Vermont Beads and Fibers simply bead-dazzles

Author: Tamara Hilmes

I was speed walking toward the bank to deposit a check in between classes when a bright purple and fuchsia sign caught the corner of my eye. It read "Vermont Beads and Fibers." I slowed down just enough to catch a glimpse of a room with walls lined with brightly colored yarn. Inside, a tiny woman was bustling about with an ice cube tray in hand and a customer in tow.

I entered the shop and was greeted immediately by the tiny woman I had seen in the window. She turned out to be the storeowner, Bethanie Barry. After a warm welcome, Barry quickly engaged me in a tour of her shop. First, we headed over to check out the beads. Two-hundred and twenty-thousand of them to be exact. "We just finished taking inventory," explained Barry. "We were closed for three days and all of the staff as well as extra people came in to count."

Vermont Beads and Fibers, which opened in May of 2004 and moved to its current location just last year, sells a wide variety of yarns and beads as well as tools, accessories and books. As we began to embark on a tour of the massive bead collection, Barry explained that she had been working with beads for over 30 years.

"I was a high school drop-out, a teenage runaway," Barry recalled. "I went to Coconut Grove, California and started a store with a bunch of hippies. Different people brought beads into the store and I began to learn more and more about the different kinds of beads out there."

Not only does Barry run and manage the Middlebury shop, she also cultivates her other passions as a true bead and yarn aficionado. Barry has written a book on bead-crochet and she travels around the country teaching at various conferences. "I have taught in Milwaukee, Ireland and Chicago," said Barry. "This April I will be teaching at the Bead Expo in California."

As I weaved my way among the rows of beads in bins, I examined everything from Japanese Miracle beads, extremely light and luminous beads that are made through a secret process that the craftspeople refuse to reveal, to Swarovski crystal, a multi-faceted bead that is highly reflective and of the finest quality, according to Barry.

The store not only sells beads from Asia, but Barry imports beads from South America and Czechoslovakia as well. I spent a good ten minutes sifting through an array of miniature animal beads ≠- wooden elephants, sheep, donkeys, beavers, bananas, turtles and alpacas that were all hand-painted in Peru.

"I like to get my beads from local businesses located elsewhere in the world," said Barry. "In this way I can help support other communities. I like to do business with a conscience."

The store also sells beads made from semi-precious stones, sterling silver and freshwater pearls

Picking one up and placing it in the palm of her hand, Barry began to contextualize a rare Czech glass bead, explaining the rich history that the small object beheld.

"During World War II in Czechoslovakia, each family had different molds for making beads," said Barry. "They buried these molds in holes in their yards so that the Germans couldn't get them. These glass beads that we have were made in these antique molds."

After the bead tour, Barry introduced me to another member of the staff who could help me select yarn and needles to jump-start my new hobby. Employee Daria Bocciarelli, who, oddly enough, turned out to be the wife of my history professor, began to tell me about the different kinds of yarn that the store carries. Whether you want blue, teal, maroon, gray, marigold, lavender, sparkly, fuzzy, stringy or hairy, Vermont Beads and Fibers has it all. The store even has a display of local yarns produced in Vermont and New Hampshire including yarn that is hand-dyed by Cherry Tree Hill and organic yarn from Addison County sheep. While browsing, I found another customer ooing and ahhing over the selection.

"They have really beautiful yarns here," said Alice Kaiser-Sehatzlein, who was visiting Middlebury after spending the weekend in Canada. "They have a better selection than anywhere in MontrÈal." After examining the yarn and "fondling" the various kinds as Barry invited me to do, Daria suggested that I try "a thicker yarn" that would allow me to use bigger needles which are easier for beginners to use. I finally settled on "Baby Alpaca Grande," made by Plymouth Yarn.

Bocciarelli showed me how to find the recommended needle size located on the back of the label, and she then helped me pick out a pair of circular knitting needles, size 10.5. The needles were tiny bamboo sticks connected with a clear plastic tube and cost only $8.50. According to Bocciarelli, "needles usually range from seven to 20 dollars."

Happy with my selections, I was ready to take my yarn and needles to the register when Barry asked if I knew how to cast-on. Remembering my frustrated attempts sitting on my bed casting on and watching it come undone, I sucked up my pride and admitted that it had been awhile. Without wasting a moment, Barry led me to a table at the back of the store. "It's not difficult and it's fun," said Barry. "This is what we do."

Before I could start knitting, however, I had to wind the yarn. I removed the yarn from its package and Bocciarelli held it around her hands as I wound my first-ever yarn ball. It looked just like the yarn balls that you see cats playing with in children's picture books. Feeling confident with my yarn-winding skills, I moved on to casting-on. Bocciarelli started by creating a slipknot and then twisting the yarn around her left thumb and forefinger. She then began to magically project stitches onto the needle. After several failed attempts and after my face had turned several shades of red, I finally managed to cast-on four stitches. Take that Martha Stewart.

Although I was already a whopping four inches into my scarf, I realized that I would need a lot more help than I could get in one afternoon. Bocciarelli suggested that I attend Community Knitting, which takes place at the store from 5:30 to 9:30 on Wednesday nights.

"I would highly recommend coming on Wednesday night," Bocciarelli told me. "Women who have been knitting longer than both Bethanie and I combined come and are happy to give free advice." The store also offers a variety of knitting classes which can be viewed on their website, beadsandfibers.com.

After paying for my needles and my yarn, I left the store carrying the neon-green tote bag that Bocciarelli had placed them in and took one last look around the store. There were still so many things that I had not gotten a chance to experience, from the make-it and take-it table, where customers can make their own jewelry right in the store, to the patterns that hang from the various shelves of yarn. I was excited to start knitting my scarf, and though I will most likely drop several more stitches before the project is complete, I will definitely be dropping by Vermont Beads and Fibers again in the very near future.