MIDDLETOWN, New York--The Fiber Trail has an Aladdin’s cave in Middletown. Yes, there is a trail by that name that knitters and people who work in fiber arts go on, to find interesting yarns, share stories and, most of all, make things.
The American Needleworks Studio in downtown Middletown is much more than a yarn shop. It has been a labor of love for owner James Prather who, by his accounts, restored it to its former glory almost single-handedly. On most days, he is at the store either knitting on a beautifully upholstered recliner, ordering unusual stock from all corners of the globe, or running workshops.
Prather started out with a quilting shop “up the road” on North Street, and then an upholstery business for 12 years on the same premises.
After running the upholstery business he thought about retiring, but in the end decided that retirement just wasn’t for him.
He is a purveyor of yarns but admits that sometimes he doesn’t care whether he sells them or not because he looks at everything in the store as part of his “stash.”
“For me they’re crayons. I look at them as a creative tool. Unfortunately, my pocketbook doesn’t like that,” he told Epoch Times, while he was tidying up and pointing out the various projects in the store, which he has set up as a working studio.
So, his approach is different to a normal retails yarn shop.
Set Out To Sit and Knit
The space has enclaves for spinning, weaving, knitting, crochet, and needlepoint. It is set out like a series of cozy living rooms to sit down and just start working. A knitting addict (for lack of a better word that just as accurately describes the fervor with which some people approach the craft) would have a hard time leaving.
In fact during the time that Prather was speaking to Epoch Times, two ladies came in and stopped at the door in awe. One of them who hadn’t been there before, already anticipated the damage to her purse strings as a result of all the yarns that caught her eye—which she said she didn’t need, but were going to be too irresistible to leave behind.
