I have mentioned in a previous post (Why I Learned to Crochet) that in order to lear to crochet, I made skulls. They were 3d skulls and the yarn I used was a natural off white-kind of yellowish color and 100% wool. It came from a company who was going out of business (like they threw in 7 extra skeins of yarn free with my order going out of business!) This yarn felted beautifully. I had amassed a basket full of these 3-d skulls so I thew them into the wash and felted them. I decided that the best thing to do was to attach them to a strand of mini lights with a light inside each skull. I had the standard strand of mini white Christmas lights but I wanted something a little brighter and LED so it didn’t get hot.
With a single skull in hand, I headed off to Michael’s in search of better bulbs. The clerk who waited on me happened to be the front end store manager. She was over the cashiers and class instructors. As we talked and I told her what I was looking for she was very intrigued. I told her I had the skulls in the car if she wanted to see them. Absolutely she did. We went to my car and I showed her the strand of skulls. She was very impressed with my work and as we were looking at the skulls she asked me if I wanted a job. Instinctively, I asked, “are you serious?” She was indeed very serious. They needed someone to teach knitting classes at their store. Yes, knitting, not crochet. I got the details and how to apply and within two weeks I had been hired to teach knitting classes at Michael’s.
I was successful but the “Learn to Knit” business was fairly slow. I offered to teach crochet and was told no because I was left handed. (Just a little discriminatory if you ask me) Finally, I offered to run a register and they jumped on that. The best part was instead of standing and twiddling my thumbs when business was slow, I got to “demonstrate” knitting. It definitely helped me keep my sanity during slow times. It also helped recruit students for classes.
Eventually they changed the pay structure for the class teachers. It wasn’t worth my time to teach and I had been a cashier at twelve years old. I resigned my position and moved on. I love Michael’s and to this day still shop there on a regular basis.
My Patio 