Coo coo ka-choo, how do you do?
I literally went "Oh crap! It's Monday!" and rushed to log in. Phew. I'm not too late. I got my hook and yarns back together and having the last set of gloves I was working on in my hands, I remembered that I needed to write a post. I'm still recovering from being sick, so apologies if it becomes a rambling nightmare.
So yes, I'm back to work finishing the Galaxy Maker Gloves I'd started before the holidays got into full swing. I only had a little scrap of yarn left and I'd brought my new skein (or cake since this is a mandala) into my room preparing to tie it off. I'd planned to work on them while my family was here, but while switching clothes I left the remaining bit in my mom's room. It's been locked in there for the last two weeks and I finally got it back! It tried super hard to turn into yarn barf, but I tamed it and now it's ready to be attached to the new skein that's been taunting me on my shelf all this time.
I've been hearing rumors that JoAnn might be preparing to go out of business and that kinda scared me. I've used that store primarily for my supplies all this time! There were two craft stores near us for most of my life, at one point technically across the street from each other! It was a Michael's and an A.C. Moore. I preferred the latter since their sketchbook selection was giant in comparison to the former's. Also, A.C. Moore neighbored a Barnes & Noble, so it was a lot easier to buy some manga and then head next door to buy sketchbooks to attempt to make my own! Thinking back on it, it was strange that store had tables for applications front and center when you walked in while it was going out of business. I thought the building just got bought out, since both stores disappeared, but, no. The whole company was gone instead of just that specific location. I haven't visited a Barnes & Noble since, so who knows if I'm just behind the times there too!
Yes, Michael's is still in the area and even larger than before since their move, but I don't know! I just don't like the vibes in that store. I can't complain, I bought cosplay supplies from there and they saved me in a last minute pinch. Well, it was a beginner's paintbrush set and some acrylic paints, but still! I think it might just be that they supplied Caron more than other brands of yarn. When I started out, I bought primarily Red Heart super savers since they had the most variety. My main memories of getting Michael's yarn is the fancy hanks that Caron sold and I couldn't figure out how to wind them into useable balls without them getting tangled! I still think, besides One Pounds, I like Lion Brand's yarn the most. Which was where JoAnn came in!
The first time I went to JoAnn's was to buy specifically sewing patterns. I'd just gotten back from Otakon and attending a panel about frankenstein-ing patterns to make cosplays. It's when you take, say, puffy sleeves off a shirt and attach it to a different dress to make a whole new item. As a person who at one point made drawing/art bases, the concept of "frankenstein" in relation to creating something was very familiar. We still have a container of patterns and a couple sewing books from that time. It was actually Barnes & Noble that I picked up my first crochet book, but JoAnn's extensive yarn section really set off my interest in crochet. The store has changed a bit over the years, but when I first started it was super organized and easy to browse. All the new yarns had their own little displays and each yarn brand had their own sections of shelving. Nowadays, there's just a giant pile of unicorn mandalas shoved in the clearance corner, but otherwise, the yarn section is still nicely organized. In fact, that pile is where I got this specific Hercules mandala sparkle cake LOL!
But, just now, checking what colors are still being made since they change all the time, I noticed that JoAnn's website put hercules into the clearance section! I panicked for a moment, thinking that I'd have to do another memorial for this yarn color/type. Lion Brand's site said nothing! It's still in stock, it's still available. Good! I still have three more, for more gloves, but at least I don't have to be stunned into never using it out of fear! I know never to fully trust the JoAnn site, since it's kind of a mess most of the time, and even I've had issues with my online orders. I'd ordered a huge selection of super savers and jumbos for scrunchies and they disappeared into the void! I might have ordered them near Christmas and a quarter of the order arrived within a month. I sat wondering where the majority of the yarn went until, randomly, a giant package arrived like five months later! I'd chalked it up to a loss at that point! They were radio silent!
The issue here is that it's not just me. The sewing side has been having problems and even the physical stores, according to lots of people online, have been going downhill! When A.C. Moore went out of business, the location near me worked as normal until the giant "Store Closing!" banners showed up. Sure, the JoAnn's tends to have random boxes or stocking carts around, but that's typical! At least, for most retail places around me. Yes, they do occasionally have trash cans of dripping rain water, but that's structural not business related! Not to go all "protect the big businesses!" but I hope it doesn't go out of business. The online orders thing, making understaffed stores do pick up in store, the mess of having only three people on the sales floor both cutting fabric and being a cashier. It is an awful time and I hope they get it together!
Has this blog post ruined all hopes of getting sponsorships from any of these businesses? Probably LOL!