When I was 5 Nannie (my maternal grandmother) made me a dress in my favorite color. At the time that color was purple. I hated every fitting. I hated the whole process. But I loved purple and I loved my Nannie. As a little girl I didn’t understand the meaning of having a dress made for me. I was more like “Why can’t we just go to the store and buy one”, one that is not “homemade”. At some point in my early adulthood I read something that changed my mindset on how I viewed things. It pushed me into the professional path that I am on now, and loving every minute. “My food is homemade, my craft is handmade.” WHEW! It took a while to train my brain not to respond to the burden of “homemade” ie not being good enough to “handmade” ie WOW you made that??

Six year old Jama couldn’t understand why Nannie wanted so desperately for me to learn to sew. She brought me stacks of 4 inch squares she had cut up, along with a needle and a spool of thread. She sat in our living room and showed me how to make tiny stitches to join the squares together. I would practice once in a while but I didn’t stick with it. Sewing was slow and boring to me.
35 ish years latter I wish I had that dress now. I do believe that I found the thread she made it with though, a treasure for sure. To know that someone cared enough about me to make an effort to take the time and expense to make a dress in my favorite color, what a gesture! She wanted to share what she loved with me. I didn’t realize until recently how sewing was Nannie’s creative outlet, and how much she loved it. Now I better understand why she was desperately wanting me to learn so I could pass down that skill. Do I sew? Not as much as I could… or should. Crochet will always be my first love in the crafting world. But maybe I will give sewing another try.

Don’t worry, be crafty! ~ Jama

Good Friday on this beautiful Good Friday! Last week I took the opportunity to walk into Michaels. I just wanted to see what the prices on yarn were like since the last time I was in there. In all honesty, Michaels has never been my go to craft store, they have always been more expensive. I love that the now carry what was JoAnn’s brand yarn for the same price as JoAnn used to sell it for $3.99. As for their other yarns, woah! Carron Cinnamon Swirl Cakes were $12.99, as lovely as they were, the price was too high for me. Well not only have they now added new colorways, they added new prices, a 2 dollar increase at one time making it $14.99 each. I do appreciate that they sell cotton thread in store and a wide color range to boot! However you will pay for it. Not too many years back you could get #10 cotton thread for less than $4, now $6.99 and the huge cones for table cloths and bedspreads are $26.99. I guess the point in my sharing is that as prices in materials go up, the prices in finished projects have to go up. (And if you can order, the best pricing comes from places like Hershners.)

On the crochet front I have been making a star stitch lap blanket. For several days it has been in time out as I started adding the border and it began to ruffle. I think if you ever had this happen you can understand the frustration I feel after getting 3 rounds of the border in. Meanwhile I started an amazing granny dress pattern. Not crazy about the colors, but the finished project is going to be gorgeous. You may wonder why in the world I would say that I am not crazy about the colors, I am using some of my tent sale yarn that was limited in colorways. There will be someone out there that will fall in love with its muted colors. Will post updates as it progresses.

It’s a great day to soak in all the beauty around us!!

Happy Groundhog’s Day y’all. Again. Not to mention it is Monday. Again. Also it happens to be day 4697 of Hibernation 2026. LOL Seriously between the ice storm last weekend, the snow storm yesterday and all the single digit temperatures in between, spring will be a welcomed sight! Oh Carolina weather! Who knows, next week we might be back in the 60s.

The last few weeks have been a little disappointing in the craft world. Mostly people follow crafters on social media/Youtube to learn, to gain inspiration, and share their creativeness as well. It is the followers that make these people famous as well as brings them revenue. What I am saying is if it weren’t for the followers these people wouldn’t have a “platform”, let alone income. The more you watch the videos the more money they make, the more patterns you buy the more money they make. It is a wonderful system, if you stay true to your craft and loyal to your followers. What I have noticed especially the past week, designers have gotten off subject. Lets just be honest, if I like your patterns, the way you explain things in your tutorials, then I will follow up to see what is coming next. I don’t care about your social or political views, because that is not why I am here watching you. I am here for my creativity to be sparked by your creativity. It feels like each and every day the attack on creativity is getting stronger. If it is not AI then it is creators getting off subject. You probably are saying Jama, aren’t you off subject? Well yes and no. I have VERY STRONG personal thoughts, opinions, beliefs and convictions, however if you are reading this you’re more than likely are here to find out more about yarn crafting. You can bank on this- I am here solely to help inspire your crafting journey. No matter the number of people this page reaches, it is not my job to push ideologies through my postings, even masked in the disguise of helping by way of patterns to bring “social justice”. As a long time , loyal supporter of some of the best designers in this business it has made me sad to unfollow so many accounts because they let it get hijacked away from the real reason people were drawn to, the love of yarn! Anyway. Now that I have seen my hook has a shadow, let me go and find some yarn to play with. Until next time Don’t worry, be crafty! ~Jama

