Well, a new year begins in a few days and we are all ready to see 2020 come to an end.
It’s easy to gloss over the year isn’t it? To say good riddance and to simply try to forget.
We try not to spend time on the losses we’ve all experienced this year. Events postponed, businesses shuttered, lives lost to this virus and lost to the effects of how our lives have changed. I don’t need to tell you. It’s been really hard.
Teachers, medical professionals, retail workers, delivery drivers…the list of essential personnel goes on and on. Life has been tough on them especially. If you are one. Please accept our gratitude for keeping the world running.
Parents who are trying to work from home while helping their children distance learn. Wow. Just wow.
As Carly and I went over the past year today, we couldn’t help but get weepy. This is a year we are proud to have made it through. Our business is still standing, our families are healthy and (relatively) happy and most of all, we still like each other:)
We hope that you find yourselves in a place that you can look at the positives too. We hope you spend some time to look at all you’ve done this year to keep it together. Reflect on all the things you’ve done to get yourself, your family and friends through what will be a year to remember.
Many thanks to you from Carly and I, and all of us here at Darn Knit Anyway. We are grateful and weepy and it’s ok if you are too! We’ve put together a look back at 2020. It’s a long (and I mean long), lovely list of our top moments.
Blessings for more of the best stuff in 2021!
Aimee, Carly, Carroll, Sue, Beth, Emily, Marlo and KC
January
What fun we had at our very first Sweater Camp Retreat!
We thought for sure this would be an annual event and were so excited to schedule the same weekend in 2021. We booked it and couldn’t wait to start planning. Then, well, you know what happened then.
Our 2nd Sweater Camp Retreat is going to be EPIC!
Keep Super Bowl Weekend 2022 open:)
February
In February our biggest worry was getting that darn ribbon out of the ceiling fan!
After 8 years the ‘tick tick ticking’ of the ribbon in the motor finally was quieted.
I was so proud of myself. HA!
We also had the time to answer a pressing question that was on the mind of no one but me.
Johnson vs Anderson
What name do we have more of in our database?
Inquiring minds (only mine really) wanted to know.
Smith = 61
Miller = 67
Larson/Larsen = 69
Nelson/Nelsen = 73
Anderson/Andersen = 137
Johnson/Johnsen = 206
March
March would bring about an abrupt change to our business.
March 16th Carroll and I were laughing when the song “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” came on Spotify. Hilarious, we thought. I think we even took a video of it?
March 19th were closed to the public. YIKES! Who’s laughing now?
We had to learn how to keep our shop running during the shut down.
You helped!
You called, texted, facetimed and emailed. you bought gift cards, You ordered online.
You picked up at our front window.
You listened through the window with a glass you brought. Janice, you sure made us laugh that day!
Carly became an expert at shipping.
You helped us learn how to be ‘open’ while we were ‘closed’. You kept smiles on our faces.
Surely we would be back open in a few short weeks, right?
We made a few Facebook Live videos to keep you guys informed about what was going on with us.
I’m sure someday I’ll appreciate going back through these, but man, they are hard to watch right now!
Click here to watch a few if you want:)
April
A few short weeks turned into a few looong months.
April brought spring and a routine to our days.
We processed orders, visited with you at curbside, planned for future projects. Mourned the loss of our beloved Yarn Shop Hop.
We were ‘open’ from only 10am – 2pm and were exhausted at the end of the day.
We got (still get) takeout from our favorite local restaurants. We hope you did too!
We started giving away teal heart squeezies with every order. We hoped this small gesture would be enjoyed. Who didn’t have some stress to squeeze away!
We gave away 550 teal hearts.
Are you still squeezing one?
We tried out our first zoom classes in April.
We dipped our feet in slowly. Carly taught 6 needle felt succulent classes!
The production quality was amazing really. Just check out the professional set up:)
May
We reopened to the public in May. Whew. That brought with it all sorts of new challenges.
The challenges included, but were not limited to; lots of hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, finding the most comfortable masks, and dealing with our anxieties.
We set up appointment shopping and masked up.
You came!
We were so happy to have people in the shop again and boy were you guys happy to be back!
We did appointment shopping for a few weeks, then just welcomed you back with shopper limits and social distancing.
Some dear friends and family donated money to the shop with the wishes that we help people who needed a fiber pick me up.
We asked for your suggestions and nominations. You helped us find over 30 people that could use a Feel Good Fiber gift. We mailed the packages with these stickers on them. We hoped it brought some joy.
We were so grateful to our friends, family, and customers that also contributed to the fund. It helped us help others and we feel luck to have been able to do it.
June
June is a blur.
Our communities were hurting. We were stunned by the death of George Floyd.
We had hard conversations about race with our team and customers. As a retail yarn store, was it important to speak out, to speak up? We decided not to stay silent.
One beautiful thing happened in June that we will NEVER forget.
Brody and Jenna got ENGAGED!
We were so lucky to have a small part in the surprise proposal.
Congrats to Jenna and Brody🙂
It was a moment of joy we were happy to share with all of you too!
July
July brought with it my recipe for a cold noodle salad and my love for grocery stores with carpet.
That is all.
Click here for that remarkable, hard hitting post.
August
August was time for a sample sale.
Emily decided the best thing to do with our shop samples was to auction them off for charity and we agreed!
You bid on items through our Facebook auction and helped us raise $1093 for Valley Outreach.
You guys rock!
August brought to us the final realization that our Knit the River Boat Cruise would not be a reality in 2020.
This was only going to last 2 weeks remember???
We scrambled to credit everyone back or move them to one of our 2021 cruises.
Oh man…we can’t wait.
September
Back to school.
School was different for every student starting this year.
Some students were home schooled, some chose hybrid learning, some were face to face with masks. Yep, school was different alright.
I know I said it at the start of this newsletter, but you’ve been reading awhile now and I think it bears repeating…
Parents who are working from home AND doing hybrid or distance learning…you have my awe and respect.
We went back to school in September too. It was with anxious excitement that we announced our first Hybrid Learning Christmas Stocking Class. Mainly online, with a weekly 30 minute session in store. It worked!
It went so well. Everyone finished a stocking:)
October
The shop turned 11 in October.
We, of course, had to celebrate.
We gave away post it notes and notebooks to shoppers. We had a beautiful sunshiny day.
We felt lucky.
I found a 4 leaf clover in October.
So I’ve got that going for me.
Click here for that fun story
November
By election day 2020 we had sent over 1500 DKA VOTE buttons out into the world!
The November Presidential Election had by far the largest voter turnout rate in over a century.
For sure it was because of our buttons:)
In November we decided that we would donate a pair of socks for every skein of our custom sock yarn sold. We sold 197 skeins of Lavender Lune Custom color.
In the end, we decided to donate 2 pair for every skein sold. So we donated 400 pairs of socks and out of the goodness of your hearts, YOU donated over 200 pairs of socks.
Together, we donated over 600 pairs of socks to folks in need.
So great!
December
We asked you to help us with a crazy goal in December. We learned we were 8 states away from selling to someone in all 50 states.
We asked for your help and you did it!
You shared our Facebook and Instagram posts, you called your aunt in Oklahoma and your sister in Hawaii, you bugged your friend in Idaho until she finally ordered.
You are the best.
What a fun bright spot to end 2020!
Thanks again.
Thanks for getting us through 2020. We hope we helped you a bit too.
Oh, and well done you. You made it to the end of this very long newsletter. Thanks for sticking with us!
Stay healthy and hopeful for a better 2021!