MINDEMOYA – Haliburton’s loss is Manitoulin’s gain as Mary, also called Marty, Gryciuk and her husband Rolf have moved to Mindemoya, opened one store and will launch another in January.
Ms. Gryciuk was born in Malta and learned to knit at the age of three. Once she started this craft, there was no stopping her and she always dreamt of owning her own yarn shop. After spending some time in California, the couple missed this country’s four seasons and moved back to Canada, settled in Coboconk and opened a yarn store in their home.
Ms. Gryciuk undertook a six-year master spinner program supported by Ontario Handweavers and Spinners though Sir Sandford Fleming College, located in Peterborough. She learned to process fibre from raw material to finished yarn. The program featured the use of fibre from sheep, cows, alpacas, wolves and dogs and any plant from flax to cotton to hemp. Artificial fibres instruction was also part of the program and the students learned to use nylon and Tencel fabric which is wood pulp blended with wool that gives a shine to the finished product. Ms. Gryciuk then taught spinning classes for three years in Thunder Bay and fell in love with the North.
Ms. Gryciuk told The Expositor that she had “talked with others over the years and they told me how beautiful Manitoulin is.” The couple took up residence in Mindemoya in the spring and opened an in-home yarn shop. As well, Ms. Gryciuk joined the Manitoulin Fine Arts Association and also a spinning group that meets at the Tehkummah library.
It is a delight to enter the shop, named Fibersden. There are numerous types of yarn on display from natural fibres as well as acrylic blends and lace weight to worsted, chunky and bulky weight. There are novelty yarns, sock and baby yarns and silk, right from cocoon to fibre to yarn. Ms. Gryciuk also carries fibre for spinning and felting, either needle or wet, patterns and notions and spinning wheels. Towards the new year, Ms. Gryciuk will install a table in her shop where she will teach classes with instruction in knitting and crocheting as well as different methods of dyeing, including sun dyeing hemp in the spring.
The Gryciuks have two cats, a Maine coon/ragdoll mix and a tabby as well as a Great Pyrenees dog and their fur is even spun.
Mr. Gryciuk has over twenty years’ experience in the health field. He had bought a defunct health business in Haliburton and turned it into the largest wellness health food store in central Ontario. “Our strength,” he said, “is taking care of arthritis and so on. Our customers made us strong,” as he explained that visitors to his store would tell him what was working for them. He is a certified nutritional consultant and “will order in if people want a special health supplement.” Although his store will not open until the new year, when he moves into the Rock and Rail building in Mindemoya, he does carry products at his home. One can pick up Oscillococcinum, effective for body aches, chills, fever and headaches, all flu-like symptoms that can be relieved, especially at the onset of this condition. Mr. Gryciuk has Dr. Bronner’s family soaps since 1858, teas, stevia, shampoos and conditioners and healthy snacks including ginger drops and dark chocolate, vitamins and herbal products.
The new wellness store will also showcase Ms. Gryciuk’s hand-knitted items from hats to scarves to sweaters.
Fibersden is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 am until 5 pm and is located at 1417 Highway 551, just under four kilometres from Mindemoya’s four corners. For more information, call 705-377-4206 or email fibersden@gmail.com
