Detroit has a lot of problems, but one that didn’t occur to me until I read a story in the Detroit News is that the city lacks a yarn store. City Knits closed in 2012, and the only options for knitters in the city involve long drives to big chain stores or a couple of independent yarn shops in the suburbs.
When you consider that people living in the city — even Detroit — might not have cars, and even if they do the time involved to go buy a ball of yarn might not be worth the trouble to keep up their hobby.
Audrey Chatman, a crocheter who lives in Detroit, told the Detroit News, “Most of the times I get upset because I have to go out to the suburbs to get my yarn. I have to go outside the city limits because there are no stores in the area. People complain that we don’t support our city — well, how do you support the city if everything is in the suburbs? It’s very upsetting to me because sometimes you don’t feel like driving across town to get one ball of yarn to complete a project.”
Leigh Mosley, who knits and crochets, organized the Detroit Knitting and Crochet Club, a yarn craft group that meets once a month, about two years ago, in part because there were no options or gathering places for yarn crafters in the city. She says the group includes about 250 people and they’ve taught about 35 people how to knit or crochet, because there is no where else for people who want to learn to go.
Mosley says she thinks the city could support a local yarn store, and I say a Yarnover Truck type project would probably be super successful. Entrepreneurs, get on that!
[Photo by John T. Greilick via the Detroit News.]
I know that my posts can be read at different times of year and in different years by different people, but as I write this we’re on teh cusp of summer. And I know a lot of people don’t knit as much, and certainly don’t wear a lot of knits in the summer, but I want to encourage you to make and to wear your makes no matter the temperature.
If I was 30 years younger and lived closer I would love to have a huge yarn shop in Detroit. Guess I’d need a little money as well. Good luck Detroit, you deserve a fantastic yarn shop in your city.