Conscientious Support of Small Business
On this Small Business Saturday I want to take a minute to contemplate our role as retailers and consumers as a local yarn store. Baaad Anna’s was established ten years ago, around the same time as the ‘Small Business Saturday’ mandate, specifically to serve a niche of creating a community space for diverse crafters, parents, artists and non-conformist knitters in our neighbourhood. As we have broadened our reach we continue that mandate with an aim to strength the greater fibre arts community with open-source resources through building connections amongst fibre artists of all skills.
This aim to strengthen community also determines the choice of stock we hold and our commitment to local and independent dyers and suppliers. The list of Canadian dyers we currently stock listed for our current Anything But Black Friday event is our small way of supporting other independent fibre arts businesses, and hopefully strengthening our Canadian fibre shed.
Both we as a small business, and you as a fibre artist have the power to choose to join in the strengthening of our community, by taking the time to contemplate your consumer decisions.
Here’s some additional food for thought on what brings such pretty yarns and fibres into our lives:
Ash’s adventures in the Canadian Fibreshed: natural dyer, designer and well-round fibre artist Ash Alberg of Sunflowerknit yarns has some amazing blogs to bring some mindfulness to the local yarn creation process.
On this week’s IG post they question the impact of hand-dyeing on her body and its potential longevity.
Anna Hunter’s adventures in moving back to the land and discussing the true cost of choosing wool in her Long Way Homestead blog is a reflection of her commitment to continuously advocate and educate fibre artists on their tools and impact.
And local indie dyer Heidi Braax of Vegan Yarns who has committed to compassionate fibre art through her ethical vegan yarn supply/hand-dye studio shares the trials of balancing a small business built on passion with the daily requirements thrown at a mother, artist and small business owner.
I am proud to call these amazing women my friends; follow and support these and the many other fine small business owners both in the fibre arts world and beyond, because beyond the economics of their offers they are who make the world around us a community.
I also am thrilled to follow Ash on IG (such amazing content!) and wanted to note that their pronouns are they/them/theirs 🙂
Thank you. I appreciate the heads up and will update.