# My new second job



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

I told you all that my friend was opening a yarn shop right? Well she opened it quietly 3 days ago. Today was my first day working there, I'll be working on Fridays. I had a blast! Most of my time was spent knitting, listening to music, and checking the forum (here), and emails. We actually did a fairly brisk business today compared to other days. She has only put in a small ad in the local paper, 2 people came in because they saw the ad. I made several sales too, more than the previous two days  Word of mouth is how most people are finding out about the store, that and they saw the sign. Everyone is really excited which of course made my day exciting :banana02: We are having an official open house next month.

Patty asked if I would teach some classes. I'm going to start with a sock knitting class the end of January, then she wants me to teach a spinning class. Frazzelhead I would be very interested in the pdf of the spindles your son makes when you get it up on your web page. I haven't heard very good things about the CD spindles, and I like the looks of the wheel spindles better.

For those of you who may be in the area of Bemidji, MN the name of the store is Yarn Dance and it is near the intersection of 15th and Paul Bunyan drive, across 15th from Erberts & Gerberts. Hours are Wed. - Sunday 10-6 W, Th, F, S, 12-? Sun.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

SWEET! 

Be sure to do a blurb and set up a group on Ravelry. Enter it in the LYS Finder, etc. It might seem dumb, but that is how I find the yarnshops in my area.

Lucky lucky you, the Yarn Dancer. LOL.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

GAM I'm sure Patty has done all of that but I will mention it to her. She has been using Ravelry heavily for info and sources. She owned a yarn store years ago so this is nothing new to her. But I think she needs to widen her horizons to the different knitters that are out there now. She seems set in her view of the little old lady. The store is just 2 blocks from the local university so I'm hoping lots of students come in. We had a car load of college aged kids, 4 girls and one guy come in. They spent money too, the guy even picked a ball of yarn  But she doesn't take to being told things so I just sort of throw ideas out there and hope she snags onto them.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

WIHH I know you and Cabin venture up here on occasion so please do stop in. It was fun yesterday watching people walk past a bin of yarn and just reach out a hand and pat the yarn as they passed. It's almost like working in a pet store or animal shelter. Only these don't need feeding and you aren't as compelled to take them home, at least I'm not. I'm just glad I'm a spinner. We carry some Noro, Malibrisio (sp), and Lorna's Laces, I love the colors but the prices  I do get a 30% discount though


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## InHisName (Jan 26, 2006)

Sounds like a FUN job! Hope you make lots of sales, and introduce many folks to the world of fiber- as a newbie, when I go into the lys, I learn so much from the owner, and it just doesn't compare with the computer when it comes to actually seeing and feeling the fiber. She takes the time to give good pointers, a real person is invaluable.
I'm sure you will be such a blessing to your friends' store, as you help us all here so much, Marchwind!


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## Katherine in KY (May 11, 2002)

March, I made a couple of toy wheel spindles for some new spinners and when compiling a list of websites for them to look at I found this:
http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/make-dropspin.shtml
HTH. I hope the shop works out; sounds like it's in a good place.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Katherine thank you so much!


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

What a wonderful job! although..um...how are you going to not OWE money after working in yarn shop? I mean...if I worked in one, I'm afraid my purchases would outweigh my wages!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Well that's the nice thing, I can knit what I want for the store out of any of her yarns and then I think I get to keep it after it's been on display.

Being a spinner I have a really hard time paying money for yarn that I can probably make. The books and magazines will be a much bigger problem


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Well that's the nice thing, I can knit what I want for the store out of any of her yarns and then I think I get to keep it after it's been on display.

Being a spinner I have a really hard time paying money for yarn that I can probably make. The books and magazines will be a much bigger problem


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Oh, working at a yarn store sounds really, really cool!

I finally got the PDF uploaded ... it's not particularly detailed, but it explains the way I do it, anyway. 

If you'd like a tweaked version for your store, just ping me via PM and I'll be happy to do some modifications for you (I'm a geek by trade - doing stuff like this is no trouble!)

Enjoy!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Frazzle thank you. Maybe I will use that as a hand out for my class if you wouldn't mind. I don't know when I will be teaching it but maybe in Feb. I haven't read through the whole thing yet but I will and let you know if I would want it tweaked. It looks like a beautifully done document.


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Glad to share, Marchie ... you go right ahead!


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## Pakalana (Mar 9, 2008)

Marchwind said:


> Well that's the nice thing, I can knit what I want for the store out of any of her yarns and then I think I get to keep it after it's been on display.
> 
> Being a spinner I have a really hard time paying money for yarn that I can probably make. The books and magazines will be a much bigger problem


My aunt worked in a fabric store when I was little and that's the deal they had. 

