A little more formal introduction

Hello Yarn Enthusiasts! Good day all Creative Souls!

A new day has dawned over The Yarn Room. Not only are we in a new financial year, but also in a new season of ownership. And I am very excited!

My name is Jana de Jager, the new owner of The Yarn Room.

I developed my passion for all things yarn over a period of time. It is a good thing because out of my own experience I know that kind of love will burn much much longer than the fiery passion of a glitzy new trendy pastime.

I learned how to knit from my mother and granny in the previous century when we still had to complete a project in each grade in primary school that was knitted and also one that was sewn. I struggled and the knitting was really horrible – stitches dropped, extra stitches created out of split yarn, tension all over the place. And I really had a hard time to master the purl stitch. The school projects did not inspire me. I was not having any of it. In any way, at that period of time, I was more interested in becoming an engineer.

Live happened in the years in between and I had no interest in knitting. Actually, not completely true. In one of my many jobs I worked at Tape Aids for the Blind (now only Tape Aids) My colleagues were all at least 35 years older than I was and they were all grannies. One lady had a pattern from a magazine (I think it was Your Family) of a panda bear. That pattern looked easy enough – no purl stitches. I didn’t even know that kind of stitch had a proper name – that is how little I knew. But I was still young and arrogant enough to think this is easy, it would make a cute baby toy in a month. And life happened. I haven’t completed that panda yet...

Somewhere in-between I tried to learn how to crochet when we were camping one weekend. I could not get it right. It was even more confusing than how to get the purl knit stitch right. While I was teaching (the brainy subjects was way easier than any kinaesthetic subject) I met a new friend. She was (still is) very much into crochet and she promised me that she will teach me how to crochet. I managed to do a few rows in single crochet or double crochet depending what language you speak – UK or US. (Just to add to the confusion, my sister-in-law crochets in Afrikaans, with a whole different naming system.) This friend “bullied” me into a CAL. I found out that a CAL is a crochet project you do at the same time as a whole host of other people do it. So, I bought all the yarn and hooks needed in one go and was blown away at the amount of yarn as well as the amount of money needed to fund this CAL. But the blanket was intriguingly beautiful. She still owes me the lessons and I used that yarn for something else.

Then, one day, I stumbled upon a cute little yarn shop somewhere in Pretoria (not The Yarn Room and it's not operating anymore). I was intrigued by the yarn and a little advert about a get-together. You could bring your crochet project and work in her shop. I mentioned that it sounded really nice, but I first had to learn how to crochet. No worries according to the lady. She will teach me. And she did! My first project was a Fibre Spider Granny Square Tote Bag. I finished it! I was hooked…

Next time I will tell you all about how I got to buy The Yarn Room.