The Finer Things - Spring 2010

It's time for our spring yarn tasting! Email info@sageyarn.com to reserve your spot.

The Finer Things*
featuring sport, fingering and laceweight yarns
and what to do with them!

Friday April 23rd
from 5-8pm
and Saturday April 24th
from 9am-12pm

10% off of all regular priced yarn during these hours!!

A yarn tasting is a time for you to stop by the store and sample some yarns that you may not try on your own. Sometimes it's hard to invest $5-$10 in a ball of yarn just for swatching... and then what happens when you don't like it? Well, sign up for either Friday night or Saturday morning and try out the yarns for FREE! We will be featuring the FINER things in the store this spring - sport, fingering and laceweight yarns. If you never work with fine yarns this is a great opportunity to try it out. Fine weight yarns are for more than just socks and lacy shawls and they're not as hard to work with as you might think!

We will provide a guidebook for you to take with you during your tasting so you can jot down your impressions of each yarn. There will be samples available to take home, a gift bag for those who've signed up, refreshments, free patterns and all of the yarn in the store is 10% off! I've already picked out the door prizes and man, they're good!

There are a limited number of slots open for sign-ups. If you don't get to sign up or choose not to sign up because you're not sure of your schedule, you can still come to shop the sale and see the yarns. You will be ineligible for the door prizes, however :)

email info@sageyarn.com to sign up!



*did you see what I did, there?

May Day Thanksgiving

AHHHhhhh.....

That's the sound of me decompressing!

THANK YOU to all who came out for the yarn tasting last weekend! I hope everyone had a good time and got to try out some yarns they wouldn't normally try. We had a lot of fun putting it together for you and seeing everyone so excited and happy is definitely good for the soul :)

I don't have any photos of everyone because I was running around a bit. I should have put someone in charge of manning the camera. Does anyone have photos? Here are a few from our preparations - if you are wondering what this yarn tasting thing is all about, here we go:

(I should note that every store does this differently, this is just what we do/have done so far)

We pick a selection of yarns, sometimes with a theme, to be put on display. We go literal and put it right out on a plate for you to taste: I put up big signs to make it easy to spot the yarns you tasted in their natural habitat (on display):

Pure Pima is my new favorite cotton!!

There were prizes! I don't even know who got what, I was so out of it!! Prizes included stitch markers, pattern books, shawl pins, yarn, etc. There were goodie bags with fun things in them. This round I decided to do Yarn Emergency kits with various little things that will help you in a pinch:

We also had some food - cheese & crackers on Friday night and coffee cake and coffee Saturday morning. We had a big table with all the yarn and a few free patterns in the center of the store and the food was in the classroom area.

I'm not sure if there was a clear "hit" of the tasting this spring like there was last spring. I'll tell you about my favorites & maybe you can chime in with yours!

1. Pure Pima from Berroco. It isn't flashy, there are no gimmicks, it is just a wonderful high quality DK weight cotton with depth and beautiful colorways. At $5.99 for 115 yds it is one of the best summer buys in the shop. It won't stretch out of shape or do anything weird and the stitch definition is fantastic!
   
2. Sprout from Classic Elite. How did they make a bulky organic cotton without it weighing a million pounds?! Earthy, fluffy, soft, beautiful with a slightly bumpy texture... I love this yarn.
3. Ok, so maybe ALL the yarns are my favorites. By default. I mean, the reps come to see us and I pick out my favorites from the hundreds that we see, so the whole store is my favorite. But every favorite has a purpose, honest!

In case you missed them, we were offering printouts of these free patterns:
Market Bag from Plymouth
Star Washcloth from Classic Elite (pdf)
Sprout Baby Blanket from Classic Elite (pdf)
Lacy Crochet Kerchief (pdf)
Also check out Aruna (crochet) and Abrianna (knit) summer tops from Berroco

I want so badly to do more events. More out in the community. More charity work. More knitting in public. I just run out of time for the organizing. If anyone is organizing anything charitable or social I will gladly promote it here or on ravelry (or you can post in the Sage group there), just let me know. I have more ideas than time to execute them!

Happy May Day & Thank you again, everyone!!

Jen

going, going, gone! (almost)

Hi Everyone,
Just a quick note to say that there are only 2 slots left for the yarn tasting for

Friday night
April 24th, from 5-8pm

The response has been unbelievable and I'm wondering what kind of food to get now that we have so many people! I can only hope and pray that you don't all show up at once :-D

I am on vacation next week, which I am looking forward to (as much as I love the store) because I'm hoping to knit, knit, knit for a week. If you need anything you can still email us/me at info@sageyarn.com

and maybe this break will give me a moment to write another real blog entry! yay!

