Hello everyone! This is my first blog post EVER and I’m so excited that this is finally getting off the ground! Writing a blog about my experiences working in a yarn store and of being a part of the knitting community in general is an idea that’s been thrown around for quite some time. So here it is, my first experiment with blogging. I hope you enjoy!

         School has been in my life since I literally can remember. And in two short days I will be finished. Forever. Unless I suddenly gain motivation and apply for grad school. Lately, when asked the question if I’m going to get my masters I politely smile and say no, I’m happy where I am. I’m taking an indefinite hiatus from the whole education thing. Yes, I enjoyed my time in classrooms; the feeling of learning something that I actually want to learn is great. But I feel like I’m not ambitious enough for a master’s program. Especially in the subject I decided three and a half years ago to dedicate myself to: literature. I lack ambition to get to the top; I get comfortable, find out what makes me happy and that’s what I stick with. Not many people understand this philosophy, however. Some of my best friends still shake their heads when I say I have no desire to climb either the professional or social ladder. If that doesn’t make me happy, why do it? It seems so simple to me.

            In the preparation for graduation more people than ever have asked me what I’m planning to do once I’m pushed out of the bird’s nest that is Winona State University. It’s the real world! You should go apply for tons of jobs, get rejected by almost all of them, go through crappy interviews, cry yourself to sleep because you can’t find a job, settle for something that is marginally related to your degree, and spend the next five years searching for something better. Why?? For the last year and a half I have worked a job that makes me insanely happy. Yes, it also reinforced a somewhat unhealthy addiction, but hey, we can’t win every battle. I am an official Yarnologist in Winona Minnesota at the local yarn store, Yarnology. I first came to Gaby and Kelly, the two owners of this wonderful place, as a junior at WSU. Halfway through my third year of higher education I came to the unfortunate realization that my savings was rapidly depleting and I needed to find a job. Magically, I was told about Winona’s new yarn shop on a visit to another such store with my aunt and grandmother. Knitting sort of runs in my family. My German grandmother, who I call Oma, taught me to knit and purl when I was around nine or ten years old. Over the years I’ve set it down, picked it back up, set it down again. Though I haven’t always been obsessed to the degree I am now, knitting has been a part of my life for a long time. After being told that my adopted home now had a yarn store, I did some research and found Yarnology’s website. It occurred to me that a yarn store could be just about the coolest place to work. After musing out loud to my dad, he encouraged me to call and it wasn’t long before I was talking to Kelly, asking if they could use any part-time help. In a few short weeks I was soaking up the colorful atmosphere that was Yarnology. Since that fateful day, I have learned more about yarn, fiber, customer relations, and friendship than I ever thought possible. I have also become a bit of a “fiber freak” (no offence to other “freaks”; I did not come up with this name, but it’s often given to those of us who could eat, sleep, and breath anything wool related). I could talk forever about the wonderful people I have come to know and love through my job, but I think I’ll have to save that for another day.

            As I sit here contemplating my future and realizing that soon my life will be completely different, all I want to do is unpack my entire stash of yarn and surround myself in its soft, reliable comfort. It occurs to me, as it has to many others I am sure, that yarn is more than just a commodity, something that we buy and sell. It’s soothing; almost every proficient knitter will tell you that knitting is what they do to unwind, to relax and forget the hectic world. But for me it extends beyond that. Just looking at my piles of yarn and thinking about the useful, beautiful things I could and will make with it fills me with happy anticipation, but it also reassures and comforts. In this time of drastic change I know that my love for yarn, knitting, and every aspect of this craft will continue. At this point, I can only imagine it getting stronger. I confess, I may go overboard sometimes, and it doesn’t help that I’m surrounded by temptation every time I go to work. But when it comes to yarn, too much of a good thing is… well, a really good thing.

Wish me luck everyone as I make my leap into the real world. Fortunately, I know my Yarnology family, both coworkers and patrons, will always be there supporting me.