Meet me at the Hobby Hollow

I found this super cool macrame' book that is geared towards kids at the new ARC Thrift Store in town. The projects are totally 70's and the little girl in the book is very excited to be doing macrame'. It also has little "bead guys" that help teach you how to macrame'.

Seeing this book and the groovy photo of the craft shop inside made me think back to the days when I had a entire craft store just three doors down from my house. Growing up, the Hobby Hollow was run out of a basement on my block. It was a full-fledged craft store, with thousands of skeins of yarn, fabric, every color of pom-pom and plastic bead imaginable and a bell on the door that made that tinkling sound as you entered to go down the long steep stairs to craft paradise. Sure, there was a big Ben Franklin downtown with a whole lot more fabric and a whole lot more room, but there was just something magical about that basement filled with possibilities.

Is the Hobby Hollow still in business? Sadly, I do not know. I know that it thrived back in the 70's and 80's when my mother and I shopped there. The bell would be tinkling away as I searched for the perfect color of yarn for my latest latchhook project.

That is sort of what all this Internet-world-crafting stuff is like. All the online shops are all little "Hobby Hollow" shops, trying to get their bells tinkling. And sure, people can go to the local Ben Franklin or wherever and get what they need. But are they really satisfied? Are we (and can we be) as inspired by the big box stuff as we are when we buy something from an actual someone? I'm not sure.

I know I can find what I need at the local craft giant. But does the atmosphere make me feel the way the "Hobby Hollow" did? No. No matter how great the selection is or the price, it still will never hold the same charm. And is there a tinkling bell on the door? I don't think so.