Positive Yarn

iContact is the absolutely fantastic permission-based email marketing provider I use for sending my monthly e-newsletter, Positive Yarn’s Tips & Trends, as well as for several client email newsletters and announcements. iContact recently announced its compilation of the Top 10 Days for sending holiday emails in 2009.

This handsome snowman stood guard in front of Studio Knit's shop in Medina, OH, during the city-wide 2008 Candlelight Walk weekend. The 2009 Weekend festivities start tomorrow, and I look forward to seeing what Anita and her crew will do to celebrate it this year!

Nov. 2 has come and gone, of course, and Nov. 25 is coming pretty darn quick. But the other days are worth considering as opportunities to reach out to customers with news of your holiday sales, ongoing charity programs, in-shop events and classes, etc.:

1. Monday After Halloween: Nov. 2
2. Day Before Thanksgiving: Nov. 25 (let your customers know what you’re thankful for this year — including them)
3. Black Friday: Nov. 27 (great time to give them a coupon to keep them in the shopping mood)
4. Cyber Monday: Nov. 30 (appeal to their high-tech side… maybe invite them to become a fan of your Facebook page)
5. First Friday of December: Dec. 4
6. Second Friday of December: Dec. 11
7. Friday Before Christmas: Dec. 18
8. Monday Before Christmas: Dec. 21
9. Day After Christmas: Dec. 26
10. Monday After Christmas: Dec. 28

So what do you think? Do you agree with these send dates, and are you planning to target those dates with your own online efforts? I want to know! Drop me a line at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com or comment below!

Kudos to Heights Arts, a nonprofit organization for the Cleveland suburbs of Cleveland Heights and University Heights, for keeping the art of needlework fresh and relevant. Among the group’s diverse slate of art programs is Knitscape. Led by artist-in-residence Carol Hummel, the goals of the “temporary community public art project” are, according to the Web site, threefold:

1. To demonstrate on a temporary basis how art can visually unify the streetscape
2. To create a community around an art project
3. To make people smile as they encounter unexpected art in their daily lives

Hummel, who holds a master’s of fine arts degree from Kent State University (my alma mater, so naturally I’m biased!), had previously showed off her fiber skills in the 2005-06 installation of “Tree Cozy,” part of Heights Arts’ Sculpture in the Heights program. Her vision as executed involved “covering a tree — a natural object representing masculinity and strength — with a cozy — an emphatically handmade blanket representing femininity and comfort.” The chosen tree happened to be in front of Cleveland Heights’ City Hall.

Knitscape is much more ambitious than just a single tree; in fact, plans call for a “visual line of color and pattern in the (neighborhoods of) Cedar Lee and Larchmere business districts with parking meter poles and selected trees being covered by colorful knitted and crocheted sheathes.”

Knitscape is being sponsored by several arts- and community-minded local businesses and organizations. A few of them are even needlework-friendly in nature, including Pepperell Braiding Co., Fine Points Yarn Shop and Wool & Willow Needlepoint.

“Yarn tagging” seems to have caught on in recent years as a strange hybrid of crafting, “guerilla art,” grafitti and rebellion. While the subversive actions of a rogue group of knitters doesn’t seem like too much of a widespread problem, it’s nice to see this particular yarn display has not only the permission, but the encouragement of the surrounding community.

However, perhaps it’s still not without its detractors. In June, a prototype done for a parking meter in front of the Heights Art Gallery on Lee Road caused a bit of a stir. First, a police officer stopped Hummel in mid-installation, saying there was a complaint filed. When Hummel explained she had proper clearance from the city to cover the parking meter poles in this fashion, the officer left her to complete her task. Later that evening, the needlework mysteriously disappeared. I’m certainly glad that this isolated incident didn’t deter Hummel from her large-scale installation!

I know some yarn shop businesses are “tagging” trees and other nearby fixtures as a way of drawing attention and inviting curious passer-by to have a look inside. My own LYS, Studio Knit, does it year-round, but I thought it used the concept to particularly great effect this winter during the annual Candlelight Walk downtown festival:

Studio Knit's snowman

My question to you is two-fold: What are you doing with your local artist organizations to promote the idea of needlework as a vibrant form of creative expression? And are you doing your own “installations” with success? Join the conversation! Give me a shout below or email me at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com. Photos are welcomed!

It’s been a busy week already, and it’s only Tuesday! I just wanted to publicly thank Mike Hartnett over at Creative Leisure News for publishing my musings about using social media in the craft and needle arts industries. He turned it into two separate technology columns in the January 19 and February 2 editions. When I first retired from my job as managing editor of a business-to-business magazine, I wanted to jump right into doing writing, editing and marketing for things that I loved, like scrapbooking and the fiber arts. Mike’s bi-weekly e-newsletter was one of the first things I signed up for, to educate myself about the business side of the craft and hobby field. Mike himself has always lent a listening ear and a bit of advice along the way, and for that I’m truly grateful!

I still drop everything when I see CLN hit my in-box.

On another note, I just saw the weather forecast here in Northeast Ohio, and tomorrow is bringing more snow. I just can’t believe I look forward to this stuff when I’m sweltering hot in July. I guess I have a short memory.

I’ll leave you with this shot of a “tagged” tree outside Studio Knit in Medina, OH. (By the way, Owner Anita Byrd sent her latest e-newsletter today, which touts that the shop is going green with logoed canvas bags. As an incentive to buy one for $5, she’s offering 5% off future purchases when you use the bag. Kudos, Anita!)

Now this is the kind of snow I like all year long: