Interview with Cindy from Yarn Places

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Today, I’m interviewing Cindy, the editor of a newish website called Yarn Places.  Cindy is a bit of a Renaissance woman. She was an architect for the first ten years of her career.  She then returned to school for a Masters in Social Work. A few years ago, she stopped working as a social worker.  And, she’s written two children’s books:  Joni and the Fallen Star: Helping Children Learn Teamwork and Harry the Happy Caterpillar Grows: Helping Children Adjust to Change.  Somehow, she also made time in there to found Yarn Places with her husband, Mike.  Oh, and Cindy is a multi-crafter, enjoying drawing, furniture painting, beading, mosaic, and knitting.

Cindy can be found online through the Yarn Places website, it’s Facebook page, on Twitter, and in it’s Ravelry group.

Cindy, editor of YarnPlaces.com.
Cindy, editor of YarnPlaces.com.

Underground Crafter (UC): How did you first become interested in yarn crafts?

Cindy: I am kind of a serial artsy craftsy person. I taught myself to knit in high school from a book. I made about four or five sweaters and then moved on to the next thing. Since then, I’ve knitted off and on, but took it up again in earnest when I became pregnant with my daughter, Zoe. It all started with a baby blanket, then I moved onto hats, sweaters, Christmas stockings… then scarves and sweaters for my husband, then me. I love it! It relaxes me- I find yarn very sensual.

 

UC: What inspired you to start Yarn Places?

Cindy: My husband has a website called Map Muse, which maps all kind of niche interests – everything from farmers’ markets to disc golf courses. One of interests mapped on his site is yarn shops. Over the years, the yarn shops page has been one of the most popular.

As I got more into knitting, I talked more about it – the yarns I liked, the local fiber festival, my problems with gauge, the knitting retreat I wanted to attend one day. I guess he was actually listening, because one day at a coffee shop, he suggested we develop a website devoted to all places yarn! I loved the idea! In no time, he had drafted me as editor, and set his staff to work on procuring info on LYSs, fiber farms, fiber mills, retreats, festivals, yarn crawls…you name it!  (UC comment: You can read more about the founding of Yarn Places here.)

 

A screenshot of the Yarn Places Wool and Fiber Farm locator for my home zip code.
A screenshot of the Yarn Places Wool and Fiber Farm locator for my home zip code.

UC: Tell us more about Yarn Places.  What are your current features?  

Cindy: We see ourselves as kind of a one-stop shop for everything yarn. We map and provide information (photos, description, hours, reviews, etc.) on LYSs, fiber farms, fiber mills and knitting events including retreats, festivals, yarn crawls, conferences, workshops, cruises, farm tours, etc. I also write a blog in which I try to keep readers up on the latest events and happenings in the world of fiber – everything from upcoming festivals, to yarn bombings, to charity drives, to yarn shop openings and closings.

We feature a yarn place each week, which includes an interview with the owner of a LYS or fiber farm. Lastly, we have developed iPhone and Android apps of LYSs across the US and Canada, which folks find really useful on travel.

The Yarn Places Android app.
The Yarn Places Android app.

UC: How is it possible to keep all that information current?

Cindy: Keeping information up to date is definitely our biggest challenge. We used multiple sources when we developed our database and cross referenced those sources for inconsistencies. Then we contacted the yarn places and asked them to confirm or update their information. In addition, visitors to the site are encouraged to update information, report closings, and add missing shops through easy to use links. Visitors’ input is reviewed for accuracy then posted the next day. Meanwhile, I actively search the internet for LYS openings and closings on an ongoing basis.

UC: How do you envision Yarn Places expanding in the coming year?

In the next year (and beyond), we would like to increase the scope of Yarn Places. Presently we cover the US and much of Canada, but some day, we’d like to cover the world! Something else we have been talking about is creating a Worldwide Yarn Bombing Map with photos and info of major yarn bombings across the globe. We did a Map of International Yarn Bombing Day this year which was a lot of fun – it will be something like that but much broader in scope.

 

Thanks so much, Cindy, for stopping by to talk to us about Yarn Places!  We look forward to seeing it expand.

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