Deadlines

Tuesday was Knitting Guild. I had just received my latest Interweave Knits magazine and read it from cover to cover. This also coincided with the receipt of the guild newsletter with an editorial on the demise of more local yarn shops and the compelling reasons. We knitters that have been around for a while, know the knitting business is cyclical. Up and down, round and round. When the popularity of this sweet art surges, business booms and shops bloom like a colorful, fertilized garden.

When the shop I worked at closed this Spring, I was so sad. I knew that we were trending down again and I began to contemplate the signs. Shops closing, publications limiting circulation, magazines focusing on patterns with a complexity that appeals to experienced knitters. My job interview for teaching at our local Community College went well. The team putting together the class offerings said they would love to have me, but, knitting wasn't a big trend anymore? They still have not decided to offer knitting classes. I hope they do- for so many reasons.

There is less attention paid to the newbies. More time spent on technique and less on sharing the good news of knitting. What is the happy balance? Internet can be blamed for some shops closing, yet at the same time, access to yarn via the internet has opened up quality materials to all of the most remote regions of the world. This has spread the love of fine quality yarns to knitters that formerly had limited resources. I love to read about something new, do the research and push the "buy" button. I have no answers. I will always knit. I always have. I will teach anyone that wants to learn . Hopefully, I will still be around when the next surge of new knitters need me.

Saturday is my annual craft show. I am woefully unprepared. So little time, so little stock, so little energy. I have a full schedule which includes book club tonight. I read the book, printed out the reader guide and I am going. Saturday will come. Ready, or not. It is supposed to rain or drizzle. Grey and cold and humid. My felted bags have not dried. I have locked them in the guest room with the heat full blast and hope I can sew in the linings and handles tomorrow. Everything else you see piled on the table to tag and photograph. I may pull an all nighter. Nature has conspired against me this year and I am going with it. I will drink a glass of red wine to the power of nature, while discussing a good read and knitting a mohair ruffle to adorn a little evening bag. Multi-tasking moms and the lives we lead...