Yarn, women and children first!

It started with a call from Sherry at 9:30am Saturday. I was just starting the Hot Loops photography session with our models, who had driven in from out of state and had to drive back later in the day. There was a lot of shooting to be done here at our state-of-the-art photo studio, a.k.a. my bedroom.

Here's how the call went:
Sherry: "Shelley?"
Me: "Oh hi, Sherry. How's it goin'?"
Sherry: "Well Shelley, now of course you know the whole store is underwater."
Me (thinking she is joking): "No Sherry, how would I know that?"
Sherry (completely serious): "No really Shelley, you need to get down here."

Turns out that a lot of rain in a very short time had brought several inches of water into Loops, as well as all of the neighbor shops in our "row," as well as Williams Sonoma which is directly above us. Did it come in through the ceiling? Did it come in under the front door? Who is to blame? Will insurance cover the damage? Will Utica Square do anything? None of these thoughts were at the forefront. The first thought was...

SAVE THE YARN!!!

And miraculousy, we did. Thanks to the herculean efforts of Sherry, her muscle-bound husband Sandy (who knew lawyers could lift such heavy furniture?), Kendall, Kristin, my mom and her husband Dave, plus two shop-vacs and a bunch of mops, we got everything clean and somehow managed to open the store by noon. All the yarn on the shelves was saved - some by as little as half an inch! Despite the fact that huge fall shipments were piled up in the storeroom, the bottom layer of bags were tightly wrapped in plastic and survived. Only the small portion of yarns kept in baskets on the floor were sacrificed, along with all of our area rugs, carpet, some kits and magazines.

Here's a portion of the mess, having been dragged outside:

Today, Ellen and I spent the afternoon with water damage specialists, an electrician, our insurance agent and David, our superhero computer guy who drove in from Morris, OK on a Sunday to dismantle all the computer equipment, so we could remove the rug from under the front counter unit. Fans and dehumidifiers throughout the store have been working overtime, so that at this point, I think the inside of Loops may actually be the driest spot in Tulsa right now.

I am so thankful to all of the Loops Troops and everyone who jumped in to keep everything humming despite Mother Nature's best efforts to dampen our spirits. Lots of customers asked how they could help...and the answer is the same as always. Keep knitting, and keep buying yarn! I know that, to relieve the stress of the weekend, I personally made some good progress on the Stella jacket:


So, we'll be open at 11am Monday as usual...and we hope to see you then!

Soggily yours,
Shelley
shop online at loopsknitting.com