Kathy Kobyljanic, owner of Misty Dawn Handwovens, has turned pastime into a serious hobby, which is now a new business. 

Before starting to knit, Ms. Aurora said that she volunteered to participate in 4H for several years. 

"We have a few horses, my daughter entered 4H, and then I became a consultant; I went to other Randolph fairs for four years," she said. "Then in 2009-if you stay with the horse all your life, you will get hurt sooner or later, and I did it."

Her horse was tied to a trailer and was frightened, knocking Kobiljanic to the ground. 

"He just turned around and hit me on the back, and then I landed on the ground with my elbow, which basically took out everything on my shoulders," she said. 

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After three shoulder replacements, she said that her shoulder was still wrong, so she gave up 4H and started knitting after trying to volunteer in the medical office for a while. She said that knitting has a great healing effect on the body and spirit-because it gives her shoulders some low-impact exercises.

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She said that since 2018, knitting has been a hobby she has been learning, but it was not until last year that she started selling some of her scarves, shawls, tablecloths, scarves, napkins, placemats and other items.

"I participated in the shawl of the Valley Art Center's 50th Anniversary Jury Art Exhibition," she said. "It was in mid-October and they said,'Congratulations, you were accepted.' They said it was open to any artist within 20 miles of Chagrin, so it covered most of Ohio."

She said that 13% of applicants were accepted by the exhibition, and she had to price the shawls she submitted for exhibition.

"That's great," she said. "There is only one other fiber product in the exhibition. They don't know if this is because fiber artists just didn't consider applying for the art exhibition."

Although Kobyljanic said that art exhibition recognition and occasional sales are good, the true value of weaving lies in the process of learning art and the behavior of weaving itself.

I just like it," she said. "I find that I can do it at my own pace. There is not so much pressure on my shoulders because I can let it rest and do things without having to move it. But a little bit of movement I made, I hope to strengthen what I have left. "

She also said that studying the art and behavior of knitting wholeheartedly helped her overcome the pain of losing her father and father-in-law. She said they died within 25 hours. 

"Everyone has family problems and sadness," she said. "And there are some incidents... In addition to the physical pain I am experiencing, there is also a lot of emotional pain. What I found about knitting is that it will only get you out of it. You can't focus on Things that hurt you."

She said that the knowledge about weaving seems endless, whether it's learning different looms — Kobyljanic has about six — or figuring out which colors, textures and patterns are best to match. 

In the past few years, she said that she had attended courses at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brastown, North Carolina, and had absorbed the expertise of those who had been weaving longer than her. 

"The more I learn, the more I get involved," she said. 

She said that she uses a variety of different types of yarn, including cotton, wool, tencel, silk, etc.

Kobyljanic has a building dedicated to weaving on her Crackel Road property, a place where a loom is placed, which she calls a "wall of shame"-a series of yarns she has accumulated over the past few years-with For the equipment to measure the yarn so that it can be properly installed on the loom, a bookshelf holds books about weaving, some comfortable furniture, and an area to display her finished artwork and ongoing projects. 

At this point, Kobyljanic said that she is trying to sell some of her products, just to protect the space and recoup some of the investment she made in art.

"I just produce so much; I have to move these things out," she said. 

She sells items at Bella Moxie Co., a new craftsman-focused business located at 236 W. Liberty Street in Medina, which Kobyljanic said recently opened.

She also participated in the holiday market at The West Woods in the Geauga Park area.

She said: "It was Christmas, and people came and were very interested." 

She originally planned to attend another handicraft fair held at Thorncreek Winery, but it had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.

Do you have a business or healthcare story you want to share? Reporter Bob Gaetjens can be contacted at 330-541-9440, bgaetjens@recordpub.com and @bobgaetjens_rc.