When we start working on a catalog, it is sometimes hard to imagine it all coming together. The first hurdle is getting used to the timing. The majority of our Spring catalog was put together before and right around the holidays, and Kathy and Steve do the buying for Spring in the Fall. So, it can be difficult to get into the “feeling” of the season when you’re already going through one that is completely different.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t fun! It is an exciting process and it is great to be able to get a preview of all the wonderful yarns and patterns that are headed to the store.

This year’s Spring catalog is now online and on its way to your mailbox. We think you’ll enjoy this one. Not only will you find a selection of incredible new yarns and fantastic projects, we’ve also included some amazing editorial content. Sara Delaney has a piece on crocheted socks, Kirsten Hipsky writes about substituting yarns, and we continue our WEBS Loves series with a feature on the talented Norah Gaughan.

We hope you enjoy perusing the pages of our latest catalog whether you look through the online or the paper version.

What yarn and/or project are you most excited about this Spring?

With our new catalog now available online (and in mailboxes in the next few weeks), we have a whole new group of Valley Yarns Show and Tells to share with you. We tried to find a range of folks to try on the newest collection.

Crocheted in Valley Yarns Southwick, 479 Nakota Cardigan is a cool and fun piece for the warmer months. The bright colors bring a bit of a retro look to the sweater and the chevron pattern is just fun!

We are wearing the 34” size.

We all had pretty similar feelings on the sweater. For many of us, we would have preferred if it was a more neutral color palette. It would look very interesting in a smaller range of colors, perhaps on the grayscale. Several of us would also prefer a closer fit on the sleeves.

You can check out the new catalog here and you can find the pattern here.

This week the staff is buzzing about…

1. Little Red in the City: An Ysolda Knitwear Collection – This is a great collection of patterns for women of all shapes and sizes. But it’s the other details found in the book that make it extra special. Wonderful illustrations and photography, each pattern offered in a huge range of sizes, and a hefty resource section to help you achieve success with each sweater you knit. > Dena C.

2. Rollie StitchKeepers – Great to keep your stitches from sliding off your double point needles, and to hold the heel flap when turning the heel. > Gail C.

3. Sara’s daughter has finished crocheting the Monkey with a Fez from Creepy Cute Crochet. Way too cute!

4. Apparently humans aren’t the only ones excited when a new WEBS catalog arrives in the mail. Milo the cat loves our catalog too!

5. Tulip ETIMO Crochet Hook Set – Fantastic! Ergonomic grip handles are comfortable for long use and the set has scissors, yarn needle & ruler in with a transparent zippered pouch all wrapped up in an elegant looking snapped clutch!! I could be stranded for days with just this set , my Addi Lace Interchangeable needles and just one bin from my stash. > Lisa G.

Hi Everyone

Yesterday was our photoshoot for the upcoming Valley Yarns catalog.  We have not had a very good spring and yesterday was no exception.  It was chilly and drizzling but given the “forecast” for the remainder of the week wasn’t predicted to be much better, we made the decision to go ahead with the shoot.  We won’t mention that there hasn’t been a drop of rain today and that at the moment, the sun is shining.  Really.  I am not bitter.

We always like to do this shoot outside, we have so many beautiful locations nearby, its fun to get out of the studio.  Even in the rain, Look Park in Florence, MA was breathtaking.  Here are a few shots from yesterday:

Penny & I discussing the next shot.

Look how beautiful it looked despite the nasty weather!

Even models have hair troubles when its rainy! Oh and not only is Erin beautiful she’s also a hockey player!

Kirsten sharing her vision with the team for the next shot.

Despite being wet and cold we had a great day and captured some gorgeous shots.  Kirsten has done a great job with this collection.

You can also see a fun video from the shoot over on our YouTube channel.

Enjoy!

Kathy

Hi Everyone

I am so tickled that the penguins & polar bears on our holiday cover have had such a great response!

It’s always scary to release a design that we *love*, not knowing if you will all love it too.

Even though we were feeling a wee bit of trepidation, our own enthusiasm pushed our worries away.  In fact, I was so downright excited I went immediately back to Kirsten, our ValleyYarns Designer and Penguin Creator Extraordinaire for this:

Can you stand it?  He’s so adorable.  He’s been sitting on my desk since he was completed and every time he catches my eye I can help but smile.  You can get the pattern here.

