Why Pre-Order?

Why pre-order from Midwest Yarn?

I'm sure a lot of you have seen some of my Facebook posts stating that certain things are now available for pre-order.  But why do stores do this?  Simply put, since we are a small yarn shop and pre-orders help make it easier to grow our inventory.  With pre-orders made, we can bring in new products with much less of a burden on our cash flow, allowing us to keep you, the customer, happy.  Not to mention that we can bring a lot more new items in faster.  If we get in enough pre-order sales for a specific product, then it ships.  

Here are a few things I encourage you to pre-order with us so that we can complete our initial orders:

• Addi Turbo and Addi Lace needles, specifically longer circular lengths like 32", 40" and 60". I also recommend the Lace Click sets and Turbo Click sets, they're a great gift to yourself or your favorite knitter.  Click here for details on their website.
• Kraemer Tatamy Tweed DK or Worsted Yarns.  This yarn is a popular tweed that is machine washable and comes in a variety of colors.  Special orders can be made quickly with this company.
• And don't forget the OMG hand dyed yarns, done by yours truly.  I've been enjoying the feedback from my hard work on these and my handspun yarns.

Again, please consider pre-ordering with us to help continue our steady growth in the Bay View neighborhood.  Should you want to pre-order with us, contact me via Facebook or email and let me know what you're interested in ordering. I will email pricing for those items and will send an invoice once you've made a decision.  

Busy Busy Busy...

I've been quite busy with the shop lately: spinning, knitting, designing, and making connections with other knitters and crocheters.  I've even refreshed my crochet skills so that I can begin to offer crochet classes during the winter session (details to come soon).  Part of me wants to start making knit gifts for my family like I did last year, but I know that I definitely won't have the time. *sigh*

I did publish a women's sweater pattern on Ravelry and I'm also working on a series of boy's sweater patterns that my son will be modeling once they're complete.

I hope you all are having a great fall and don't forget to stop by the shop to see some of our new and exciting yarns.  :)

Customer Service

I've been toying around with the idea about a blog entry on customer service, and never really had much time.  There are just not enough hours in the day for everything that I want to do.  I do get time to put my thoughts down on Twitter or Facebook in between customers or projects.

After some recent issues with Time Warner Cable and reading complaints about local yarn shops on Ravelry, I felt that it's long overdue.

I always joke that I attended the "Everton Martin School of Business" before any other schooling I received.  That is due to the fact that I used to watch my father talk with people whenever he had a problem with that company's customer service.  In fact, our family was well known because my father always put up a big stink if things were not just as they should be.  

If people knew we were there, we always got perfect treatment, as though staff were scared of my father.  It even happened when I had to call the fire department out to the house when we had a gas leak after I graduated college.

But why do we have to yell, talk to management, or even put up any kind of stink to get good service?  Isn't the point to keep your customers happy so they keep coming back?!  When I sit on hold for 30 minutes and the muzak cuts to an automated voice that tells me my call is important, I ask myself every time, "Is it really?  Then why have I been on hold for 30 minutes?"  Because the last thing I need to do, especially when I have a 3 year-old and customers, is sit on the phone on hold for 30 minutes to wait for you to not help me at all!

This is usually why I apologize for Vincent people a little hyper in the shop, or for just about everything.  I value the people that come into the shop, appreciate their input, and most importantly when they come back. And that's my rant in a nutshell.

More yarn will be coming in soon, including items that I've hand dyed or hand spun.  Stay tuned for updates!  :)

Being a "Mom-trepreneur"

As if being a mom to an energetic 2 year-old wasn't hard enough, adding entrepreneur to the job description comes with its own challenges.  Sure, I had my doubts, some guilt, and was even discouraged at times, but deep down, I knew that being in charge of something and making my own rules would pay off in the long run.  It quite possibly has allowed me to keep my sanity.  :)

"Smile!"

Now that we've been open for over a month, I am constantly being asked, "How do you do it?"  I especially get asked that by the people who've had the privilege of meeting my sweet, yet sassy son, Vincent.  Well, there are a few things that any working or business-owning mom can do to keep themselves and the little ones happy.


1. Faith/Confidence - First and foremost, faith in yourself and what you're doing is paramount.  I often have to remind myself, "I've got this."  Yes, I do get stressed and I do have bad days, but ultimately, I know that I can do this.  And for the spiritual or religious, faith in a higher power to give you strength to make it through the tough times (ie, sick days, low sales days, etc.).  When we struggle, it's easy to forget that we need this kind of support to get over the hump.  I even say prayers showing how thankful I am for spending another day in my shop with my beautiful boy.


