Hi Everyone

For those of you who follow us on Facebook and Twitter, you already know that we have launched a great new daily deal – Steve’s Deal of the Day.  This is Steve’s chance to offer to all of you who follow us on Facebook and Twitter a fun deal that lasts 24 hours.  It may be yarn, it may be a tool or book – knitting, weaving, crochet, spinning, felting – all areas are possibilities.

Don’t follow us on Facebook or Twitter?  Well, you should!  Feel overwhelmed by all of these new platforms?  Can’t fathom having one more place to check?  I totally understand.  You can either “check” Twitter without signing up or subscribe to the RSS feed – just go to www.twitter.com/websyarnstore.  Of course we’d prefer if you were a follower or a friend or liked us but I also respect that we can all feel overwhelmed by all of the “places” we need to be on-line.

As a bit of a tease and gift all in one, today’s Deal of the Day is Northampton Bulky, normally $4.99/skein today it’s only $3.69!  Use Code FBNOHOBULK. I know I’m posting late today so here’s a preview of tomorrow’s deal: Itata Solid, Get the code on Facebook or Twitter – it will post just after midnight (EST) on Facebook & Twitter.

If you are a hardcore Ravelry member, be sure to join the All Things WEBS Group.  We’ve got some special things planned there too!

Enjoy!

Kathy

Hi Everyone

We have just launched a great new promo that I wanted to share with you!  For the next week, if you place an order of $25 or more at websbeads.com AND place a yarn order of any amount at yarn.com BOTH orders will ship FREE!

This only applies to customers who order $25 or more worth of beads AND place a yarn order.  If you order only yarn – no free shipping.

Just follow the steps below to receive free shipping on your bead and yarn orders:

1.  Go to www.websbeads.com and place an order for at least $25.00.

2.  Go to www.yarn.com, order ANY amount of yarn you want and use code BEADS10 at checkout.

3.  Wait patiently at your mailbox for your combined order to arrive!

HERE’S THE FINE PRINT:

A.  Offer valid through 9/27/10.

B.  Offer valid in contiguous U.S. only.

C.  You must place a bead order of at least $25.00 and a yarn order of ANY amount.  A yarn order alone WILL NOT QUALIFY FOR FREE SHIPPING!

So, if I were to participate this is what I would do

i.  I would order some of our large hole beads, just like the ones you see at the mall but ours are a fraction of the price.

ii.  I would then cruise over to the semi-precious stones and add a couple of goodies to my cart.

iii.  You all know I have no resistance to sparkle, so I’d have to check out the Swarovski Crystals.  I’m rather partial to the cubes.

iv.  Then I’d cruise over to yarn.com and stock up on yarns I need for my holiday shopping!

Enjoy!

Kathy

Hi Everyone

I’ve been quietly alluding to this for a few days.  We made the announcement on the podcast (see what you are missing if you don’t listen!) and have been dipping our toe into the various methods of communication we have with all of you.  WEBS – America’s Bead Store is now on-line and open for business!

We are very excited!  Launching this website has been one of those projects that should not have been difficult.  We used the same infrastructure we have for yarn – all we had to was add beads, shake and go!  Heh – it’s just never that easy and it’s usually for many, many reasons.  For anyone who has been through a home renovation – large or small – you know EXACTLY what I mean.

Well, the pain is nearly forgotten (I emphasize nearly) and we are just thrilled that our bead store is up and running.  We’ve so enjoyed having the brick and mortar store and will of course continue with that.  The reality is in this day and age of retail – on-line cannot be ignored.

Here are a few highlights of the new site:

1.  It’s very similar to yarn – the general look, navigation, etc., should all be familiar to those of you who shop on-line for yarn from us.

2.  It is an independent site.  At this point we cannot “officially” combine orders but if you email us – we’ll make it happen behind the scenes to the best of our ability.

3.  Same great discounts apply at Beads!  Save 20% on bead & book orders of $60.00 or more and 25% on bead and book orders of $120.00 or more.

