Pin of the Week: Finger Yoga

Since I have been sidelined by a crafting-related injury that has made my hands and arms hurt, I’ve been researching some stretches and things that can make my hands and arms a little stronger and healthier.

It just happened that I came across a pin for Finger Yoga the other day, and while I haven’t explored it completely it does look like it has some interesting stretches, nicely illustrated with big pictures.

It uses the traditional language of yoga to describe these “poses,” including backward arches, forward folds and twists. You’ll find some traditional yoga mudras (hand poses) as well as other stretches that I imagine are also good for people who spend too much time at the computer as well as too much time at the knitting needles (and I happen to do both, so I’m excited to delve into this one a little deeper).

Some of these are downright scary looking to me — remember that you should be really gentle with yourself, don’t stretch to the point of pain and if something does hurt, stop doing it!

Want to follow my Pinterest knitting board? You can find it at that link right there!

[Photo via Finger Yoga.]

Next Pattern:

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.

Next Pattern:

Have you read?