Issue
16– May 2008
International Show Report: Handarbeit & Hobby
Linda Pratt of Westminster Fibers gives us
a glimpse of Germany’s influential trade show.
At the beginning of April, the European yarn industry
holds its annual trade show, Handarbeit and Hobby (H&H),
in the Messe, or central convention area, of Koln (Cologne),
in northwestern Germany. More than 200 vendors exhibit
for three days on two large floors, showing products
for crafts from hand knitting and crochet to sewing,
quilting, felting, embellishing, needlework, beading
and more.
Read the full article and much more in the May 2008
issue of Yarn Market News.
Fall Forecast
If you didn’t already know it, knits
are big—and set to get bigger. Big yarns, big
stitches, big shapes equal big effects.
By Erika Knight
Textures and stitches are large, often overscaled.
The soft yarns are being overblown to accommodate the
new volumized silhouettes, and detailing too is exaggerated
and dynamic. Think big collars, big buttons, big belts
and big sleeves—wide, gathered, three-quarter
or ballooned. Conversely, tailoring techniques create
slimmer, more streamlined and simpler shapes.
Read the full article and much more in the May 2008
issue of Yarn Market News.
Transitions: Act II
Hardly anyone starts his or her working life
in the yarn world. YMN follows up on your follow-your-bliss
stories.
By Cheryl Krementz
Where do you come from? Not where were you born or
where do you live, but what did you do before you did
this? Only a minuscule percentage of yarn-industry types
actually begin their careers in the yarn industry. We
are an amalgam of talented transplants from every job
sector imaginable. We come from Wall Street, the Ivory
Tower, LaLa Land. We’ve earned MFAs, MBAs, Ph.D.’s.
We’ve affixed to our names the letters VP, Esq.,
CEO, M.D. We’ve worked center stage, behind the
scenes, pulling the strings.
Read the full article and much more in the May 2008
issue of Yarn Market News.
Natural Selection
Keepin’ it green is not always as easy
as we’d like. Can eco-consciousness consistently
echo practical business realities?
By Leslie Petrovski
Last year, when YMN first reported on organic
yarns, we turned the Internet inside out searching for
organic fibers. Today, it’s a different story,
with yarn companies big and small rolling out ball upon
ball of organic yarn. Though we’re a long way
from saying “organic is the new eyelash,”
the availability of organic yarns is growing, and companies
are hinting at new and greener releases come fall. But
what exactly does “green” mean? And for
yarn stores, does green yarn translate into green cash?
Read the full article and much more in the May 2008
issue of Yarn Market News.
All in the Family
Some yarn companies have found that good business
is all relative.
By Daryl Brower
We’ve always known that the yarn industry is
a pretty tightly knit (pardon the pun) community. Walk
the aisles of a TNNA show and you’re bound to
bump into someone you know: Design directors, marketing
managers, editors leave one company to work for another,
on the whole keeping friendly relations along the way.
It’s a cozy industry of small shops, personal
relationships and a common love of fiber. So is it any
wonder that many of the companies supplying the yarns
we all love so much are family affairs? YMN
dusted off the family albums to get the back stories
on some of our best-known yarn companies and find out
what it’s really like to grow up in the business.
Read the full article and much more in the May 2008
issue of Yarn Market News.
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