Donor Spotlight: Celeste Matesevac and BookEnds Bookstore

At Knitting in Recovery, all of our gracious donors mean the world to us.  They make what we do possible, so we wanted to take the time to highlight them and share our deepest gratitude.

Today we are spotlighting Celeste Matesevac, Marcia Doty, and BookEnds Bookstore.  BookEnds has hosted our Worldwide Knit in Public Day celebrations for several years now and has also hosted a number of community scarf baskets.  We asked Celeste and Marcia to share a little bit about themselves, the shop, and how they got involved with Knitting in Recovery.  Thank you, Celeste, Marcia, and BookEnds, for helping our program succeed in helping other women in our community:

BookEnds Bookstore & Curiosities is located in Meiners Oaks, the unincorporated area just outside of Ojai.  BookEnds is run by Marcia Doty and Celeste Matesevac.  Marcia began selling Antiquarian Spiritual books years ago and always dreamed of having a bookstore in a church.  Celeste had a career of working for non-profits in Ojai until retiring in 2017 from 14 years with the Search Dog Foundation of Santa Paula, CA.  The pair have run several businesses together over the years, but this one is by far their favorite, as they love meeting new people and sharing not only their books but also the town’s incredible history.

BookEnds’ mission is to keep the printed word alive through our “lightly read” treasures of mainly non-fiction books. The bookstore is a literary escapade, as you can browse in the church/bookstore to discover the History of Ideas, Fine Arts, Children’s Literature and especially the Spiritual Traditions.  Or go outside to Addendum 1, a retrofitted 1961 Airstream, to explore Travel, Adventure, the Great Outdoors.  It’s a bookshop on wheels that stays in one place.  Directly behind the Airstream is Addendum 2-Do, a homey hideaway tiny-house shed featuring Crafts, Hobbies, Gardening and inspired Everyday Living.

Addendum 1, located in a refurbished airstream

The shop also features vintage bookends throughout the store, vintage cameras, and has a case of Vaseline Glass for sale.

Vaseline glass on display at BookEnds

Fun fact: BookEnds is located in a 75 year old Church of Christ, built by George Biggers who was Ojai Valley’s bee/honey provider for years. He built the church, became the minister, was the Ojai Valley’s main honey provider, and traveled around becoming “famous” in Ripley’s Believe It or Not as the only person that could make a beard out of bees!

Inside the old church.

Each year the knitting world, internationally, created one “Knit in Public Day” in June.  Lise Solvang had become a good friend of the bookstore, and as Marcia and Celeste got to know her, Lise shared her passion for Knitting in Recovery.  Three years ago, Lise asked if BookEnds outside garden area would host a Knit in Public Day.  BookEnds has hosted every year since.  What began as the only Knit in Public Day in Ventura County with a handful of knitters is now an annual event hosting over 100 people throughout the day.

Worldwide Knit in Public Day!

BookEnds has so many wonderful new friends from that first day that continue to spread the word about the bookstore.

Thank you, BookEnds, for supporting our program!

Donor Spotlight: Terri Nigro

At Knitting in Recovery, all of our gracious donors mean the world to us.  They make what we do possible, so we wanted to take the time to highlight them and share our deepest gratitude.

Today we are spotlighting Terri Nigro.  Terri has given generous yarn donations that we have spotlighted in the past.  Not only that, but she has gotten other friends involved in donating to Knitting in Recovery as well.  We asked Terri to share a little bit about herself, her passion for knitting, and how she got involved with Knitting in Recovery.  Thank you, Terri, for helping our program succeed in helping other women in our community:

I first learned to knit at a class at Sears when I was 10 years old.  Our project was a sweater (yikes!) that I made for my mother (who, bless her heart, wore it underneath her winter coat on a few occasions).  After that, I didn’t knit again until I was in my forties.  I had, however, cross-stitched for many years and enjoyed it very much.

One day, my cross-stitch friends went on a trip to a yarn store, and I went along.  I saw so many pretty samples and beautiful yarns, and I caught the fever.  I bought some fancy eyelash yarn that was all the rage and brought it home.  I looked up knitting on the Internet, and re-taught myself to knit.  I garter-stitched a scarf, and I was on my way with two new hobbies: knitting and collecting yarn.  After 30 scarves, I started to branch out to other items and stitches.  I’ve learned to do socks and sweaters and everything in between.

