The Knitting Experience Café

4 ½ days until we open!! It doesn’t quite seem possible. Last week, I was convinced that we wouldn’t be ready, but we worked all weekend – Mom came down on Saturday (Thank you!!!!) – and the shop is really coming together.

On top of that, I found some time to knit up a Blue Sky Alpaca Baby Bobbi Bear. He just needs his ears, nose and eyes. Anyone who has seen the pattern can tell you how cute this little bear is, but that is nothing compared to actually making one. I choose to knit it in the organic cotton and he is incredibly soft and cuddly. I want to make one for both my boys!

As the news of our store spreads, more and more people are asking what inspired me to open a knitting shop. Did I always dream of having a little yarn shop? Have I always been a knitter?

While I learned to knit when I was quite young, and helped my mom, who did production machine knitting when I was growing up, I only knitted sporadically from high school on until a few years ago. This shop is really a product of what has happened in my life over the past three years. 

So here it is… The story of The Knitting Experience Café…

On May 15, 2002, I was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer at the age of 28. This was four days before Connor’s third birthday and exactly one month after discovering that I was pregnant with Alec. I was terrified. Could I have this little baby that we wanted so much? Would I be around to see Connor celebrate his fourth birthday? The days and weeks after my diagnosis became a blur of doctors appointments, tests, and finally surgery. I received amazing care from my surgeon and OB/GYN who gave me the confidence to believe that everything was going to be ok for me and the baby. Ultimately, that little baby ended up saving my life. Because I was pregnant, I did not have the option of a lumpectomy and radiation. I had to have the mastectomy and as a result, they found a second tumor in the deep tissue that otherwise might have gone undetected. Alec, whose name means “defender,” had saved me, and came through the surgery beautifully. Right after the surgery, they brought in the fetal monitor to check for his heartbeat, and there it was, loud and clear. He continued to be a source of strength for me throughout the pregnancy. I had this wonderful distraction from all the big “C” stuff of this new little person who kept pushing me on.

But, he wasn’t the only one getting me through those early months. Peter and Connor were amazing. Little Connor, at only three years old, tried to make Mommy comfortable after she got home from the hospital by bringing her slippers or giving a very careful hug. Peter was, and continues to be, my rock – always saying that everything will be fine and refusing to entertain any other possibility. 

And then came the knitting. My mom stayed with us at various times when I was recovering. On one of those trips she brought a book about a young woman with cancer who found solace in knitting and opened her own yarn shop. I think I read that book in less than a day and then Mom and I hit the local craft store for needles and yarn. I finished a sweater in a week and have been knitting like crazy every since. Last year, Connor asked, “Mommy, are you ever NOT knitting?”

I had discovered how relaxing and peaceful knitting could be - life just seems to slow down a bit. Through this timeless craft, you connect with others, with the natural world, and in the end, come out with something that you’ve made yourself. 

As my yarn stash grew and library of knitting books overflowed their shelf on the bookcase, I started thinking how nice it would be to have a yarn shop. To spend my days surrounded by yarn and sharing the gift knitting has given me with others – to just slow down for a minute. 

This past April, I mentioned my little dream to Peter after I had come home from a particularly stressful business trip. To my great surprise, he said, “OK, why not?” And here we are a little over 4 months later!

So that is the short version of how this all came to be.