Building a Digital Crochet Business | Podcast Episode #63

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Do you have a yarn business or want to have a yarn business?

If so, you’ll want to listen to today’s episode! Starting a yarn business is the best decision I’ve ever made although not the easiest. I want nothing more than to share my experience and the experience of my guest with you so that you too can build the business you’ve always wanted.

Special Guest

I’m joined by, Kate, from Love Crafts, one of the largest digital yarn businesses there is! She graciously shares her experience and peels back the curtains a bit into the business giving us an invaluable perspective on how we can start our own yarn business or grow the one we currently have.

Episode Transcript

Brittany:
Hey there and welcome to episode number 63 of the BHooked podcast. I’m so glad you’re joining me today because I’m sharing a topic that I’m pretty sure you figured out I’m very passionate about, right? I love entrepreneurship. I love sharing my journey and other people’s journey and how they start their own business because when you reach that point where you have your own business, you work for yourself and Yes, the struggle is real. It’s very stressful. But I couldn’t imagine life any other way. I am so grateful and so blessed to be able to do what I do every day. And I just want nothing else to be able to have maybe you do the same if that’s what you want to do.

So In today’s show today, we’re going to continue on the theme of yarn appreciation, but we’re going to do so in a slightly different way because we’re talking about how to build a digital yarn business. And to do that, I brought on a very special guest. Her name is Kate and she works with Lovecrafts, somebody I have had the pleasure of sharing a meal with. Kate is just a wonderful person and man, she shares the goods for us here today.

Before we get started today, I want to take a quick moment to thank our sponsor, Yarnspirations. While I do want to make sure you don’t forget about that project that we’re working on this week, the Summer Ripple Afghan, you can find all of the information for that project on the show notes page. And the show notes page for today’s episode is BeHookedCrochet.com slash session 063.

Well, Yarnspirations is your online destination for incredible inspiration and patterns. Now you may have missed the Simply Soft sale that was available last week and Simply Soft is the Yarn that we’re using for this project. We need nine skeins or three skeins of each of three colors.

Well, I have good news for you if you missed that sale and you still want to get in on this project. You can save 20% off of your order of $40 or more at yarnspirations.com and all you have to do is enter the coupon code BEHOOKEDPOD. That’s 20% off the brands you love like Peyton, Bernat, Karen, and Lily Sugar and Cream.

Once again, that coupon code is BeHookedPod. And if you want to get in on that summer ripple afghan that I’m working with that several of your peers are working on right now, all you have to do is order your yarn, use the coupon code BeHookedPod. That’s going to save you 20%. And then check out the show notes page for a link to the tutorial, which walks you through the stitch pattern of the afghan. And I’ll also link to my post as well, which has my thoughts and experience with the project.

Now let’s go ahead and give Kate a big warm welcome to the Be Hooked podcast. Kate, hi, welcome to the show.

Kate: 3:29
Thanks. I’m so excited to be here.

Brittany: 3:31
Well, first of all, I’m so grateful that you’re here because for me to be able to share just a little snippet of your wisdom in terms of building a digital crafting business just makes my day. So I’m really excited to dive into that because I know that you, well, you’ve lived it. You have basically been in the trenches with a, well, what I would say is probably one of the largest online digital crafting businesses there is. So can you tell me a little bit about… you, your journey, and how you got into this world of digital crafting?

Kate: 4:10
Sure. Yeah, so I guess I’ve been with Lovecraft for about, a little over three years now. I actually started my career in investment banking, so a far cry from digital processing. Yeah, I quickly found out it wasn’t for me. And really when I was looking for a new role, it kind of came down to the opportunity to kind of grow and learn and also the people. So when I came across Lovecraft and I met a bunch of the people that started the company and had been working there when I joined, I just felt like it was a great fit. Everyone was super nice, and I think when you spend your time with people all day long, you want to make sure that it’s people you like, and that’s really what drew me in. I actually wasn’t a crafter in the sense of knitting or crocheting before that, but I’ve since learned, and I’m really glad that I got this opportunity to work for this company because it’s been a great ride so far.

Brittany: 5:10
Yeah, that’s really interesting to see how you made that transition from something that was completely different to what you’re doing now. Where was the parallel for you? What drew you, I guess, to this fiber arts company?

