I took Branch-Weaving and Mesh-Weaving from Back Gate Studio’s Barbara Balkin at my Local Yarn Shop (LYS) the Twisted Ewe. It got my creativity flowing in a different direction! And I got to use leftover yarn from my stash. Check out Barbara’s website at www.backgatestudios.etsy.com and Twisted Ewe’s website at www.twistedeweidaho.com for future classes.
From their website at www.stillyriveryarns.com:
“Stilly River Yarns is a full-service yarn and fiber arts shop on the west side of Stanwood, Washington. Whether you’re a crocheter, felter, knitter, spinner, or weaver, there’s something lovely for you to discover here!”
I found Stilly River Yarn by serendipitous accident (or fate) when visiting our adult children in the Seattle area. We were driving through town and I pulled up Google Maps to look for a place to eat in Stanwood… but when I saw “Stilly River Yarn” pop up on the map, we took a detour and found Stilly River Yarns in a charming old house. My (starving) husband was a saint and sat in the car for a good hour while I got to know Lindsey Spoor. A former French teacher turned yarn shop owner, she is an enthusiastic wealth of fiber knowledge and supporter of her community. Conscious of the ever-changing post-pandemic mask and social-distancing requirements, Stilly River has a strong web and Facebook presence offering Zoom-Baa social gatherings and virtual classes along with a great on-line shop. Check out her blog on the differences between yarn hanks, skeins, and donuts (and cakes and balls). Uh-oh… donuts… cakes… now I am hungry!
What is a Local Yarn Shop?
A Local Yarn Shop (LYS) is a small specialty shop which sells yarn and other accessories related to knitting, crocheting, weaving, and spinning. Shops may also offer classes and community events to promote the art of the craft as well as selling finished products. Yarn shops offer specialty yarn and roving (long bundles of fiber spun to make yarn) made of natural fibers such as wool, cotton, flax, and bamboo. These are higher quality (and more expensive) than the mass-produced acrylic yarns offered in the craft section of big box stores.
Next up: My favorite Local Yarn Shops
On January 1, 2016, my husband verbalized the (incorrect) opinion that I had too much yarn. (Really, can one ever have too much yarn? I think not!) In shock for a brief moment, I offered to not PURCHASE any new yarn until I used up my stash. I proceeded to crochet 157 hats and donate to charities that year. The funny thing was that when people heard what I was doing, they started giving me yarn! One time, my daughter and I were at a yard sale and my daughter commented, “Dad will be happy there’s no yarn here that you might want to buy.” The homeowner expressed curiosity about her statement and my daughter explained that I was making and donating hats. The homeowner noted that her mother had just passed away and she wasn’t sure what to do with all her yarn, so she GAVE me several large bags of high-quality yarn. I ended 2016 with more yarn than I started with! For some reason, my husband has not complained about my yarn stash since then….
Tiny baby hats for NICU!
As part of Blue Cross of Idaho’s Employee Giving Campaign each December, employees knit or crochet tiny hats that are sent to NeoNatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) across the state.