Advertiser Spotlight: Webs

Once again I am here to talk to you about “America’s Favorite Yarn Store”, WEBS! I had the opportunity to get a glimpse into the World of WEBS this past weekend at Stitches Midwest. Their yarn selection there was fantastic and everyone working there was incredibly friendly and helpful.

Right now through August 31, take advantage of their Summer Sale. You can save even more on their discounted closeouts!

Things to look forward to for Fall: many great new yarns coming in, Webs’ Fall Catalog should be finding it’s way to your mailbox very soon and new Valley Yarns patterns should be available online shortly!

Advertiser Spotlight: Cheezombie

sorry for the lack of posts lately. we are back with many things to share with you!

Today we are focusing on Cheezombie, one of our Summer 2010 advertisers. Cheezombie owns an Etsy shop that shows all of her adorable funky little knitted creatures. She started her Etsy shop almost two years ago and has had great success in sales.

From what she has available today, Cheezombie focuses on cute alien type toys with big eyes, amigurumi, cute seahorses and some garden toys. Many of her designs are offered as “flat knit” versions as well.

You can also find Cheezombie designs on KnitPicks, through their Independent Designers Program.

Advertiser Spotlight: Spud & Chloe

We love Spud and Chloe. We love everything about them: the yarns, the patterns,the logo, the swag. Not to mention that the staff is made up of some of the nicest, most kind people on the planet. We had the opportunity to meet Linda (owner), Val and Merri while at TNNA (check out their CUTE booth!) and it was like we were visiting our best friends.

Spud and Chloe is a division of Blue Sky Alpacas. They offer the quality yarns that you expect from Blue Sky Alpacas, in mod, fun colors and three different yarn weights: Fine, Sweater and Outer. And get this: they are ALL machine washable. Machine Washable. Every mother’s dream!

Petite Purls feels a kinship with Spud and Chloe because we share a birthday. Both Petite and Spud came on the scene in June 2009. Spud and Chloe were welcomed to the fiber world at last year’s Summer TNNA, with Petite Purls just a couple days later.

From the beginning, Spud and Chloe has been a wonderfully generous sponsor of Petite Purls, not only as an advertiser, but also when it comes to yarn support. Many of our designers have had the opportunity to use their yarns, and they are supporting our entire Back to Basics collection. Without their support in all of these ways, Petite Purls would hardly have a leg to stand on, so we thank Spud and Chloe from the bottom of our hearts.

But enough about us! What’s new for Spud? They have recently added some new, fun colors to their yarn palette, as well as some incredibly adorable patterns. Oh, have we mentioned that one of our faves, Susan B. Anderson, is the curator of the Spud Says! blog and their top designer? What a lucky lady, huh?

To celebrate Spud and Chloe’s first birthday, they are hosting a fabulous giveaway! Not to be missed, for sure! Check out the blog and make sure you leave a comment to be entered into the drawing. And don’t forget about their wonderful package on our Birthday Giveaway! You have two chances to win great Spud and Chloe swag!

Congratulations to Spud and Chloe on year one! We look forward to seeing what great and adorable things you come up with in year two!

Advertiser Spotlight: Purlescence

We usually like to write our Advertiser Spotlight posts on Mondays, but seeing as our Summer 2010 issue will be going live that day, we thought we’d be ahead of schedule

Purlescence is a lovely online shop that focuses on luxury yarns, needles and other accessories. Robynn Weldon started the business back in 2006 wanting to be the first call for unusual, beautiful knitting and crochet supplies, supporting the finest craftspeople working in the knitting field, and to bring you exciting original patterns.

Purlescence brings you beautiful hand-dyed yarns, including Vinni’s Colors, which was featured in our Spring 2010 Crochet Corner pattern, Gecko. The shop also has beautiful wooden needles and hooks, top notch purses and storage bags, and among other things, a nice assortment of patterns.

Purlescence is definitely worth a look-see. Go check it out!

Advertiser Spotlight: Loop

We are very happy to have Loop as one of our advertisers for the Spring 2010 issue. Loop started off in 2004 as a web-only shop and expanded it’s community by opening their sweet shop in Philadelphia, PA in 2005.

Loop offers a beautiful selection of yarns, including Lorna’s Laces, Blue Sky Alpacas and Spud and Chloe (some Petite Purls faves!); Blue Sky Alpacas and Spud and Chloe patterns among others; a lovely assortment of needles and cute accessories and notions.

Loop has a nice rewards program, offering their customers discounts both in the store and online.

A Petite Purls favorite, Susan B. Anderson recently made a trip to Loop. You can check out pictures of the shop on her blog.