I'll see you all soon,
Jen

Yarn Tasting, Spring 2009

The spring yarn tasting is coming up!
I announced it first in the newsletter, as usual, and the Saturday morning time filled up really quickly. I had no idea it would be so popular!

We hold yarn tastings as a time for you to get to know some new and different yarns without committing to purchasing a whole ball/skein. You get to come in and test knit on a swatch, pet the skein, and take home little yarn samples to match up to your projects. There is also food, door prizes and free goodies!

Friday, April 24th 5-8pm
Saturday, April 25th 9-12 (sat. is full!)

If you haven't signed up, shoot me an email at info@sageyarn.com

Hope to see you there!
Jen

Alpaca-success!

I am not married, but I have heard many brides say that remember very little of their wedding day - the day they had been working towards over the length of their engagement (sometimes years!).

I have almost no specific memories of Alpacapalooza... I was there, I said hi to a lot of people, met some other people I hadn't met before, I fetched yarn from the back room, answered questions, gave advice... but it was such a whirlwind weekend!!

I do know it was very successful and everyone who has talked to me has told me how much fun it was. I am SO GLAD!! I love being able to make your day! I hope you went home with some good freebies and are petting your little yarn samples.

For those of you who couldn't make it - I know there will be more in our future. As I get deeper and deeper into this business I hope to reach out to our community more and more. (Next on my to-do list: a charity something-or-other (if you have ideas, I'd love to hear them!)). Here are a few photos of the set-up from the weekend:


I don't have any photos of people - as soon as they got here I was in a daze :-) Anyone have any photos to share? Someone took a photo of me at one point.

SO

THANK YOU!

for coming to our little event! It's a big deal to us, and especially to me, to see everyone so happy (and even just to SEE everyone all in one place, people drove from all over!) and know that we could make that happen for you! :-D

Have fun with your yarn!

Jen

Saturday tasting is closed

my goodness!

I have to close sign-ups for the Saturday yarn tasting today! I didn't think we'd have that many people sign up - it's going to be one big party!!

You can still sign up for Friday, but we only have a few slots left there, also.

Sorry for the lack of blog posts... personal life interfered with blogging recently but now I'm back to work. I'll hopefully have some teaser photos for you tomorrow!

Jen

Alpacapalooza sign-ups!

For our fall yarn tasting I have picked out 10 alpaca yarns from laceweight to super bulky. The yarns will be set up for you to taste along with snacks and drinks (non-alcoholic). You'll also get a gift bag if you sign up ahead of time and there will be prizes and SURprises! AND you get to socialize over yarn! If you can't make it you can have a gift bag sent to you via snail mail.

Alpacapalooza, Sage's fall yarn tasting, will take place:

Friday night, Sept 19th from 5-8pm and

Saturday morning, Sept 20th from 9-12pm.

Whoo hoo!!

If you want to come sign up by emailing me
info@sageyarn.com

(or PMing me in Ravelry - Cadburyskeeper)

Let me know if you want to come Friday night or Saturday morning (for food preparation purposes) If you don't sign up but want to come at the last minute you can just show up! You just might not have a gift bag waiting for you because I'm making those ahead of time.

Let me know if you have any questions. Sorry about sending out the newsletter without the dates! what a bonehead move that was! It just shows how much is bouncing around my head these days...

Stash Enhancement

First of all - great big thank-you hugs to everyone who came out for the sale!! It was a tough day to get here with the fair going on and I know you had to brave the crazy drivers. There were several people who mentioned that they felt like they were stealing from us - they have some good yarn in their stash now! - but it helps so much to have a big sale like this. Not only does the yarn go to good homes but we get to fill the space where that yarn used to be (in most cases, we've already bought the new yarn to replace it...) there is so much good stuff for fall and winter knitting this year....

Secondly, why didn't you buy all this stuff? I thought for sure you would...

Because YOU didn't take it home, I took it home. And so when you go home with a ton of yarn and you think "what am I going to do with all this stuff?!" I'm SOOOOO with you on that one!!!!


Also, I'm so sorry to announce that Debby Ware's knitting workshop on Martha's Vineyard July 26th has been canceled. I included a notice about it in our June newsletter - maybe next time she's in the area we'll get to visit with her!

