Wow! Technology is a pain!

Well, we have been off and on, mostly off, the internet for several days now. I did not realize how much I use the internet. I have a question in my mind, or I want to see how much something costs, or what it looks like and I am off to the search engine. I communicate with friends on facebook, through email and on blogs but only if I am connected to the internet.

I did more reading and knitting in the last few days than previously. I also went to bed earlier than usual, hmmm wonder if I am addicted to the internet? Ha! not me! I am not addicted to yarn either!

So, with all this non-internet time on my hands I paid more attention to the yarn and fiber in my stash. I found so many lovely yarns that I had hand-spun. Then there were all the unfinished projects lounging around in my multitude of canvas bags (can one have too many canvas bags?) I worked on knitting my mittens before summer and actually finished one. (I already have 3 "pairs" of one mitten each) And I helped my husband get ready to put his jewelry into his booth at Crafted in Rapid. And I worked at the shop.

I am amazed at how much time I spend online and how much I depend on the internet. Maybe I have been entertained by different things for a few days, but I am much happier that I have my connection to the world back.

Speaking of connecting, we now have needlepoint yarns at the shop called Waverly Wool by Brown Sheep. And the craft booths are slowly getting set up in the Crafted in Rapid area of the store. So come in and connect with us and see what we have going on in the back room.

Sue

Hand Crafted in the Hills Fiber Festival!!!!!!!!!!!

C R Yarn has a tradition of hosting a Spring Fiber Retreat called Handcrafted in the Hills. We have out grown our space and the original idea of the retreat. So, this year, 2013, we are expanding! We will be hosting an annual Fiber Festival called Hand Crafted in the Hills Fiber Festival (Hand Crafted for short) on April 26, 27 and 28 (Friday evening through Sunday) here in Rapid City. The venue is the Rushmore Plaza Holiday Inn (next to the Civic Center) and we will have classes, vendors, demos and hanging out time. We want to make this a fun event and one that you will be able to enjoy every year. The Holiday Inn has a restaurant (with breakfast menu), bar, coffee shop and is close to the downtown area where C R Yarn is located. We have reserved a large room for vendors and demos and a smaller room for classes to be held. We are working on the cost, the classes and the vendors at this time, so if you are interested in teaching a class or being a vendor, please contact Rita at 605-791-5648 (shop phone) or c_r_yarn@yahoo.com noting that you are interested in Hand Crafted. C R Yarn will have a booth there also so you will have lots of choices for "shopping" or "gathering souvenirs" if you are from out of town. :)  The Holiday Inn will also have a block of rooms with a discount for this event. We will keep you informed through the blog and on Facebook.

We hope that you are as excited about a Fiber Festival in the Spring as we are. We have had retreats in the past and it seemed like a great time to open up our fun time to everyone that wants to join us. We hope that the Rapid City location will be convenient to you and your friends. Please let your friends know about this great opportunity.

Sue

Husbands and Other Helpers

I love my husband, we have been married for 33 years and we still like each other! He has been instrumental in getting me going in my fiber adventures. He helped me untangle balls of yarn when I first “re-learned” knitting. He encouraged me through the  down times when my knitting would go astray (as in many mistakes, “this is a sock?”). When we lived in a small town in South Dakota years ago I was having trouble coping. He sat me down and asked the proverbial question, “If you had all the money in the world what would you do?” I said, “I would buy a loom and weave.” He was surprised and commented on how big a loom is and how small our house was! Then he asked, “what else would you do if you didn’t have a loom?” I said I would like to spin. He encouraged me to find a spinning wheel and a teacher and we would save up the money to purchase the wheel and the lessons. I went to work at the local library for a few dollars each time I was there and saved that. I saved birthday money, change from the grocery store, every penny I could get my hands on. We went to Colorado for school every summer from this small town and I found a spinning wheel and bought it with my savings and part of the money he needed for schooling. Being poor is hard. BUT, that was 15 years ago and I am still spinning. I have purchased a small loom now, and am using that on a daily basis. My husband says, “that spinning wheel has made you so happy and peaceful.” He advocates fiber arts to other husbands, “it really makes a difference for your wife if she is doing what she desires to do.” One time he bought a computer and I was feeling funny about his purchase. I never said anything. When the computer arrived, he came to me and said, "I fell guilty. I bought this computer and you didn't get anything. Would you like another spinning wheel?" I laughed, hugged him and said, "I love it that you fell guilty. Other husbands wouldn't have thought anything about it. I would like a drum carder. Thanks!" I got my drum carder, he insisted it cost as much as his computer, No Problem! :)

