Mourning Joann Fabrics in My Finished Olga Jacket

I’m currently wearing my Olga Jacket as I write this post. In the process of finishing it, I was forced to face the grief that many other knitters and crafters alike have faced: Joann Fabrics and Crafts closing. 

I’ve been bummed about Joann’s closing since I heard the bankruptcy was for real this time. It was the closest craft store to me, the Michael’s is 25 minutes away, and I don’t think I need to explain why Hobby Lobby isn’t exactly a company I’m enthusiastic about supporting. But if you were to line all 3 stores up next to each other in the same plaza that’s 5 minutes from my house, and gave them all the same ethical ideologies, I’d still pick Joann’s as my favorite. 

I was confronted with the Joann-shaped hole in my heart when looking for buttons for this Olga Jacket. With the black button band and wanting black buttons, I knew that the buttons could look cheap very easily. That’s part of the reason I wanted to look for buttons in person. The other part is that shopping for buttons online gives me agita—there are too many options, you have to click on each one to see the size, then when you go back it scrolls to the top of the page. So I knit a little button band swatch to bring with me to the store, and tell me, why is it so hard to find buttons near me?

My first stop was the Michael’s 25 minutes away. I could’ve predicted what I would find there, but I’ve seen so many commercials about “Joann’s Knit & Sew Shop at Michael’s” and thought maybe they recently got more stock. They did not. I’m not sure why, but my Michael’s refuses to stock buttons. There’s dust accumulating on some buttons that are shaped like bumblebees, and that about sums up the button section at my Michael’s. I can’t even remember the last time I looked for buttons there, but it was exactly the same. Waste of my time.

My next stop was Hobby Lobby, simply because at that point, I’d be damned if I went to 2 separate locations to see literally 2 different button options. At the very least, I knew Hobby Lobby would have buttons. I ended up getting the buttons that I would inevitably use there, but I wasn’t done looking. The button band swatch I brought ended up being only a little bit helpful—all the buttons were flush to the packaging so it was still hard to tell if they were The One. I then drove across the street to Walmart where, for a while, I couldn’t even locate the buttons. It was just a small end cap with a handful of options, and I did end up getting some as backup in case the Hobby Lobby ones weren’t right.

A few days later, when my Olga Jacket was on the blocking mats, I was already going to look for new work sneakers and figured I’d pop into the Hobby Lobby at the mall to see if there were any better options. I was a little surprised, since this location is a little bigger, but the button section was one-for-one, exactly the same as the location closer to my house.

Joann’s used to have an entire aisle, wall-to-wall with buttons.

All that being said, I don’t dislike the buttons I picked out. My original goal was to have them sort of blend into the button band, hence me bringing a swatch to the store. I knew super shiny would stick out as cheap looking and I knew matte black that wasn’t the same black as my yarn could stick out just the same. These buttons are kind of a mix with a matte center and a shiny rim. So they stand out a little more than I wanted, but the variation gives them enough dimension that they don’t read as cheap plastic buttons to me. I think they look right for the sweater, but I can’t help but wonder what Joann’s could’ve offered me.

I learned a lot from PetiteKnit’s tutorial on how to sew buttons. It blew my mind. Up until this point, I’ve just kind of winged it and ended up with shitty messy buttons that don’t hold. The only thing I would’ve changed about this is the neckline. My row gauge was correct, so I followed the pattern there, but the yarn I used (Cascade Anchor Bay) is thinner and I ended up with a less substantial neckline than I would’ve liked. I wish I’d listened to my gut telling me to add a couple more rows. Between the slightly thinner neckline and the feel of the Anchor Bay, the finished sweater has a bit of a store-bought quality to it. The best way I can describe it is as a deceptively simple cardigan you pick up thinking it’s cute, only to check the tag and find an outrageous price. 

The best compliment I can give this sweater is that it already feels like part of my closet.