Laura and Brian Groff met online through their love for Indian motorcycles and got married in 2009. Shortly after that, they decided to start a family. Complications followed, leading to six miscarriages.
During these difficult times, Laura, 44, turned to knitting.
“There is a saying, ‘yarn is cheaper than therapy,’ and it is very true,” she says. “It gave me something tactile to do and keep my mind busy.”
Laura and Brian, 43, were eventually successful in having a baby boy they named Oscar. They also were able to adopt a baby girl, Mia. The children’s ages are only about seven months apart.
Laura wanted two children to give them the chance to form sibling relationships so they could lean on each other during difficult times. She and her siblings relied on each other when their mother and father died.
Laura evolved her passion for knitting into a small business with a physical storefront in downtown Mt. Sterling. She named her store Native Twist, taking the name from the fibrous yarn that helped her through the physical and emotional struggles of starting a family. The name also comes from recurring Native American themes in her life, such as the Indian motorcycles that brought her and Brian together.
Laura started work on a personal project consisting of 1,300 rainbow granny squares spiraling into a rainbow teepee – a Native twist. She chose rainbow for the “rainbow babies” she lost before Oscar and Mia came into their lives.
“The rainbow is like the light after the storm to me,” Laura says.
Running the yarn and craft shop allows Laura to spend time with her kids and pursue her passion. Laura sends Oscar and Mia, both age 5, to school each morning and then opens her store. Her husband’s office is directly overhead in the same building.
When Oscar and Mia are done with school, they come in the back door of Laura’s shop and spend the afternoon with her until closing time, when they head to their home just outside of Mt. Sterling.