Positive Yarn

After a long winter that provided your customers ample opportunity to curl up with that favorite project or play with the goodies they bought with their Christmas gift card (to your store, of course!), warm weather is finally upon us. Unfortunately, that also means customers may be thinking more about their gardens than their craft rooms. Let’s look at 5 ways to get them back to thinking about your business all summer long.

1. Have a stitch-out. You’ve probably hosted your share of stitch-ins during the colder months, especially when everyone was concerned about finishing up their holiday presents. But what about a “stitch-out”? Set up a canopy in the parking lot or in your yard, if you have one. Place some comfy lawn chairs and a table for some warm-weather snacks and invite your favorite customers to sit a spell. This is an ideal time to bring out your clearance inventory for display, too. After all, it’s primo garage sale season, so why can’t your store have one, too? By the way, if you feel like grilling out early on, May is National Bar-B-Que, Beef, Salad, Egg, Strawberry and Asparagus Month. It’s also National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month, so maybe hold the eggs and strawberries.
2. Deck the halls. It’s never too early to start thinking about holiday projects. Pick an endcap and dress it up like a fireplace mantle. Scatter some fake snow all around and pick your favorite Santa, snowmen, mitten and other wintery patterns to showcase. Have a “Countdown to Christmas” behind the register — your customers may giggle at the “238 days till…” but it will also remind them that if think they want to have stockings done for all their kids, they better start picking up some threads.
3. Embrace sun and fun. Take the opportunity to have another part of the store reflect the season. Stock some pretty knitting needles and yarns displayed in an array of flower pots. Fill a kiddie pool with clearance kits. Highlight your kits for summer flip-flops, belts and sun hats.
4. Host a “staycation sweepstakes.” The economy has made staying at home for vacation chic, so why not help customers out even more? Try offering discount coupons with purchase for the local zoo, restaurant, or some other attraction that your customers might be heading toward soon. Better yet, network with other business owners to see if you can work out a swap — you offer a discount coupon for the local boutique and they offer their customers a coupon for your shop, for example. If nothing else, just offering customers a chance to win a gas gift card is always welcome.
5. Cater to kids. Kids get bored. I speak from experience here, as both a former bored kid and as a harried mom. Summer vacation seems like such a cool thing until a few weeks in, when they’ve mastered every game they own on their Nintendo DS, have gone swimming at every neighbor’s house they could, and are starting to recite SpongeBob Squarepants episodes from memory. If they get dragged along to your shop, why not keep them occupied? Devote a small space to a TV playing a kid-friendly DVD (the DVD player can always get repurposed during stitching times for a technique series, for example), and set up a children’s table and chair set with some paper and crayons. Some sewing cards and yarn could be an early introduction to basic stitches, although you may want to keep those on a higher shelf — toddlers might think the plastic needle is tasty. Also, set up a “hip” endcap (just don’t call it “hip,” you oldster!) showcasing patterns that might appeal to teens and yes, tweens, too. If you’re looking for inspiration, look to Knitty.com or Sublime Stitching for starters. If beading is in your repertoire, consider stocking Kalmbach Publishing’s new “Cool Jewels: Beading Projects for Teens” to keep the summer boredom at bay.

Ready, set, go? If you have summer success stories to share, let me know! Comment below or email me.

My daughters are 9 and 6, and sometimes I watch as they go about their daily routines. I think about how environmentally conscious they already are, thanks to steady reinforcement from school, TV and (I hope) what their dad and I do to encourage them to respect the planet. I know that when they grow up and have families of their own, it will probably be second nature to them to sort their recycling for cans, paper and glass, for example.

We are by no means an ultra-tree-hugging family. But we try to educate the girls — and sometimes, remind ourselves — that every little bit helps when it comes to the environment. I think it was even instilled in my husband and me as kids in the late ’70s/early ’80s, with Woodsy Owl telling us to give a hoot and not pollute (although in my mind’s eye, he then tears off a wrapper of a Tootsie Pop… but I digress).

As consumers, we try to support “green” manufacturers and service providers; as parents, we try to build a similar awareness for our kids as they evolve into consumers themselves. And I know we’re not alone. With the 39th(!) annual Earth Day taking place in a mere three weeks, are you tying in any marketing initiatives to mark the event?

On his Green Spot Blog, marketing guru Robert Piller offers seven promotion ideas to celebrate Earth Day. From tote bags to rewarding customers who bring in recyclables (maybe tweak that to be old-but-viable fibers from their stash that can either be used in a charitable project or rolled into a fun white elephant sale later in the year) to the concept of “Green Fridays,” Piller gets the ball rolling in a big way with his great ideas.

Maybe this is the year to start small, with an “Eco-Endcap,” if you will: Put together a display of the environmentally friendly products you carry, from bamboo knitting needles to organic fibers to patterns printed on recycled paper. Speaking of patterns, bring together any wildlife or nature-themed samples you may have. Or, go in a different direction: Do you have an old kit of this lying around the shop? Think you can pull off a set of placemats doing this? How about going practical with all the different ways to make totes and other pretties from recycled materials?

And if you forgo celebrating April 22 specifically, there are plenty of other things to celebrate. April is, after all:

• National Humor Month
• International Guitar Month
• Keep America Beautiful Month
• Lawn and Garden Month
• Poetry Month
• National Pecan Month
• National Welding Month
• Records and Information Management Month
• Stress Awareness Month
• Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Unfortunately, we missed International Tatting Day. But next Tuesday is No Housework Day, and I can really get behind that.