I’m even better at that second hobby: stash-building.  So when Lois at Anacapa Fine Yarns told me about Knitting in Recovery, I was pleased to be able to share a goodly sum of yarn to the project.  I also let those knitting friends know, and Marsha Blanton, Janet Mailhot, Lou Webster, and JoAnn Zullo added to the bags as well.

I’m grateful for all the good work happening at Knitting in Recovery, and that they are able to share this fun and creative hobby with those who find it brings them peace and a smile.

-Terri

Thank you, Terri and friends!

Knitting in Recovery teachers bringing Terri’s donation to class.

Knitting in Recovery Featured in Ojai Valley News

Knitting in Recovery is featured in today’s Ojai Valley News!  Our fabulous founder, Lise Solvang was interviewed by journalist, Andra Belknap.  A snipet of the story can be read below, but we would love it if someone could snag a copy of the paper for us and send us a picture of the article.

Thanks, Ojai Valley News:

Woman finds a purl of an idea to help those in recovery help others

Andra Belknap, Ojai Valley News reporter

Meiners Oaks resident Lise Solvang believes knitting saved her life.

She found in the early days of her sobriety that knitting provided “a meditative tool and a healing tool. It kept me busy.”

Now she’s working to share knitting as a healing practice across Ventura County through her non-profit organization Knitting in Recovery.

Find these Scarves!

Okay Ojai friends, this one is a two-fer!  Find these scarves!  We hid them somewhere around town.  Once you find them, take a picture of yourself knitting the scarf and post it to Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #knittinginrecovery .  Be sure to follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram @knittinginrecovery to be automatically entered into a raffle for a yarn basket of your own.

Hint: You can get a double-shot of espresso and knitting at this location!

Once the scarf is finished, it will be donated to a local charity for our less fortunate community members.

Happy hunting!

Find this Basket!

Ok, Ojai friends, you know the drill.  Find this basket!  We hid it somewhere around town.  Once you find it, take a picture of yourself knitting the scarf and post it to Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #knittinginrecovery .  Be sure to follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram @knittinginrecovery to be automatically entered into a raffle for a yarn basket of your own.

Hint: We’ll be sure to keep this basket’s whereabouts anonymous.

Once the scarf is finished, it will be donated to a local charity for our less fortunate community members.

Happy hunting!

Find this Basket!

Another one for Ojai folks–find this basket!  We hid it somewhere around town.  Once you find it, take a picture of yourself knitting the scarf and post it to Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #knittinginrecovery .  Be sure to follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram @knittinginrecovery to be automatically entered into a raffle for a yarn basket of your own.

Hint: Knitting this scarf will make you feel restored, and your appointment will be a breeze.

Once the scarf is finished, it will be donated to a local charity for our less fortunate community members.

Happy hunting!

Find this Basket!

We’ve got another Ojai basket in place!  See if you can figure out where it is.  Hint: If you come here, the rest of your day will be all booked up!

Once you find it, take a picture of yourself knitting the scarf and post it to Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #knittinginrecovery.  Be sure to follow us on at least one of those platforms at @knittinginrecovery to be automatically entered into a raffle for a beautiful yarn basket of your own.

Once the scarf is finished, it will be donated to a local shelter for our less fortunate community members.

Happy hunting!

Find this Basket!

Find this basket!  We hid it somewhere around Ojai.  Once you find it, take a picture of yourself knitting the scarf and post it to Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #knittinginrecovery .  Be sure to follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram @knittinginrecovery to be automatically entered into a raffle for a yarn basket of your own.

Once the scarf is finished, it will be donated to a local charity for our less fortunate community members.

Happy hunting!

Find this Basket!

Find this basket!  We hid it somewhere around Ojai.  Once you find it, take a picture of yourself knitting the scarf and post it to Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #knittinginrecovery

Once the scarf is finished, it will be donated to a local charity for our less fortunate community members.

If you haven’t already, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram @knittinginrecovery

Happy hunting!

Community Scarf Baskets

A new round of community scarf baskets are going out!

The baskets are filled with yarn and knitting needles and are set up in various locations around Ojai.  Community members are invited to sit and knit as much or little as they would like and then leave the basket for the next person to knit along.  Knitters of all levels are encouraged to join, and all knitting stitches and designs are welcome!

Keep an eye out for these baskets around town!  Once you find one, post a picture of yourself knitting the scarf on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #knittinginrecovery

We always end up with some truly one-of-a-kind collaborative pieces:

Once the scarves are finished, they are donated to local homeless shelters to keep our less-fortunate community members warm and loved during the colder months.