In My Town: Washington DC Metro Area, USA Archives

Fibre Space: A Home for Yarn Lovers

June 8, 2021 by Valerie Williams Leave a Comment

If you love yarn and making things with yarn, then your new favorite place is Fibre Space. A beautiful, full-service yarn shop in Old Town, Alexandria, Fibre Space is the brain child of Danielle Romanetti and the brick-and-mortar manifestation of her popular mobile knitting club, Knit-a-Gogo.

Danielle started Knit-a-Gogo in 2006, teaching knitting and hosting fibre-loving events at coffee shops and bakeries in the DC area. Two years later, her client list and faculty had grown so much, she knew they needed a permanent home. In 2009, after careful planning and research, Fibre Space was born.

Danielle has created the perfect haven for knitters and crocheters because nobody loves yarn more than she does. She has done careful research and works hard to find the most beautiful and high-quality yarns in every imaginable category, for any project, and at every price point.

Fibre Space customers know they can rely on the shop for lovely natural-fiber yarns from both national brands and local spinners and dyers.

One of the most popular brands in the store is Neighborhood Fiber Company, from a local hand-dyer who names the colorways after beloved DC neighborhoods. The yarns are a favorite with locals and tourists alike, for both the ties to the nation’s capitol and their gorgeous, saturated color, which is unusual for hand-dyed yarn.

Danielle stocks her store very thoughtfully, and would love to tell you why she has chosen any particular product. Just ask!

In addition to the beautiful array of yarns, Fibre Space also provides books, patterns, needles, roving for needle felters and spinners, and notions of every kind. There’s also a space to sit and hang out with your latest project, as well as classroom space and an always-full calendar of events.

One of the most unique events hosted at Fibre Space is the Yarn Tasting. Periodically, Danielle partners with a local Alexandria business – a chocolatier or a bakery, for example – and invites her customers to come in and experiment with a new yarn and taste some locally-made goodies.

No full service yarn shop would be complete without an educational department, and Fibre Space definitely does not disappoint. With six experienced instructors (in addition to Danielle herself), the shop provides an extensive schedule of knitting and crocheting classes, appropriate for anyone ranging from the spanking-new beginner to the seasoned veteran. Private and semi-private lessons are also available.

Additionally, Fibre Space also hosts workshops on unique projects and techniques, like yarn dyeing or spinning. Other events include a Lock In Sock In, and the monthly Friday Night at the Movies. You can even host your own knitting or crocheting event at Fibre Space!

Fibre Space is located at 102 North Fayette Street in Alexandria, Virginia, and is open seven days a week, extra late on Thursdays and Fridays. You can keep up with what’s happening at the store, as well as progress on Danielle’s latest project, at the Fibre Space blog.

My Daddy Puzzles

April 29, 2021 by Valerie Williams 3 Comments

Ryan Ringel’s boys are hard on their toys. Any parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or big brother or sister can probably relate. Ryan’s oldest son especially loves a good puzzle. But when ordinary, store-bought puzzles were subjected to his enthusiasm…over time, the results were not pretty.

Of course, store-bought puzzles are merely cardboard or chipboard with a sticker slapped on, or paper glued to the front…hardly designed to stand the test of time. Ryan’s boys were going through puzzles like tissues during flu season.

One day, Ryan was inspired to make more durable puzzles while watching a sculptor use a scroll saw to create intricate patterns in wood. He figured the same technique could be used to make puzzles for his kids, puzzles that were more interesting than the standard square or rectangle, as well as tougher than the flimsy ones from the mall toy store.

The first puzzle (“Faye Fish”) was a huge hit with the boys, and could keep them entertained for hours, without breaking apart, peeling, or bending. Soon, Ryan was making puzzles for the kids of his friends and neighbors, as well as his sons’ classmates, and My Daddy Puzzles was born.

Every puzzle is drawn by Ryan, and cut, sanded, stained, and painted by hand in his Alexandria, Virginia workshop. Each design is available in a variety of paint colors, in natural stain, or unpainted.

The poplar or maple hardwoods used to make them are grown and harvested in the USA, and the paints and stains used to decorate them come from a company in Ohio.

The puzzles are simple, yet challenging enough to keep kids as young as 18 months entertained and mentally stimulated. They’re painted on both sides to add a layer of difficulty, and range in size from 5 pieces for the littlest ones, to 10 pieces for older children.