It is a slow process learning how to produce instructional videos. Over the past several weeks I have been trying to figure out how to use programs to make quality videos. I’m not overly tech savvy, my talents lie elsewhere. I am determined though, to the best of my ability , not to use any kind of AI assistance to build my brand. So in the midst of learning the programs, the operating system we were using was overtaken by AI, which opens all your private files up to being sent back to the operating system company for review. Needless to say we made a decision to make a full switch to another operating system. I hate to keep belaboring the subject, but I can’t apologize for wanting to keep fake away from creativity. I just want to thank you for your support for this small business as we learn to navigate our expansion. Now back to studying on video programs and practicing editing videos. Stay creative, continue to learn and grow that is how we win at life!

PS I am not a coffee drinker, but I will not turn down a good cup of hot chocolate! I love Garfield and Mondays aren’t so bad…

Don’t worry, Be crafty! ~ Jama

The last post I left you with the words ” It is my hope that we never trade creativity for convenience.” It is a firm belief here at Fruitful Concepts that we were created by The Creator to be creative. It’s in our name, Fruitful Concepts. Down to the very core of this business is the concept that with divine inspiration come an abundance of more creativity. I believe it was Maya Angleou who is credited for saying ” You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” It has been my experience that this statement is very true. It certainly is nothing AI can fake! As a fiber artist, as a human being, I HATE AI. Simply look at the name — Artificial Intelligence. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can replace God-given intelligence or creativity. Sure you could use AI to write patterns, make photos, and write your blog for you, but it can only go so far. Why? Because it has doesn’t possess the one thing needed to be successful…. talent. Talent comes from the soul. We all know that artificial intelligence has no soul. It is mechanics, it can only regurgitate facts that are put in by a human. What it can not do is replace imagination, emotion, inflection, motivation, or connection. Only humans can do that. Creativity and talent comes from a spark within the mind of a creator. It is my upmost hope that as a society, we never let the convenience of data plugged into a computer replace the mind and conscience of creativity! Just know that every thing I write, post, all the pictures and videos are truly me and how I communicate. In all honesty I have used photo editors and filters a few times, but somehow that even that seems too fake for me for constant use. Whatever your talents or creative outlet is, go practice it with all your heart because the world needs it!

Don’t be worry, Be crafty! ~Jama

2025 has been an interesting year for makers. Whether you crochet, knit, or sew the landscape for craft supplies have changed drastically this year. If you are looking locally for craft supplies like yarn and fabric, you may have noticed the availability has gone from okay to barely there over the past few months. Joann’s closed. You would think that with the last major craft store to focus on yarn and fabric closing that other stores would EXPAND their inventory. Instead when you walk down the aisles of these big box stores, there is so much less then even before. I don’t think the marketing teams understand the impact if they increased these items to be readily available. What are are the options? Online stores like Hershners, Mary Maxim, Premier Yarns, and Yarnspirations. The biggest hang up with online shopping is not knowing what you are getting before you purchase. Most crafters, including myself, want to see the colors, feel the textures and make sure the quality of the product is what we are looking for. Let’s face it, we have all at some point bought something online and were disappointed when we got it because it didn’t look like it did on a screen. Don’t get me wrong I love the feeling when you get those packages delivered to you. It’s like Christmas. However I think in our day in age, where technology is taking over, we lose a lot of inspiration by not having the ability to go and walk around in a store to chose our supplies like we once did. It is my hope that we never trade creativity for convenience. Dont’t worry, be crafty! ~ Jama

Good morning all my crafty people! Today is the day. It’s “Deck the Halls” event here in the beautiful Piedmont of North Carolina. If you are local please come join us at Wake Prep Academy in Wake Forest NC from 10-4. We look forward to seeing all of your bright and smiling faces as you come and shop local for the holidays. Thank you for supporting small businesses! As alway.

Don’t worry, be crafty! ~Jama

It is a pleasure to announce that Fruitful Concepts Studio is branching out.  With our new Etsy shop we will  provide quality hand made crochet items, as well as vinyl decal products. Unfortunately at this time we are not accepting custom orders  due to the time consuming process of setting up the shop. We appreciate your  understanding and look forward to helping with all your future purchases.  Until next time, Don’t worry be crafty! ~ Jama