Loop is the sister shop to Spool (Loop spelled backwards!), the sewing component to your Philly crafting needs!

Advertiser Spotlight: Signature Needle Arts

We are happy to have Signature Needle Arts in the spotlight this week. Signature Needle Arts has been a lovely issue sponsor since our Fall 2009 Issue and we think that their needles are beautiful.

Signature Needle Arts’ website is sleek and smooth, and very easy to navigate. They carry circulars, single points, double points, as well as accessories and patterns. Each needle is constructed from aircraft quality aluminum and each point is precision turned and hand polished allowing stitches to glide effortlessly. Their needles are made 100% in the United States and meet all state and federal environmental regulations. Their commitment to having the product made here in the United States ensures you will receive a safe high quality product. It also eliminates the concern of lead poisoning and improper waste disposal. They are also concerned with the treatment of workers in foreign factories.

Signature Needle Arts is happy to announce the re-release of their circular needles! They offer three sizes of needles (4″, 5″, 6″) as well as two different points (Stiletto, Middy), in various lengths of smooth, durable cables.  Their FAQ page is incredibly helpful in helping you choose which needle would be the best for you.

Two things that I really love about Signature Needle Arts, besides their beautiful needles are the straight needle cap style options and their sock blockers. Classy and cute at the same time!

If you haven’t checked out their products, I highly suggest you do. Thank you Signature Needle Arts for your support.

Advertiser Spotlight: Bundles of Joy Club

We are happy to introduce to you one of our newest advertisers, the Bundles of Joy Club! Danielle Romanetti is the mastermind behind Knit-a-Gogo, Inc., which opened back in 2006, offering knitting classes, parties and events to coffee shops and bakeries in the Metro DC area. Danielle was the sole teacher and operator until 2008,when she expanded to six teachers and three locations. Knit-a-Gogo finally found it’s permanent home in 2009 at fibre space, which is a full service knitting and crochet community offering yarn, needles and notions as well as classes, parties and events.

fibre space offers yarn clubs, and they are very excited about their newest addition, the Bundles of Joy Club! We think that Petite Purls readers are going to go crazy for this club. We asked Daniella about the club, and this is what she had to say:

Several customers asked for a version of our fibre girl club that was focused on baby projects, as many of their friends and family are expecting. I have never seen a yarn club focused on baby projects and decided that this would be a great way to get new original patterns in the hands of my customers. I contacted five designers: Sally Rainey,  Kristen Rengren, Courtney Kelley, Kate Gagnon & Tanis Gray to create original patterns for our club.

The club details:

Our club features bundles of joy for your bundles of joy!  Spoil the little ones in your life with a colorful and luxurious sweater,  dress or blanket. Clothing items will be sized from newborn to 18  months. Projects will be intermediate level:

Baby blanket in a custom color, exclusive to the club

Girl’s dress

Gender neutral baby sweater and booties

Boy’s sweater

This club is for the babes who love bold and colorful garments! The  fibres featured in our club are all hand dyed or kettle dyed and do contain animal fibres. Each package will contain an original pattern and enough yarn to  complete the largest size of the pattern. Because the yarns are hand  dyed and unique, additional yarn will not be available.

Shipments will begin in May and end in August, shipped by the 25th of each month.

The cost of the club is $225 and shipping is $20. In store pick up is an option as well.

So what are you waiting for? Shipments begin May 24, 2010, so go sign up!

Advertiser Spotlight: Elann.com

We are happy to welcome Elann.com to our list of sponsors for the Spring 2010 Issue. Elann.com has been the online knitting community’s standard for excellence in quality, value, and service since 1995. If you are not familiar with Elann.com, they strive to you offer you yarns you’ll love at prices you’ll adore!

Elann.com offers you the best of all possible worlds by offering you two distinct yarn collections:

The Market Collection: Elann.com offers name brand yarns at amazing discounts. From a host of internationally loved and trusted yarn companies, you’ll find the very best the knitting yarn market has to offer at Elann.com at greatly reduced prices. Often these are discontinued lines and colors, and occasionally, they are special volume purchases of current market favorites.

The Elann.com Collection: quality yarns, spun especially for Elann.com at fabulous savings. From renowned and trusted mills all over the world, we purchase top quality yarns in large volume, and then we pass the savings on to you. Through our own mill-direct collection, we strive to offer you the weights, colors and fiber mixes you want most, at the lowest possible prices.

Elann.com offers samples “snip” and sample skein subscriptions for their closeout and special purchase yarns each Tuesday. Customers love these subscriptions as the full purchase price of the subscription is available to them as electronic vouchers ($2.50 each) that can be applied to future yarn purchases (one $2.50 voucher can be used for every $25.00 of yarn).

