Gentry Blackburn

Just finished a latch hook rug I started 15 or 20 years ago. I bought the original supplies at Zim’s- and they were out of stock of the little packages of yarn bits I needed to finish it even before they went out of business in 2008. It was a pain to finish because I had to pick out a whole bunch of already hooked yarn to mix it in with ‘sort of matching yarn’ from the now times. It took forever! But now I have this weird blast from the past that really gets me into my old aesthetic and reminds me of Zim’s.

Double strands of wool filled in for all the missing baby poo yellow. Found some turquoise rug yarn on Etsy that was a pretty good match.

Zim’s. If you remember, then I’m sure you are in a flutter of crafty nostalgia and if not- I’m so sorry, you missed out on a uniquely bizarre shopping experience. It was at 150 S State, Salt Lake, in an old building that hinted at a past grandeur that was impossible to know. Something snazzy in the 20’s, who knows!? It was multiple floors of craft supplies, doll house stuff, nutcrackers and most of it was, well, weird. Their heyday was in the 60′-80’s and that vibe was still in the air and actually for sale. They had some fine art supplies and normal craft stuff, but you couldn’t really count on it if you needed something. It was more of a place to find oddities. The version I got to experience was at the end of 64 years in business and it was awesome. You don’t go looking for 4″ curry color fur or plastic frog doll heads- that sort of thing would find you, at Zim’s!