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Dear Friends,

We are extremely excited to share some awesome news with you! Twist Collective, a phenomenal online magazine dedicated to supporting independent designers, is now a part of the WEBS family. Launched in August, 2008 by the incredibly talented Kate Gilbert, we are honored that we have the opportunity to work with Kate and together take Twist to an entirely new level. In the upcoming months you will see even more of the great design and editorial content that you expect from Twist. Like Twist, WEBS is dedicated to supporting indie designers and will continue that emphasis. Additionally, we will be adding lots of new features to the Twist site over the coming year. Twist will continue to be led by Kate, and we couldn’t be happier to have her on our team!

If you’ve never been to twistcollective.com before, head on over and take a look at some of the amazing independent designs from past issues. They are truly inspiring! Kate is already hard at work on the Fall issue which should go live around October 1st.

Please join us in welcoming Kate and the Twist Collective community!

Steve and Kathy Elkins
WEBS – America’s Yarn Store and Twist Collective
www.yarn.com
www.twistcollective.com

Steve’s Yarn Picks of the week:

• Artyarns Circles Galore Shawl Kit 
• Big Bad Wool Baby Yeti
• Big Bad Wool Weepaca
• Cascade Yarns Pacific Bulky
• Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash Wave
• Classic Elite Yarns Escape

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This week, Kathy is talking with Leanne Pressly, CEO of Stitchcraft Marketing! Leanne started knitting in college, which led her to a job at Interweave, and now she runs her own marketing firm. Stitchcraft Marketing that services fiber companies, quilting and fabric companies, and other crafting industries. Listen to learn more about what’s hot right now in the knitting industry, and what’s on our radar! Take a peek at the Stitchcraft Marketing portfolio over here, and check out who is using their services.

Listen to the Stitchcraft Podcast here!

Steve’s Yarn Picks of the week:

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This week on Ready, Set, Knit!, Kathy talks with Vickie Howell! Vickie does it all – she’s an author, designer, and television personality, and she’s been hard at work on her newest venture, a Kickstarter campaign for The Knit Show with Vickie Howell. The Knit Show with Vickie Howell will be the first studio-quality, community-funded, and internationally available knitting and crochet show! The best part? It’ll be completely bingeable – all episodes will be released at once, so there’s no waiting! You’ll be able to learn knit and crochet tips and tricks, hear chats with industry experts, and receive downloadable content – plus so much more. If you miss Vickie’s show Knitty Gritty as much as we do, you won’t want to miss The Knit Show with Vickie Howell.

To contribute to Vickie’s kickstarter fund, click here!

 Check out Vickie’s website here!

Steve’s Yarn Picks of the week:

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This week, Kathy talks with author, crochet teacher, and designer Stacey Trock. Kathy and Stacey will discuss Stacey’s background in crochet design, her new gig at Louet, and of course, Stitches United, where WEBS is a sponsor this year. Listen to learn all about Stitches United, which is happening from April 27th through the 30th in nearby Hartford, Connecticut. Stop by the WEBS booth to say hi!

For more information about Stitches United, including links to sign up for classes, click here.

To learn more about Stacey and look at her awesome patterns, check out her website here!

Sign up for Stacey’s classes at Stitches United here!

Steve’s Yarn Picks of the week:

Frabjous Fibers Colorshift Top

Wonderland Yarns Queen of Hearts 5 Skein Pack

Louisa Harding Marmo

Louisa Harding Mazzo

Sirdar Snuggly Baby Crofter Fair Isle Effect Chunky

Fibranatura Flax Lace

Cascade Nevado – Closeout

Kristin Omdahl is one of our favorite crochet designers and we’ve recently started carrying her two yarns, Be So Fine and Be So Sporty.  Both yarns are 100% bamboo, in bright, saturated colors inspired by tropical flowers and the sea. There’s great pattern support for these yarns including the FREE Beachy One eBook which contains six fantastic patterns including the Sunny Isles Soft Yellow Crochet Shawl.

One of our store staffers, Mary, recently crocheted a sample of this shawl in the Lilac Memories colorway of Be So Fine and at  a whopping 650 yards per skein you only need one! This is one of the most beautiful shawl samples we’ve ever, if you’re near our retail store in Northampton MA stop by and check it out!

The folks at Berroco must have been dreaming about a Mediterranean vacation when they created their yarns for Spring 2016, and what a great choice because that’s what they’ve got me dreaming about knitting and crocheting for!

Elba is a cotton tape yarn that feels t-shirt soft against the skin. Machine washable in saturated tonal colors it may be my new favorite summer sweater yarn! The Abree cardigan looks like the perfect extra layer, and while I ;ike the mossy green they used for the sample I might go for a softer grey, or their rich orange!

Two words perfectly describe Berroco Corsica, comfortable luxury!  Cotton and cashmere are blended in a 90/10 mix which means easy, machine washable garments and accessories that are just a little bit decadent. I’m not sure which of the soft, heathered shades I want to use to crochet the Tucker cardigan, maybe I’ll just make two or three!

Berroco Mykonos is a silky blend of linen, nylon and cotton with a shine you won’t believe! If you remember Berroco Seduce, and miss it like I do, you’ll love this one. Summer tops and accessories that will feel cool against your skin, in vibrant summer shades, are the perfect anecdote to the winter doldrums. Sometimes you want a little shawl for style rather than warmth and the Xenia shawl fits the bill, it’s like knitted jewelry!

Now I just have to decide what I’ll cast on for first! And be sure to check out the pattern support for each of these yarns by clicking on the “Related Patterns” tab at the top of the yarns page, there’s lots more fantastic garments and accessories.