Our only problem is that our turkey doesn’t have a name.  I think he’s a “he” and not a “she”.  Not sure why but that’s where I’m at.  Tom is the obvious choice but seems so, expected and the one thing about this turkey and his holiday buddies is that they are not your average cute critters.

Leave your suggestions in the comments and if there’s a name that strikes us as the right one for Mr. Turkey then that person will win a lovely prize from us.

Enjoy!

Kathy

P.S.  I’ll be posting the winner of the della Q contest tomorrow!

Hi Everyone

Yes, it’s that time of year again.  Time to starting thinking about the holidays.  I know, for many of you it’s still too early.  Now that the temperature has cooled here and the leaves are changing color, I’ve succumbed.  A third reason to stop fighting and just accept the inevitable is that our holiday catalog is on it’s way to you as we speak.  We’ve already go it up on line for you to preview.

One of my favorite things about our holiday catalog is the cover.  It’s the one cover each year that doesn’t feature a garment.  Instead, it tends to have a more whimsical flare.  Our first holiday catalog featured Wooly:

I love Wooly right down to his Susan Bates Crystallite Needle Nose.  All holiday covers are measured against Wooly.  We’ve done okay since then:

The sweater in the gift box is my least favorite.  Not the sweater itself, that I love.  The cover is just not exciting or full of fun.

Last year as we were finishing the catalog, I had a “vision” for this year’s cover.  I told the team what I wanted, they all smiled nicely thinking (a) this is a year away, stop bugging us already and/or (b) you have lost your mind.

Needless to say I was stuck on the concept and refused to let it go.  Finally in late summer, while on vacation, I received a snapshot from Mary.  I guess they decided I wasn’t going to give up and that they better come up with something.  The design was PERFECT!  Kirsten, our in-house designer readily admits this project nearly pushed her to the brink.  This from the woman who can knit lace, walk around the office and chew gum/carry on a conversation without missing a beat.  Trying to design something whimsical or even worse, cute was almost too much.  But she did it and I love the results:

I love the penguins, which was my request – the polar bear is just an added bonus!  I *heart* this cover.  I cannot wait to have it framed and hanging in my office.  Of course, the catalog is filled with lots of great gift ideas too!

What do you think of this year’s cover?  How is your holiday knitting coming along?

Enjoy!

Kathy

Our latest catalog is done, printed and hopefully arriving in a mailbox near you shortly.  Our online version is now live and can be found here.  I am really pleased with this catalog:

I love the cover.  It’s a Debbie Bliss garment knit in a brand new yarn called Amalfi.   It is a blend of 70% cotton/15% viscose/10% linen/5% silk.  It knits at 5 1/2 sts on #6 needles and each ball has 109 yards.  Priced at $7.50 this machine washable yarn is available in 12 inspiring colors.  Almalfi also has it’s own dedicated pattern book.

The rest of the catalog is packed with project ideas and new yarns.

Clover Cow is knit in Rowan Calmer and the pattern can be found in Rowan Miniature Classics pattern book.

The Buenos Aries is crocheted using Tahki’s new yarn, Cotton Classic Lite.  I love the modern look to this piece and the inclusion of the classic granny square.  The pattern can be found in Tahki’s City Crchet pattern book.

I wouldn’t trade my boys for the world but what fun it would be to knit adorable dresses such as this one!  It’s made with another new Debbie Bliss yarn Eco Baby.  The pattern is in the dedicated Eco Baby pattern book.

Please check out the on-line catalog and expect to see your printed version within a few days (depending on where you live).  Not on our mailing list?  Just email customerservice@yarn.com with your name and mailing address to get added.

A great big “Thank You” to Mary, Penny & David who al did an amazing job putting this catalog together.

Enjoy!

Kathy

Yesterday I gave you some of the background on the cover of this year’s Holiday Catalog.  What I didn’t include was a shot from the photoshoot:

I think it’s just magical how shots like this come to life.

Okay – enough about the cover.  Time to talk about some of the great things happening INSIDE the catalog.  Remember, the printed catalogs are working their way across the country.  My graphic designer based here has yet to receive hers, but her Mom in Wisconsin received her last week. I’ll never understand the postal service.  If you can’t wait or aren’t currently on our mailing list, you can check the catalog out ONLINE.

There are 46 projects in the holiday catalog – 9 of which are FREE!  Consider them our gift to you.   I think they are a nice mix of quick knits and more involved projects.  I love being able to offer our own Valley Yarns designs to you for free, but I love the relationships we have with our vendors which gives us the ability to showcase their yarns and offer a free pattern as well.  Let me highlight a few for you:

First up is the Lavendar Ribbed Hat knit in Valley Yarns Northfield.