Kate: 5:27
Yeah, well, I think what I learned in my first kind of career of investment banking was that I really wanted to work with a tangible product. And I guess it doesn’t get much more tangible than yarn. People love touching it. It’s such a tactile product. And I knew I wanted to work in something digital because you just learn so quickly. You get instant reaction to all the kind of activities you do because it’s all online. You can test things really easily. And in investment banking, you’re sort of analyzing companies and what they’re doing. But in a company like ours, you know, you’re actually the one making stuff happen. And I think it’s that making stuff happen in a business that’s all about making is what’s really kind of fun about it. So yeah.

Brittany: 6:15
Oh, okay. So your role, really, it sounds more analytical. So you’re kind of analyzing how that online business is performing. Is that kind of true?

Kate: 6:26
Yeah, so I think that’s kind of one of the things that I was able to bring with me from my previous career is that those analytical capabilities and sort of looking at the numbers and seeing how people are behaving on the site, what they’re buying, how much time they’re spending on the site, what they’re looking at, and bringing that kind of analysis to make sense. better decisions for the company and for the customer so we can improve kind of the experience and just make it the best it can be, make sure we have the right products and that people can find what they’re looking for and the inspiration that they’re looking for. Yeah.

Brittany: 7:03
I like how you just said that right here at the start too is one of the biggest things for me is my goal is to buy from or support a company who has my best interest in mind. At least I understand that a business is a business and businesses are there to make money, but they’re also there to solve problems for people.

Kate: 7:25
Yeah. I mean, that’s why we started because we saw an opportunity to kind of bring the inspiration side and the product side together to make it easier for a customer once they get inspired by a pattern or a picture that they see that they can find something they want to make and then have kind of within a few clicks, have all the materials they need to make it coming straight to them without having to wait online or drive to a store. So that’s absolutely the kind of, we’re trying to solve that problem and just make it easier for people to make more and make more often.

Brittany: 8:02
Yeah. So I’m curious because you said you weren’t a crafter before and you since learned. I know that knitting and crochet is somewhat contagious when you see somebody doing it. There is just a natural curiosity, I think, for people who don’t do it. When they see somebody doing it, they want to learn more about it. Which craft did you learn first? Did you start knitting or crocheting first?

Kate: 8:27
I started with knitting. That was our flagship brand was Love Knitting. We added Love Crochet after. So I think that’s why I started with knitting.

Brittany: 8:37
Yeah. Do you still do that today? Is that kind of like your first love?

Kate: 8:44
You know, it’s so hard to say because I like to crochet as well. I do both still. It sort of depends on the project or kind of sometimes the timeline. I found crocheting, if there’s like a baby involved and you have a specific timeline of a due date, can be a little bit faster for me. So I tend to go towards that in those situations or if there’s really a pattern that kind of, catches my eye. Um, but I, I like to do both and I, I really enjoy just the process of, of doing that. And I think, um, it really helps me just kind of in the evenings. I like to do it after work when I have a bit of, you know, kind of that nervous energy when you had a busy day and you just like to wind down. So I can’t, I can’t really choose, which is my favorite to be honest.

Brittany: 9:35
Yeah. I completely agree with that. It’s such a hard question to answer. I do say that crochet is my first love because it’s really what gave me the life that I have now that I’m just infinitely grateful for. But knitting is– I don’t know. I find myself like drawn to it for, like you said, different types of projects. So for me, knitting is more of like a therapeutic process because I know that it’s going to take longer. It’s almost more meditative and– I find myself being drawn to natural fibers in terms of knitting. I love to crochet with different types of acrylics. And I think there’s a great purpose for pairing the style of stitch that you get from a crochet hook with an acrylic yarn. But there’s just nothing like feeling a squishy… high quality wool sweater or blanket or scarf or whatever it is.

So that’s interesting. Who did you learn from? Did somebody, one of your coworkers teach you?

Kate: 10:39
I’m trying to remember. I think I actually taught myself with YouTube. I kind of got, I had a lot of people telling me, you know, you should try because I would see stuff and I’d be like, I want to make this, but I don’t know how. And they really encouraged me, but I think I taught myself it was less pressure to kind of be on my own and able to rewind and replay the video as much as possible. So, yeah.

Brittany: 11:05
Yeah, that’s really cool. I think a lot of people can relate to that story. So to circle back around to digital crafting, first of all, I kind of like to– I don’t like to assume that anybody understands anything. So I think it’s a very basic element. How would you define or describe what a digital crafting business is? Because for me, a couple things come up. Like it could be bloggers, like somebody like myself. It could be designers. It could be somebody who sells on Etsy or a large company like yours. Do you think all of these things are forms of a digital crafting business?