My other helpers are my friends. I have so many friends to be thankful for and especially to thank for helping me in my fiberly pursuits. Connie taught me to spin, Ernestine keeps me honest in my knitting, Rita gives me the opportunity to weave daily, Cindie gave me pleasure when she showed me her weavings, Amanda helps me with knitting customers, then there are Jen, Sharon, Gayle, Sandi, Wendy, Kim, Kelli, Cindy and Pat who are my fiber friends. There are so many friends who knit along with me, challenge me, encourage me, laugh with me, cry with me. The fiber world is filled with friends.

My pets TRY to help me, but they are the “helpers” that are cute, but not really helpful! Zoey and Gracie just undo the things I have done, so I suppose they are the challenge in my life, teaching me how to untangle things. 

Do you have “Helpers” in your life that challenge you, encourage you and teach you? I hope you do, they are invaluable.
SUE

Community

The definition of community is this: a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. So, when I say that I belong to a Fiber Community, or a Yarn Community, you will know that I mean I share common interests, attitudes and goals with the other people in my group.

I belong to a community of fiber people. There are a bunch of us that love to get together to share our successes or failures, our patterns, yarns, and fiber because we know that the others in our group will appreciate what we are sharing. Perhaps we are sharing our crocheting experiences, good or bad. Or maybe we have gotten together to knit and someone who is new to knitting has joined us and we all offer advice and help. Or there might be someone who has learned a craft years ago and just needs like-minded people around to bounce ideas or techniques off of.

My community gathers at my local yarn store (c r yarn) (shameless plug). We are knitters, crocheters, weavers, spinners, felters, beginners, very experienced, re-learning or un-learning! We gather to talk, share, laugh, cry and do our craft in a safe environment where everyone around you knows what you are feeling, talking about, struggling with or rejoicing about.   

Most of us have known each other for about the length of time that the shop has been open. Some of us have known each other for longer or shorter periods of time. Doesn't matter, once we gather together, we are a Community.

Do you have a community like this? Do you have friends, relatives, acquaintances who you can share your craft with? Please find one today. You will be much happier having friends around you that you can relate to. Socializing with fiber in hand (or fabric as in quilting) has been around for eons and will continue to be even with social media trying to take over as our community. I am all for social media, but more interested in the woman sitting next to me helping me puzzle out the mistakes in my knitting, or helping me re-learn crocheting because she is real and there! 

Where do you look for a yarn/fiber community if there is no local yarn shop? Coffee shops, bookstores, senior centers, community centers, classes at the community education center, craigslist, Ravelry.com, libraries, the places are endless. Maybe you will have to start one yourself. Try it! See what happens. Like-minded people find each other.

Find your community soon, you'll be glad you did.

And, if you live in or near Rapid City we have Knit Night at the shop Thursday night from 7pm to 9pm. Come on in and "C" us!

New Goodies for 2013

Our 2013 Calendars came in and they are on display now. The larger Wall Calendar is $14.99 and the smaller Desk Calendar is $9.99. The Yarnscapes are beautiful.

We also have started up the Yearly Yarn Club. You buy a membership in the Club for $45 for the year and you will receive 10% off all your purchases at C R Yarn, except the consigned items, for the entire year. You will also receive a canvas bag with the C R Yarn logo. Then in your birthday month you may come into the store, STUFF your canvas bag full of yarn or fiber and we will take 25% off the total of items in your bag as our Birthday Gift to you! If you signed up last year you can have a 2013 canvas bag or a special gift from us.

