A love for yarn and fibers was instilled in Nelson's Janet Lohmann at young age.
“I’ve been knitting since my granny taught me when I was 12,” she said. “I designed my own sweaters at first and they always turned out rather large.”
Since Lohmann began knitting she’s watched the hobby “come out of the closet.”
“I’m noticing more younger women coming in and the pattern books are becoming more hip,” she said. “Plus now you can YouTube knitting abbreviations and learn what you don’t know. It’s great to see it re-enter and have it come out of the closet so to speak.”
As the owner of Maplerose, Lohmann also sees kids at Nelson’s Waldorf school learn to knit.
She and her co-workers also offer a variety of knitting, crocheting and felting courses.
“We’ve always done felting courses and they’ve been running for three years now,” said Lohmann. “We run felting courses every week, sometimes twice a week and they’re always full.”
As more and more knitters and fiber artists have come into Maplerose, Lohmann has begun to fill the gap left by the closing of That Craft Store.
“We always carried yarn which supplemented what That Craft store was doing because they carried more than we did. Now with them going out of business, knitters were begging us to carry more so we are sort of stepping up to the plate,” she said. “I’m a knitter myself so I was excited about that possibility to.”
For more information about the workshops offered visit the store at 265 Baker Street or their website at maplerose.ca