March 31st, 2020

I came in after the weekend yesterday to a flurry of online orders.  It's good to know that our customers are supporting small businesses and that they are still knitting and crocheting. 

As we all know, crafting is a great way to relax and in these stressful times it is more important than ever to look after our mental health.  If you've ever wondered why Ruth and I are so laid back, it's because we spend a lot of our time surrounded by yarn.   It's amazing how even the most tedious of jobs (weekly accounts for example) can be cheered up by just looking around the room at the wonderful colours of yarn on show.  Sadly we don't generally get that much time to knit or crochet when we are in the shop as there are lots of other things to do but it doesn't stop us from working on our projects at home.

I have seen a few posts on the online forums though where people are finding the current situation so overwhelming that they can't focus on their crafting.  Perhaps if you feel like that, you could just cast on and knit or crochet blindly for a while.  Use the time to focus on the process of how the stitches work and take note of how they work together to create a whole.  It doesn't matter that you are not making 'something' , just use it as a way to chill out.  You could even come over all philosophical and see  those interlinked stitches as a metaphor for how people are working together to get through the current crisis!  

It's very strange not seeing our usual customers face to face and at our drop-ins but although we may all be may be physically isolated, we don't have to be socially isolated so we'll add a blog or a facebook page a couple of times a week  to keep in touch.  

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