Kate: 11:46
I think it’s really… all of those things and I think one of my favorite things about the industry is that you have all these different kinds of businesses and different kinds of people with all different kinds of motivations quite quite honestly you know some people are doing it because they love the craft um and I really respect that and I I’m actually you know I can’t imagine a better kind of life or career than kind of what you’re doing. Like you found something you loved and you’ve made it into a business.

Um, but then there’s also kind of the people that, you know, see an opportunity or, um, they’re really good at one thing like, you know, making yarn. That’s, you know, a lot of the people that I’ve met in the industry that work in yarn, um, or are manufacturers or manufacturers of it, uh, aren’t necessarily, uh, crafters or they’re not knitting with it all the time. There’s obviously people in their company that are and that are testing it. But I really think it spans all of those areas from kind of inspiration, pattern design, or kind of content creation, explaining how to make things, which really empowers people all the way to the finished product. It’s kind of all different parts of the journey that I think those businesses are touching on.

Brittany: 13:01
Mm-hmm. Yeah, I said it already. I’ll say it again because I feel like it’s so important for people to understand the purpose of a business. I think it’s really easy for us to have kind of a bad taste in our mouth about businesses because– especially online businesses because there are so many out there. And I’m not even saying in the fiber arts world. This is completely outside of that. There are so many out there that are marketing in such a way that’s just– not cool, not efficient, feels kind of icky for the consumer.

And so I think it’s easy for people to get a bad taste in their mouth about online business. And so what I really like to stress to people, especially in our industry, is that businesses are here to solve a problem. For me, the problem that I feel like I am solving the best is teaching and inspiration. That’s kind of like the core of what I love to do. And I feel like probably the first step to building a digital business is to figure out what problem you’re solving.

Kate: 14:11
Yeah, I totally agree with that. And I think there’s so many different aspects to it from kind of what you’re doing, like the inspiration and the teaching to all the way to the yarn. I mean, I’ve been at so many of these events shows where it’s kind of like a fair style like Vogue Knitting Live or Stitches and it’s just all these booths of yarn and people are just getting inspired by the yarn. And that’s like another direction that people come at it from. But I totally agree with you. It’s about solving a problem and kind of making something better for someone.

Brittany: 14:46
Yeah, exactly. So if somebody… is on the fence and maybe they have an inspiration or maybe they recognize what they personally are good at or maybe they have searched for something, a resource, and wasn’t able to find it and therefore found their need or found that problem or pain point that they’re solving. What do you think would be the first step for somebody to take to building a business?

Kate: 15:15
So I think almost I would do two steps in parallel. I think the first is just putting yourself out there. And I think that’s sometimes the hardest part. But just start creating the content or whatever it is that you feel you could add value at. Just create. Get it out there into the world. Even if it’s not fully baked or fully formed, it’s really important to put it out there.

And with the internet, it’s so easy to set up a website nowadays and just get reaction and share it with people and see what their feedback is. And then I’d say alongside that, I think it’s about identifying your audience and finding the people that you connect with and understanding them and what their needs are so you can make sure that you are that you constantly have that in mind.

And I think, Brittany, that’s one of the things that you’ve done so well with your business is whenever I speak with you, you always know exactly who your audience is and what they like. And you’re always striving to make sure that you’re giving them what they’re looking for and creating value for them. And that’s why I think you’ve been so successful. So I’m sure you could also give a lot of tips on that topic.

Brittany: 16:26
Well, I definitely appreciate that because that is my number one goal. I know we tend to get pressures like outside pressures that say that well you’re supposed to make money and you should charge for things and that is so far from from my goal. My my goal basically I wouldn’t have a purpose if it weren’t for the people who have kind of rallied around what I do and and have been so supportive.

So for me they’re always my number one priority and then my customer, my brand, or my sponsor who I’m working with, in order for there to be a really great relationship between the two of us, is a brand that not only supports that and understands it, but is also willing to be flexible and understand that in order for me to serve them best, I have to serve my audience first. So that’s one thing that I feel like I have evolved from.

It was always the purpose and the intent is to just serve the people that need something from me and that find that I maybe teach them in the way that they understand how to learn best. But it’s been a process. If you go, well, I don’t know if you actually can go back into the archives, but if you saw Be Hooked before this, Gosh, even like in 2014, so like four years ago, it was so different from what you see today.