Rita's patterns are such a hit in the store, she decided to have them printed up on cards. The first two are in the store now. They are the Dragon's Tail Shawlette (the shawlette in the background of the photo) and the Teeny, Tiny Tree Mittens. They are $2.50 a piece and are easy to carry in your project bag as they are compact and stiff.

 Here is another cute item that we got in: Tape Measures!

We also have Zephyr Yarn by Jaggerspun that we are selling by the 25 grams for $5. This is a fine laceweight yarn that is a very soft wool, silk blend. We have many colors and will wind off whatever amount you need. (Example: 50 grams at 25 grams for $5 equals $10.00)

Hope to "C" you soon.


Sue for c r yarn!

Knitting Niceness

That was the title of the interview that Emily Szink of KNBN TV (NewsCenter 1) did on the Annual Scarfing that C R Yarn does, uh, annually.

Here is the text from the TV interview:
Local News by Emily Szink last edited on Monday, December 24, 2012

Here's a story that will really warm your heart.  A local knitting shop has knitted over forty scarves and hat sets that they placed throughout downtown in hopes that those who need them, will take them. 

Three years ago a knitting shop came to Main Street and it's owner didn't want to be just another shop in town, she wanted to give back.       

Rita Nauman owns CR Yarn, a popular knitting shop with a friendly atmosphere and a creative vibe.

Rita explained that many yarn shops give back to the community through their work.

"When we opened the yarn shop we tried to come up with a charity to donate knitting to, because that is a typical thing for yarn shops to do. And when I searched for a charity, I couldn't find one that seemed like a right fit for the shop so we sort of came up with our own,” said Rita Nauman, the owner of CR Yarn. What Rita came up with three years ago was an event that turned into a fun outing for all those involved.  

 Bundled in their winter gear and in high spirits and singing Christmas carols at the top of their lungs, 15 or so participants go around downtown putting scarves and hats on each of the 43 presidents.  

This has been a Christmas Eve tradition that Rita hopes will continue for many years to come and all the scarves and hats are homemade by local knitters. Each set comes with a little note.

The goal of the evening event is to outfit those in need with a new hat and scarf for the winter season.

"When I wanted to open a yarn shop I wanted to be par tof the Community of Rapid City, not just a store trying to make money. So this is something that I can do that gives back to the whole community.  Even it you're not one of the people that picks up a scarf, it's neat to go out on Christmas Eve and see the scarves on all the presidents." 

A scarf takes around ten hours to knit and a hat takes about six and there are 43 presidents throughout downtown. This means almost seven hundred hours were spent making these sets.

But, to the women who knitted them, time doesn't matter. 

KNBN graciously gave us permission to use their video on our blog, but I can't get it to upload onto this site. So, here is the link to the story on NewsCenter 1 KNBN TV Rapid City, SD. 

Knitting Niceness

We really do enjoy sharing with our community. If you are in the Downtown area of Rapid City, please stop in and say "HI" to us. 

Sue

Herstory and Technology

Today a customer came in who was making a scarf that when rolled up would look like Sushi! I LOVE IT! It was fun helping her pick out the colors that she needed to match the ingredients of sushi. I am amazed at how "advanced" South Dakota has become in the last few years. At least in Rapid City we now have several Sushi Bars and sushi served at several more restaurants. What used to be considered "foreign" or for the "elite" is now commonplace.

That can translate to technology also. A customer came in over the summer months from out of town to look at our yarn. She had her ipad with her and she kept referring to it as she looked at yarn. I was curious so asked her about it. She said she had a pattern on the ipad that had a picture and she was comparing yarn colors with the picture of the pattern to see if she liked the color of the yarn for that pattern. Then she showed me the pattern with the yarn specifications, the needle sizes, etc. It was so wonderful that she could take her pattern with her on the same device that she had used to find our store with!

I had another customer, a husband, that came in and took photos of the yarn and sent them to his wife, who was at work, to make sure he was getting the right color and brand. Later, she came in with him and they bought different colors also, because she had seen them on his phone photo and our web site.

