It’s the weekend; time off…..time to get caught up, on sleep, chores, and also, you want to squeeze in a little fun.
What is fun; shopping with the girls, going on a hike with the dog, date night with the husband, taking the family out to the movies? Time off, it’s needed to decompress, unwind, cook the meals you’ve been wanting to make from Pinterest, go to or have celebrations, do our crafts. I went on the PNW Yarn Crawl this weekend — that’s what I did for fun!
Yep, there were eight shops, and my friends really only wanted to do four.
So, four we did! The weather was perfect. We started at Starbucks for coffee – that was perfect. Then we hit the road — did 3 shops, then stopped for lunch at Smokin’ Mo’s (that was perfect). At our second stop, we visited The Black Sheep Yarn Shop in Olympia. It’s a new shop that we hadn’t been to before. Michelle Cohen is the owner, and the store was busy for the crawl. She had her children there helping, which was awesome. They were learning sales and entrepreneurialism. Michelle had lots of other helps too, but it really brings it home that these yarn shops are definitely small businesses.
What is it like for the small business? A lot of shops, now days, are open 7 days a week. When I started America’s Knitting in 2007, most shops were closed on Sundays and Mondays. As time went on, shops decided to be closed only on Sundays. Then shops decided to be open all weekend and closed on Mondays. They are all different, but you have to have time off…for your other life.
Free Pattern from Allyn Knit Shop
It’s Sunday here in Silverdale, Washington this morning, and the sun is shining. It’s 52* and a little breezy outside, fall. I’m thinking about church, and when that starts. My husband had to work today, because today was the only day that the plumber could make it out to our job. Yep, we are contractors, small business people as is the plumber. With the bad economy, many people went out of business; now there aren’t as many plumbers as there once was. Business picks up, and the plumbers that are in business can’t get it all done. The trade has sort of fallen off with no work, so they can’t even really hire anybody, so they are working on Sundays, so is my husband today. It’s ok, it’s time to be grateful for the work, and people are happy to work!
As I am home on this Sunday enjoying a little peace and quiet, I wonder what is going through the minds of yarn shop owners across the nation today. They have to go open the store, maybe they are thinking about the family at home, possibly feeling left out, wanting a real weekend themselves. Maybe the family will stop in and say hello. If it’s slow, they are probably getting caught up on bookwork, bills, taxes. If they are busy, they are enjoying the sales of the day, seeing their customers and what they are planning to make, or seeing their finished items. They are wanting a profitable day – maybe it’s a class day at the store and knitters are in, learning new techniques, learning to knit. Is it all worth it? I’m sure, every one of the shop owners feel they are living the dream, love, and enjoy every day of having their own business. Working very hard to put their own stamp on it.
I absolutely LUV yarn shops, as I’m sure you do. If you are put off, or you weren’t feelin it…give it another try. The local yarn shops is a great community, you’ll meet your knitting friends there. You are missing out, by not knowing these wonderful people. They do sometimes have a bad day, just like you. Calling all yarn shops, send me photos of your store, your events, your town, your knitters. I want to talk about your store. If you are a knitter that loves photography, take some snaps of your LYS and email them over with a few lines.
-happy weekend, happy fall