And I’m going through some changes right now, and I actually haven’t vocalized it here on the show yet, but I’m going through a major content audit because I feel like there’s always room for improvement, right? I can always do better. And the best way to figure out what people want is to ask them. So the first step in that for me has been to go through a content audit, look at every single post on my site that goes all the way back to 2013, and deep dive into the analytics and figure out what’s working.

And the interesting thing I found is that not all people enjoy the same type of post on the website that they might the video. And I’ve always kind of included YouTube and the website as sort of one thing and one audience because when I create a video, it automatically creates a post on my website, usually a pattern or something along those lines. But I never really even thought about treating it as two separate audiences.

And what I found is that a video on my YouTube channel might have tens of thousands of views, but the post on the website only has a couple thousand. And so that’s like been a huge eye-opener for me. So you’ll see through the next few months, a tiny shift in the way BeHooked looks, works and feels. And that’s all basically because I’m trying to provide the resources that people want. Because it doesn’t make sense for me to waste my time in creating these things if it’s not going to help somebody.

So I’m not sure if that’s a tip or not, but that’s just kind of what I’m going through. And I don’t know, I guess my tip would be it’s a learning process. Start somewhere and take note of what’s working, the feedback that you get. And if you’re not getting the feedback that you want or you think that that post deserves, then try something else.

Kate: 20:13
I think that’s absolutely right. And I also think like what you just said around like your brand and what you’re building, it’s okay for it to evolve over time. It doesn’t have to stay the way it was kind of at the very beginning because your audience is also evolving. So I think it’s okay to kind of change and you don’t want to change too much because you want to make sure that you’re still addressing the needs of your audience, but it’s okay to kind of try different things and see as you go.

Brittany: 20:43
Yeah, I think as long as you’re changing in the direction that people want you to change, it’s a safe move. And I don’t want to say that in such a way that you have to let go of who you are. I don’t want people to think that you have to conform to who people want you to be. The content you put out there, attracts the type of person who’s naturally going to gravitate towards you and your personality and your style.

And I think an evolution is almost a requirement for a business. So to say that you have to like sit and figure every single detail out before you hit that launch button, then I think you’re automatically giving yourself an unsuccessful experience. So I’m sure that you can probably relate in your own experience with Lovecraft. So did it look the same in those early days that it does now or has it changed a little bit?

Kate: 21:44
I think we’ve definitely changed a lot. Even since we started in 2012, we’ve evolved a lot and we’ve, I think, really tried to listen to our customers and understand what they’ve been saying and what they’ve wanted.

I mean, we started out with a single site called loveknitting.com in our UK market that was kind of targeted completely to England and that whole area. And then in 2014, we had an opportunity to kind of expand into the US. And then we started a separate site for our US market.

And then in 2015, we went to New Languages and we also launched Love Crochet because we had heard from a lot of the people that were visiting our Love Knitting site. They said, you know, it’s not just about knitting, like crocheters love yarn too. And there’s nothing that’s really like a site like that that’s dedicated to crochet. So we listened to them and we started that.

And then I guess in 2017, I think, we launched our, or 2016 actually, we launched a pattern reading app because we had heard from people that they wanted to be able to take their patterns with them on the go. You know, we offer a lot of patterns for digital download on our sites and they were saying, oh, you know, I don’t want to have to print it out and carrying the papers. And then if you lose the paper and you’ve been marking off your rows, it’s a disaster.

So we heard that and we added that to our kind of range of what we were offering. So I think it’s been a constant evolution. I mean, right now, I think it’s interesting that you were saying about how you’re auditing the content on your site because We are in the process of really building out our content and we want to make sure that people are not just seeing that we have yarn and needles and hooks for sale, but also that we have all these patterns and we have tutorials as well.

And we’re really here to support people on their entire making journey. So we actually recently made a change to our homepage so that it’s much more content focused. is about interesting content rather than talking about a sale on yarn. Because we want people to come to our site not just when they want to buy yarn, but anytime they’re thinking about knitting or crocheting and they want to come and get inspiration.

So I think it’s really a constant evolution and we’re always trying to be one step ahead almost of what our customer is looking for. But that’s why it’s so important, like you said, to be looking at what’s working and your analytics on your site and also getting feedback. I mean, we send out a lot of surveys. If anyone here has shopped with us or is on our email newsletter list, they’ll know that we are constantly sending out kind of requests to get more feedback so that we can continue to to make the site better.

