Crowing Ram

Yup. That pretty much says it. Though, in all honesty, I’ve not known too many paper hangers, and I’d think most one-armed persons would genuinely try to avoid the job.

My sincere thanks to those of you who’ve noticed and commented on the updates to the looks at Rob’s blog and the main site. It has been a significant effort, and there’ve been lots of other things going on concurrently, so basically, we’ve been living at the shop and working in those few hours we’re actually at the house. That said, I have to say it’s paying off. In an industry and in an economy where so many people have lost so much, we’ve continued to see overall gains. We’re deeply grateful, and we certainly couldn’t do it without the support of the amazing family of knitters who work at ThreadBear and, of course, our amazing client base.

We always enjoy seeing our customers, but there’s another group of people that are also a delight to see. Our vendors and sales reps play a huge part in everything that we do, and this is the time one of the times of year that we get to see quite a bit of them. The TNNA NeedleArts Market in June in Columbus, Ohio, is—to my knowledge—the largest wholesale-only yarn sales convention in the country, and we do see most all of our vendors there. We get to talk with the people who source the yarns, design the garments, and—in many cases—design the yarns that come to market in the fall. Fortunately for us, we also have a great relationship with many of the sales reps that service this part of Michigan, so we’re frequently the first to see the new lines as our reps receive their marketing materials from their vendors in preparation for Market in June.

A good relationship with a trusted sales rep is wonderful. They get the inside skinny from each of their vendors about what they see coming down the pike, and because they do see numerous shops in your region, they have a good idea of what’s selling, why, and very often how. That’s not to say that they make all stores exactly alike… quite the contrary. A good sales rep understands the differences of personality of ownership, staff, and clientele, regional trending, and what each store is known for within a given area and can advise each store individually.

Vendors, by contrast, know their lines upside-down and sideways. They know their designers, know their mills, and know their own internal sales and service force. They frequently know how to market their own product, but they’re also generally at the very forefront of what’s going on within the industry on the grand scale. Some vendors even spend time in the world’s fashion centers staying abreast of what we can expect to see style-wise over the next several years from color and texture to accessories and garment styling.

It really is an industry unto itself. It is a part of the fashion industry, certainly, but there’s also a significant portion of the industry that moves somewhat independently of current trends in fashion. As handknitters, handspinners, handcrocheters, and handweavers, we have, quite literally, at our fingertips a living history of textiles that never go out of style, and vendors, sales reps, and store owners forget that at their peril. There are great numbers of us who will never be “early adopters” where fashion is concerned, but by sticking to traditional, elegant, sophisticated garments that stand the test of time, we are assured that we’ll get years of wear from our investment of time and money.

But we mustn’t forget the designers. The plethora of independent pattern designers gives many shop owners pause, and that’s certainly understandable. It’s impossible to stock everything, and there’s certainly no guarantee that the beautiful garment pictured in the photo is going to be reasonably achieved by following a particular set of instructions to the letter. There are, however, a very good number of designers turning out some excellent product, and we’re grateful to have several of them featured in our own stock.

So far this season, we’ve visited with several sales reps, and we have yet another meeting in the morning, so I’ll head out now as the hour nears midnight. But to give you some idea of what we’ve already seen, here’s an incomplete (and no tiny bit fuzzy—seriously, my eyes are drooping horribly) list: Aslan Trends, Brown Sheep, Colinette, Elegant, Fiesta, Filatura di Crosa, Manos del Uruguay, Nashua, Needful Yarns, Regia, Stacy Charles, and Tahki (yes, they are listed alphabetically—I’m goofy, but I’m not stupid). As of this time tomorrow, we’ll also be able to add Classic Elite, Knit One Crochet Two, and… hmm… I know there’s another one in there, but I can’t come up with it at the moment. Anyway, we’ve got a date with a particularly nice and capable rep tomorrow, and I’m genuinely looking forward to it despite the work that will undoubtedly go into the visit.

For now, good night. And wooly dreams!