4.  At this time, yarn and bead orders CANNOT be combined to achieve the discount.  I know, I know – we hear you.

5.  You can create a wishlist and share it on the new websbeads.com

6.  You can share a page through a myriad of social networking platforms.

7.  We’ve launched the site with some great products but trust me when I say there is more.   Lots more.

You can follow Webs Beads on Twitter and Facebook.  You can sign up for our emails blasts and just like with yarn – we never share or sell our customers’ information .  By signing up you’ll get advanced notice of specials, sales, events. etc.

Lastly, from now until July 15th – we’re offering FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $25.00.  Spend $60 and you’ll get discount (must be qualifying product) AND FREE SHIPPING!

Yes, I am excited.  I love our bead store and I want you to love it too.

Enjoy and let me know what you think.  Please pass the info along to any of your beading friends – whether they use them in fiber creations or jewelry creations!

Kathy

Yes, that’s right, 22 days since I blogged.  Where those 22 days went is a mystery.  The store has been busy, we did have the Tent Sale, we celebrated my b’day, we had the photoshoot for the next catalog, the boys’ spring sports schedules (baseball and lacrosse) are in full swing which means most nights there’s at least a game or a practice – sometimes both and neither are in the same town but usually at the same time.

I’ve had plenty of things to share with all of you and I often think, “oh, I need to share that on the blog” and I’ve been filing interesting tidbits in my blog folder as well.  I guess the best thing to do is to just get going again.  I won’t give you the complete update of everything all in one post.  I’ll give you a few select highlights and fit the rest in the coming days.

1.  One cool piece of news that is actually pretty current is that we FINALLY launched our new podcast blog.  You can check it out at http://readysetknit.yarn.com/ .  I’m pretty tickled about this.  I despised our old page.  When we relaunched the website it was one of the last pieces to be finished.  For anyone who has ever built a house or undergone a major renovation you can relate – the podcast page was our landscaping.  It’s common in a house build that by the time it’s all done and the landscaping is all that is left, folks tend to run out of steam or money or both.  We were out of steam and needed to launch the site and although we weren’t out of money, we had spent enough.  You always say “oh, we’ll get back to that project and finish it up” and the WOOOSH – a bunch of time passes and what was once a not so big project turns into a huge one – like migrating 170+ podcast episodes and show notes, etc.   It’s got a few kinks we need to deal with.  The Disqus comment software needs to be added and there are a few other things but all in all, it’s done and I’m really pleased with it.  Be sure to check it out!

2.  Our home computer has been dying a slow, painful death.  I can honestly say that it contributed to my lack-o-blogging.  It was sooooo sloooow and froze often and was just a big royal pain to deal with.  I hit the wall with it while Steve was at Stitches South.  I emailed IT and said “I don’t care what you get me, it just needs to be fast, smokin’ fast, lightening fast – fast, fast, fast”.  I have no idea of the technical specs, nor do I care.  It’s fast.  REALLY fast.  I am happy.

3.  My new super fast computer does not have any ports in the front for my camera cards (but it’s fast and I bet when those get added my pictures will load really fast).  I finally found my thumb drive thing that works with my card so I can now upload pictures again.  Which means I can talk about the Tent Sale!

4.  Tent Sale was awesome.  The weather was picture perfect!  We kicked off Saturday with our traditional live broadcast of Ready, Set, Knit!  It’s the only “live” show we do all year and when I say live, I mean it.  Our show originates as a radio broadcast on WHMP so from 9:00am-9:30am on the Saturday morning of Tent Sale we are 100% broadcasting live.  It’s always a great show.  Be sure to check it out at http://readysetknit.yarn.com/ – it’s show #176.

Saturday of Tent Sale also features our annual Fleece Market.  I think we had a total of 14 or 15 vendors this year.  We sorely missed our dear friend Barb from Foxfire Fibers.  She was dealing with a serious health issue with one of her beloved dogs and a joint infection in one of her lambs.  The good news is Mishka and Mistral are both doing better which is a huge relief.

