Community Member Spotlight!

Hi there, we're doing something new! Now you can get to know members of the String Theory Community through our monthly customer spotlight - It's one small way we can weave a stronger community of makers during challenging times. We ask the same five questions (plus a rapid-fire style THIS or THAT) each month to a different String Theory customer.

Want to be featured? Send an email to Emily: emily@stringtheoryyarncompany.com. If you use Facebook, join the String Theory Community. First up is...

Susan Rylowicz

Ravelry: SRYLO Instagram: @SRYLOMOM 

What do you like to be called and what are your preferred pronouns? 

Susan she/her

Favorite fiber craft?

Knitting with crochet as a very close 2nd

How did you come to start knitting/crocheting/crafting

I’ve always been drawn to solitary, creative things, It’s my calm place. My mom taught me to crochet & embroider when I was in grade school and a heroic Camp Fire Girl Leader taught me and 10 other 13 year old girls how to follow a commercial pattern & sew clothes…I rocked that purple mini-skirt and vest with the fold-over polyester braid trim…thankfully no photos exist. I taught myself to knit from books/how-to kits (pre-YouTube era and before I realized there was such a thing as an LYS)

Still Light Tunic by Veera Valimaki: Plied North Ave Tool Library

Self-designed crochet wrap: Mini Skeins of Plied North Ave // Neighborhood Fiber Co Chromium-Upton.

What is your favorite event or memory from String Theory? 

It sounds overly dramatic, but Mad Science Yarn Club/Knit Nights really changed my knitting life. I’m happily an introvert and had never participated in any type of knitting group. Mad Science introduced me to yarns and patterns that I would not have had the confidence to choose on my own and the Knit Nights introduced me to the joy of social knitting. That gave me the confidence to branch out and take more classes- JB’s Friday afternoon sweater classes turned me into a sweater knitter and I have had the good fortune to take a variety of classes with excellent teachers that Janet has scheduled…Susan B. Anderson, Lucy Neatby, Ann Weaver…never would have happened without String Theory & Mad Science.

Winter Suns Shawl by Olga Buraya-Kefelian // Plied North Ave-Great Blacks in Wax // Neighborhood Fiber Co Studio DK in Mondawmin & Charles Centre // Migration Journey DK in Fall Asters

What is one non-knitting/crocheting skill you'd like to learn one day? 

I’m fascinated by spinning and weaving, but have so far resisted the call of the wheel and loom….oh and I’m really interested in zero-waste/slow fashion movement, so I think I need to get back to a regular sewing practice.

Origin of Species wrap by Ann Weaver: Neighborhood Fiber Co Maisonette (Mad Science Yarn Club exclusive colorway). 

Rapid Fire THIS or THAT!

Knit or crochet? Knit
Starting a project or finishing a project? Finish
DPNs or magic loop? 1000% DPNs
Fix the mistake or live with the mistake? Fix it
Fingering weight or super bulky? Fingering
Lace or cables? Lace
Socks or sweaters? Sweaters
Netflix or audiobooks (while crafting)? Netflix…shhhh, I’m counting…