b'Knitting As aWay of LifeLocal business owner opens yarn shop,offers classes and community in Maplewood VillageBY MARIBETH THEROUXKari Capone welcomes visitors to the new physical location in Maplewood Village of her business, The Spinning Hand.S outh Orange resident Kari CaponeSo when she talks about lives being saved throughworking weekends at Knitknack, a cafe and yarn has worn many hats in her life, in- knitting, she means it. She explains how the re- shopthatwasalsoonSpringfieldAvenueand cluding music teacher, cafe owner,petitive movement of knitting promotes a mentalclosed in 2015.publishingprofessionalandEtsycalm. She used knitting as a tether as she movedWhenKnitknacksownersmovedawayand shop owner. Through it all, she hasfrom one chapter of her life to the next. prepared to close shop, Capone made a $1,000 in-knit. It was a lifeline, she says. vestment in inventory. With that yarn, she began ForCapone,knittingisbusi- Now shes celebrating the opening of the newsellingbegin-ness, knitting is community and knitting is fash- physicallocationinMaplewoodVillageofhernersknitting ion.Morefundamental,though,issomethingbusiness, The Spinning Hand. The business haskitsthrough else: knitting is survival. existed since 2007 as an Etsy shop. In person, ither Etsy shop. Knittingliterallysaveslives,shesays.Itbursts with color, texture, light and most of all:As time went saved mine. Capones welcoming and generous spirit. The yarnon,shetook Before moving to SOMA, Capone was a musicshop also offers classes and an afterschool programbusinessde-teacher in Madison. She taught at Central Avenuefor middle and high schoolers.velopment School and ran the schools knitting club. WhenIt really has felt like a homecoming, Caponeandmarket-she was 28 years old, though, she began experi- says. Shes welcomed old friends and new ones,ingclasses encing panic attacks. They became so severe thatincluding some visitors who remember her fromonline.Capone was hospitalized. previous hats shes worn, whether it be her twoAll of these During that experience, Capone was allowed toyears running the Net Nomads internet cafe onthingsgave knit if she was sitting at the nurses station, whereSpringfield Avenue, her time teaching Seth Boy- CaponetheA sign on sidewalk level announces that The Spinning Hand is open for she and her knitting needles could be monitored.den Elementary students how to knit or her timeconfidencebusiness.38/ matters magazine / fall 2025'