CALLING ALL FIBER ARTISTS! The fiber arts community needs your feedback. With just 10 minutes of your time you can take  the TNNA Fiber Arts 2016 Survey,  a major study of U.S. knitters, crocheters, needlepointers, cross-stitchers, weavers, and spinners. This survey is anonymous – you will not receive marketing spam.

By taking this survey you will…

–  Help fiber arts organizations and businesses serve you better

–  Tell retailers and brands what you want

–  Explore your fiber arts life

–  Get the chance to win one of five $100 fiber arts store gift cards

The results of this survey will appear in the fifth edition of the TNNA State of Specialty NeedleArts Study. The survey results will be available to non-profit fiber arts advocacy groups and TNNA members in mid-2016. TNNA is an association of hundreds of independent and family-owned fiber arts brands and retailers.

TNNA Fiber Artist 2016 Sweepstakes Rules. You have from Jan. 25th – Feb. 13th to complete the survey. Please give your feedback and thoughts as a fiber artist by taking the TNNA Fiber Arts 2016 Survey today!

Whether you’ve been following the saga of the Crawley family since the sinking of the RMS Titanic, or you’ve just binge watched seasons 1-5 to get ready for the last episodes, if you consider yourself a Downton fan you’ll want to get your hands on some of the new yarns in the Downton Abbey Collection.

Lady Mary is a soft, chain-plied blend of acrylic and metallic thread for a touch of sparkle in a versatile DK weight yarn that’s perfect for elegant accessories.

Lady Sybil is a sport weight blend of acrylic, mohair and polyamide with a gentle halo,  in softly heathered colors that will turn into gorgeous sweaters, hats and accessories.

You’ll also want to check out Branson and Matthew as well as a great collection of FREE patterns that celebrate your favorite characters.

Attention Spinners! Team WEBS Tour de Fleece 2015 registration is now open! If you’ve never heard of the Tour de Fleece, it’s a Ravelry spin-along that shadows the Tour de France bike race during the month of July. This is not a competition! It’s a chance to come together with other spinners, set personal challenges for yourself but, most importantly, have fun.  If you don’t have a consistent spinning habit, the Tour is a great incentive to spin on a regular basis for a month.  You’re welcome to use wheels and/or spindles and there will be prizes at the end of the Tour.  If you’d like to join us, please pop over to the All Things WEBS group on Ravelry and let us know you’re participating by this Friday, July 3.

Here are some guidelines, not rules,  for those of you just joining in this year – and a refresher for returning spinners:

• Try to spin every day that the Tour is riding, July 4-26. There are days of rest, July 13th and 21st, so feel free to take those days off.
• There are challenge days, when the riders are climbing. Give yourself a challenge on those days by spinning a new fiber or try a new spinning style, but save your biggest challenges for the second climbing stage, like when they tackle Alpe d’Huez on July 25th  – seriously LOOK at the climb up that mountain! See the full route here.
  • Climbing stages 10 -12 from July 14, to 16
  • Climbing stages 17-20 from July 22, to 25
• Celebrate as you go with the colors you wear.
  • Wear Green: green is for sprinters, if you’ve been spinning FAST this color is for you!
  • Wear Polka-dots: dots are for climbing so break them out whenever you’re taking on a challenge!
  • Wear White: white is for rookies so this is the color for you if this is your first Tour!
  • Wear Yellow: the leaders wear the Maillot jaune, or Yellow Jersey, following each stage of the race, so wear it whenever you feel particularly successful. And be sure to wear it on July 26th to announce your victory in completing the Tour!

The Tour runs Saturday July 4th through Sunday July 26th, this year. And don’t worry about how much you have to do to participate! There is no minimum, or maximum amount of fiber you need to spin through. You don’t have to spin every day and you don’t even have to measure what you DO spin. The whole idea is just to get you spinning and to have fun with it! However we will be announcing some prizes on July 1st and there will be specific minimums or types of fibers and yarns you’ll need to spin to win. Keep an eye on the Ravelry group for specifics!

I’ll be spinning from my stash which includes Hello Yarn club fiber, some Spunky Eclectic fiber, some great stuff from Into the Whirled, and maybe something from Abstract Fibers or Frabjous Fibers! What will you be spinning and what will you challenge yourself with?

If you haven’t participated in the Shop Hop in the past years joining in is super easy, all you need is $5 to purchase your passport and a sense of adventure! The I-91 Shop Hop runs Thursday, June 25th through Sunday, June 28th and you can purchase a passport at one of the 12 shops participating this year, and you still have time to purchase your 2015 passport! We are looking forward to welcoming more than 300 Shop-Hoppers to our store over the weekend.

Why participate in the Shop Hop? At each store you visit your name will be entered in the daily prize drawing. Each of the daily prizes contains a variety of wonderful yarns, patterns, needles and accessories. Once you’ve visited all 12 shops and have your passport stamped just turn it in at the last shop on your trip and you will be entered into a grand prize drawing! On Sunday, there are two drawings: the daily basket and a chance to win a wooden swift and ball winder.  As an added bonus, each shop will have a special knit kit for sale just for Shop Hop! So be sure to hit all the shops during the long weekend and keep your fingers crossed for the daily prize and grand prize on Sunday. Hope to see you then!

Participating Shops:
Green Mountain Spinnery- Putney, VT
Handknits- Brattleboro, VT
Sheep & Shawl-South Deerfield, MA
Northampton Wools, Northampton, MA
WEBS America’s Yarn Store-Northampton, MA
Marji’s Yarncrafts-Granby, CT
Creative Fibers-Windsor, CT
Village Wool-Glastonbury, CT
Country Yarns-Wallingford, CT
The Yarn Barn,LLC-Woodbridge, CT
Knit New Haven-New Haven, CT
The Yarn Basket-Branford, CT