is when i started really researching and trying to understand what sustainable fashion means that's clothing and accessories we have a fantastic she department all really comfortable shoes not only are they made in the u s that eventual dyed a lot of from people we like to say that there are many different shades of bringing people think of it as one way or another and really the fact that our all our manufacturers are very in touch with how and where their product is being made and that for me at the end of the day is super important that is what i want to know that's how this started actually was me wanting to know where my clothes came from you know just seeing a label that says made in china didn't mean anything to me and it actually made me kind of concerned to be you know as all of these what shops and things made the news article what does that mean so if we have any clothing that's made in china it's actually coming from a third party audited factory or a boutique factory that family owned and we have very little of it to begin with the majority of our clothing actually a lot of it is made by the designers and sells they hand weave like some of the fabrics they actually sell it themselves some of it like this line over here are very interesting perspective really one of my favorite designers as has an incredible back story but she actually employees her own village in the philippines to help her make her clothing and each piece is hand died and not the dies or not that was chemicals hand was printed i mean there's an amazing amount of workmanship that goes into each piece and that's what i'm hoping to also be able to reteach the community is how important a merchant is it's not just you know a box store you want the same thing that the person you know heigho has or the person you know in northern california but it's about  each item being special i mean how much time did it take for this one item that's not machine show machine sewn to be made in like it's that labor of love and that good energy i think that goes into each item and you really think a lot we are on trend you know i do just that i think it's very important at the end of the day people are only going to buy things that they like so at the beginning i thought a lot of the eco stores are just like all about the message and like pushing pushing it really in people  people and you don't get a good reaction from that so you know i travel all over the world i go to not just to vegas in new york but i go to paris i've had gone to iceland and brought in designers from there and africa and we have brought in designers that i find you meet the criteria in the standards that we that we have but you're going to find unique fashions to have a definite perspective one of the reasons we chose to come to sarasota was because it was a resort community we get an opportunity to speak with people from all over the globe when they come to visit the beautiful beaches and bay of sarasota and we're very fortunate to have this lovely street corner where directly across mansions to whole foods who in my mind is you know partner in this you know mindset movement that we're trying to create amongst the consumers it's a great corner where we're very close to the farmer's market local growers and small business people that are you know upstart that are showing up in there so i think that we have found a kinship with sarasota we are always inspired i intend to go forward doing you know great window displays i think it's something to talk about and it's another great way for us to express ourselves one of my employees is a we have collaborated and come up with concepts that really reflect what how i buy the collection in season and this time you know we have a fun kind of summer camp kind of feel with kites and pinwheels and you know we just kind of wanted it to be a cheery year you know two thousand and twelve got a lot of people on edge and i was like let's make it happy let's bring people in we fought for that sign we were just like this is reminiscent of the opera house i mean this is like what sarasota of the glory days of sarasota was about we want something that you know is really timeless and is perfect for this area and so we really work for it and we got it we get compliments on it every day and i'm still very proud of the fact that we really got to have that beautiful sign well local merchants are super important they've had a place in society for thousands of years they were actually the people that looked and saw new things and brought them into that community and taught people about other ways of life in other far far away areas and i think that still happens today when you have a merchant that's local to you that really wants to teach and learn and actively i participate in the process of trade so i always encourage people locally i said if you find a store that you really love locally like shop them first you know go to them first and see if they can meet your needs before you go to the mall because it's just easier and we have worked very very hard i think to have a very loyal following of people not just here in sarasota but on line and we're very blessed with people that we are able to actually work with and communicate with and they come in and we have a really good time actually dialing and basically just playing around in the back and finding the best way for people to be able to express themselves with the clothing that you know we bring in from all over the u ordinances various site point applications major conditional use what does it all mean take the confusion out of city commission meetings and watch the commission report the commission report takes the meeting agenda breaks it down every sense of the matter that