I can't quite imagine a time when the week after Labor Day weekend won't feel like the start of something new. The air gets crisp, the light changes with the angle of the sun, the bright blue September sky evolves into a deep true color - the blue of a quick dip in the Indigo vat. Yes, school begins, with all the accompanying crazy of full schedules and rigid timeframes, and perhaps that is why it always seems like the time of fresh starts and new ideas.

At Craftstitute, we've been working on our own fresh start. Over the eighteen months that we've been engaged in this experiment, we've learned so much. We've discovered a community hungry to learn new skills. We've found acquaintances with untapped talents as artisans and teachers. We've constantly reinvigorated our personal desires to try new things and play with new mediums.

We've also learned that our time is finite and our energy is not limitless. We got hit fresh in the face with the reality of being human.

New jobs, broken ankles, surgeries, school-aged children, and college visits - all took their toll on us this year. We spent some time this summer asking ourselves big questions about our level of commitment to this enterprise, and whether we had the energy to move forward.

At the end of it all, we acknowledged two things - what we have built is worth keeping, and that Craftstitute is an idea first and a place second.

That last bit is most important because it explains why we've chosen to give up our space on Slaterville Road and become a free floating entity.

Teaching can happen anywhere - at a community center, at a store, in a bar, at the farmers' market, in a classroom or on a stage. We see it happen around us all the time, people teaching people. While it was a luxury to have a space that could be dedicated to teaching, it was also a bit of an anchor. We never felt good about offering to go elsewhere to teach because we were paying rent on a space. It felt wasteful to not use it. It also felt a bit removed from the thrum and beat of the vibrant community just ten minutes down the road, where the majority of our students live and/or work.

We've decided to try something new. We'll be reaching out to fellow business owners about collaborations and we'll be renting the wonderful community centers that we are lucky to have around us. We plan to start a weekly Knit/Craft Night at various locations around town, so give a shout in the comments or on Facebook and let us know where you would like to spend a Thursday night with crafty friends.

Please accept our hearty thanks - for your patronage, for your kindness and support, and your willingness to come play and learn with us. We've had a wonderful time and we look forward to much more of the same.

xo Lisa, Erika, and Robin

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes....