Crafting fashion

As I've mentioned previously in this blog, my favorite place online is Ravelry. There, I communicate with other knitters and designers and see how their projects are coming along. I browse through their stash and see what patterns they buy and sell. On Twitter, most of the people I follow happen to be crafters or designers, too. They inspire me. I'm interested in what they have to say, what they make, what they sell, and what they eat for breakfast.

Last Saturday, I opened my own online shop. As excited as I am to be able to offer my knitted items to clients all over the world wide web (as long as their shipping addresses are in the U.S. or Canada ;)) I'm even more excited about plans for 2012.

For the knitters, crocheters, and weavers, the makers who use yarn in their garments, accessories, toys, and home fashion, I am starting a Crafting Fashion section of O! Jolly! Shop beginning in 2012. I will be offering yarn on cones for sale: some of my favorites, including superfine merino, baby alpaca, perle cotton, bamboo in a variety of weights and from several producers. That's right, an online shop of coned yarn! Although anyone who browses the site will be able to purchase the yarns at the retail price, the very best part is that I will be offering these yarns at a discount to those who become Crafting Fashion group members! The yarns offered will be beautiful, medium grade to luxury yarns, "fashion yarns", from producers you may already know, all suitable for working into your gorgeous products. (There are no plans to offer mill ends at this point, unless I hear that there is interest.)

Why coned yarn?

• If you make anything larger than a sock or a hat, you are probably faced with having to join the end of a skein to the start of the next. Ok, not that big of a hassle, but who wants more ends to weave in? Pre-wound cones eliminate this (and no more winding your own cones, weavers and machine knitters.)
• Savings. Purchasing 16 ounces of yarn on a cone generally costs less than purchasing 16 ounces of yarn on several skeins.
• Easy to use. Place cone on floor next to you. Start knitting/crocheting with yarn end.  No more yarn vomit from "pull-skeins".

Very often crafters with small businesses are unable to purchase yarns at the wholesale price. The quantities they wish to order are simply too small. (Ask me how I know. LOL) While I obviously won't be able to offer these yarns at the wholesale price, I'll be able to offer them at a discount to the group of crafters who become Crafting Fashion members.  Minimum order will be just one cone. Depending on the yarn producer, the cone may weigh as little as one pound or as much as three pounds.

I hope that the machine knitters reading this post have gotten this far, because this paragraph is especially for you. Throughout the year, I'll also be introducing a line of downloadable machine knitting patterns and free online videos of various machine knitting techniques, particularly the techniques used in the patterns. I hope you will find these videos useful. Perhaps even the curious non-machine knitters will find the videos of interest!

Now this is where I ask for your help. I need to know what you think. You've just read the general plan. I'll be exploring more yarns and making decisions on the exact details over the next few weeks. Please tell me what your yarn interests are by filling out this short survey. Providing your email address means that you will be kept informed of Crafting Fashion updates. You can unsubscribe at any time. You will not receive any other email from me, and I will not distribute your email address, or any other info that you provide, to anyone.

Crafting Fashion Yarn Group will launch in 2012. Please help make it what you'd like it to be by following this link to complete the survey or by simply adding your email address below and clicking "Join the email list." Thank you. :)

The Crafting Fashion Yarn Group is no longer. Coned yarns are occasionally offered for sale in the Crafting Fashion Shop. Just click on "Yarn". Visit craftingfashion.com, now home to my blog on cutting and sewing sweater knit fabrics. 

Last edited 17 Aug 2013