Knit for Peace Day

March 21. 2007 is the official Knit for Peace day. [tag]Randy[/tag], an American knitter living in Sweden, has a list of ways this was done in 2006. Also at this website is a list of groups that knit to keep people warm.

[tag]Full Thread Ahead[/tag] in Los Altos, CA is having a Knit-in and knit for peace. This year they be spending the day, from 11am to 6pm working on warm woolies projects and projecting peace (no specific political statements, just a general agreement that a peaceful world is a better one). If you stop by, please provide your own needles and wool for the project.

[tag]Peace Fleece[/tag] is is a yarn company run by [tag]Peter Hagerty[/tag] and his wife Marty Tracy who started buying [tag]wool[/tag] from the Soviet Union back in 1985 in hopes that through trade they could help diffuse the threat of nuclear war. Since then they have worked with shepherds in Russia, Kyrgyzia, Israel and the West Bank, as well as in Montana, Ohio, Texas and Maine. By working with people who tend livestock every day, they hope to find a common ground that slowly leads to mutual understanding and economic interdependence. After twenty-one years, their goals remain the same. They have a page dedicated to [tag]Knitting for Social Change[/tag]. On this page you will find information and links provided by Peace Fleece that they hope to directly introduce you to the people with whom they work that are using woolens and yarns as a tool for social change.

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Now that all the Joann stores have closed, a mysterious message has appeared on the company’s website:

For generations, Joann has been honored to be part of your creativity: your quilts, costumes, school projects, and handmade moments of love. It has been our joy to serve markers and dreamers across the country.
We’re stitching up something new behind the scenes and we can’t wait to share what’s next.
Stay tuned for exciting news about the future of Joann.

To quickly recap, Joann filed for bankruptcy in January for the second time in less than a year. In February, in the hope of making the company more attractive to potential buyers, it petitioned the court for permission to close about 500 of its 800 stores. The company was put up for auction, with Gordon Brothers set to buy the company, sell its assets and close all the stores if no other buyer materialized.

In the end the winning bidder was GA Group, but the result was the same: all stores were to be closed by the end of May if not sooner.

Once store closure sales started the company quickly stopped selling on its website, and now all that remains is this jpeg image hinting at new ventures.

I’m sure there will be a tone of speculation in the coming days and weeks (or as long as it takes for them to announce the meaning of the message) as to what sorts of plans Joann could be cooking up.

My theory based on nothing but my gut is that they will transition to an online only storefront, probably with much reduced inventory, sort of like Herrschners (which had previously announced that it will be carrying Big Twist yarn, the beloved private label yarn brand sold at Joann). I also think they will use whatever retail sales they do to support CreativeBug, the digital learning platform that Joann purchased in 2017. That could mean producing kits for projects that already have classes, or developing classes based on products they want to sell, or both.

As of this writing the CreativeBug website seems to still be functional and there’s a full slate of new classes planned for June. I’ve got my eye on both the Joann website and the Joann restructuring website and will let you know as soon as I see changes.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear your speculation as to what the next chapter might be for Joann.

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