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Knit 1, purl 2, point and click
A knitting lesson video posted by Jimmy Beans Wool on YouTube.
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TEXT OF STORY
KAI RYSSDAL: Not too long ago you could find young hipsters in coffee bars knitting away at shawls and berets. Yarn shops were popping up in fashionable neighborhoods, and 20-somethings were organizing knitting circles. But it looks like the fad has passed, because those still in the market for needles and yarn are buying most of their wares online.
Carolyn Adolph reports that has some of those knitting stores spinning a sad tale.
CAROLYN ADOLPH: Davis, Calif., had two yarn shops. They were stacked to the rafters with quality yarn. Three years ago shops like these were full of knitters. Now they're gone.
Maria Inglesby closed her Davis yarn shop last September.
Maria Inglesby: So this is one that's more . . . but do you see the colors?
ADOLPH: Can you spin that?
Inglesby: Yes, you can spin that.
Now she sells yarn from her house. She says she knew knitting would fall out of fashion, but not this fast.
Inglesby: The sales were dropping rather rapidly, and when we're sitting in an area where we have an economic contraction and where people are facing debt that they need to take care of, they're not going to invest in yarn. They're not going to invest into a hobby.
The irony is, knitting's boom was actually born in a recession, the one after 9/11. Worried women knit.
The National Needleworkers Association says yarn sales grew by 40 percent a year -- unheard-of. That run-up peaked in 2005. At first there was business for everyone. A lot of neighborhood stores opened up. And a quarter of sales moved to the Internet.
Then customers lost interest.
Some yarn shops are finding a way to survive. Laura and Doug Zander will tell you it's a lot of work. They own Jimmy Beans Wool, a shop in a strip mall in Reno, Nev.
Eighty percent of their business is now online. Jimmy Beans Wool isn't just another Internet retailer. It's a virtual knitting shop, with online tutorials and a toll-free number for human advice. Now they have reviews of knitting gear on YouTube.
[AUDIO FROM JIMMY BEANS WOOL VIDEO:]
LAURA ZANDER Hi, I'm Laura from Jimmy Beans Wool, and I am reviewing the Offhand Designs Zhivago Weekend bag.
Laura Zander says her online customers are busy people. No time for knitting lessons and no time to shop.
Laura Zander: How many people are doing video reviews of products? We have people who just said "It makes you feel like you're in the store."
Zander says she pulls Internet clients from New York City and Chicago, where women have big jobs and no time.
ZANDER: If they order it on Saturday, they'll get it on Monday. You know, and the shipping is flat-rate: $4. And then no sales tax. Once they see all of those benefits, then we've got a returning customer.
That's the go-big formula. But are there small-scale business models that work?
Maria Inglesby is trying something new. She travels to where the customers are by running knitting circles. She still tracks down quality yarn for her clients. Now she's paid for her expertise as well.
At a cafe in Davis a dozen women gather around her. And one entire table wants to know how to stitch the end of a sock.
In Davis, Calif., I'm Carolyn Adolph for Marketplace.
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"worried women knit"? what do worried men do? and who says knitting is a woman's hobby? seriously, this story was badly slanted and poorly researched. I have knitted for over 50 years, and my husband and both daughters knit, also.
as to the LYS thing, I agree that some were poorly managed and/or located - but on the whole, the good ones are doing OK. yes, on-line stores are a great resource, but nothing beats being able to "pet" the yarn, have questions answered, and being shown a technique in person.
and knitting is not just a hobby - it is an art and a craft.
if you think it is a fad, go to some of the gatherings (Stitches East, Stitches West, etc) even local events like the Maryland Sheep and Wool or New York's Rhinebeck - and see how many folks turn up.
and of course, there are on-line communities like Ravelry - which has been mentioned
I am dissapointed in this segment. hope you revisit the issue and present a more accurate picture.
Great heavens, now I'm questioning all the rest of the Marketplace stories.
Last August knitting brought a charter busload of shoppers from Chicago in search of yarn to the Michigan Fiber Festival. This summer I have a new local yarn store opening.
Therefore (following the reporting principles apparently used in this story), knitting is undergoing a huge boom in a slack economy, right?
