Sarah Young, Store Owner
Posted by sarah on April 5, 2012 / Leave a Comment
In 2005 Sarah Young relocated from Virginia to Portland, and the knitting world would soon happily expand because of it. She revisited her knitting background not long after her arrival to the Rose City, and eventually converted her love for the hobby into the building of her own cozy little yarn shop. Her favorite thing about the development process with Happy Knits? “Getting to make my idea of what a perfect yarn store is,” she says. “It’s my own version of what it should be.”
1. What are you knitting right now, and with what yarn? A log-cabin blanket out of Madelinetosh Tosh chunky
2. What non-yarn crafts do you do? Cross-stitch and embroidery. I also went to Savannah College of Art & Design, for Metals and Jewelry, and I still do beadwork today.
3. What’s your favorite fiber? Wool
4. Who taught you to knit? My grandmother, when I was 10, and then I didn’t do any for a long time. An old boss taught me again, around 6 years ago, and helped me pick it back up.
5. Picker or thrower? DPNs or circulars? Magic Loop or 2 circs? Thrower, circulars, and why isn’t double points an option?
6. When was the last time you used acrylic? I’ve only used it once, 5 years ago, and that will be the last time.
7. Knitting project you’re most proud of? I’m really proud of the sweater (Shapely boyfriend cardigan by Stefanie Japel) I just finished, because it fits really well.
8. Recent project that led you to learning a new technique? It wasn’t knitting, but I just refinished a bunch of furniture, and it taught me that $20 brushes are worth it.
9. Favorite designers, and why? Gudrun Johnston – I learn something new with every pattern of hers that I do, but her designs are classic, and patterns are flawless.
10. What luxurious location would you like to be knitting at right now? I wish I was knitting in a small log cabin, by a fire, with a manageable amount of snow outside.
11. Where do you knit most often? In my bed, after my daughter is asleep
12. What do you knit most frequently? The first third of a project
13. Why do you knit? For a sense of control over one thing in my life
14. Do you wear the majority of your knitting, or do you tend to give it away? Anything I knit is either used in the store for samples, or I wear it myself.
15. Biggest knitting blooper? I made a sweater (my first!) out of Malabrigo Worsted, and I threw it in the dryer on no heat because it was the slightest bit damp, and I wanted to wear it to a talk the Yarn Harlot was giving that night. Let’s just say the sweater never made it to that talk, and now it’s used as pot holders in my kitchen.
16. Favorite Ryan Gosling meme, or movie moment? I’ve never seen a movie with Ryan Gosling in it, but I think he’s really hot. So there.
17. Hottest actor/heartthrob? James Cromwell
18. Favorite ’80s or ’90s TV show? The Smurfs
19. Favorite music or band? And do you prefer music while knitting? I prefer audio books while knitting – I may like Harry Potter a bunch.
20. Best snack to nibble on while knitting? Cheese Puffs, but I have to commit myself to eat the Cheese Puff, then clean my hands off, then knit, then revisit the cheese puff, then maybe turn to my St. Bernard for hand-cleaning assistance.