We had great crowds all weekend and at times on Saturday we were walking a very fine line between control and chaos.  Thanks to everyone who came out to shop!  A big thanks to our amazing staff who were simply awesome!

Don’t let this shot fool you.  We have a 10 x 2o and a 10 x10 tent side by side set-up.

Thanks for your patience in my absence!  Did you make it to the Tent Sale?  Let me know in the comments what your experience was like!

Kathy

Hi Everyone

Just a quick reminder that our 36th Annual Anniversary Sale starts tomorrow!  We are so grateful for all of you who have been such loyal customers and friends over the years that we always love to give you this annual “Thank You”.

We’ll have a series of yarns you know and love on sale for the entire two months of the sale.  Then for April, we’ll have an additional set of amazing yarns to offer at great savings.  This group will go off sale at the end of the month, the core group will carry forward and a second fresh batch of sale yarns will be available for May!

Core yarns include favorites such as Plymouth Encore, Cascade 220, Cascade 220 Superwash, Lopi plus others.

For the super special April yarns, you’ll have to stay tuned for tomorrow!

Sale pricing should be live around 2am EST.  I emphasize the “around” portion of that sentence   We have plenty of yarn so don’t panic plus we can get more.  If you click through the links before the update, the sale pricing will not show up.

Enjoy!

Kathy

Hi Everyone

On this week’s podcast Steve tempts you with a few highlights from our upcoming Anniversary Sale!  It’s that time of year again.  We will be celebrating 36 fabulous years in business and this year’s sale is off the charts!

Stay tuned for more details and a link to the sale page once it goes live on April 1st.

Pixie & I just about finish our Fearless Finishing segment.   Pixie had to phone in her segment this week.  Now that my foot is healed she thought she’d give it a whirl!  She took a nasty fall at home and fractured her right foot.  I know how painful her injury is so please leave her some well wishes in the comments!

Kathy

It’s hard to believe, but we’re already approaching the end of 2009, which means it’s time for our Year End Blowout Sale! The sale starts today, the 22nd online, and will begin the 26th for our in-store customers (and the 27th will be the last Sunday we’re open for the season).

We’ve got a ton of fantastic yarns coming in for Spring, so we need to make some room. This is a great time to grab the closeouts you’ve been thinking about at an incredible savings, and Steve has some really fantastic deals for you this time around!

You can find our knitting yarns here, and our weaving yarns here.

Here’s a quick sampling of what you’ll find -

Sheep Shop Sheep Feet
Save over 50% on this great hand dyed yarn! Make sure you grab it fast though, because many colors are limited!

Plymouth Baby Alpaca Worsted Glow
This time of year, we all look for a little sparkle, and this fun yarn is cozy, soft baby alpaca with a hint of glitz in fun colors to brighten cold days.

Shepherd Classic 100% Wool
220 yards of worsted weight wool for only $2.79 per ball and loads of colors! Perfect for any project – maybe a pair of favorite slippers for yourself to keep your toes toasty.

10/2 Valley Cotton
A great weaving staple for just $12.59 per cone (regularly $17.95).

8/4 Carpet Warp
Just $9.09 per cone (regularly $12.99) for this colorfast, lightfast 100% cotton warp.

Remember, the sale ends online January 3rd at 11:59pm, and ends in the store when we close on January 2nd (the store will be closed Sunday, January 3rd). Also, these are closeouts, so once they’re sold out, we can’t get more. If you see something you love, make sure you grab it!

Happy Shopping!

Mary

Hi Everyone

Just a quick post to remind you that today is it!

Go to www.yarn.com and click on either knitting or weaving to check out the amazing yarns we have on sale!  Don’t miss out!  Remember, there are only 116 knitting days left until Christmas and only 102 until the first night of Hanukkah!

Kathy

We’re wrapping up our last week here at the beach.  I can’t believe the kids go back to school in just a couple of weeks.  It’s funny – as they get older I am in less of a rush to see them go back to the structure and demands of school.  We’ve had a great summer – we’ve done a ton of great things and have really enjoyed some great time together as a family.

