About MaryCharles Yarn Company

MaryCharles Yarn Co. is a neighborhood knitting shop located within Houston’s Southampton residential area and Museum District. We specialize in knitting instruction, both private and group, and offer a complete selection of knitting yarns, books, and supplies. Our shop prides itself on being cozy, comfortable, and friendly. You are welcome to come shop or just enjoy a welcome place to sit and knit.

About Mary Charles

Steve Jobs (of Apple, Pixar, and Ipod fame) says that you can’t “connect the dots” in your life until you look backwards, then it all becomes clear.  My own “dot” pattern looks a bit like a random scatter gram to date.  I moved around a lot as a kid because my Dad was involved in higher education (hope you see this “Dr. Wombles”).  My Dad always said “home” is wherever your family is.  So moving around and changing schools was something my brother and I did with relative ease.  Our family is still very close even though I’m in Houston, my older brother is in New York City, and my parents are in Midway, Kentucky.

I graduated from the University of Kentucky with degrees in Communications and Marketing.  Then off I went on a journey to put all of my skills into action that took me to Washington, D.C. where I worked for a U.S. Senator on Capitol Hill.  (No, I wasn’t an intern!)  It was an awesome experience… one I would love for my own children to have some day.  I got to ride aboard Air Force One (they actually refer to it as Air Force Two when the President isn’t on board) and visited NORAD headquarters deep inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  (Great training for opening a knitting store, right?).  From Capitol Hill I went back to the South and got lots of experience in the non-profit and profit world where I held a couple of positions in government and banking.

I eventually ended up in New York City where I held a national director position with KPMG, one of the “Big Accounting Firms”.  I was responsible for Brand Management (corporate identity) throughout North America.  My office on the 47th floor of the General Motors Building overlooking Central Park seems like a dream to me now.  We did lots of business with the networks so I could get tickets to virtually anything… David Letterman, the Final Four, and Saturday Night Live (Sorry, I no longer have that connection.  However, I might be able to get you one of the coveted spots in an upcoming knitting class!)

Another ‘perk’ of my New York City job was that I was invited to participate in a life-changing, 6 day, Outward Bound survival training expedition off the coast of Maine.  (If I might name-drop for a minute, Ted Koppel and I were on the same 6 member team.)  I’m often asked if I would ever do an Outward Bound expedition again and I can honestly say, I’m glad I did it, but I’m more glad it’s over!

Survival training was actually a most appropriate warm-up to my next endeavor… a starring role as “Mama” to two precious children who are only 14 months apart (I don’t recommend that, by the way).  We lived in Atlanta and Nashville, but when you’re at home with two babies you could be anywhere and it would still be a blur. 

Next, I remember it like yesterday… “Houston? Are you kidding me?”  That’s what I thought.  Now I love it here and refuse to leave.

The only weakness I found with Houston when I first moved here was that there were no knitting shops conveniently located to where I live (West University).  Whenever I needed to buy yarn I would literally plan my day around driving to a knitting shop… and forget about popping in at those times when you need to ask a quick question or get some help.  It just wasn’t convenient.

So, having the marketing background that I do, I kept thinking about the opportunity that existed for someone to open the kind of knitting shop I had always experienced in the various places I’d lived… a neighborhood feel, quaint, comfortable place to knit, with “not-your-average yarns”.

Then the perfect space became available right above Pattywhacks and Joni’s Dress Shop and next door to Surroundings – all of my favorite stores!  So after lots of soul-searching I convinced my brother to front me some cash (and believe me, that’s my biggest accomplishment so far), maxed out a couple of credit cards and here I am, having survived my first year.  And I’ve had more fun this past year than I’ve ever had at any point in my career!

It’s always interesting to learn how each of us was introduced to knitting, and as you can imagine, now that I’m a shop owner I get that question a lot.  Surprisingly to many, I learned to knit in 5th grade because the school I attended required it of all boys and girls.  Since my father was in higher education, I always attended laboratory schools through the elementary years… teaching children to knit was one of those experiential programs the university was testing on us guinea pigs.  And I’m glad they did.

From the 5th grade until I was in my mid 30’s I didn’t knit at all.  But after I had two babies in less than two years and decided to quit my career and become a “stay at home mom”, I realized I needed something to occupy my hands and mind.  So I went to my local knitting shop and told them I wanted to knit a sweater.  They looked at me like I was crazy because all I knew was the knit stitch, but two years later, and with a lot of help and patience, I finished that sweater!  And today my Mom actually wears it in public!

People are surprised to learn that my mother does not knit nor did either of my grandmothers.  And, not only does my mother not knit, but she has no interest in it.  She’s a really a good Mom though and likes to rearrange the shop furniture when she comes to visit.  Have you ever walked into my shop to find everything turned around and totally dysfunctional?  That’s because my Mom has been visiting.  As soon as she goes back to Kentucky I move it right back the way it’s supposed to be.

Sharing the therapeutic value of knitting with others is by far the most rewarding aspect of this experience.  I can’t begin to tell you how many people learned to knit in my shop over the past year and are now big-time hooked.  It also has been rewarding to be so close to the medical center and to know how appreciative many patients and family members are to have a knitting shop nearby.

I would love to hear any suggestions you have for improvement (please limit them to a single digit number!).  And if you haven’t visited my shop I hope you will do so soon!