2. Time Management - I cannot reiterate enough how time well spent can lead to increased success...or at least the satisfaction that you've done the best you can do with what you have.  Some benefit from routines or schedules.  I, personally, LOVE checklists/to-do lists.  This is a skill I was taught to do in college, which helped me graduate a semester earlier than my peers.  Now, I create to-do lists that start with the most important things that need to be done that day and end with things that would be nice if it was done, but was not necessarily a priority.  I also remind myself that the entire list does not have to be done.  Then, I further prioritize by what will require the most concentration and do those things while Vincent naps or after he goes to bed at night.  The benefit to that is, I get to concentrate on that task, it takes less time because there are no interruptions, and Vincent gets the attention he needs while he's awake.


3.  "Me Time" - Even if you don't work, you always need to set up some sort of regular "me time" for yourself.  That means, do something you enjoy doing without the kid(s), spouse, significant other around.  Easier said than done, right?  Look at it this way, even a 15 minute soak in the bath tub with your favorite scents or candles can suffice.  Yea, I know I get to knit a lot, which I enjoy doing, but I still take some time to myself every day.  I don't allow anyone to interrupt my morning shower routine so that I can get a little relaxation before I start a busy day.  Of course, that doesn't always happen, since Vincent may occasionally wake up early, or one of the cats starts howling at the bathroom door because they decide that my attention is needed right that very minute.  In some cases, I may even go to a movie on my own, which is a wonderful thing to do on a Saturday afternoon if hubby isn't working.


4.  Support - Let's face it, no one is perfect.  We all have our bad days or even things that get us down from time to time.  And I know I cannot do everything on my own.  It will save your sanity (and your child's as well) if you have someone you can vent to, someone who can help you when you get too busy (even with great time management skills this can happen), or just plain someone who will drive the getaway car when you've finally lost your mind and need to escape.  This is why I talk to my mother on a daily basis: it's therapeutic for the both of us.  She runs a bed and breakfast in the middle of nowhere, Illinois.  So we have our chat every morning about husbands, kids, or business, crack a few jokes, have some laughs, and then go on about the day.  Somehow it brightens my day to know that Vincent is oddly similar to myself and my brother and how we drove my mom batty when we were kids.  


So with all that being said, am I still crazy for running my own business while taking care of a Peanut?  Oh, did I mention that I'd like to have another at some point in the future (not now, but maybe after the business has been open for a year or two)?  Hubby thinks I'm nuts.  :)

Smashing little boxes...

In the wake of the USOC cease and desist letter and subsequent apology, had a thought: I hate stereotypes. In a world where we must define everything, from the name of the particles that make up the air we breathe to the ethnic categories we claim on the census, it's preferred that everyone and everything fit nice and neatly into its own little box.  Speak a hybrid of Spanish or English two equally different boxes?  Then you now speak a new language called Spanglish.

Peanut and me at the shop
Photo by Jennifer Kresse

I am not too particular about stereotypes for obvious reasons, but the main one is the fact that, because I do not fit into one box on a number of levels, I can make people uneasy (or curious...it all depends on the person).  I mean, really, as a girl I was supposed to love the color pink, love cooking and cleaning, right?  Nope!  Give me a tricked out Honda Civic and I'll be the first girl in line to race Vin Diesel in the next Fast and Furious movie, because I'd be more interested in the sleek lines of the interior than the actor's chiseled muscles (though, as far as preferences go, the muscles would be at a very very close second).  :)


So why do knitters and crocheters get the stereotype that we're all grannies, spinsters, or just plain old women with a house full of cats and nothing else to do?  I mean, when I first presented the idea to my husband that I wanted to open a yarn shop, he asked me why I wanted to be in an industry full of old ladies.  And the fact that the USOC so quickly issued (and re-issued) an apology to our community of fiber fanatics means that we have more pull than the average person may think.

Green layette
I designed and hand knit this one

This is why I do what I do.  I want to pass on this craft to people who want to learn, join our powerful community, and have fun doing something that can make the world more beautiful, one stitch at a time.


So, with a successful grand opening of the brick and mortar shop, a growing number of wonderful customers, and my design mojo back, I will keep working hard and travelling on this path.  I'm designing a few patterns now, working on getting more new items in the shop, and keeping us in the Bay View area for as long as we can.

Peanut models The Wonderful Wallaby
I wanted him to have something fun for the fall
and practiced raglan yoke at the same time!

Thank you!

One display area which includes items for sale
crocheted by Grey Havens

I want to thank everyone who came in for our Grand Opening on Tuesday.  It was great meeting the knitters and crocheters from the area and getting their input on how we're doing.  Some of you even got to meet Peanut, my very social 2 year old, who'd greet a lot of customers with a hug.  While he won't be here all day or every day, he is one of the reasons why I do this.


We were featured in the Bay View Compass, the local newspaper, which brought in even more people.

