Before I say anything, take 10 seconds and watch this. (Whistling …)
Right?
Sometime last year, I found myself following a perfect stranger named Anna Dianich on Pinterest. Not sure how we came to be following each other, but she had a board called My Yarn Store, where she repinned all sorts of yarn store images that looked, cumulatively, very much like my dream yarn store, so one day I asked her if she was just dreaming or actually making this store. Fast forward a year or so, and Anna has become an Internet chum* of mine and I’ve been enjoying watching her life and store evolve on Instagram, which she joined a few months ago. (I also had the pleasure of meeting her, much too briefly, in June.)
It turns out she’s living the dream: life on a farm in the adorably named Carnation, Washington; handsome contractor husband, who built the house; sheep and other assorted farm animals; four adorable kids. (Ok, so kids don’t factor into my dream — none for me, thanks — but man are hers cute. I mean.) (To be honest, that sheep video gives me the sort of feelings I imagine baby pictures give other women.) (No wait, that didn’t sound right …) Annnnd, of course, the perfect yarn store in progress. I asked her on Wednesday how she got to this point, and this is my attempt at a very short summation:
Raised in Hawaii, she became a photographer after studying at the Art Institute of Seattle. (That explains why she wins at Instagram.) As did her husband. Learned to knit, inherited her grandmother’s spinning wheel, decided she must have sheep, moved to the farm. Like you do. Kids and donkey arrived along the way. As for the store, I’ll give it to you in her words:
The fall of our first year in the new house my older girls started an outdoor education program at Wilderness Awareness School in Duvall, and through that school I made some amazing friends. These ladies I met were all crafty and we began to meet at each other’s homes on Thursday nights to knit, sew, and laugh and cry. We were and still are the Crafty Aunties! This amazing community of mamas, makers, crafters has been a huge inspiration for me and is probably the main reason that I decided to open Tolt Yarn and Wool. Our little valley is in need of not only a yarn store but a place to gather and create and be near other crafters and makers. I want to build a community because I know how much it means to me, and I want to bring that to others.
All of this to say that if you aren’t following @toltyarnandwool on Instagram, you really should be.
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*Chum and customer — when I asked her about the store on Pinterest, Fringe Supply Co. didn’t even exist yet. Now I can’t wait to see the totes hanging in her completed shop this fall.
