Celebrating our Anniversary with 30 Days of Thanks

Well, the time of year has come when I write our yearly anniversary letter.  So why not pour yourself a cup of your favourite beverage, and join me for a year of gratitude, hope, and some kindness.  A little Sunday morning ramble if you will.  (You all have probably figured out that I can get a little long winded, and I can’t promise this won’t).  A small window into the world behind the scenes of Aberdeen’s and Tangled Poets.  Vulnerable and real, and full of gratitude.  If you want to skip the sappy stuff, just skip to page 2 😊 

This year has felt different that the others, full of self-reflection, full of questions, and full of exploration.  To be honest, there have been moments when I’ve questioned whether this is my path forward.  When I opened my little one room yarn shop all those years ago, I never imagined a world where everything was online. No Thursday night stitch and bitch, no in person community.  It fed my love of this craft, and filled me with a sense of purpose.   I miss it each and every day, and that’s why we are still here, working so hard to reopen a retail space.  We need it as much as those of you who are nearby, for different reasons but both for the love of the yarn, and the ideas, and the inspiration which blooms with each encounter.  We are so grateful that we are able to still be here, and that’s because of each of you.  To be honest, I can’t wait to sit around a table and stitch together, catch up, be inspired, and hopefully inspiring at the same time.

Thank you to each of you.  Each and everyday you fill this small business and me with hope.  Without the hope, the motivation sometimes fades to a further place, and I am so grateful for each and everyone of you, who daily fill me with that glimmer of hope.  I will be forever grateful for each of you, from those I met the very first day, to those I meet online from around the world, you all fill me with inspiration, and I appreciate you always.

Thank you to my cheerleaders, and my team.  Amanda, Ally, and Sydney, I can’t believe we are still together, and my heart is so full that we are.  For supporting my wild ideas, the ebbs and flows of a post retail version of your roles, and reminding me when I need it, why we’re still all in this.  The friendships woven through every cup of coffee shared, every story shared, and love and respect we all have for one another, are treasured gifts, that most days I am bewildered by.  Thank you is never enough for the three of you.  You are all the perfect parts of a puzzle that works, and I will forever be grateful for that. 

My dear Isaac, who for some reason still supports this big dream, who still loves me, despite my flaws, and supports the dreams I still have for this industry and this business.

To my mom and Dad, and Jim and Cathy, thank you for everything you do.  My parents send me texts messages almost every morning, Mom, being a mom, and saying good morning, Dad, reminding me to “keep your head up and stick on the ice” motivational texts.  Pitching in when able, always cheering me on, and I am so incredibly grateful for their support and their love.  Jim and Cathy, for being there, Cathy for feeding up when we’re up against a deadline, labelling yarn for us when we need an extra set of hands, Jim for always making us laugh in the dye shop, for the hardware runs, and post drop offs.  None of this works without family, and frankly I have one of the best.

Thank you, Brandon, for dealing with all my technically challenged issues, for being the best brother out there.  I am so incredibly proud of him, for also jumping into the wild world of being a maker.  He recently opened Algonquin Leather Works.  He will go far, and I love watching the progress he’s made as a maker.  It takes a lot to put your work out into the world, and he’s doing it with a bang.

Okay, the vulnerable sappy stuff is wrapped…

This year, we are looking forward to so many things, we can’t give all the news away, but this year we hope you enjoy the journey with us.  It should be a fun one, and we are very excited.  We can let you in on a few fun things, we will be releasing 3 limited edition Pickle Jars this year, different themes, and they will also be available in refills (something we learned from last year).  We also will be bringing in many more lines of yarns from various distributors, in a multitude of price points to make crafting as accessible to everyone as possible.  Also Tangled Poets will be releasing some pretty interesting lines of yarn this year, but that’s all I can divulge at the moment. 

I can’t wait for you to see some of the things we are working on.  Look forward to some pretty cool Tangled Poets news, and a larger selection of brands of yarn. 

We will continue to learn, and listen, and take action on things that we can. 

But mostly, we just want you (yes, you, just you, reading this text) that we appreciate each and everyone of you.  We wouldn’t still be here without you, and I will be eternally grateful for that.

We are celebrating our Anniversary month, with 30 Days of Thanks.  I am sure some of you have seen the posts on our social media’s or received our emails yesterday and today.  We are celebrating you, because you are what makes this dream possible.  We hope you enjoy the daily giveaways, and the cool products we’ve selected.

With a full heart, and all the gratitude in the world. Cheers to another year!  Cheers to all of you.  

Heather