Brittany: 24:49
Yeah. Those are some good tips, too. If somebody already has a resource or a website or a shop or something like that that they’re working with, I think it might be intimidating for somebody who is maybe not an analytics person. Maybe they don’t gravitate towards those things or… Maybe they just don’t even know where to start. So I think for bloggers, just because I can speak to this from experience, the best resource in terms of figuring out what works is Google Analytics. Would you have anything to add for maybe somebody who has an e-comm site? Like what’s the best way to figure out what’s working?

Kate: 25:32
I would definitely just concur with you on the Google Analytics. I think it’s the easiest to set up. And it gives you real-time data, which is fantastic. I mean, I was just talking with my colleague yesterday. She was looking in Google Analytics, and we were commenting on how many more users we have now on our site from when we joined like three years ago. And you just get so excited when you’re like, oh, there’s 400 people right now looking at the site.

So I would agree with Google Analytics. We have a couple of other tools that we use, but I think they’re probably… not for people just starting out, because they’re probably more expensive, but there are tools out there where you can track what people are clicking on, like on your homepage, like heat mapping type of tools, which I think is also, I think there’s some free options out there. I can’t think of any right now.

Brittany: 26:27
Yeah, I can interject one here just because I found it recently because I want to redo kind of the look and feel of the homepage of BeHook too because I have different resources now. Before it was just crochet stuff, but now I’m doing knitting and I have a podcast and I kind of want to kind of make all of that flow together.

So anyways, Google Analytics has a Chrome extension that’s a heat map. And it’s completely free. So I’ll link to it in the show notes because I don’t know the exact search term because honestly, I found it online. It was recommended and I installed it in a couple of minutes. And basically, you have to be logged into your Google Analytics account, but you can go to a page, whatever page that you want to analyze and hit that extension button, kind of like turn it on, and it’ll show you.

Now, it’s probably not the best heat map software out there, but it is free.

Kate: 27:21
Yeah, I think that’s a really good one. And then the other thing I would just say is SurveyMonkey. I think they have free options there if you want to add a link to a survey app. After people have purchased something or send it out in an email afterwards, I think that’s another great tool.

It’s more qualitative than quantitative, but that’s where you can get some of your best insights around ideas for new features or new content or whatever.

Brittany: 27:53
Yeah. And I think there’s something to be said too about just looking at what sells. Yeah. If you have an Etsy shop and you notice you sell a ton of headbands, but you only sell maybe one or two scarves, it probably would make sense to focus a lot more or at least have more stock of those headbands than maybe the scarf.

Kate: 28:13
Absolutely.

Brittany: 28:15
Yeah. So we can see that Lovecraft’s has evolved a lot and it’s probably going to continue to evolve. Are there any lessons that you’ve learned along the way to maybe share some of those things or those opportunities with us so that we could potentially avoid any problems that might come up.

I think sometimes if we’re faced with a problem, it feels like it could be the end of the world. If it’s our online business and something happens, then it just feels like you have to drop everything and fix that. But I think if we understand that it’s not the end all be all in most situations, then we can kind of relax and take a more focused approach to solving that problem.

Kate: 29:03
Sure. I mean, I feel like I have about a million lessons, but I can’t go into all of them during this time, but I’ll touch on a couple of things.

So I think we’ve already talked about it so much, but I think listening is so important. I don’t think anyone should ever feel like, oh, they’ve got it now. Like, I know what I’m like, you will learn, you will know what you’re doing and you’ll come a long way. But I think just always making sure you’re listening to your customer or your audience is so critical.

And I think one of the things that I’ve learned in working in a digital business where we don’t have a store, a physical store, it’s so fun and you learn so much from actually meeting your customers in person. Uh, so, you know, when I’ve gone to shows, like I mentioned, uh, Vogue Knitting Live and Stitches, it’s, it’s so great to get to hear from people what they really think and, um, just get to meet them in person and sort of, you can kind of get lost with, you know, sessions and visits and, uh, bounce rate and conversion rate.

And you can get into all of that data, but it’s just, it’s not quite the same as, as meeting people in person. So I would just say, whenever you can have the opportunity to either meet someone or we also do phone calls. So we’ll reach out to a couple of customers every month to just have a conversation, ask them some questions, maybe get some feedback on new things that we’re thinking about.