Visit the My Daddy Puzzles web site to find out which Washington, DC-area art and craft shows they will be attending, or pick one up from the online shop.

Herban Lifestyle

April 19, 2021 by Valerie Williams 5 Comments

Mary Kearns grew up in a very environmentally conscious household. Her mother was into organic cooking and being “green” long before it was the latest and the coolest. “I was so embarrassed,” Mary says, recalling her school lunches wrapped in waxed paper, instead of plastic bags like the other kids had. “But now I’m thankful that I was made aware of these issues so early.”

Her mother’s awareness and activism has paid off. Mary Kearns is now the owner and founder of Herban Lifestyle, an all-natural bath and body product line made in Falls Church, Virginia. Herban Lifestyle is certified member of Green America, a signer of the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, and an Environmental Protection Agency Green Power Partner. Herban Lifestyle products are all handcrafted by Mary, using only organic, fair trade and/or ethically wildcrafted herbs and essential oils. Additionally, Herban Lifestyle labels are all printed on recycled paper with vegetable inks, and Mary only uses packing and shipping materials that are recycled, recyclable or biodegradable.

When I met with Mary to talk with her about her business and her inspirations for creating green and sustainable body products, I was thrilled when she offered to show me how one of her most popular products was made. I even got to choose the scent! My love for all things citrus led me to pick the tangerine dreamsicle lip balm.

Using one of her own recipes, Mary led me through the process of making her lip balms. The process was surprisingly simple, but definitely an exercise in patience and precision. After I decided on tangerine, Mary showed me her (extremely well organized) storage room, where we gathered all the necessary ingredients. The first step was melting the beeswax, which comes from Mary’s all-natural supplier in a big, honeycomb-shaped slab.

After the beeswax is melted, the other ingredients are added, including jojoba oil, organic shea butter and organic olive oil, which all play the role of moisturizer. To achieve the delicious tangerine dreamsicle scent, organic tangerine essential oil and organic vanilla extract are added to the mix. Mary uses a ceramic double boiler to melt her ingredients, because certain types of metal react poorly with certain oils. When everything is completely blended, the mixture is ready to be poured into the lip balm containers, which have been cleaned, sterilized and dried.

The jojoba oil and shea butter give the mixture it’s soft golden color, not the tangerine essential oil. While the lip balms cooled, a dreamy and sweet citrus-y scent filled the entire room. It was easy for me to understand why Mary finds making her delightful goodies so relaxing!

An interest in aromatherapy is what first prompted Mary to make her own body products. Back in the late ’90s, she subscribed to a body product of-the-month club, and soon became interested in experimenting beyond the simple recipes that were sent to her. She also became intrigued by the therapeutic and healing properties of essential oils and herbs, and how to combine them to achieve the greatest result.

Life eventually led her away from her initial endeavor to make and sell natural body products, but her interest in herbalism and making skin care products had not diminished. When she found herself living in the DC area and beginning formal herbalism studies, she knew the time was right.

Mary opened her Herban Lifestyle Etsy shop in May of 2008, and now has nearly thirty different products, all made from the highest quality natural and organic ingredients. Her favorite items to make are the body balms, and her favorite scent to use is lavender, although her line includes a variety of mild essential oils.

One of her most popular items is her Fuzzy Soap, which is handmade, organic soap wrapped up in vegetable-dyed, hand-carded wool. The wool is wet-felted to cling to the bar of soap, creating a built-in holder that is exfoliating as well as naturally anti-bacterial. The day I visited Mary, she had several that were nearly ready for packaging, after laying out to dry for several days.

Mary’s product line also includes natural and organic products for men. The Herban Lifestyle MAN grooming kit was featured in Etsy’s Valentine’s Day gift guide for LXTV in New York, and continues to be a popular item with new and returning customers.

Although green business practices and using all-natural and organic ingredients are major priorities for Mary, she has found that not all her customers are drawn to Herban Lifestyle for those reasons. “Some people just like quality body products that smell nice.” She certainly has that market cornered.

You can find Herban Lifestyle products at a handful of DC area stores and at several online locations, including the Herban Lifestyle web site, the Etsy shop, and the World of Good web site.

