9.15.2005

I have no home

Worse news possible for a yarn huffer like me. Pastimes, my LYS, is closing it's doors. Very suddenly.
They are closing October 9th and the store is already being changed so that they can sell all store samples and fixtures. Oh. My. It is a very emotional time for me.

I found the shop on my 27th birthday. It was a ray of sunshine on an otherwise dull day. I went to the Half Yearly Sale a couple weeks later. The store was a sardine can of other customers. This is were I learned to hoard yarn. I was so excited. I had been buying top knitting books online and this was my first experience of those designer yarns I had been reading about. Not too long afterwards I started to take classes here. I learned to cable, fair isle, intarsia, magic loop and many other techniques here. It wasn't unusual for me to spend 5 out of the 6 days they were open at the shop. 7 months after finding the shop I was asked to start teaching there. After my children and all they entail, it was the most rewarding experience I've ever had. I became friends with the owners, Amy and Emmet Skaar. These two people richly deserve the many successes this store has achieved.

I've learned about pattern making. I've learned about so much through this shop. It honestly has been a second home to me. I've never had a second home before. If I had a hard day with the kids I knew I could go down and knit on Thursday evening. If I needed a break, I knew I could go down and knit during the weekends. If I needed a challenge, I could ask Emmet for a new project. He has THE best eye for color. I love you man! Yes, now I really am crying. If I needed to be stretched, I could teach a class. Amy is so gifted. In so many ways. She is THE creative genius. Her patterns defy all laws of knitting. Thank you for letting me be a part of such a great entity (it definitely was more than a store!) Thank you all for all that you have given of yourselves. I can't say any more as I'm determined not to cry any more!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sending me the link to your blog. Emmet and I both read it and we were very touched by what you wrote.

We too feel we have lost our second home, or, in another way, our second heart.

One of the things that helps us get through the day is to remember that the best part of the shop was meeting you and Nancy and Liz, and nothing that happens to the store will ever change that. We now have a second family, and that to us, is more important than a second home.

For me, I will just remember that the store DID exist once, that all that made it possible was just a few small ideas and the fact that we were fortunate enough to have so many great people like those ideas.

I will always remember the email we received the day after that sale. You wrote, “I don’t know if you remember me, I was the one with the baby.” That email was the start of a friendship I am so happy to have. Kindness is a rare gift, and I have been so grateful to have yours.

-Amy

Anonymous said...

Maybe it's not dead, maybe it's just sleeping for a while..

Anonymous said...

I feel your pain. I once worked in a yarn shop that long ago went out of business. Perhaps, someday, another shop will come to town. Is there anything else near by?

Anonymous said...

I sure enjoy reading your blogs. Hopefully I will get to talk to you before too long. I know how busy you are though. I am having trouble with my long distance so I can't call you for a few more days. But feel free to give me a call if you have the time. -Sarah