For those of you who read this blog on a regular basis or listen to our podcast, Ready, Set, Knit! you know I am somewhat of a weather buff.  I love weather, I love storms – all of it.  This past weekend while we were staying with friends in Chatham, Hurricane Bill made a run up the coast.  I was nearly giddy with excitement.  Please don’t think I am secretly wishing for destruction or harm to anyone because I am not.  I may love the weather, but I am also very respectful of what it can do.  The last thing the outer Cape beaches need is a storm to cause more erosion.  At the same time, it was very exciting for me to see the power of Mother Nature. 

Fortunately, Bill fizzled and although there was some great wave action and unfortunately some erosion, it was otherwise a non-event.  On Saturday night, a bunch of us piled in our car to go out to Lighthouse Beach, which is right at the “elbow” of the Cape when you look at it on a map. It’s usually where the Weather Channel and CNN broadcast from.   We couldn’t see much on the beach, but the sound was awesome.  What I did get to see was this:

That is the flag that signifies a severe storm or Full Gale Warning.  I have never seen one before and I was pretty excited. 

Two of these flags together signify a hurricane is coming. . .in case you were curious.  My friends are now convinced more than ever that I am weird.  But they can’t wrap their heads around this yarn thing either so I don’t pay much attention

I’ve stayed on top of work items while we’ve been away but I have to admit to being behind on my blog reading.  I did some catching up this afternoon and in perusing Kim Werker’s blog, found out she’s raising money for the Pancreatic Cancer Walk in Albany, NY in September.  I consider Kim a friend and she is someone I have an enormous amount of respect for. I”ve also met her husband and parents who are also lovely, lovely people.  I tend to keep my philanthropic endeavors to myself and I’m not one to ask for money (unless you are buying yarn from me).   In this instance, all I am asking is for you to pop over to her blog, read her story and if you are moved to make a donation, great!  I just think there may be a few of your out there like me that have been crazy busy and would feel awful if the opportunity to support Kim’s efforts past you by. 

I’ll be blogging in more detail about this, but a quick reminder that just like my vacation, our End of Summer Sale is also coming to a close.  Last day to get some great yarns at incredible savings is this coming Monday, 8/31.   Whether you knit, crochet or weave, there are bargains to be had so don’t miss out!

Our fall classes are open and listed on-line and several are already full!  WOW!  If you haven’t had a chance to check things out, be sure to do so.  We also have lots of special events happening this season.  Those you can easily see by clicking on the link over to the right-side of this page “Upcoming Events”.  From book signings, to personal appearances to trunk shows and tradeshows, this fall is packed with great fun!

I’ll wrap up today with a couple of pictures from our trip out to Provincetown, which is way out at the tip of Cape Cod.  One of Jonathan’s favorite things to do is climb the Pilgrim Monument:

It was completed in 1910 and signifies the Pilgrim’s first landing in 1620.  They spent several weeks exploring the tip of Cape Cod before going onto to Plymouth.  While here, the Mayflower Compact was written.  Pretty cool stuff.  The boy in the blue shirt is Jonathan.

Here’s a view from the top (252 ft tall).

It’s been a great summer and I think we’re all sad to see it come to an end.

Kathy

If you are interested in dyeing be sure to stop by WEBS tomorrow for a FREE Dyeing Demo with author and owner of Foxfire Fibers Barb Parry.  She will be outside under the tent at 11am for the demo and will be signing copies of her new (and first, but certainly not last) book Teach Yourself Visually Hand-Dyeing.

Tomorrow is suppose to be a beautiful day here in the PIoneer Valley.  Plus it’s August 1st.  Do you know what that means?  It means it’s the first day of the August Sale!  So come on out to WEBS, take in Barb’s FREE Dyeine Demo and shop all of the amazing deals Steve has put together for the sale!

Cheers!

Kathy