By Melissa Slachetka
Northeast Beat Contributor

When you’re driving on Lowry Avenue and your eyes catch sight of a space shuttle, it’s the kind of thing that gets your attention.

Even if it is just a few feet tall and propped up on the sidewalk like a sandwich board.

The little rocket ship’s launch pad is at the front door of Crafty Planet, a hip, hot spot in the Twin Cities crafting scene.

With a motto of "saving the world one stitch at a time," Crafty Planet is on a mission. Since the store opened in October 2003, it’s been piquing the interests of a wide range of crafters, especially young women, from the around the neighborhood and Twin Cities.

“Our goal was (to create) a fun, inviting atmosphere, not intimidating," said Trish Haskins, who owns the store with her husband Matt DeVries. “There is a tremendous amount of 20 to 30 year old women” coming into the store, Haskins said. And there’s a “strong neighborhood contingent," too, since Northeast is an artsy community.

Maria Benavides, a twenty-something college student, said she loves coming to Crafty Planet for a number of reasons.

“I’m truly interested in things of craft,” Benavides said “I believe in supporting an independent place. They have cruelty-free products like soy yarn, and I am concerned about the environment."

Benavides started her own knitting group in the fall. The group of young women meets once a month to talk about projects they’re working on and learn from each other. “Young city women need an enjoyable social activity that can relieve the stress of everyday life,” she said. Knitting, crocheting and crafting offer this relief, and supply a satisfying, tangible outcome.  Wearing something that you created, such as a scarf, is a wonderful feeling, she said.

As far as favorite Crafty Planet products, Benavides was quick to state: “I’m in love with all their little circle buttons. So much fun!” And “all the books, I love the books,” she enthused.

That is exactly the type of feedback the owners hoped to hear. It all started when Haskins got a sewing machine after she and DeVries married 10 years ago. “I’ve been crafty my whole life,” Haskins said with a smile. Her mom taught her the basics when she was younger, but she really became inspired after seeing cool fabrics online.

“I knew you couldn’t find that kind of fabric around here. I wanted cool stuff. I wanted people to see the colors and feel the fabrics," she said.

Now, Crafty Planet is online selling their own non-traditional fabrics. They sell all over the world throughout Europe and Canada. “Strangely,” Trish said, “we get a lot of business in Australia.” Soon, the online store will be updated to offer a wider selection of products and to make it easier to make purchases.

In addition to fun, retro fabrics, Crafty Planet also has a large yarn selection. There are many specialty hand-spun and hand-dyed yarns done locally in the Twin Cities.

Crafty Planet’s classes have been as popular as its unique yarn and fabric selection.

“Beginning knitting is consistently full. We offer it a least every six weeks and it fills up one month in advance. There is an upswing in the crocheting and sewing classes, and also an upswing in quilting classes, which we offer six to seven times a year,” Haskins said.

New classes are added all the time, including one class called Knit Pet Bed, which is taught in collaboration with Urbanimal, and another class called Crochet Hat, in which students learn to crochet cute hats customized to any style they want beanie, brim, or even edged with a scallop.

Classes are a great way for a beginning crafter to experiment, she said, but there’s also great table-side resources. Haskins recommended for knitters “Stitch ‘N Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook,” by Debbie Stoller, and “Ready, Set, Knit," by Sasha Kagan. The top two for Crocheting are “Stitch ‘N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker," also by Debbie Stoller, and “Ready, Set, Crochet," by Susie Johns. These selections are great with teaching the basics and helping the crafter advance, Haskins said.

A craft retreat is in the works for a weekend in March. Participants can expect yoga and crafts in a relaxing atmosphere.  Also, ongoing at Crafty Planet is a “Craft and Chat” night on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month.

For those already-experienced crafters, Crafty Planet is involved in local craft shows. They were a 2006 vendor and sponsor at the No Coast Craft-o-Rama.  The next big event Crafty Planet is attending is on April 28 called Craftstravaganza.

So, knitting is in–are you hip to the trend? Anybody working on any cool craft projects you want to brag about here? Click ‘comments’ below to join the conversation.

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Filed under: Art, Business, Windom Park