Business : FiberArts Café
Location: 501 N. High St., Cottage E, Millville
Owner: Carol V. Moore, 61, of Bridgeton
Employees : Owner operated
Phone: 856-669-1131 Last month I moved my store from Bridgeton, where I was for three years, to the arts district in Millville.
People come in to FiberArts Café and they say, this is so comfy. Even though the space is more limited, I get a lot more foot traffic than I did in Bridgeton.
Everything at FiberArts Café has to do with fiber. I have a vast array of yarns, not just what you can purchase at the big box stores.
I have a lot of specialty yarns at competitive prices, and from the different individual yarn manufacturers that don’t sell to the big stores.
People can find a nice wool and alpaca, or wool and silk, or bamboo combined with other fibers. I get my alpaca yarn from an area farm.
I’m a master crocheter. I took all of the courses that were required by the Craft Yarn Council and the Crochet Guild of America.
I really enjoy teaching beginner crocheters the correct way to crochet, including how to read a pattern, both the U.S. and international symbols, so you have a good arsenal before you start doing your art.
I also teach beginner knitters and the next levels for knitters are taught by other expert knitters.
I also have a really good scrapbooker who will be teaching a class in January.
A beginner in crochet can move from a classic scarf to one that includes cable stitching. I always ask that the first project a student makes will be for themselves, because everyone will want something once they find out you do this. I also offer creations from area artists. One woman makes beautiful quilted bags and Christmas stockings, another makes cards, and I have a wonderful person who makes afghans who is 78. We also have wool roving and alpaca roving, and needle felting pieces.
Entry : My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was about 11 and I’ve continued it ever since. I worked for a nonprofit organization and was downsized, and having my own shop had always been a dream.
I’ve been part of the Hazel’s Helping Hands Project making blankets for children from donated yarn, and this year our small group was able to donate 60 blankets.
The future: One of my goals is to get to a point where I can hire at least part-time staff.
Business editor Kevin Post
