Sarah Jane’s Yarn Shoppe

One of the things I love the most about owning a yarn shop in Fort Wayne is the lovely people we meet.  Our list of “regulars” continues to grow and the line between customers and friends seems to have disappeared.  A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to celebrate the birthday of one of our favorites.

Ruth Malich is one of Fort Wayne’s real treasures.  She has been teaching people to knit and crochet for more years than most of us have been alive.  She regularly comes in the shop and always take time to talk to everyone, usually offering words of encouragement and giving help to anyone who asks.  It was no suprise that when word got out we were having a gathering for her 86th birthday we could hardly fit everyone into the shop!

Although we suprised her for her birthday, she suprised us even more when she came into the shop on Halloween.  She wouldn’t tell us who she was when she came in, but my mom finally figured it out!  Great costume and even greater lady….We love you Ruth!

Georgia is another favorite of Sarah Jane’s.  She comes to the shop every Tuesday and spends the morning with us.  If we are lucky, and I give her enough coffee she will stay through lunch.  Georgia can do anything, and happily shares her wisdom with others.  There have been several times when someone has wandered in with a question and Georgia has spent the entire day helping them with a project.  I encourage everyone to stop in on a Tuesday morning and have a cup of coffee with her, her stories are even better than her knitting and crochet skills!

Here is a picture of my sister and I back in 1970.  My grandma, Sarah Jane, crocheted the lovely vests we are wearing.  The prison style dresses were made by my mother (Linda) with love.

Obviously the smiles we are wearing are completely fake, or perhaps our hair has been pulled back so tightly our faces have been pulled as well!  Some people think crocheted items look a little old fasion, but I love the comfort and “homey” feeling of a granny square.  I am now using the term “vintage” when talking about crocheting because it sounds trendy.  Here is a picture of the beautiful blanket Kirsten crocheted out of the Marble Chunky yarn.  You are definitely going to want to take her class on granny squares so you can make one just like it.

At last I have finished the brown sweater, I have had some trouble getting the sleeves to fit just right, so I am with holding photographs at this time.  On a much better fitting note, take a look at the jacket Sally made out of the Marble Chunky -

The pattern says you can make it in a weekend, but I don’t think you would have time to eat or sleep if you made it that fast.  We have quite a few colors in this yarn, so you might want to take a weekend and whip one up for yourself. 

Here is one of the new yarns we have in called Balu.  Balu is made from wool, acrylic, chashmere and angora.  Georgia already made one of the scarfs from the pattern book, I love the scarf and have named it the “Gigi”.

Linda also finished the first square from The Great American Afghan, she said it was fairly challenging, but that the second square is quite easy.  You’ll definitely want to join her for the class to get things going.

I packed up the family, left Fort Wayne and the yarn shop and headed down to Florida for vacation.  I thought it was going to be great to get away from Sarah Jane’s for a while, but guess where we had dinner on the way down!

Sara Jane’s country cookin’ didn’t have any great yarn and no one was knitting, but they did have good food and really friendly service.  No, that is not a picture of my grandma on the sign!  If you are ever heading down 75 just past Dayton, you might want to stop.

Vacation was great, I didn’t get my brown sweater done, but I did do quite a bit of knitting.  I made a baby hat with pom poms out of Sublime.  I also worked on some stranded hats:  my first one was another baby hat made from Brown Sheep Nature Spun sport weight and then I switched to a hat for my son made from some more Sublime.  I really like the stranded knitting because it almost feels like magic!  If you haven’t stranded before, we have three different classes this fall giving you an opportunity to learn.

I love to make hats, they are quick, easy and give me a huge sense of accomplisment.  While working on a big project like a sweater or afghan, it is nice to throw a few hats in to keep it fresh.     

This is a picture of one of my sons in a hat made from Frabjous Fibers recycled silk yarn from the shop.  He loves how it feels and says it doesn’t mess up his hair.  With Charlie is my chihuahua, Dwayne in a baby hat.  The baby hats have been coming in at a good rate, but please don’t let that stop you from making more, there is a huge need!

Everyone knows that my mom, aunt and I went to market (TNNA) last week, so I will try to give a brief update.  We were mostly looking for something “new”, but finally decided to go with the words “favorite”.  Our favorite pattern was the Pure & Simple Swing Coat.  We saw it on a model in the fasion show and loved the way it fit.  This coat was made from Mountain Colors ribbon yarn, we thought it was a little busy and alot expensive.  We have picked out a couple of different yarns with some drape to them at a better price point and are anxious to get knitting.  This is a universally flatoring pattern and yes I am wearing something underneathe!