The allure of this hat is the attention to the details and the fact that it’s knit on smaller needles than usual for Northfield.  This means the fabric is dense and cozy and will keep you warm no matter how cold it gets this winter.

Our Spotted Christmas Stocking knit in Berkshire Bulky will not only be fun to knit, but fast!

Berkshire Bulky is available in 40 colors so don’t feel compelled to stick to the traditionall red/green combo.

The Herringbone Scarf is a showstopper.  Designed and knit by Dori – the absolute best, smartest, most amazing-est knitter around and long-time WEBS Store Associate, this scarf is spectacular:

The picture really doesn’t do it justice.  Dori used our 2/10 Merino Tencel blend which means the finished fabric is warm, drapes beautiful, has a lovely sheen and can easily be dressed up or down.

From Knitty.com we are featuring Thermal:

We reknit this dynamite top in our Huntington.  The waffle stitch is designed to be stretchy and close fitting.  Thermal makes a great layering piece.  Remember ALL KNITTY.COM PATTERNS MUST BE DOWNLOADED FROM KNITTY.COM!

From our friends at Tahki/Stacy Charles comes this gorgeous shawl pattern knit in Gioiello:

We’ve had this shawl in the shop for several seasons and it continues to be a favorite.  Gioiello is a yummy blend of merino and kid mohair (plus some cotton, acrylic and nylon) and features a multi-color palette with just a slight hint of glitz.  This shawl only takes 2 balls!  Again, the Gioiello Shawl Pattern can be downloaded at www.tahkistacycharles.com.

Last, but not least is Drift from Berroco and knit in their new fall yarn Vintage:

Love Drift.  Love, love, love.  The style is beautiful and Vintage is an easy care yarn so you can machine wash this sweater!  Pattern can be found at here.

Remember, these are only a few of the 40+ projects we are featuring so be sure to check them all out!

What are you adding to your project queue?

Kathy

This year’s holiday catalog is out and working it’s way across the country to your mailbox!  With this issue we are also launching our on-line catalog.  You can browse the pages, click through to add items to your wishlist or shopping cart and then zip right back to the catalog.  No worries – the print version is not going anywhere!  The online catalog is something many folks have been asking for and we’re happy to offer option.

One of the things that makes the Holiday Catalog different from the others we send throughout the year is the cover.  Rather than showing a model in a garment we get to have a  little fun and create something whimsical and inspiring. 

The first holiday catalog we mailed back in 2006 featured Woolly:

Woolly rocked.  Everyone loved Woolly.  He is the bar that all Holiday Covers are measured against.  I will love him forever.

In 2007, this was our cover:

I really liked it but it wasn’t quite Woolly.  Still very adorable and fun.

Last year was this:

My least favorite.  No comparison.

So, as we started planning for this year’s catalog, the line was drawn in sand.  The cover must be spectacular.  It must measure up to Woolly, if not exceed.  That was my challenge to myself and my team.  We bantered around a lot of ideas and it was Mary in our Marketing Department who came up with this year’s concept – cookies.

I loved the idea, but I will be honest, as we began to move forward with the concept I became nervous.  Skeptical even.  I really wasn’t sure if the cookie idea was going to be able to deliver the same emotion that Woolly did.  I was worried I wouldn’t love it.

Once the cookies were completed and ready to go to photography I was silently panicking.  Our timeline was tight and if I didn’t love the shot it was going to mean I was either going to have to live with it or pull everyone together and come up with something else which would have been nearly impossible.

The only people I said anything too was our designer and photographer.  They have worked a lot of magic for me but I just didn’t think they could take the cookies and create a shot that I loved.

Color me wrong.

They sent me back about 6 or 8 possibilities, all slightly different.  Each of them took my breath away.  Although the team wasn’t in 100% agreement, I made the final decision. 

I LOVE the cover.  I cannot possibly find enough adjectives to express how MUCH I love it.  It’s perfect.  It can stand proudly next to Woolly.  My thanks to Mary for the idea and early prototypes, to Kirsten for creating the cookies, to Linda for brainstorming with us and of course to Penny & David who turned all of our hardwork into this beautiful shot. 

Tomorrow I’ll share with you some of the great projects and gift ideas INSIDE the catalog.