everyone can understand look at the commission report right before the meeting begins an accessor story then watch the commission recap online the next day and find out what actions were taken at the previous meeting for more information visit sarasota gov dot com and look for video on demand and what i'm doing now i never saw yarns in one nine hundred eighty that what i see now i started out as an antique shop ten years ago and i got bored and i picked up my knitting again and i started knitting and then i started selling my items and then i started buying yarn and baby steps became a yarn shop instead of an antique shop and now since i've started spinning my own art yarn four years ago i've turned into a like a fiber botti that's what i you know that's how i feel like i've evolved into so i have yarn and i have our yarn and we make things that are like art to where art to display and i have built up a community of women that come in here they come in they sit and they enjoy their time this is a place for them to come and be creative and and and enjoy each other's company so what i have is basically i've got a living room set up in my store and i have lots of chairs so i try to make it homey feeling and it's a place for them to get away from home the kids the husband whatever responsibilities and xscape for a little while and  you're doing something with your hands and you're being creative and and you can never get bored knitting or crocheting or spinning because you're always learning something and there's always things to get excited about and i enjoy sharing the passion that i have for what i love what i make and i love spending aren't so i people come in and they they ask a question i could start talking about my passion and i that's what i like to do i mean it's so easy it's a great job you know our yarn is yarn that you spin that has a lot of texture to it so it's not your traditional tin lace sock weight yarn so these are locks from sheep that we share that but i don't share i buy fleece it's been sheared off that off and then we spin it into yarn with the spinning wheel that's right there so it's because of that of the internet there's everybody's posting everything there so there's a huge following people follow each other different spinners what they are making and what they're creating because and so the internet's really made this last art it's it's they call it the newest it's the new yoga knitting is the new yoga spinning the new yoga because it takes two twins and full place i have i have knitting needles and crochet hooks and a have commercial yarns and we use them all the time to make the baby clothes the blanket cardigan anything you would like hats and they're a great fill in when you do use the art yarn so we're i'm a small yarn shop that has has a lot a lot in it which i have a lot of commercial yarn and a lot of our yarn and we try to cover all our bases we have hand dyed sock yarns here this is hand eye cotton tape which is like a ribbon and this is a very gated commercial super wash well that's great for hats and then we ha the bulky yarn and we have the super washes we have silk with seed beads and sequence on them for embellishing and making collars and cuffs and we we try to cover all our bases and we have crochet too and  we just got the new issue of vogue crochet magazine and they have not published a crash a magazine since one nine hundred ninety and they're back into publishing it four times a year because crochet has become that big again right along with knitting  right along with spinning they come in here and they think that they're walking into an antique shop because we're on the road and there's antiques up and down the street and they walk in here and if they're not a yarn person they just stand here and they look at all this yarn and they look at all the texture and there's like what is this and then you start showing them and you start to explain and i made this purse with this yarn and i've done this and i've done that and i mix leather with it and they're they just think it's so cool so i said i sell a lot of finished pieces one of a kind piece that i design because they women love to wear something that they're going to get stopped and say wow what's that we know where to get that and then if you can smile and say well i spun the yarn and then i knitted the yarn you know that goes in this whole thing and it's really cool it's really really cool is so when you're sitting there and you're spinning and you're spinning well and they're watching you they just they just stand there amazed because they just can't believe you know you're doing what you're doing with your hands you're sculpting you're taking fiber and you're mixing them together and you're sculpting them and twisting them into a yarn i was started making owls to for i do atomic holiday gift bazaar every year and i was trying to find something that i could make that was a lot less expensive item to sell and so i started making these it'll be two years in october so when i made them for the show in december i had no idea i would be making so many and i had no idea that people like  and i used my leftover yarns to all the owls are different and they have lots of character too and i had this is al number one hundred fifty six and i have sold one hundred fifty four hours in a year and a half and i name all of them and i number them and i can't keep them in stock what everyone says is the wow what a cool shop wow this is really great so everybody really gets excited by coming in here they may not buy anything but they're excited about seeing the texture and the yarns and the creativity and the different things that we can make we make coats we make purses we make shawls you name it we make