Just now I visited with a lady about tatting. We talked about the hankies she had gotten from her mother that all had tatted edges. I remember seeing older ladies, when I was a child, tatting with that little shuttle and being amazed at the delicate edgings that they were adding to their knitted items. We just don't see much of tatting anymore. I know where to buy a tatting shuttle, but I am not sure if I could find someone to teach me how to tat.

Fiber arts: knitting, crocheting, tatting, embroidery, spinning, weaving, bobbin lace are all part of Herstory. Our female relatives from ages ago all had to do some if not all of the above in order to be clothed. We take so much for granted these days of WalMart, Target and Sam's Club. Back in the day of our ancestors there was much time spent in knitting socks, underwear, outerwear, mittens and hats. Before we had factories to manufacture our cloth we spun the yarn from our sheep, wove the cloth and then sewed it by hand. Many women were seamstresses and made clothes for others besides their own families.

Much has changed since the Industrial Revolution. Now we have the Technological Revolution. However, Herstory continues on in that we are using the Technological Revolution (electronic devices like ipads, computers, cell phones, internet) to connect us with the women of our past. I can go to the internet and get a copy of a magazine printed in the 1900s to the 1960s and read it on the computer or maybe purchase a digital copy and load it on my ipad or smartphone to read later. I can find the patterns that my Yarn Aunty knitted or crocheted for me 60 years ago. I can see how the weavers in England differed from the weavers in Asia by "googling" the information.

But the best part of all is that I can sit down and knit, crochet, spin or weave by myself or with a group and be connected to the past women in my life.  There is a connection, almost spiritually, almost physically, with the women of the past when I pick up my shuttle at the loom and weave. I can imagine what the lady of the house in long ago times must have woven. Did she sing as she wove, did she pray, did the children gather around the loom? Questions that run through my head as I weave. When I knit, I remember my Yarn Aunty Gladys and think about the 1950s and 1960s and how drastically things have changed in my lifetime. But I am still connected to Aunt Gladys, Grandma S, Mama, Grandma G through my knitting. I am also connected to my friends at the yarn shop that gather to knit or crochet once a week.

Connecting is what social media, via technological devices, is all about. However, knitting, crocheting, spinning, weaving, quilting are all about connecting too. Sit outside on a nice day with your knitting in a public place and watch as people ask you questions and want to see what you are doing. Try spinning on a wheel outside your local yarn store and watch as the foot traffic slows down to watch you. People are fascinated with these arts of ours. They are fascinated with the tools, the process and the end result. And for however long they watch you or ask questions they, too, are connected to the past and to the present.

Keep sharing our Herstory with the world. We need to preserve the ancient arts of knitting, crocheting, spinning and weaving and pass them on to the next generation, especially if they are knitting a sushi scarf!

Yarny Aunties

Do you have a Yarny Auntie? What is that?, you ask. Yarny Aunties are the ladies in your life that encourage you to knit, crochet, spin, weave or sew. I told you about GG my grandma, she taught me to knit, just like many of your grandmas taught you. But, I also had for inspiration a Yarny Auntie. Auntie Gladys, she was my father's youngest sister. She was quite the talented lady. Not only did she knit many things, she also crocheted, made human hair wigs (pulling strands of hair through a wig lining one little bunch at a time) and she taught lots of women to knit and crochet. She was amazing.

Her mother taught her to knit as a child and by the time she was a teenager in the late 1930s, early 1940s she was knitting bathing suits for boutiques in Hollywood for the movie stars.

She would knit for the girls in the family (me, my sister, my mom, my Aunt E, Cousin D and Cousin T) matching sweaters almost every year at Christmas. I remember wearing the beautiful soft white mohair pullover with big colorful circles on it in a "Girls Only" photo one Christmas as a teen. What an impressive sight, 6 of the same patterned sweater in 6 different sizes.

For my wedding gift, 33 years ago, she asked my husband and I if we would like an afghan. We jumped at the chance and she knitted us one, with her own pattern that is still intact and warm today all those years later.

I also have a crocheted "cat" that she made for me when I was an infant. She was making up her own pattern and the cat had too big of a head for the rest of the body. She had finished it while we visited her and Mama said that Gladys laid the stuffed cat down near me and I grabbed it. I chewed and chewed on the cat's head and Gladys laughed and told Mom I could have it. I still have it and that was over 60 years ago.  

