Nestled in a small retail lot in eastern Painesville Township, Cornbread and Honey Yarn has become a gathering spot for people who enjoy crafts and camaraderie. Tanya Hynes, who opened the shop in 2023, said she taught herself to dye yarn more than 10 years ago after seeing hand-dyed yarn. “The bu siness kind of overtook my house, and we lost our former yarn shop during COVID, so we needed a place for us to hang out again and get back to our community that we had, so this building became available and we moved in,” Hynes said. “Community” was a word she used several times when describing the store. While retail goods lined the front of the store, the back was a workshop full of crafts and conversation in the early afternoon of Jan. 30. Hynes hand-dyes the yarn and makes the store’s soaps. She said she starts with bare yarn before dyeing it in hotel pans. “The heat helps it set, and then we magically rinse it and dry it off and skein it and then we send it off,” she said. The community includes knitters, crocheters, weavers, spinners, quilters and cross-stitchers, Hynes said. She said her favorite part of running the business is meeting people and connecting with them through their art. “I’m kind of like a canvas,” Hynes said. “I’m like the starting point and then they bring my art to life.” Cornbread and Honey Yarn founder Tanya Hynes poses near some of her store's yarn on Jan. 30. (Bryson Durst -- The News-Herald) Community members use the yarns in a variety of projects. Paula Kowalke said she uses them to make mini-skeins, and she is also trying to make a bear for her grandchild. Debbie Lampeter uses the yarn to make socks. Hynes touted mental health as a benefit of participating in the fiber arts. “It helps people disconnect from the problems that they have and reconnect with something that’s beneficial,” she said. Lampeter described the shop as a “good, wholesome place.” “We don’t have to worry about what’s going on in the horrible world today,” she said. “We can come in here, be silly as we want and just enjoy ourselves and look at all the beautiful stuff that’s in here.” Other visitors described the store as their “happy place.” Cornbread and Honey Yarn is pictured at 414 Bacon Road in Painesville Township, in a plaza near the corner with U.S. Route 20, on Jan. 30. (Bryson Durst -- The News-Herald) While Hynes said it is a challenge to keep a small business in business, she finds that it is also rewarding. She enjoys seeing the same people come each week and spend time with each other. She said that the Cornbread and Honey community likes to help people and can provide direction for people looking to get into the fiber arts. “We welcome people to just come in and sit down at our table and talk with us,” Hynes said. “We have many generations of knowledge and people from all walks of life. So, it’s very possible that you could really click with somebody and find some new friends and new place to go when it’s cold outside.” Cornbread and Honey Yarn is located at 414 Bacon Road in Painesville Township, near the U.S. Route 20 intersection. Hynes said that the “Cornbread” in the name is a nickname she had, while the “Honey” refers to her six children. The store is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays. The Fiber Addicts Yarn Group meets during the open hours on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, and Hynes said there is no cost to be in the group. While the store is closed on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, the website said it can be open for personal shopping with an appointment on those days. Yarn groups can also schedule group or personal shopping experiences, the website added. More information is available at cornbreadandhoney.com. The store also operates Facebook and Instagram pages. “We love Tanya, and she does such beautiful dyeing,” Kowalke said. “She’s got a real talent for and a good eye for it, and she also makes us buy way too much yarn, it’s so beautiful.” ...read more read less