I think it’s just really critical. And I think when we’ve, we’ve sort of not been as good at that or not been checking our, our feedback from our surveys as often, we tend to kind of, you know, lose focus a little bit. And, and whenever we are, listening I think it really keeps us aligned with with what our customer needs so that would be number one.

And then I think focus. I think you know I’m sure you’ve experienced this Brittany like you get so many ideas there’s so many exciting things you could do and you don’t want to spread yourself too thin or spread your resources too thin so I think that’s definitely something we’ve learned.

I mean I talked about all the different like all the evolution that we’ve had and the different things that we’ve launched. And I think a big learning for us along the way has been like, don’t, don’t do everything. It’s important to choose what you’re not going to do. Not because it’s not a good idea because you don’t want to, but just because it means you, if you do that, you can’t do X, Y, and Z.

So just being really clear about, about where you’re putting your energy and resources so you can push that forward instead of kind of, inching a bunch of different things along that don’t really get you the results you want yeah.

Um and then I think I mentioned this also earlier like it’s so important to just try things and that’s what I think is so fun about a digital business is you can you can put something up on your site for a day and see how people react and if it’s bad you can just take it down.

Brittany: 31:59
Right. And it’s almost as if it never happened.

Kate: 32:03
Exactly. Because only those people saw it. And people aren’t coming to your site every day in most cases. As much as we love people to, it’s important to remember that that one email that you had a typo in or had a broken link, not everyone opened that and not everyone clicked on it.

So it isn’t the end of the world, kind of to your point. Mistakes happen. And I think One of the things I love about this industry is people are just really nice. And I think as long as you’re open and honest and you’re not trying to do anything untoward, then it’s okay. You’re out there, you’re trying to make something happen.

And I think the more you try, the more mistakes you’ll make and things will feel like failures, but it’s all part of the learning process. And that was a huge kind of learning for me. And one of the reasons I love this company is because I’ve been… enabled to make those mistakes. But that’s how you learn. And I think it’s made all of us stronger and better.

And it’s not a failure if you learn something from it. So I think it’s always important to keep that in mind when those problems come up.

Brittany: 33:14
I think that has got to be one of the biggest reasons why not only– and I’m not even going to put this in terms of success, but why– you have such an incredible resource for people because you’ve done all of these things.

You’ve taken the necessary steps to figure out why people come to you and you do the absolute best to make sure that you serve that community. And like I said before, when a customer feels like you have them in mind, then they’re naturally going to want to come to you.

Because they think and they know that you understand them. And you do understand them because like you said, you do surveys, you get on calls with people, which seriously is next level stuff right there. That’s above and beyond.

I don’t think I’ve ever been contacted by a company that said, hey, what did you think about your experience, good or bad? I mean, you’re potentially opening yourself up for some negative feedback there, but I think that negative feedback is really where the golden nuggets are.

Kate: 34:22
Absolutely.

Brittany: 34:23
Yes. Well, this has been incredible. I think a lot of people who maybe have a business already and they’re trying to take it to the next level and definitely take some of the tips that you’ve mentioned here.

I’m curious, though, our theme for the month of May is just talking about yarn. And I know that Lovecrafts has some amazing yarn. I want to make sure that I provide some information for those of us who just crochet or knit for a hobby.

So is there anything that maybe you’ve learned throughout your career or your experience that maybe those people can relate to in terms of maybe yarn choice or yarn selection? You guys, you have so many different yarns available. So I know you’ve had an opportunity to work with so many of them. Is there anything that you could add there?

Kate: 35:18
Yeah. I mean, we do have so many yarns. Sometimes it can be overwhelming. But one of the amazing things that we kind of have learned from having all those different yarns is, you know, what people use them for and why people like them and what different kinds of projects that people like to make with which kinds of yarns.

And I think that knowledge enabled us to recently launch one of our new brands, which is called Main Street Yarns. We’ve launched that with one line, which is a 100% acrylic worsted weight yarn. It’s super soft. It’s called Shiny and Soft. So it’s what it says on the label.

It’s great for both knitters and crocheters. It’s great value. It’s like a seven-ounce ball, I think for around four dollars, $4.29 actually. It’s just a great value yarn. So if you’re learning or want to try something new and don’t want to risk maybe a yarn that you’ve been coveting and saving for, I think it’s a great option for any big projects, anything baby related.

