Thanks for being our customers in 2012. We look forward to serving you more in 2013.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Happy New Year to all of you! We hope that this next year of 2013 will be a fibertastic year for all of us. We are closed today but will be open tomorrow at 10a.m. Please stop by and "C" our new calendars, and other goodies. The Yarn Club begins tomorrow also, so stop by and ask Rita how to join.
Thanks for being our customers in 2012. We look forward to serving you more in 2013.
Sue, Rita and Amanda from c r yarn.
Thanks for being our customers in 2012. We look forward to serving you more in 2013.
Friday, December 28, 2012
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:
Rita Nauman owns CR Yarn, a popular knitting shop with a friendly atmosphere and a creative vibe.
Here is the text from the TV interview:
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.
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
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
MERRY CHRISTMAS
We, three, at C R Yarn; Rita, Amanda and Sue, wish you all a very happy, healthy holiday. We want to thank everyone for your business, the new friendships we have made with you, and for the kind words about our shop. We are working hard to make a difference for you when you come to Rapid City, We want to be your Destination and we are so happy that for many of you we ARE your shop. Thanks.
We are closed on Tuesday, December 25, Christmas Day and on Tuesday, January 1, New Year's Day but open our regular hours the rest of the days in between!
Come on in and C what we have for you. Ask us about Calendars, C R Yarn yarn club and more specials for the New Year.
Merry Christmas from all of us at C R Yarn.
(Sue)
We are closed on Tuesday, December 25, Christmas Day and on Tuesday, January 1, New Year's Day but open our regular hours the rest of the days in between!
Come on in and C what we have for you. Ask us about Calendars, C R Yarn yarn club and more specials for the New Year.
Merry Christmas from all of us at C R Yarn.
(Sue)
Thursday, December 20, 2012
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!
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.
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!
Monday, December 17, 2012
Shop News
Merry Christmas Shopping to you!
We are still waiting for snow to make it look "a lot like Christmas" as the song says. But in the meantime come in and "c" what we have for you in the shop. We will have evening hours this next week for your shopping convenience.
Tuesday Dec 18 through Saturday Dec 22 the shop will be open from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. We will help you find that perfect gift for the fibery someone on your list. We have lots of ideas and lots of yarn, fiber and tools for you to choose from. We also have GIFT CARDS! These are perfect if you don't really know what to get. Especially helpful for the husband, son, grandson in your life to get for YOU!
Please look at our web site: www.cryarn.com for ideas on what is available in the shop. AND you need to look to the sidebar here on the blog to see that Rita has uploaded 10 patterns for purchase. This is an easy way to get something special!
For those that don't knit or crochet we have handwoven scarves and hand knitted hats for you to purchase; another quick gift.
We will be OPEN on Christmas Eve from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. CLOSED Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
We are still waiting for snow to make it look "a lot like Christmas" as the song says. But in the meantime come in and "c" what we have for you in the shop. We will have evening hours this next week for your shopping convenience.
Tuesday Dec 18 through Saturday Dec 22 the shop will be open from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. We will help you find that perfect gift for the fibery someone on your list. We have lots of ideas and lots of yarn, fiber and tools for you to choose from. We also have GIFT CARDS! These are perfect if you don't really know what to get. Especially helpful for the husband, son, grandson in your life to get for YOU!
Please look at our web site: www.cryarn.com for ideas on what is available in the shop. AND you need to look to the sidebar here on the blog to see that Rita has uploaded 10 patterns for purchase. This is an easy way to get something special!
For those that don't knit or crochet we have handwoven scarves and hand knitted hats for you to purchase; another quick gift.
We will be OPEN on Christmas Eve from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. CLOSED Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
Come on in and C R Yarn!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
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
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.
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
Monday, December 10, 2012
Shop, shop, shop, or is it sheep, sheep, sheep?
C R Yarn really has some talented customers. Jean came in today with her finished baby blanket for her new grandchild, due any minute. She made it out of Cascade Luna Paints, double stranded and it is beautiful! Thanks Jean for sharing it!
Very soon we will have some really cute gift sets for sale in the shop. We are getting some cup cozies ready and a few other things that will be wonderful gifts for your fibery friends and relatives.
Do stop by and "c" us soon at C R Yarn.
We also have a sleigh full of charity scarves knitted and crocheted by our customers. Thanks to all of you who are so willing to share.
The new Spin-Off magazine and the new Crochet magazine both by Interweave Press came in today and are ready to go home with you. We also have a really great Christmas gift idea for the Travelers in your circle of friends and family, the Fiber and Fabric Mania Travel Guide! The Guide is set up by State and City so you can look ahead to the place that you will be traveling to or through to find the yarn shops and quilt/fabric shops. C R Yarn is in the South Dakota section under Rapid City.
Very soon we will have some really cute gift sets for sale in the shop. We are getting some cup cozies ready and a few other things that will be wonderful gifts for your fibery friends and relatives.
Do stop by and "c" us soon at C R Yarn.
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