KINGSTON — Gosh Yarn It! owner Jill Schwartz learned how to knit from her mother, and it has since become a lifelong hobby.
“It really does relax me,” she said. “Sometimes I’m under a lot of stress, and knitting calms me down.”
Her love for the craft is one of the reasons she decided more than a decade ago to open Gosh Yarn It! in Kingston.
“Sometimes, I’ll walk in during the morning, and I’ll say, ‘Today hasn’t been so good,’ but the minute I sit down and start knitting, I’m fine,” said Schwartz.
Located at 303 Market Street, the boutique offers a plethora of quality, hand-picked yarn, notions and supplies for knitters and crocheters of all skill levels.
Gosh Yarn It! also offers classes, such as knitting and crotchet lessons for beginners, and regularly hosts pop-up craft shows.
Schwartz runs the shop alongside Tina Woodward, manager, and Kcaarin Pineau, social media manager.
The owner described her shop as “very comfortable and friendly.”
“We welcome everybody, whether they know how to knit or not — we’ll teach them how,” she said. “There’s no judgment. We accept everybody, and I feel we are nice to everybody.”
Recently, Schwartz, who is on the board at Northeast Sight Services, and Woodward were asked to teach knitting to those who are blind or visually impaired.
“There had to be at least 11 people in that class,” she said. “One of them even came to the store afterward.”
Having been in business for 14 years, Schwartz was candid about the struggles facing small businesses in a post-COVID-19 world when online shopping has all but taken over.
“It’s a labor of love. But I think that the world has completely changed. And manufacturing has definitely changed,” she said.
Despite this, Schwartz said there is still value in being able to see yarn in person before deciding to buy.
“Personally, I have to feel the fabric. I don’t think I’m alone in that thinking,” she said.
A third-generation business owner, Schwartz witnessed the changing landscape of Northeast Pennsylvania through the eyes of her father, Robert Fortinsky, who passed away in 2012.
For decades, beginning in 1949, he owned and operated Fortune Fabrics in Swoyersville. Schwartz then began working with him in 1986.
“The reason I moved back to town was my father said, ‘If you don’t want it, I’m going to sell it.’ I should have let him,” she laughed. “But he built it from nothing. I couldn’t let him do that.”
Now, Schwartz owns and operates the manufacturing plant along with two of her children.
“What I learned about the business was, I was relatively one of the few women who owned a mill. Yes, it came to me by my father, but I had to be tough. I needed that you-are-not-gonna-step-all-over-me type of attitude,” she said.
At Gosh Yarn It, Schwartz said the environment is much more relaxed.
“I get to be friendly and nice, just to make anybody who feels uncomfortable comfortable,” she said.
Like many small businesses, Schwartz has struggled to stay afloat in recent years.
“We got through COVID only because our suppliers were nice enough to let us drop ship orders, so I didn’t have to bring in inventory. Which was really a plus,” she explained.
Although business has certainly suffered since the pandemic, Schwartz still has a loyal customer base.
“Thank God I have them. … I don’t know what else I would do,” she said.
It’s hard to say for certain what the future holds, but Schwartz does know that no matter what, Gosh Yarn It! will continue to exist in some form.
“I need something to do. I’m not the type that would retire and play golf, play cards, whatever. I need to be busy.”
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