Knitting bags were something we saw alot of at market.  We had a really hard time picking out something practical, yet not ugly or outrageously expensive.  My aunt and mom both bought beautiful leather bags with matching needle holders.  My favorite bag by far was from Timeless Totes.  All the fabric choices are Michael Miller and you can order the fabric you want.  I have all the swatches, so stop by the shop and check it out.

As far as fun goes, the giant needles were by far the winner.  These needles are size 50 and 32inches long.  I was knitting six different yarns together and I’m sure I could have made an entire blanket in about two hours.  This is the best idea for using up your stash that I have seen!

We met many wonderful people and realized how happy we are with all of our yarn choices.  We try to work with companies that we enjoy the yarn as well as the people who sell it. 

It is always exciting to meet people who are creative.  I often think I am being creative but find that I may just be a little tacky.  One of our customers, Deb, bought a noni pattern that was already fantastic and then took it too the next level.  She bought the handles first and then came up with the rest of it.  She did mention how well the Ella Rae classic felted.  Nice work!

Speaking of creative, I just have to give another note of thanks to Sarah Jane’s new friend Debbie Macomber.  We have always loved her books, but now we have learned to love her as well.  She was nice to everyone in the shop and even brought presents.  I am going to start reading Twenty Wishes this weekend. 

Tonite I am at a yarn shop sleepover.  No, I am not that behind on my paperwork, I am here with ten and eleven year old girls.  My daughter has invited a couple of her friends to come to the shoppe, play games, eat snacks, listen to radio disney and try on the samples.

This is a little different crowd than we had at the Knit In this past friday.  Those girls stayed until almost 5:00 in the morning, hopefully these will be asleep by midnight!

This weekend is the big yarn market in Columbus, OH.  My mom, aunt and I are all going, so Katie is going to work at the shoppe.  She will not be alone as my handsome, nonknitting husband will be there to assist her should she need it.  All the yarn companies will be previewing their fall yarns, as well as taking orders.  Most of our sales reps have been to visit us in the last couple of weeks trying to get us to spend all our money for fall before we get to market.  Those of you who know my Aunt Sally know that she would not let that happen:)

I have been pouring over my projects looking for the perfect handmade item to wear and show off at market, but so far, my best choice is a white crocheted dress I saw today at Macy’s.  My daughter is sure no one would know that I didn’t make it.  I think I am going to go for a completely “machine made” look, which should make me stand out!

Check back as I will have a great deal of insight into the fall season when we return.  So far the only definite I have new for fall is Mirasol Project yarn.  Take some time to research this yarn, it is wonderful quality, priced well and completely fair trade.  Also, if you come into the shoppe and mention the country this yarn comes from, we will give you 20% of your next purchace before June 11th.

At last it is warm, I actually got sunburned yesterday while planting some bushes.  What this really means is that I am finally preparing to wear my sleeveless sweater I made out of Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton.  I did take it apart and use a new bind off technique that Georgia showed me.  For anyone who has not had the opportunity to spend some time with her, let me tell you that you are really missing out!  She is at the shop on Tuesday mornings to meet with a group of ladies who crochet.  I have been knitting for more than 30 years, yet every week she teaches me something new. 

I have been prepared for business to slow down with the warm weather, but was completely suprised when we had a very busy day on Saturday.  My clearance area is really thinning out, so I will have to put something new out this week.  Our great customer/friend, Heather has been making pillows out of some of the hand dyed yarn that is 40% off.  We appreciate her talent and imagination for using up wonderful yarn!

Those of you who frequent the shoppe know of my struggles to get out my email newsletter.  Let me tell you all, that I think this is the week.  We have quite a few events planned for the summer, and I need to get the word out.  In July we are going to be offering all our classes for free.  In June local designer Jolene Treace will be having a trunk show, and who would want to miss out on Christmas in July!  The Wednesday knitting girls, my mom, my aunt and I are all knitting the same sweater over the summer – if you are feeling a brown, cozy sweater stop by and we can order you some yarn to knit along with us.

At last, a special hello to Anne who may be the only person who reads my blog.  For you Anne and anyone else whe reads this post and mentions it by Friday May 30th, I’ll give you an extra 15% off your purchase.