Story originally printed in the Tomah Journal or online at www.tomahjournal.com
Published - Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Bear Creek Fibers serving customers nation-wide
Sharon Minett had been weaving for 25 years when the Tarr Valley School where she taught closed down.
Having done some off and on production weaving in the past, she decided to go into the business full-time three years ago and established Bear Creek Fibers with partner Denise Brabham. As her business continued, interest grew and several people began asking Minett about supplies. This past summer, Minett expanded her business to include a retail yarn shop in addition to her production weaving.
“People would ask, ‘Could you get this, and could you get this,’ so we just started supplying stuff,” Minett said. “When we decided to expand to a retail yarn shop, we learned that quite a few people knit in the area.”
Production weaving is the center of business at Bear Creek Fibers. Projects include weaving 30-yard rolls for Candiss Cole Designs of Arizona, where they will be sewn into jackets. Other projects include Jewish prayer shawls for Laurie Gross Studios of California and Jewishweavings.com of Maryland. Bear Creek Fibers also produces rugs for an Energy Plus store in Duluth, Minn., where they are sold as accessories along with fireplaces and spas.
“Production weaving is really what keeps us going,” Minett said.
The staff that does the weaving at Bear Creek Fibers is comprised of Minett and Melissa Carroll. The shop is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday, but both Minett and Carroll are also often weaving on Fridays and evenings. They both spend several evenings teaching classes on knitting, crochet, and felting, or holding a “Sit and Knit” event where people join them for conversation, knitting and helping each other with projects.
“We offer a beginner’s class every month,” Minett said. “People can learn knitting, or get help with their projects.”
Bear Creek Fibers is located roughly four miles off of Highway 16, and it can be found by taking County CA to Holiday Road to Holly Avenue, where the business is located at street address 27686. Minett said that they are seeing more numbers in the yarn shop, but many people still don’t know where the business is, or if it exists.
“A lot of people tell us, ‘We never knew you were here,’” Minett said. “The yarn shop is to the point where we are getting customers every week, so that is encouraging.”
Bear Creek Fibers continues to add new classes, activities and projects to its schedule. Minett and Carroll are planning on beginning a free teen knit club to help teach teenagers of all levels how to knit or tips to improve. Three years into the business, Minett is optimistic about its future, and she continues to enjoy her work.
“It is nice to be able to do something you enjoy and share it with other people,” Minett said.
All stories copyright 2006 Tomah Journal and other attributed sources.