Photo credit: iStockphoto

Easter is still three weeks away, so in the meantime I’m turning my attention to other events — namely, the Medina Needlework Guild Needle Art Show being held this weekend at the Brunswick Library. I’m helping check in entries on Thursday, and helping demonstrate (and keep an eye on “overly tactile” kids and adults) on Saturday and Sunday. I also need to figure out what on earth I’m going to enter myself, and whether I want it to be judged. I am in awe of our judges; I know Sandy Rodgers personally, and Carol Lynn Stratton and Carla Waggoner by reputation. I’ve also jokingly said that the five-year time limit on finished pieces is a bummer, as I’m so slow in finishing anything that it severely cuts down on what I’m able to enter. Still, I’ll figure something out.

How did you celebrate National Quilting Day, which was last Saturday? I went to the Medina Library to see my friend Kathleen Clark and her fellow quilt guild members sit and stitch. They were garnering some interest — and with some of their gorgeous quilts on display, how could they not?

But if you missed out on March 21, remember that according to the Craft & Hobby Association, March is National Craft Month — and if you haven’t already made your customers aware, you still have a week to do so. With household budgets ever tighter, show customers (and potential customers) that they can have family fun as well as a little keepsake of their bonding time. It’s much more meaningful than another movie ticket stub or fast-food meal receipt.

Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention baseball this time of year — and The National NeedleArts Association is once again spearheading the Stitch n’ Pitch program. There’s even a “Stitch n’ Pitch Day” on April 19 at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY, as well as the local-market events at MLB cities nationwide.

How are you getting in on the act of special events this spring? How are you working it into your marketing plans? Let us know by commenting below or emailing me at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com.

I saw the sun today, and here in Northeast Ohio, that’s pretty inspiring.

Oh sure, I had to endure a heavy downpour as I drove the kids to the bus stop (I didn’t want them to have to stand out there like drenched rats), but around 10:30 the skies cleared and as I type this, it’s darn near springlike outside.

Enhancing my appreciation for Mother Nature today is my “virtual friend” Karen Stahlecker, who lives in Woodstock, IL, and is the proprietor of Will Oaks Studio. She sent me a link to her IndiePublic site that shows a pretty cool photo album, Winter Walk. It’s also on her blog (www.willoaksstudio.blogspot.com). She, too, admits she’s getting “a little itchy for spring” to arrive, and in the meantime was looking for a bit of inspiration. Karen makes some amazing jewelry pieces, and I can easily see how what caught her eye to photograph on her nature walk could translate into her future pieces.

As for me, the impact is fairly concrete. There is a Dimensions Gold Collection kit I have been working on since before we moved into our house — which, by the way, will be six years ago in April. (Refer back to my procrastination post if necessary; otherwise, my timing here should surprise exactly no one!) “Wreath of All Seasons” is literally at the point where all it needs is about 25% more outline, and perhaps a stray filled-in thread or two. The trouble was that I once, quite foolishly, stuffed a red folder into my needlework bag on a misty day not unlike today. The middle of the piece has just a tinge of pink splotches, and every time I look at it, I get upset. Here’s a photo:

I know, I know — I should have rolled the cloth over a paper towel tube, not folded the piece. But at the time, I had no inkling I would leave it alone for years on end.

My husband, who at one point has opined that perhaps he will just staple the pattern to the wall (I have refused to hang anything above the fireplace mantle but this, upon its completion), doesn’t see the splotches. He doesn’t see why I get upset. He does see a lot of work that has already been put into the piece, and believes that I should just muster one more push to see it through.

I’m starting to think he’s right. I think I can get it done within a week or so (trying to figure out where I left off takes concentration skills best put off until after the girls go to bed). I’ve extracted a promise from him to make getting it finished and framed professionally my birthday present.

When I brought the piece upstairs from the depths of my basement craft room, I started realizing just how far I’ve come, technique-wise, in the last five years. I see mistakes — some of which I fix, some that I don’t. It makes me feel good, actually, to know that I’ve evolved as a stitcher.

Nature isn’t perfect, and my pink-tinged masterpiece won’t be, either. But both are an inspiration.

Forget Christmas red and green for a minute — do you know what colorways you’ll be stocking inventory in after the holidays?

The Pantone Color Institute, which provides color standards to design industries, offers its Top 10 shades for Spring 2009. Some of it builds upon already-popular colors: Where Fall 2008 had a lot of dark blue and purple, for example, this spring gives way to sky (oh all right, Palace)
blue and lavender.

Here are Pantone’s Top 10. Please note that I’ve just approximated the colors in HTML. In addition, your browser may display the colors slightly differently — that’s why the Pantone Number is included!

Fuchsia Red: PANTONE 18-2328

Salmon Rose: PANTONE 15-1626

Palace Blue: PANTONE 18-4043

Lucite Green: PANTONE 14-5714

Super Lemon: PANTONE 14-0754

Dark Citron: PANTONE 16-0435

Lavender: PANTONE 15-3817

Vibrant Green: PANTONE 16-6339

Slate Gray: PANTONE 16-5804

Rose Dust: PANTONE 14-1307