And it's purl, p-u-r-l. Cripes, a good proofreader should know her knit from her purl. Maybe it was pearl or seam stitch in the 1840's, but not in 2008.
How come your article didn't even mention ravelry.com and it's huge waitlist.
Knitting isn't falling out of favor.
Online shopping might account for brick and mortar stores closing, and the high prices of fuel can help contribute to that.
Knit Cafe had to shut down it's brick and mortar because of all the high priced designer boutiques moving into the neighborhood driving prices of rent way up high.
There are many reasons why a knit shop would close that don't involve a love of the art waning in any way. We young hip knitters are still at it.
I invite you to come and see how our business, YARN CIRCLE is fairing in these tough times. We have not seen a decline but an increase in sales in our area of western North Carolina. Our community as well as the craft school, John C. Campbell Folk School, helps to keep us very busy with sales and classes. I personally think it has to do with location, reputation, and inventory. There are no dull days at Yarn Circle!
I agree with the vast majority, this was a poorly researched article. I expect more from Marketplace, and not as this piece would have you believe that what happening to one LYS and one online store is indicative of the entire yarn shop market. Knitting and crochet are still growing in popularity. It's fairly inexpensive activity with a bonus of a handmade article at the end. Can you say that about the night at the movies?
Though my local yarn stores have only certain yarns they carry, and therefore I do (and have for years) buy a fair amount of yarn online, I never go into a locally owned yarn store without buying something. I want to support local businesses whenever possible. And there is absolutely no substitute for touching and feeling yarn.
I believe that stores that opened up to jump on the 'fad' bandwagon may well have overexpanded and will suffer the consequences, especially if they are all selling the same brands of pricey yarns. But internet-savvy local yarn stores that welcome browsers are thriving, based on my experiences here and when travelling.
As any trend builds (coffee shops anyone?) there will be a number of shops that open that arent' suited to the area or don't know the business as well. Yes those will close, but the remaining ones will quality shops.
The reporter should broaden her research to other cities besides Davis, CA. Try Minneapolis or New York to get a real feel for the knitters on the street.
My knitting circle gains new people all the time and includes a lawyer, a couple professors, and other professionals as well as the grandmas and students. We're all busy women who like the local human interaction over internet sales.
"The National Needleworkers Association says yarn sales grew by 40 percent a year -- unheard-of. That run-up peaked in 2005."
The only way to judge whether knitting (and crocheting) is actually increasing or decreasing is to look at wholesale sales. Are yarn producers going out of business? Are people buying more or less yarn overall? Looking at individual local stores could be entirely misleading. Between 2001 and now, the internet basically came into existence! I'd love to hear a follow-up to this story, which had actual facts, rather than anecdotes, as support.
I agree with all the above. Next time, please make sure your reporters do their RESEARCH. Just that one thing would have revealed so much to your reporter. Yes, even the spelling error could have been avoided. A simple google search would have revealed TONS of blogs, pictures, online magazines, free (and for sale) patttern sites, sellers, podcasts, video podcasts, tons of video tutorials on youtube and on other sites, and, though I also belong to ravelry, there are other fiber communities out there, too. One in mind is Crochetville.com.
A simple trip to the Barnes and Noble magazine rack would have revealed several knitting, crochet, and spinning magazines for sale. B&N and Borders are slowly shrinking their craft sections, but this is due to the fact that people can buy the same books for cheaper online... NOT because they're not reading them at all.
Knitting groups are meeting all over the place. Check out Meetup.com. Check out the myriad of yahoo groups dedicated to knitting/crochet... just fiber in general. AND the craft is expanding, young people are integrating their ideas. People are knitting and crocheting with a variety of materials. Plastic bags, fabric strips, hemp, wire, anything you can wrap around hooks and needles.
How a reporter can report on something without doing research is amazing... maybe she doesn't get paid enough to give 100% of herself. Hey, she didn't even need to be a knitter... just to give us a little credit and respect by looking into the background of her subject. We are no different than any other culture out there. We're not all grandmothers. We are not all women! Plenty of men out there. Plenty of KIDS out there that knit and crochet.
Time to take a breath... Oh and the only thing we are worrying about is whether we can meet a deadline we set for ourselves!
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