Knitting and crocheting lasts. And so do the memories of our Yarny Aunties. Gladys was never able to teach me how to knit socks, the one thing that she did as regularly as most people wash dishes. But after she died I remembered her knitting sock after sock for her husband, my Uncle Red (he had red hair). I was inspired by the memory and decided that I could teach myself a few things that Gladys did that I had always wanted to do. So, I got out a beginning knitting book and taught myself how to do cables, first. I had assumed that cables were so hard to knit. Boy was I wrong. That was so easy, I decided to teach myself how to knit socks, next. I got another beginner's pattern for socks and away I went. What an adventure. I can't tell you what kinds of words I said as I learned how to do that by myself! Of course the first sock I knit was HUGE, but I TURNED THE HEEL CORRECTLY.  So, then I began practicing. I knit a lot of baby sized socks until I was better at figuring out my foot size. Then I thought that I would love to knit my husband and son a Christmas Stocking just like the one that Auntie Gladys made for me when I was 1 year old. By this time, the internet was becoming more accessible and I was able to search the internet for these sock patterns that Auntie Gladys always used for Uncle Red's socks. I had already been searching stores everywhere I went to see if I could find a Grace Ennis pattern. I had no success. When we moved to Rapid City the internet service was wonderful compared to dial-up access in the rural area where we lived before. I found a web site with Grace Ennis' patterns! But, not before a catalog came in the mail with the very pattern I wanted! I was so excited to see the pattern that I ordered the Christmas Stocking pattern from the catalog. Then I wrote this letter to the man who put up the web site. He published my letter on his site:

Dear Grace Ennis Graphic Knitting Patterns:
Thank you.  Thank you  for saving these wonderful patterns and bringing back to us the joy of those years that Grace was designing. 

I received a Grace Ennis Christmas Stocking, the Reindeer and Sleigh, for a Christmas gift  when I was about 1 year old. I still have that stocking and proudly display it on the wall each Christmas, that was 47 years ago! The aunt that knitted that stocking, knitted 4 others for her children and nieces and nephews from the first time that Grace's pattern came out in 1949. This aunt also knitted quite a few of Grace's men's dress sock patterns, as I remember watching my aunt make magic with 4 needles and yarn as she turned out sock after sock for her husband.
 
Last Christmas my teenage son asked me why I didn't make he and my husband matching Christmas stockings like the one that I had and I replied that I had no idea where that pattern came from and if I could ever find it again. Then last week I received the Patternworks catalog and there was the very pattern of my stocking!  I am so happy to have a little of my history restored to me, and to know of the history of Grace and the knitting patterns. 

When I was 10 years old I watched the flames from the Bel Air fire from the roof of my parents' house in Van Nuys, California and wondered about the people who were losing their homes. Since I taught myself to knit socks, my aunt passed away without showing me, I have often wondered about her sock patterns for her husband. Thanks to you, I have to wonder no more!


A Happy Knitter thanks to you!


Sue Jensen


Rapid City, SD

I knit two of those Christmas stockings and they hang on our wall every Christmas.

Memories are made while you watch life go by. Please make memories as a Yarny Auntie, or the Mom, Grandma, Sister etc that teaches another person to continue the time-honored crafts of knitting, crocheting, spinning, and weaving. Some day someone that you taught will be blogging about YOU!

Have a great week.
SUE

Grandma Genevieve

   
Every morning while brushing my hair I think of Grandma Genevieve, my mother’s mother. GG had long, long hair when I was a teenager. She had long hair most of her life, but in the 1920s she cut it short, a bob, it was called. After she was married, she grew it out long again. When I was a teenager she used to brush her hair and compare her hair length with mine. Even though my hair was long, past my waist, hers was longer. She had strawberry blonde hair until she was in her 70s when it finally turned gray. She would wind it up into a kind of roll of hair around the circumference of her head and she would look wonderful.

GG was a fun grandmother. She was always intensely interested in what her grandkids were doing. She wanted to hang out with us instead of sit with the “boring grownups” she would say. She even began to learn how to use Tofu in her recipes because it would connect her with me, who had become a vegetarian and ate lots of Tofu!

