for however brief a time in my day when I get to do it. I have always knitted my way through stress and life's ups and downs. I knit in public, private. On planes and in grocery store parking lots. I knit in doctor waiting rooms, in the dark at movie theaters. I knit alone and in groups, with friends and strangers and yet I never thought of community.

I guess knitters, spinners, crocheters and weavers are community. We share a love of fiber and color and texture, of progress done and things made. We crave the comfort our handwork brings. The soothing to our soul the pursuit of handwork that has been done for centuries. A bond between people that has lasted generations.

So yes, there is community, whether one person is knitting alone or in a group; there is a community of previous lives and generations knitting with them. A community across the ages.

I am thinking of all the people in Oklahoma displaced and injured in the giant tornado that struck the town of Moore, Oklahoma. I am so sorry that it happened and heart broken over the loss of lives and disruption of their days. A disruption that will last a long time.

When I am stressed, deeply troubled and feeling overwhelmed, it helps me to knit. I am calmed, contented and clear headed as I sit down to knit. I am thinking of all the knitters and crafters there that have lost their projects. How they must long to reach for them in this horribly stressful time. I think of the moms and dads who settle their children for the night and would reach for their knitting to have a few centering moments for themselves. I am sorry for this loss too. I wonder how I can help. I would love to send yarn and needles to Oklahoma but it is likely too early in the chaos to send off this comfort. In the meantime, I will knit and pray and send comforting thoughts to all the citizens and crafters of this area. Later on, I will find a way to donate yarn. Donating the comfort of the familiar stitch, the welcoming project, the becalmed moment.

Much new sock yarn has been added to our sock corner in Diva. I figure with the warmer and longer days of spring and summer, a quick, easy to carry knitting project is in order. With that reasoning in mind, I knit socks, many times the same sock pattern but different yarns. With Indulgence there are so many colors, I think I can knit all summer long! Of course, first I am taking a few weeks to detour into crocheting as a friend recovers from some surgery and needs something new to do. It has been years since I taught someone how to crochet but I am certain it will be accomplished in a mere twinkling moment! Happy Spring - we are expecting warm days the rest of this week!

It's in the shop now baby!

For the past several months I have had a sample of boucle yarn on my office desk from Schaefer yarns. I would look at it. Fondle it. Pet it and remember the little poncho I knit from my last boucle yarn I carried in the shop. Finally, I picked the yarn up from my over worked office desk on a gray, rainy morning and called a sales rep to order. 

Amy's new crochet work from a Weezie Wear pattern.

Great color! It matches my house!

When it arrived, I once again went through the fondling and petting stage of having all this wonderful yarn in my shop and stash. 

Dreamy boucle yarn!

This week, in between wacky weather that promises to warm to 62 by the weekend, I am going to begin a project with this yarn! stop in and say hi to me in either the bead shop or the yarn shop and I'll show you what I am up to! xo, Lois

Around the Shop

The spring yellow lobby display!

The wall of color and inspiration.

New Interlacements yarns.

The back room with lots of baby projects & yarn! 

I love the business of owning a yarn shop. I get excited and happy when I think of all the color, texture and feel of yarn. I plan on what yarn needs a swatch for the shop or what yarn I want to make something from. New yarn is the best and maybe I won't have time to do a big, complicated project but I can make a simple scarf or shawl or cowl and in doing that, I get to play with the newest of new yarns!

A few happenings around Diva today. I think I am doing more knitting for the shop that I ever have before and I like it!

A customer in the shop today with a lovely felted bag.

Hamster alert!

Those cool wool pet kits, where our little
hamster came from!

Cozette - a new yarn of silk, cotton and polyamide. I knitted a swatch.

Crochet Stories

Today is March 6th and I just realized it is National Crochet month so I am going to finish one crochet project, an afghan, and begin another. I learned to crochet from a Hasbro children's toy kit when I was about 10. No one in my family did any kind of handwork so I am totally self taught and have always thought of my crochet work as " Lois' way. " I was never entirely certain that I was doing it " right " but since I liked the end results, I was happy.

When I left a bunch of good girlfriends in Virginia and moved back home to Port Townsend, I made each one of them a crocheted afghan figuring that every time they used it, they would be wrapped in memories of our friendship and love. That was over 25 years ago and I still think of the hours I spent pouring love into those afghans. Now, I have more girlfriends in my life and I spend way more time knitting, but I am revisiting the story of those afghans and thinking that this month, I will begin making more love stories.