This Baby Pinwheel Jacket was knit in Elann.com Peruvian Highland Wool.

Elann.com has launched a new, very beautiful version of their website and one of the areas that they’ve really been able to improve is the Project Gallery. The new project gallery supports multiple images per project and also allows their customers to submit their projects for contests and to vote on submitted projects for contests. They are currently running a contest until the end of April that we would like to encourage Petite Purls readers to join. Contest entries can be submitted to their Project Gallery, the only caveat is that the finished project needs to be made from Elann.com  Peruvian Highland Wool. They are offering 5 prizes of $100 elann dollar credits.

Advertiser Spotlight: WEBS

We are thrilled to have WEBS: America’s Yarn Store as one of our lovely sponsors. If you have never visited their site, go immediately after reading this post. You will not be disappointed. The yarn selection is unbelieveable and it’s usually offered at fantastic prices.

WEBS, owned by Steve and Kathy Elkins, is a online store as well as a retail shop (and 21,000 sq. ft warehouse of yarny goodness!) in Northhampton, MA. Kathy and Steve host a weekly podcast, READY, SET, KNIT! where they discuss new yarns, sale yarns, other shop news as well as interviews and knitalongs.

Every year in April and May, WEBS celebrates its anniversary with a huge sale! This year marks the 36th year in business, and there will be loads of fantastic non-closeout yarns on sale! Staples like Cascade 220 ($4.89 per skein), Plymouth Encore ($3.69 per ball), and more will be on sale throughout April and May. WEBS will also have other great yarns that are on sale only for the month of April and only for the month of May!

The Anniversary Sale will run from April 1st – May 31st and it’s a great time to stock up on favorite yarns for the rest of the year!

The anniversary sale leads up to the biggest in-store event of the year – the Tent Sale! This year’s Tent Sale will take place on Saturday and Sunday, May 15th and 16th, and is definitely worth the trip if you’re within driving distance. Not only will they have the anniversary sale yarns available for purchase, they set up a huge tent in front of the store and you’ll find incredible deals on closeout yarns. On Saturday, May 15th WEBS also hosts the Fleece Market. Local shepherds set up around the perimeter of the parking lot and offer fleeces, yarns, and other goodies from their flocks!

Valley Yarns is WEBS own brand of yarn that is sourced from all over the world. These beautiful yarns are available at great prices. The newest addition to the Valley Yarns line is Greenfield – a 100% unmercerized Egyptian cotton available in a wonderful palette. This cotton yarn is perfect for warmer weather. Be sure to check out Valley Yarns exclusive line of patterns as well, including 301 Oriel Cardigan knit in Greenfield. This top-down cardigan is perfect for spring and summer, and since it’s top-down, you can customize it by making it longer, shorter, or adjusting the sleeve length!

The next WEBS catalog, out this summer is the annual Valley Yarns catalog and will be jam-packed with Valley Yarns, and exclusive designs. Sign up for a catalog here, or view WEBS’ catalogs online.

A Yarn Julep Giveaway!!

Yarn Julep is celebrating the Spring Issue of Petite Purls and still keeping it green…

We’re giving away a huge green inspired prize package for some lucky reader of the Spring 2010 issue. Included in the prize package is a complete set of Etimo crochet hooks and because we have just started carrying the steel sets, we will give the winner a choice of getting either the regular or steel set. Also included in the package is a handy Speed gauge tool manufactured by the Tulip company, those wonderful folks who make the Etimo hooks.

In keeping with the green theme we are adding a pre-owned, gently used Liz Claiborne bag to be used as a project bag. Yarn Julep is always on the lookout to repurpose handbags and totes into the ultimate crochet or knitting bag and this one just “screamed” project bag with its ample bottom gusset and organizer pockets. And lastly, the remaining unraveled and repurposed yarn from the Maggie Bean doll is included along with an assortment of Kool-aid packets so you can try your hand at dying with Kool-aid.

All you have to do is read the Spring Issue of Petite Purls, which you’ve probably already done. Then come back to the Petite Purls blog and answer the following four simple questions to be eligible for the drawing:

1. Name 2 of the 4 ingredients Vickie Howell uses to render the color in her guilt-free dye.

2. In Betz White’s book “Sewing Green”, what additional section has she added to the book, that will be of help in the search for green crafting materials?

3.What is “Gecko” and what was the name inspiration?

4. According to Stefanie Japel,  the designer of the “Tshirt Yarn Bib”, what does the term ”Upcycle” mean?