We’ve got a bunch of free patterns on our site that go with it, from blankets to ponchos to accessories. It’s great for both knitting and crocheting, like I said. I think it’s really important when you’re knitting or crocheting to think about if you’re going to wear it or not because that would also dictate what yarns you want to use.

But also to think about price because I know a lot of people have massive stashes. I’m slowly getting there, even though I’ve only been a knitter and crocheter for a few years now. But I do get a company discount, so it’s a bit risky.

So I think it’s just important to kind of think about who’s going to be wearing it, what you want to use it for, if you want it to be washable. I know when I give baby gifts, people always ask if it’s washable because that’s important.

So just kind of keep that in mind. If it’s for you, then you know what you want, but if it’s for a gift, consider that. We have lots of information on our site about whether things are washable or need to be dry cleaned or anything like that. So yeah, that can help you choose.

Brittany: 37:53
That’s also been something I’ve recently seen a comment come through on my social. Somebody expressed that it’s somewhat of a pain point when they want to purchase yarn online or they know it’s only available online and they don’t have that information there.

It kind of baffled me a little because I feel like that’s basic information and all yarn companies would include that. But it’s good to know that you have that information so people don’t have to ask me or someone else who maybe has the physical product in their hand and can look on the label.

The other thing I noticed about Main Street—and I haven’t had the pleasure of working with it just yet, but it is definitely coming—so I will share some photos as soon as I have it in hand.

I was looking at it on the website and one of the things I love that you guys have planned out are different color options like color palettes. Even for me, as a creative person, when I look at a grid of dozens of color choices, it’s tough to put together a color scheme that I can settle on or decide upon.

It’s like analysis paralysis. I get overwhelmed with the options, start questioning whether or not I like these colors together. Then you worry about screen differences too—if my screen brightness is set lower than someone else’s, the yarn might not come to you in the way you expected because your screen displayed the color differently.

So it’s great you have those palettes pre-selected so you don’t have to sit and try to figure out what colors go together. You look at the palette, know someone put them together, and they physically had them in their hands. I love that you have that for Main Street.

Kate: 40:06
Yeah, our team that does that gets all the yarn into the office and basically just sits and plays with it, putting it into different combinations. I think what you said is exactly right—they’ve seen it in person and they know it goes together.

The other thing I’d like to mention is we offer completely free returns. So if you get a color that isn’t what you expected or a yarn that isn’t as soft as you want, we offer completely free returns.

We heard a lot about that being a difficulty with online shopping since it’s a tactile product and it’s important to see it in person. So we’ve tried to address that with our free return policy.

Brittany: 40:50
Yeah, that’s really great too. It’s a win-win situation. That’s awesome.

It sounds like Main Street is good for charity-type projects? Definitely? Because it sounds like it’s a value yarn, bigger ball, and soft. That’s the first thing that came to mind when you were talking about it. It sounds like a good option to make afghans, hats, or whatever to donate.

Kate: 41:16
Yeah, absolutely.

Brittany: 41:18
Awesome. Well, it’s been such a pleasure chatting with you today. I really appreciate your time and your openness to sharing so many things with us so maybe we can grow our businesses and take them to the next level.

So hey, it’s been wonderful. Thank you.

Kate: 41:34
Thank you so much for having me. It was great to chat with you and I hope I said something at least useful for one person out there and that it was worth it.

Brittany: 41:43
Yes, I’m sure you did. I’m sure of it. All right, Kate, thank you so much. You shared so much with us today.

Even though you’ve built an incredible empire, if I do say so myself, of digital yarn business, I know so many of us as listeners can take little tidbits of advice you shared and apply it to our own business—whether a yarn business, indie dyer, selling yarn you make, or Etsy shop.

No matter what walk of life we’re on, we can take pieces of info from today and apply them to move our business forward. Kate, thank you again. I really appreciate your time and wisdom today.

I also want to thank today’s sponsor, Yarnspirations, for sharing that wonderful coupon code so you have a chance to save money. We all love to save money, right? I really go out of my way to cut coupons and save where I can.

I’m excited to share this offer again—it won’t be around forever, so if you need to order yarn, take advantage of 20% off. All you have to do is go to yarnspirations.com, spend $40 or more, and enter coupon code BHOOKEDPOD (B-H-O-O-K-E-D-P-O-D) at checkout to save 20%.

I appreciate you so much. Thanks for tuning in this week. I want to tease next week’s guest because you’re going to love what he has to say about the yarn industry.

Stay tuned. I’ll see you next week. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.