Keep It Local

Over the last few days I attended a couple fiber events.  One was part of a yarn crawl.  The other was a festival hosted by a yarn shop.  Both events were different in nature, but they reminded me of the importance of local yarn shops.

These shop owners provide countless knit nights, interesting classes and overall knitting support.  To top it all off, they foster a sense of community that many of us have come to rely on.  They are passionate about knitting and fiber.  If they weren't, they wouldn't be in the business.  And it is a business.  Shop owners invest in inventory, pay staff people, cover overhead and hopefully have something left to take home for themselves.  

Sometimes the numbers don't add up.  We've all heard of yarn stores closing.  

Yarn bombing courtesy of JP Knit & Stitch

If you rely on your local yarn shop, don't take it for granted.  Don't look for a better deal online and assume your shop will be there when you need it.  Believe it or not each and every purchase, no matter how big or small, adds up to cover the expense of running a yarn store.

Buy local.  Support your yarn shop and your fiber community.