Have fun with all your new string!

Jen

Are you Ready? (Street Fair '08)

While I love 4th of July activities I really hate watching the news on the 5th and 6th of July. However you chose to spend your 4th I hope you had a safe and happy weekend (all fingers and toes intact)!

Since we've passed the 4th that can only mean one thing - The STREET FAIR. Out of all the downtown festivities for the summer this is the BIG ONE for us here at Sage. Here's the overview:

Wednesday July 9th & Thursday July 10th
From open, til close 9am-6pm
get here early, I tell you!

We will be repeating our GRAB BAG section, where you fill our medium-sized shopping bag - everything you can fit in there is 70% off. You can fill multiple bags and there will be a large, quality selection of yarn to choose from. Other yarns will be a flat 50% off but not in the grab bag section. There is so much yarn in this section we're pushing all the gifts in the front of the store out of the way!

This section includes yarns from: Artful Yarns, Berroco, Classic Elite, GGH, Debbie Bliss, Brown Sheep, Jo Sharp, Katia, Malabrigo, Muench, Plymouth, Reynolds, Skacel.

All of the rest of the yarn in the store is 20% off.

Back when we had our super bowl sale I remarked on how much energy and time goes into these sales and how that is the reason we only have 2 a year... well this is #2. This is it for the rest of the year. This is the time to get your stash ready for your winter/holiday/gift season projects!! Since I'm only really giving you 2 days to consider what to do for your holiday knitting/crocheting let me offer you some assistance.....

1. While your relatives and friends would be Extremely Impressed if you presented each one of them with an afghan to keep them warm this winter, consider picking a large project for only one or two people. They have to learn to understand that you can't knit/crochet using magic and make everyone a Weasley Sweater by Christmas morning. You will be a lot less StReSsEd also!
2. Consider picking a pattern that is easy for you (maybe one you've memorized) and repeating it for several people on your list. It is still special if you pick out a color and a beautiful yarn that is custom to that person on your list.
   
3. As I mentioned briefly in my last post - you might even want to make the wrapping to a small store-bought present to make it more personal. A small drawstring bag? A pretty I-cord tie? A felted flower?
4. You could always just stash yarn that you like and figure out what to do with it later. I've been known to give a box of yarn + a pattern to a family member for Christmas and say "I just wasn't sure what size you wanted."
5. Use our website to make out a shopping list!!
   

Alright. If you need some more help getting organized (you should be on Ravelry queuing up patterns!) here is a nifty spreadsheet. Punch holes in it and keep it in your pattern binder or tuck it in your project bag. Just make sure to keep it away from those you are knitting/crocheting for!!

See you Wednesday and Thursday!! Email me if you need anything! info@sageyarn.com

Jen

Yarn Tasting Success!

Wow, what a super fun weekend!! It wouldn't have been any fun without all of you who came out to taste the spring and summer yarns - THANK YOU!! If you wanted to come but missed it, I'm hoping to have them seasonally so we can try out new yarns all the time. Keep your eyes here for future info!

Here are some photos from the weekend... as soon as people got here I got really busy so I don't have many photos of actual people :-) Here's what we had set up though!

Yarn! There were 10 yarns on display and mini skeins in the gift bags. The yarns were tasted on several different types of needles - Lantern Moon Ebony, Addi Turbos, Clover Bamboo, and Kollage Palm Wood Square Needles.

There was fruit, cheese & crackers (donuts and coffee for the morning) and CANDY from Ben & Bills down the street.
There were door prizes! Yarn & a Norah Gaughan book, a Mary Kay facial & Gift Certificate to Sage, Addi Turbo Needle pack, and Handeze Gloves!

My friend Celeste drove out to help with the tasting and brought the beautiful Clapotis that she knit as a sample for us:
People came!

Horray!

Thank you, again! I'm just so happy that everyone came and had a good time. (my man and I planned a halloween party last year, invited about a dozen to 15 people and no one came even though they said they would... it's now an anxiety of ours to sit at a party by ourselves...)

Have fun with the mini-skeins!

Jen

Countdown to the yarn tasting!

Ok everyone, here's my final teaser for the Yarn Tasting! (more info by clicking here)

We stuffed gift bags today:
Look at all those mini-skeins of yarn. Enough for a little patchwork doll blanket? We have 10 kinds of yarn being displayed next week and you get a mini-skein of each....

