FURTHER REFLECTIONS ON THE YARN CRAWL, 2011

I wanted to take some time and space for further reflections on the twelve shops that participated in this year’s Yarn Crawl.  This is NOT a scientific endeavor.  I have definite subjective feelings about each shop.  I’ll try to make sense here of my observations and thoughts.

Yarn Crawl Recap:

First, a Disclaimer.  My comments, unless specifically stated, do not apply to Hearthstone Knits, Knitorious, the Weaving Dept,  and Knit and Caboodle, all of which were known to me before this year’s Yarn Crawl.  My recap is mainly to emphasize my impressions of the seven shops that were completely new to me and the one that I had only briefly visited during last year’s Yarn Crawl.

Each of the twelve shops had its own appeal.  Several of them will get my return business.  Why?  Well, I’m a crocheter, so Kirkwood Knittery and the Bead Place both gave out crochet patterns (rather than knit) and the Bead Place even offered a hairpin loom demo, indicating that crocheters are valued as consumers by these two shops perhaps more than others.  As crocheters, we know that some shops lose interest in us the moment they learn we are crocheters.  Two such shops in the St. Louis area are no longer in business.  Hmmm.  Wonder if their attitude was a factor?

Location is important, but I’ll travel for a great shop.  Hearthstone Knits is NOT the closest shop to my home, but it’s the one that gets most of my yarn dollars.  The other key factor to me, more important even than the yarn inventory, is a welcoming staff and a positive attitude toward crocheters.  While all the shops had friendly staffers, in this area, I give a slight edge to the Bead Place, Ewe Knits, and Wool Gathering.  Although the Ewe Knit shop is not particularly convenient for me, I WILL visit it again when I have more time.  The owner is quite crochet friendly and there are nooks in the shop I didn’t have time to explore.  The Kirkwood Knittery and Loopy Ewe are both close to my home.  I don’t know why I had never heard of Loopy Ewe before, but I will try not to become attached to it since it’s moving to Colorado and a new business model as an online purveyor of yarns.  The Knittery has pleased me during both of my brief visits to it.  I plan to visit it again soon when I have more time to explore and visit.  I’ll also probably need Robin’s help with the Tunisian cap.  If I sit at their table, I know they’ll be welcoming.

As to inventory, I judged that Loopy Ewe, Knit and Caboodle and Knitorious had far more square footage than the other shops, most of it devoted to yarn.  This will be beneficial to the Loopy Ewe once they go to their totally online business in October, 2011.  If I have heard or read of a yarn and have a longing to pet it, I’m likely to visit one of these shops to get my hands on it.  That said, with the vast inventory of the internet, the relatively finite inventory of a local yarn shop is less important than the other factors I’ve considered – specifically crochet-friendliness and the general friendliness and welcoming nature of the staff.  To compete with the endless selection and typically lower prices of the internet, local shops have special things to offer – expertise and service.

As a crocheter, I’m very pleased to find shops that have crochet resources like a yarn teacher or even a staffer who crochets. I have seen people take advantage of a shop owner’s expertise in selecting yarns and patterns – then leave without purchasing anything!  With the shop owner’s expertise and yarn colors in mind, that careless crocheter or knitter will then purchase the yarn and/or pattern online.  If we wish to continue to have locally available expertise and interest in our craft, we must support the shop(s) that provide it.  No, not everyone can afford a $20 skein of sock yarn.  Shop owners understand that.  But, good luck getting the same sort of expertise and service from a web-based yarn vendor!  So, keep this in mind when you visit shops.  I don’t mind telling a shop staffer when the suggested yarn is not in my price range.  Often, there is a less expensive suitable yarn at the same shop or a suggestion of alternatives that might work.  I find that this sort of knowledge is worth the few extra bucks I’ll spend at a LYS.  While I may buy a box of yarn online to increase my stash, I tend to buy project-specific yarns from a LYS which I know will have the resources and willingness to assist me with my project.  Further, as crocheters, we can band together to create more crochet-awareness in a local shop.  If we bring interest and purchasing power to a LYS, they’ll become instantly more crochet-friendly.  If they don’t (and I’ve experienced that), they do not deserve my return business or any of my money!

A Yarn Crawl provides a fantastic opportunity for local yarn shops to ‘strut their stuff’.  I’m so pleased that twelve shops went out of their way to remain open for special hours, offered treats and free patterns, and showed their shops to their best advantage.  In so doing, the shops quickly demonstrated their individuality, their strengths (and an occasional weakness), and why it’s way more fun to shop at them than at mass marketers (like Walmart) or online vendors.  For their efforts, they get the chance to impress potential new customers, sell a lot of  yarn during a heat wave, and learn a bit more about what their customers (and potential customers) are seeking.  It’s a win/win situation.

My Bright Idea

And, here’s a little bit of information I have divined.  A fairly easy way to gauge a shop’s attitude toward crocheters is to check their inventory of crochet hooks!  This is not foolproof – but it’s a nice indicator.  They usually won’t stock a lot of crochet hooks unless they are interested in doing business with crocheters.  Support them!