Remember, if you haven’t received yours yet, you can check out our NEW on-line catalog here.

Kathy

Our Fall Catalog started mailing last week.  The launch of a new catalog is always an exciting time for us. 

If yours hasn’t arrived yet, don’t worry, it’s working it’s way through the mail stream to you. In the meantime, let’s look at a few of the highlights, shall we?

The stunning cover image is courtesy of our dear friends at Berroco.  The Nuss Cardigan from booklet #288 Blackstone Tweed is a garment we’ve talked about previously.  Knit in Berroco’s new Blackstone Tweed, Nuss has an interesting construction and nice fit.

One of my favorites that I insisted be in the catalog is Potter from Norah Gaughan Vol. 5: 

Knit in Berroco Pure Merino, I fell in love with this jacket the moment I saw pictures of it last spring.  I’m not a huge yellow fan, although I’ve been told I can pull off the color, but there is something about this jacket, yellow or otherwise that really speaks to me. 

Another design that I’ve reference previously here on the blog and on our podcast is the Riding Jacket from The Big Easy booklet knit in Donegal Luxury Tweed Chunky from Debbie Bliss. 

The simplicity of the silhouette immediately grabbed my attention – you know I love classic styles that look like you put a ton of work into them but in the end weren’t so difficult. 

The Lace & Bobble Cardigan from Classic Elite Booklet #9102 – Weekend - didn’t really impress me until Betsy came to the shop to give the store staff an overview of new fall yarns & designs. 

It looked great on everyone that tried it on and it’s knit in Classic Elite’s new yarn Chesapeake.

When Diane & Stacy from Tahki/Stacy Charles came to visit, they both knew I’d be head over heels for this next garment.

Score a point for them.  I love Eileen from the S. Charles Collezione Modern Living booklet – simple, clean lines, feminine.   Knit in Tivoli, a new yarn from the sophisticated S. Charles Collezione, the design and the yarn are both homeruns in my knitting book.

One quick yarn shout-out to  Centolavaggi (prononounced Chento-la-va-ggi) which could also be known as Zara laceweight.  Diane & Stacy had a random skein of this with them many, many months ago and asked what we thought of it.  At 1531 yards of gorgeous Italian Extra Fine Merino that is superwash no less and priced at only $19.95 I asked them how soon we could have it.  Had to wait a little longer than we would have liked, but it’s here now!

There is a never ending parade of new sock yarns coming into WEBS that it’s almost hard to keep track of them all.  One fun addition for fall is Flusi 4-Ply Color from Regia.  Flusi has a fun little story that is actually supported by a story book. 

The balls are 50 grams so two are needed for a pair of socks.  The colors are bright and whimsical, just like Flusi himself.  I love a good story and good marketing always catches my attention.

On the Valley Yarns front, I posted several weeks ago about our fall shoot which was held at Pioneer Valley Vineyards.  The pictures in the catalog are just stunning.  Here are a few of our own highlights.

First up, is our NEW Northampton Bulky, knit up in Zephyr Style pattern Juliet.  This was the perfect choice for this yarn. 

Again, this is one of those great designs that just looks great on everyone and that’s saying something for a garment that has a gauge of 3 stitches/inch.

We’re also excited to debut our new Valley Superwash DK.  Twenty hardworking colors are presented in this 5.5 stitches/inch sister to our worsted weight Valley Superwash.  We have lots of design ideas for this yarn, as I’m sure do as well!  For a quick project (or early holiday gift) Mary in Marketing whipped up these adorable amigurumi critters from teh book Super-Cute Crochet by Nicki Trench.

The Hawthorne Textured Cardi has been a favorite of mine since I saw the finished design. 

Knit using our gorgeous tweed Valley Yarns Williamstown, this cardi has a bit more attitude and although tweeds can often be seen in more casual looks, Williamstown simply shines.

Our wildly popular Gallery Jacket was reknit in our rich brown and now has a completely new look! 

Valley Yarns Sheffield was used in both the original design and this remake, but the change of color is really stunning.  It’s shiney and new all over again!

My last favorite is the Point & Line Cardigan. 

Knit in our 100% merino Amherst, this cardigan is the perfect fall wardrobe addition.  It’s functional in that it will keep you toasty, but has a nice feminine look.

We have one other new product for the fall.  It is so big and we’re so excited that it deserves it’s own blog post.  So, until tomorrow!

Kathy