Hat made from Noro Ayatori, on display with
Noro Yarns

So, what's next?  I'm working on getting more yarn, doing more designing, and increasing the number of patterns available for purchase in the shop.  I'm also continuing to contact people for consignment opportunities and looking at getting some indie dyed yarn soon in order to continue with the boutique feel of the shop.  My husband is working on the permanent sign so that the shop is easier to find as well.


All this isn't possible without you, so again I thank you all for your patronage.


In the next blog post, I will be featuring a little blurb on the artisans whose items are now available at the shop: Giant Anteater; Knit, Nicole, Knit!; and Grey Havens.

Knitting: Good for Your Health

Spiders.  Flying.  Toilets.  You name it.  No matter how bizarre, I was probably afraid of it.  It was a terrible way of going through life, and it hit a boiling point right around my sophomore year of college - on September 11, 2001.  When so many people were experiencing loss and the trauma of the images they'd seen on tv, I feared random acts to the point, I was afraid to leave my home (a tiny little private dormitory).  And in fact, I didn't...for an entire month.  Somehow, I had been scared from generalized anxiety to PTSD.  After years of doctors and many therapy sessions, being told to relax did not help.  


And then one day, I stumbled across my mother's stash of yarn.  I picked out this fuzzy black yarn.  I hadn't done any knitting in a couple of years, so I fumbled over a cast on and knit myself a scarf in one sitting.  The world had melted away and nothing else mattered.


Fast forward another few years and countless projects later.  I finally figured out why knitting commands so much from me.  It changed my life.  When I couldn't meditate on my own, repeating k2 p2 in my head as I finished each row of a ribbing, I was, in a sense, meditating.  If I focused enough, I could lose myself in the fiber.  So, no matter how many battles I had to fight with horrible bosses, unruly patients, or my husband, I could calm myself with knitting.


I'm proud to say that eleven years after that turning point, my panic attacks are few and far between, PTSD is a thing of the past, and I'm starting to claw my way in to the fiber arts industry.  Standing in the shadows is not an option for me anymore.  


I have been groomed for greatness my whole life, it's about time I finally got there.  Even if it's only in my own eyes.  Starting this business will hopefully only be the beginning.  What has knitting done for you?

A Call to Arms: Setting Up the Shop

The shop on the same day we got the keys...

Since I didn't want to complain about EVERYTHING, I haven't posted.  I could have posted about the 10 hours a day I spend in the shop with my curious 2 year-old (who insisted on giving me hugs and kisses while I was lifting heavy items).  I could have even posted about how tight the money is since we are spending our own money left and right to get things moved in and fixed up.  But why stay positive?  Because that's what gets me through the day!  In spite of all the bumps in the road, I know that this yarn shop is something I want to do and it will work out the way it should.

How one area of the shop looked as of yesterday.

We funded this business out of our own pockets.  That's admittedly the scariest thing about starting the yarn shop.  There's so much on the line.  If it fails, it will take a long time to recover.  I'm starting to feel the same strain that I did when I worked at my last job, I made good money, had great health care benefits, but hated the job.  I was torn because working their benefited my family, but I was losing my sanity.  Now, I'm doing what I love, but this has the potential to not be a good thing for the family.  Then I just pick up and start knitting an item for my Etsy shop or stare at pictures of the LYS and feel a sense of calm.  See?  Yarn is good for your health.

When we got the keys almost two weeks ago and I began moving in, the space looked empty.  Then, a week later, the furniture was moved in and I could barely move around without hitting a box or getting a bruise from the corner of a fixture.  My husband, his brother, and a friend moved all the large items in and I ended up moving everything where it needed to go.  That meant I had to tramp up and down the basement stairs with heavy boxes and bins of things from our storage unit and the basement of our home.  

The other half of the front area.
Today, all of the yarn was finally put out...

So now I'm stressing about all the other little incidentals that need to fall into place before we open the doors.  You know, the final touches to make this business launch.  The sign is the most difficult item to do, because I cannot do it myself (grrrr...).  You'll find out quickly that, while I am a team player, I love my independence.  

Peanut finds all the running around amusing.  He's got a stash of toys and plenty of things to get into while I have my attention on something else.  He's even noticed that UPS delivers "mommy's yarn" so now whenever he sees a UPS truck, he proudly exclaims, "That's mommy's yarn!  Mommy, we get yarn!  Mommy, we go yarn shop, get yarn!"  I see another yarnie joining us in the future...

Why is this a call to arms?  Well, it being a bit of a slower time for yarn shops in general with warmer months coming, internet sales have slowed to somewhat of a stand still, so we need your help.  I implore my followers to continue to patronize the online shop, tell your friends and family about us, and if you're in the area, come in for our Grand Opening so that we can keep up with the demand.  :)

What you'll see shortly after Midwest Yarn opens are classes, craft demos, knit alongs, open knit sessions, and some great promotions that will keep you coming back for more.  If you're a crafter or an artist interested in selling your items at our shop, contact me at melina@midwestyarn.com for more information.