Photography by Alan Todd

March 8, 2021 by Valerie Williams 1 Comment

Alan Todd is a Washington, DC based architect whose creative life and professional life are one in the same. His “day job” and hobby-turned-business are both about creating, and both about his interest in the built environment. Although his photographs cover a variety of subjects, his favorite and most successful works are about abstract architecture.

Alan fell in love with both the artistry and practicality of photography while he was still in school, studying to be an architect. On a trip to Europe, he and his classmates were charged with recording individual design elements they felt were successful, while studying structures in Italy, Switzerland, Germany and France.

While studying the Roman Forum, Alan found himself relying more on his digital point-and-shoot camera than his sketch pad and pencil, and the photographer in him was born. He knew he could use his camera for more than just logging details for a class assignment. “For me,” he says, “the camera turned into a tool for creating, not just capturing.”

Although Alan continued his education in architecture, he remains mostly self-taught in photography. However, looking at the images he captures, it is easy to see how his education, training, and experience in architecture has influenced his eye as a photographer.

Alan had been taking photographs for fun for a while, without any intention to share them with the world, or sell them to anybody. At the suggestion of his brother-in-law, he began to consider the possibilities of online marketplaces like Etsy. Alan’s brother-in-law is an accomplished painter with a thriving online business, and with his encouragement, Alan opened his Etsy shop in December 2009.

Images from Alan’s Abstract Architecture collection are definitely his customers’ favorites. Likewise, Alan’s favorite approach to his photography is primarily isolating elements from successful structures, and defining them with light and texture.

Despite his professional interest in architecture and built structures, Alan finds his approach to photography evolving to include natural elements. Rather than focusing solely on chronicling existing conditions, Alan creates his own “spatial composition through the specific qualities of each scene.”

Specifically, he has recently become inspired to focus on trees and their root systems, and his portfolio also includes other scenes of natural beauty. This shift was not at all intentional, which only means that Alan’s photography will continue to evolve and change. Who knows what’s next?

Alan’s work is available in his Etsy shop, where he regularly adds new images from his travels and from his favorite neighborhoods of Washington, DC.

Covet: Giving Arlington a Little Edge

February 10, 2021 by Valerie Williams 1 Comment

There was a time when Arlington, Virginia, US was full of quirky little shops and off-beat eateries. These days, visitors and natives alike are much more likely to find only chain stores and national brands on the streets of Arlington. The unusual and the unconventional is sadly more and more of a rarity in this Northern Virginia suburb. Two Virginia natives are out to change all that, starting with a cute little shop called Covet.

Autumn Clayton and Sabrina Cabada are old college friends, who had been tossing around an idea for a store/gallery combination for a while. They envisioned a place that would be interesting and unique, and full of the types of things they loved to buy and loved to make. Both Autumn and Sabrina are from creative backgrounds – Sabrina paints and Autumn is a jewelry designer and baker, so the thrill and satisfaction of making things by hand is well known to both of them. They knew whatever form their for-now-imaginary shop would take, that handmade goods would be the focal point.

Just a few months ago, Autumn got a call from Sabrina about a space in Arlington that she found, that would be perfect for their now-not-so-imaginary shop. Both women knew that the time was right to make their dream a reality, and six weeks later, Covet was open for business!

Their tag line is “you know you want it,” which for me totally sums up how I feel when I’m surrounded by gorgeous handmade things. I know I’m not the only one who has that urge to collect when I see a pretty bit of something that I know is the brainchild of some creative soul somewhere. Knowing the care and love that went into creating that item is just irresistible!

In addition to being makers themselves, Autumn and Sabrina are both avid Etsy shoppers, and many of the products featured at Covet are from designers and crafters found there. The store is stocked with a variety of jewelry, accessories, and housewares, and new items are being added regularly.

Covet is not just a store, but also an art gallery, featuring some of Sabrina’s paintings, and also works from local artists. Some of the first events planned for the space will focus on the artists currently showcased in the in-store gallery.

Covet is only a few weeks old, and it is already a favorite destination for locals who crave something special. “Our customers are thrilled and often shocked when we tell them that what they are holding in their hands is made by fingers and not factories,” says Autumn. She and Sabrina know that customers want to have a connection to the the things they spend their money on, and that’s what Covet’s focus on handmade goods is all about.

Covet is located at 5140B Wilson Boulevard in Arlington, Virginia, and is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, and Sundays 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm. Join Autumn, Sabrina, and Arlington residents in the know for the official grand opening party on May 7, 2010.