Yesterday's Ewes

 In London, Ohio, the entire downtown is listed on the National Register of Historic places.   The knitting shop in downtown London previously was a bank, built in 1916, which remained a bank until 1964. About two years ago, the current owner purchased the building and moved her shop Yesterday's Ewes,  from a few doors down.

The bank teller windows were still there, along with the marble counters. 

JoAnn Fisher, the owner of Yesterday's Ewes, and her husband had the opportunity to buy the building the day Governor DeWine announced that elections were postponed due to Covid.   They have done many renovations and created a honey, vintage feeling place with lace curtains in the windows and sunshine streaming in. 

 

The front room is designed to be a gathering place, but the rest of the store is filled with a rainbow of colors. She said that many knitters prefer to gather at the oak tables in the room with the yarn for sale, so they can be surrounded with the luscious colors and textures, and they can be planning their next project while working on the current one.

 JoAnn said her business emphasis, in a few words, is local, small business, and farming.  To that end, she carries yarn from local hand spinners and indie dyers, as well as wool from local shepherds.

She showed me many of the yarns she carries, but I could tell her favorite might be the fine-fleeced Shetlands from her own flock of about 50 sheep.  It is truly a labor of love. She partners with another shepherd, Lancien Farms in Marysville, to consolidate the wool and improve economies of scale.

Private label fine Shetland batt.

JoAnn showing her 1927 Shetland display. 

There were several items of personal interest to me in her shop.  One of the first things I noticed was the old bank vault door.  As my husband collects safes, this was special.  

Nobody would provide this kind of artistic detail today.

The hinge for the vault door is enormous.

She also has a circular sock machine of the same manufacturer as mine, the Home Profit from Master Machine, for sale on consignment.

She is a collector of vintage spinning wheels. She currently is a dealer for Louet, and may carry Kromskis in the future.

She does have roving for sale.  In addition, her "Scone and Skein" Saturday morning classes led her to carry a line of fine teas.

 She offers goat milk soap from a retired gentleman (Brookdale Vue Farms) in Wayne County

 and Angora handspun yarn from a rabbitry (Ellen Booth) in Galion.

She has "open knit" sessions on Wednesday and Saturday, and offers knitting and crochet classes.  She previously offered needle felting classes and is currently looking for an instructor. In addition, she can arrange weaving classes with another instructor.  She offers limited stock for sale online, but to get the full experience, it is best to visit the store.  There, if you are a local knitter,  you can also take advantage of the "lending library" of pattern and technique books.

Roving braids from Indie dyers

Skeins of Indie-dyed yarns (independent dyers)

Hand-spun and dyed angora blends.

In addition to the local offerings, she also sells commercial fine yarns like Koigu Universal yarns, Blue Sky, Wonderland yarns, and Noro.

The store's customer base is not only local to London, but has people driving from Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton and Xenia.  I am not surprised. Through this experience of "Yarn Trek by Bike", I learned many local yarn stores have closed, including two large ones in Columbus, one I planned to visit in Mt. Vernon, and one I planned to visit near Dayton.  

So if you are looking for a unique gift for a knitter or spinner in your life, you may want to contact JoAnn.  And check out the artists' colony on the upper level!