Woman sees chance to knit a new lifestyle

December 23. 2005

DAWN DE BUSK\Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - Vicky Wood left behind the 350 inches of snow that gets dumped on Valdez every winter and exchanged that for yards of yarn and a knitting business in the Valley.

Her store, Ewe First, contains all the creature comforts: a dining room set that seats six with a simple Christmas centerpiece arranged on the table, and, in another room, a leather couch and two rocking chairs create a warm circle. A retro vintage lamp stands between the cushioned wood chairs. A colorful quilt hangs as art on the wall. Other decorations are rich, but sparse enough to maintain a spacious look. The smell of cinnamon wafts in the air.

Wood and her friend, Sudy Sanders, sat at a table engaged in conversation as they busily knitted. A cup of tea sat in front of each of the women.

What sets this apart from being someone's home? The shelves are loaded with yarn: myriad colors and combinations of color, from alpaca to sheep's wool. A magazine rack offers books on knitting and other sewing projects. A few sweaters are displayed on hangers and a candy cane made out of yarn complete with a bow advertised a craft project that could be finished in an afternoon.

&#8220My mom sent me to knitting classes when I was in the sixth grade. Because she was left-handed and I was right-handed, and she didn't want to teach me the wrong way,” Wood said.

It wasn't until later that Vicky realized her left-handed mother had been knitting like a right-handed person all along.

&#8220I learned a lot of knitting from my mother,” she said.

Wood's favorite knitting project is sweaters, which usually take her a month to complete. However, she has between 10 and 15 projects going on, from socks and hats to throw blankets.

Wood and her husband, Greg, came to Alaska from Indiana. They moved to Valdez to work on the construction of the gas pipeline while lining their pockets with the riches from that project. They did neither, she said.

But they did invest in property and a home and spent 32 more years in the seaside town, where her husband worked for the Valdez Police Department and she delved into a few jobs like hairdressing and teaching.

Although Wood had thought about opening a knit shop in Valdez, she knew there were not enough potential customers to support a business.

&#8220Valdez has always been a transient town, but more during the early pipeline years. After the oil spill, it went from a community of 3,000 to 10,000 in one week,” she said. &#8220Now it has a dead economy.”

Last March after visiting their son and Anchorage, the couple was driving through town when Wood made an offhand remark.

&#8220I was being flippant. I said, ‘So when are we going to move to the Valley, and when am I going to get my yarn store?' He practically did a U-turn. Before the night was over, we had signed a lease on this place,” Wood said, of the building off Bogard Street. &#8220I'm meeting a lot of new people here. The Valley is very friendly.”

Sanders said she's been coming to Ewe First since May.

&#8220It's the most comfortable knit shop because it has a little sitting nook. I, like Vicky, always wanted a knit shop, so I live vicariously through her. I've always been a knit shop hanger-outer,” Sanders said.

Wood's husband still works two weeks on, two weeks off, in Valdez, but the yarn shop isn't all women's work.

&#8220When he's home, he's here, ringing up yarn and talking to the customers. It's not just me. It's him, too,” she said.

&#8220If there was a shower in this place, we'd live here.”

Contact Dawn De Busk at 352-2252 or dawn.debusk@ frontiersman.com.