As of right now there are very few gift bags left, so if you think you're coming next weekend make sure you email me at info@sageyarnandgifts.com or give the store a call (508-457-9513) so that we save one for you! If you're not sure what is going on and you want to just "stop by" you can certainly do that too. You'll still get to try out all the yarns, munch on snacks and socialize with the other yarn people.

See you next weekend!

Jen

Yarn Tasting Teaser

I'm spending my free time (now that I have a break from photo-editing) making mini-skeins of yarn for our yarn tasting! They're oh-so-cute and will be ready for you to take home April 18th or 19th!




I'll keep working on them so we have a whole bunch of different yarns for you.

ALSO! We have some pretty sweet door prizes from Berroco, including yarn and patterns! I won't give any more details, though.... we all love surprises!

If you're thinking of coming to the yarn tasting (even if you're not totally sure) give me an email at info@sageyarnandgifts.com just so I can have enough freebies for everyone!

Have fun with the string,

Jen

Announcing: A Yarn Tasting

You’re invited to a yarn tasting!

Who: You and any fiber-loving people you know
Where: Sage Gifts & Yarn, 263 Main St. Falmouth, MA 02540
When: Friday night April 18th from 5-8pm or
Saturday morning April 19th from 9am-12pm
What: A customer-appreciation event to celebrate spring and try out new products!
RSVP: Send me an email at info@sageyarnandgifts.com and let me know you’re coming (this ensures a goody bag is reserved for you!)

Details: Have you ever wanted to try something new but been afraid to buy a whole ball, get home, try it, HATE it and then not be able to return it?! This is your event! In our yarn tasting we will have a selection of our summer and spring yarns set up for you to try your hand at knitting or crocheting with them. We will also have a yarn passport with all of the vital details of the yarn, so you can jot down your notes and bring it home to compare with your pattern ideas. You’ll also get a chance to try out different knitting needles and crochet hooks! The same things will be out on Friday and Saturday – we’ve scheduled two times so that the night people can come at night and the day people can come during the day.

Freebies will include:

A goody bag filled with little fiber-related surprises

(should be called an “awesome bag”)

Little samples of the yarns to take home and play with

Handouts on the fiber, yarn company, trivia

Free patterns written and tested by the Sage staff

A door prize

A coupon towards the purchase of the yarns displayed


Other perks:

Getting to socialize with other yarn people (the highlight, I think!)

Fun atmosphere for a night out of the house!

Free for you and your friends – just come in and check everything out!

Proposal

I have a proposal for you & need some feedback if you don't mind...
(In the Valentine's Day season saying the word "proposal" can make anyone's ears perk up!)

Have you ever hesitated to buy a yarn because you are afraid of how it's going to knit/crochet when you work with it?

I propose holding a YARN TASTING in early April
as a celebration of spring and a look forward to summer.

A yarn tasting would include:

• balls of spring/summer yarns with a bit of knitting cast onto some needles
• free handouts on yarn in general and what you can do with each yarn specifically
• small snacks that don't get crumbs on the yarn
• a yarn passport where each yarn is listed and you can mark down your personal notes as you go
• a chance to socialize with some of the other Sage shoppers (I know if you all met each other you'd be good friends!)
  

What would we do?

Well, with all the yarns set up you could go around the circle, or down the aisles, and try a bit of knitting or crocheting on each yarn. In this way you can try out the new yarns and some old favorites without gambling any money on buying the skein (who knows, you could HATE it, right?) You could bring you yarn passport with you and make notes on whether you hated/loved/kinda liked it and what you imagine you could do with it (a tank for my little sister/a lovely shawl for myself). The passport would have all the vital stats of the yarn (the yardage, weight, knitting gauge, etc) so that you can take it home and contemplate your pattern selections and future yarn purchases. Handouts would include tips for working with certain fibers, trivia about the yarn or the company it comes from and other fun stuff.

Why else would you come?

DOOR PRIZES
GOODY BAGS & FREEBIES
MEET FUN PEOPLE

Ok, here's what I need to know - would you make the trip out here on an evening in early April? Do you think it would be super fun or a super dud? How many of you would come? (we need to have an idea so I can get the goody bags ready) Would you add anything else to the offerings?

I'll probably put this in the newsletter also but let me know what you think - I need your help.
You can leave a comment here on the blog (at the bottom of this entry, click on comments) or email me info@sageyarnandgifts.com.

Thanks in advance & have fun with the string,
Jen