GG taught me how to knit when I was a young girl. Mama knit all the time and one day while she was knitting and GG was visiting, GG said, “let’s knit Susie, you will like it”. Mama had tried to get me to learn but I wasn’t really interested until GG suggested it. She taught me how to knit “English” style because that was how she learned. She taught me with a very special pair of needles, my Dad’s Mom’s bone size 8 needles. I don’t remember what I knit, I don’t remember how old I was, I just remember that I have knit for a long time and I used those bone needles for many years.

Knitting runs in my family, like blue eyes.  Both my grandmothers knit. My Dad’s sister knit bathing suits for movie stars in Hollywood when she was a teenager and she knit every pair of socks her husband ever wore while they were married. My mother knit, in fact we would help her pick out a pattern and when she was finished knitting a sweater my sister and I would “borrow” it to wear to school. From the time I learned to knit from my GG, I would go with Mama to the local yarn store. I remember sitting at their big round table in the middle of the shop just fascinated at all the beautiful colors and textures of yarn. The ladies would let me touch the yarn and would encourage me in my knitting no matter how awful it really was. All I remember about those nice ladies was their gray hair and smiles. I now work in a yarn shop and I am the one with the gray hair! I have very fond memories of the Reseda Yarn Shop.

Who inspired you to knit? Did your Grandmother teach you? Or perhaps your Mother or Sister or friend? Did you always knit the same type of things; scarves, hats, mittens? We all have such interesting stories to tell about where and how we learned to knit or crochet, or spin or weave.

Would you like to share your story with us? We would love to hear from you. You may contact me at c_r_yarn@yahoo.com. Just put Stories for Sue in the subject line and I will get right back to you!

Thanks for reading today and especially thanks to all those Grandmothers, Moms and Aunties out there that teach someone to knit, crochet, spin or weave on any given day. You all ROCK!

SUE

Traveling?

Do you knit or crochet while you are traveling? I don’t mean while you, yourself are driving, of course, but while you are a passenger? We went on a driving trip to see our son in Seattle, Washington and I took along two projects to knit while we drove. I do not have a problem with car sickness and can read, or write, or knit while moving in a vehicle. I knit fast while we were heading out to Seattle. I had size 10.5 needles and a bulky yarn to knit a vest for myself. It was all stockinette stitch so it went quickly. We listened to an audio book while traveling so in the exciting parts of the book, I knit faster!

Do you stop at yarn stores in the cities that you travel to or through? I did! Several! The first one was in an old house and was FULL of yarn. I loved the ambiance of the shop and the owner was a wealth of info on websites. The customers were so nice and the yarn was to die for. The second shop was one that I had done on-line business with and was very satisfied with their customer service. This second shop was HUGE in an old warehouse type of building and the yarn was stacked floor to ceiling in bins with a moving ladder to reach the top bins! They had looms and spinning wheels in a separate area. I was impressed and overwhelmed. The last shop I visited was in a strip mall in a bigger city than the second shop. It was smaller, more intimate with lots of people inside. They had just finished a class and the ladies were excitedly buying yarn for the new project they had just learned about. I bought another project there to take on the trip home.

Do you look for Indie Dyers or local yarn when you travel? I found some very nice Indie Dyers yarn and fiber in the stores I visited. I also found locally produced yarn. Montana has a lot of locally produced alpaca yarn. Washington didn’t have as much.  I love seeing what other stores have in stock to understand what sells in which type of location: metropolis, smaller city or rural area.

Do you look up a store’s website before you get to that city? I do! I have found that I especially like the websites with photos of the interior of the store so I know what I will find when I get there. I also like to see a photo of the exterior of the store, so I will be able to see it when I am driving down a street in an unfamiliar city.

I love to travel and I am so grateful that my husband likes to drive! I got pretty far along on my bulky knit vest and almost done on the “new” project, a scarf for my husband, before we got home. I am very happy to be back in Rapid City the best place in the West with the best yarn store: C R Yarn!

Sue