Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

Shoptalk: Yarn shop entwines
creativity with work

By Ann S. Kim akim@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

Q: How did you get into knitting?

click image to enlarge

Anna Poe, owner of KnitWit Yarn Shop in Portland, says her readiness to help people figure out knitting projects sets her apart from other yarn sellers.

Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

Select images available for purchase in the
Maine Today Photo Store

ANNA POE

WHAT: Owner of KnitWit Yarn Shop

WHERE: 247A Congress St., Portland

PHONE: 774-6444

WEB: www.yarnonthebrain.com

E-MAIL: knitwitmaine@gmail.com

AGE: 45

 

ABOUT SHOPTALK

SHOPTALK ALLOWS people to describe in their own words the rewards and challenges of their jobs. In doing so, they reflect the energy, imagination and hard work that characterize the workplace in Maine.

THE QUESTIONS for Shoptalk are compiled by Press Herald staff writers.

DO YOU know someone who would make an interesting candidate for Shoptalk? Send your suggestions to business@pressherald.com.

Anna Poe, owner of KnitWit Yarn Shop: I learned in college, and then I did it only sporadically until a couple years before I opened the shop (in 2004). I studied art (at Bowdoin College and then as a graduate student at the University of Arizona). The reason I started knitting again, my husband and I were rehabbing a house and I had no studio. So I didn't really have anything creative to do -- and I had a new nephew.

Q: What other kinds of work were you in before you opened the store?

A: Oh, well I'm the classic person with an art degree that turns into a jack-of-all-trades. Before I was here, I was the office manager at the homeless health clinic.

Q: That was a big change, no? Are there any similarities?

A: I guess the only similarity is there's a lot of customer contact.

Q: How did you decide you wanted to open a shop?

A: I wanted to try having a business and I had really gotten into knitting in a big way. I had just sort of gotten addicted, couldn't wait to get home and knit. Anyone who knits knows this feeling.

Q: Do you have time to knit now or is it all about running the business?

A: It's much more running the business. I do sometimes knit when I'm here if people are here or socializing. But the minute they're not here, I'm back to my list of chores. But I knit at night when I get home, maybe not with the intensity I once did, just because it makes my neck really hurt.

Q: All that craning to see what you're doing?

A: Yes, too much knitting is not good for my body.

Q: How do you counteract that?

A: I go running and in theory I do these neck exercises that I'm actually quite lazy about doing.

Q: Are there any other occupational hazards associated with having a knitting shop?

A: I think not unless you consider the overall stress of having a business in a recession, which I guess is more mental.

Q: Do you feel we're coming out of it?

A: On a beautiful sunny day like this, I feel optimistic so I feel we're coming out of it. But that has no bearing on reality.

Q: Are you a one-woman operation?

A: Yes and no. My husband (Joshua Eckels) is my business partner. Though he has his own job, he also does the bookkeeping and the design. Basically anything graphic -- ads and stuff like that. So he does a lot of work and I do all the shop stuff. And I have two very part-time employees.

Q: What are most customers making? Sweaters? Socks?

A: It's a real mix. I certainly think in the last year or so people are doing smaller projects. And that's directly related to spending money.

Q: Is there seasonality for knitters?

A: There are fairly hard-core people who knit year-round and then there are seasonal knitters. And then there are knitting tourists, who are not to be underestimated. They seek out the yarn shops. They'll say I saw your Web site. Sometimes they'll even have a little list of all the yarn shops in town. That's sort of an integral part of their fun vacation.

Q: Do you have a specialty that sets you apart from other shops?

A: I would say the thing that sets us apart is we're really pretty customer service oriented. For the most part, I like helping people with their knitting projects and it's OK if they didn't buy their yarn here. I tend to just help them anyway because (A) I enjoy it and (B) perhaps the next time they come back they'll need some yarn.

Q: Have you become a more advanced knitter having the store?

A: Yes, yes. In fact, when I look back on how much I didn't know when I opened, I marvel that I had the nerve to open the shop.

Q: How did you pick this location?

A: I heard about it and I just jumped on it. I had just started making a business plan, I hadn't finished it or anything.

Q: Is the shop pretty much the same as when you started?

A: I have changed things around. When I started, I had a kitchen in the back and I had decided it would be quaint and cozy to have a coffee and baked goods thing going at the same time. It was nice because the store always smelled like cookies, but it wasn't really that practical. That might have been an aspect where a business plan may have made sense.

Q: You'd be baking and rushing back to the register?

A: You pinned down the problem in a nutshell. Though people lamented the loss of the cookies, I don't know why. It wasn't like I was selling millions of them. I ate so many cookies. I mean, it seemed like I ate pounds of cookie dough in a day. I ate so many of them. So now I have a really nice cappuccino machine at home, which is also a huge plus.

Q: Do you have a favorite thing these days?

A: I would say as time has gone on, my tastes have become more conservative. Frequently that means knitting with a really good basic yarn, so it's that actual technique or the texture, rather than the yarn being so fancy that it is the thing. But that's just my own bias. People really love pretty, flamboyant yarns. And I would say the shop really reflects my taste, for better or worse.

Staff Writer Ann S. Kim can be contacted at 791-6383 or at:

akim@pressherald.com