Gratitude and Honesty

Hello Dear Starlight Supporters-

It’s not often that I write here, but today I felt inspired to say a few words. I tend to be an endlessly optimistic person. I truly believe that things will work out, and they usually do! I seek joy in my life and strive to provide as much joy for others as I can. That’s a big part of why I opened Starlight. I just love facilitating crafting joy for all of the lovely folks in my community. I see so much happiness on the faces of our customers when they find the perfect yarn and project, and it fills up my cup.

Lately, there has been a shift. Starlight is experiencing a big slow down in business this summer, and I know a lot of other shops are as well. I know that it’s getting harder and harder for folks to feel generally ok, and it can be the little things like knitting that keep them going, but that’s just not cutting it for some folks.

I’m going to be honest. It’s also been hard for me to pickup my needles lately. If you’ve been following Shelli Can, (If you don’t, you should!) you’ll see that this is not unusual. Folks are feeling burned out, anxious, depressed and a big theme… Social Media Burnout! We as a community are in the middle of an emotional slump that is stealing our creative joy. If you’re like me or one of the many folks who are currently finding it hard to come back to the craft you loved, I have some hope for you.

First, I’ve been in the knitting industry my entire adult life. I went to work in a yarn store when I was 22, without even knowing how to knit, and have been in and out (Mostly in) of the industry since then… that’s 24 years. I’ve taught hundreds of folks to knit, sold 10s of thousands of skeins of yarn. Here’s what I’ve learned:

Knitting is cyclical. It’s popularity rises and falls on a fairly regular basis. Some people get excited, learn everything, buy everything, then lose interest. Sometimes they pick it back up when the bug bites again, sometimes we buy their stash at goodwill. :) My first yarn store closed when the economy tanked in 2007. Folks just didn’t feel like they could spend money on a pleasure craft like knitting. It was awful!

Even the most avid knitters take breaks. When I closed my first yarn store, I knit one sweater. Then I put down by needles and didn’t pick them back up again for 7 years. You read that right. I took a 7 year break from knitting, then somehow inspiration struck and I managed to open a second yarn store. This time, building from life lessons that helped me make it through those rough first years. I was obsessed again and couldn’t get enough of this incredible industry. It felt amazing!

I don’t knit every day, never have. Knitting has almost always been my job. I worked in 4 yarns stores and owned 2 more. I’ve only ever been wrapped up intimately in the industry. So naturally, I can be a bit jaded when it comes to new products, patterns, trends, etc. Sometimes it feels like I haven’t knit a thing in my life, when in reality, I’ve probably made dozens of sweaters, blankets, hats, shawls, scarves and baby things. I just happen to be a pretty slow knitter, so my production feels a lot slower than the power knitters I work with. I remind myself that I don’t knit to have a pile of things to show off. I knit because it feels good, and makes me happy. It’s art.

I always come back to knitting. I just can’t stay away. My knitting mojo waxes and wanes just like moon, and I’m ok with it. Ask anyone that knows me and they can tell you that I take long breaks without producing anything. When I can’t seem to cast on, I still find joy in seeing what others create. I revel in the successes of my community big and small. It’s so wonderful to see how much knitting can bring to others lives. I’m here to make sure it stays fun for you.

I have learned from Shelli Can that a lot of folks are experiencing burn out from social media. It feels like we just can’t keep up with all the new patterns, yarns and trends that come out every day. It’s like the curse of too many choices. We simply can’t choose, and when we do, we feel like we’re already behind. Social media has shifted how some of us see crafting and made it into some kind of competition. I’m here to tell you that there’s an easy fix for that. Take long social media breaks. Even though Starlight depends on social media for a lot of our business, I still subscribe the notion that long exposures can be detrimental to our mental health. So I take breaks. If I really want to know what’s going on from certain designers, yarn companies, etc. I subscribe to their newsletters. That way, I do’t miss the important stuff. It has really helped me keep by priorities in check and remember that I’m ok even if I don’t knit the next popular pattern or finish that last one I cast on. I’ll never know everything that’s going on in the knitting world, and I’m ok with that.

So while you’re waiting to feel that spark again, keep in mind that it’s ok to just give it a rest. When you’re ready to come back to knitting, Starlight will be here for you. We’ll be here to hold your hand through the challenges, and cheer for your achievements, but mostly, we’re just here for YOU. If you’re really wanting to light your own fire, let us help. As Emme says, perhaps you just need a palette cleanser. A small, quick project that clears the cobwebs and gets you feeling good about your projects again. I plan to knit a few of these till my palette is squeaky clean!

Much love-

Melissa

Alice Kendal Art Stickers from All Sticker Printing

We are incredibly excited to unveil this gorgeous piece of art done for us by Alice Kendall, the owner of Wonderland Tattoo and the artist behind many of the tattoos worn by our staff. We’ll be putting this watercolor design on some bags during the 2022 Rose City Yarn Crawl, but for now we have a precious few of these beautiful art paper stickers made for us by All Sticker Printing. We’ll be sneaking these into a few orders this holiday season. Maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones?! If you need some stickers made, I highly recommend All Sticker Printing! Check them out here for all your sticker needs!

My First Project: Kristin's Memory Sweater

When Kristin wanted to learn to knit, she struggled to learn from diagrams in books. So she walked into her local yarn store, Memory Hagler’s Knitting, in Birmingham, Alabama. Her motivation: hand make adorable clothing for her toddler daughter, Karen.

The owner, Memory Hagler, was seated at a table knitting and offered Kristin some advice. She told her to begin with a sweater because if she started with a scarf, she would be bored. With a teal cotton/tencel blend she began a basic sweater pattern, written by Memory to fit her specific measurements. Every time she finished the assignment that her new teacher gave her, she would return, leaving with more homework. Rectangle by rectangle, step by step, she knit her first project ever: an adult sweater.

She finished the sweater and immediately cast on a new sweater for her tiny daughter. The next lesson was intarsia, knitting a pig motif onto the front of the sweater. After finishing the sweater, she continued crafting for her daughter, knitting sweaters in cotton to accommodate the hot Alabama weather. She recently pulled out a cardigan with a cat knit into it and her daughter, now in her early 20s, modeled it. Unfortunately she got rid of her first teal pullover a couple years ago, donating it to Goodwill.

When asked to give advice for new knitters she doesn’t always follow the advice her first teacher gave her. She thinks that a sweater might not always be a great first project for everyone. She suggests trying out a Wheat scarf, released by Tin Can Knits. “Get a yarn you love”, she says, “because you have to live with that yarn for the entire project”.

It might not hurt to add a tag, offering a reward if lost or stolen, too.