I'm the same way with yarn, hard to buy it when I have fleece laying around. However, if she ever started carrying fiber I might get in trouble. LOL :bouncy: That just sounds like a dream come true for me. Congrats to both of you!


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## northprairiegir (Apr 11, 2008)

This sounds like so much fun Marchie! I am so jelous that not only do you have a REAL yarn shop so close - but you actually get to work there! I have got to figure out how far it would be for me to come and see you for the weekend sometime!


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## PNP Katahdins (Oct 28, 2008)

I don't post much here, just love to read, but here's another drop spindle lead. Fred Hatton in Pennsylvania makes really nice one. His wife Grace used to make darling little sheep-head magnets and I love the ones she made me to match my ewes' colors. If she is still making them, that would be something a non-yarn-addict could buy from the new shop (love the name BTW).

Grace's blog is http://antique-spinning-wheels.blogspot.com/ and they have Finnsheep.

Good luck with your friend's new venture. All I am seeing open around here is quilt shops.

Peg


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Northernprairiegir We are about 3 hours east of Fargo or Grand Forks. The shop is open all weekend, even Sundays.

Peg thank you for the other source.


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## northprairiegir (Apr 11, 2008)

Do you know by chance when the winter yarn shop hop is planned for the MN stores? I might plan on coming for that and then staying an extra day just to come to see you and the new store!


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## Mrs. Homesteader (May 10, 2002)

Sounds like a great second job!!!


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## wyld thang (Nov 16, 2005)

Wow! that sounds like fun! hope it goes real well! people sure do make the store. There's a yarn store in Portland(NW Wools) that has been there forever, the lady who runs it is so friendly and not snobby at all, you really truly feel the yarn love and she is so encouraging and welcoming to EVERYONE. 

I had high hopes for the one that opened here in my town, it has a great selection of yarn(but kinda pricey), and a real nice store layout, but I just HATE going in there. Usually I just go to look at what they have and what their samples are made from and keep up on the books and mags. I am in the yarn business as I do freelance design work for a few companies and magazines--so anyways I was really excited about there being a yarn store in town to hang out in and get together with other yarnies, ya know?! So I went in, introduced myself, said I was a designer for xxx, got a blank look(uh oh), said I can pull print off your shelves and show you what I do(more blank look), and I offered to do a class or workshop on fit, like how to tweak a pattern so it will fit you better, or how to chose the right size, or how to pick a design that would look good with your figure, or how to design your own sweater and give people one on one help with it all(trying to think of an unusual class topic that not everyone would the background to teach, like I don't want to do the sock knitting classes, there are lots of good teachers already that do that, and people tell me all the time they want to learn more about FIT FIT FIT), more blank look and and "ok, yeah, whatever" like I was a complete delusional crazy person off the street(I dont' smell THAT bad...). Such a downer! Oh well. Best of luck to them I guess. They do have an in-town rep for snobbishness, but get a lot of wine tour and beach thru traffic. 

I. Can't. Stand. Snobby. No hello when you walk in the door, no smiles(unless you walk up to the register with yarn in hand), no banter on what you've been knitting lately. When I'm in there I listen to the sales people talk and interact with customers, just for my own education on what makes a good store, ya know? and I like to know what people are knitting because I do good business when I put out stuff that people want to knit.

Marchwind I know the yarn biz is hard right now, best of luck for the store!!! My ideal place would be like a noisy laughing coffee shop where friends gather. Maybe having nights where a guitar player would come in and play would be fun while people knit. The main street where all the shops are has an open house kind of thing the third Saturday of the month, they all stay open late and have snacks, it's very popular, people come and play music on the street(you know the throw money in the guitar case kind ). You make it a friendly and loving place and people will defend it to the death

DOes your store owner get this trade mag?
Yarn Market News www.yarnmarketnews.com 
it's FREE to shop owners, yarn manufacturers and designers, is FULL of great articles about the yarn biz and trade news. Get signed up for it ASAP!!! 

(sorry I kinda ranted and raved there. I drove through Bemidji once, thought it was just the bees knees! seemed like fun people lived there)


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Thanks Wyld thang! My idea and yours are very similar. Unfortunately it isn't my store and my friend is pretty particular about how she wants things. I really only feel comfortable making suggestions and those only sparingly. But I do hope it becomes a place like what you are describing. I know and despise the snobby store owner. Especially bad are the ones who think they have a corner on the market.


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