arlier this summer I had a chance to give a presentation about Yarn Market News to a knitting guild. Even though YMN is a trade magazine for professionals, fiber folks of all stripes tend to be passionate about yarn and are fascinated to learn about the inner workings of the industry. In preparing for my talk I spoke with both former editors in chief of Yarn Market News, Kate Mathews and Jeane Hutchins. Kate was kind enough to send me some back issues, including the very first one, which she and her then-husband Rob Pulleyn (founders of Lark Communications) published 30 years ago, in October of 1978. (OK, there was a hiatus in there, and YMN started out as a weaving-oriented magazine. As things trended more toward knitting, the focus of the magazine followed suit.) I just love looking through those old issues and seeing what’s changed and how much is still pertinent. Yes, we’ve gotten slicker, with our gorgeous covers and glossy paper and our focus on technology. But many of the basic business topics remain constant: managing inventory, the importance of model garments, trends, the economy, advertising and publicity. The original YMN even held a business conference for several years. If I ever run out of article ideas, believe me, I can just leaf through those back issues for inspiration. Check back with us in the October issue for an in-depth look at the history of Yarn Market News, including interviews with all of the editors and publishers, past and present.

Just like YMN, I started out as a weaver, too. My dad brought me a small table loom from Sweden and I wove scarves for my family for Christmas that year. Then rock-’n’-roll and boys came along and I got distracted from my crafty pursuits until college, when I took a weaving and textiles class. I learned to spin and dye with natural dyes. I even gave spinning and weaving demonstrations in period costume. And then I learned to knit and crochet—it was portable; no more warping looms and cumbersome equipment. I don’t think I’ll be investing in a new loom anytime soon, but I do love the fact that more and more LYS owners are mixing things up by adding spinning, weaving, beading and more to their offerings. Cross-crafter Shannon Okey talks about that trend in “Mix Mastery” on page 48. Oh, I’ve dusted off my sewing machine and am planning to order a new spinning wheel....

Dyeing is one art I don’t feel the need to revisit, given the abundance of exquisite hand-dyed yarns available these days, and this issue is full of them. We’ve swatched up an artist’s palette’s worth on pages 18–19 and interviewed dyeing-artist extraordinaire Colinette Sansbury on page 56. And pioneering dyer Cheryl Schaefer provides the inside scoop on hand-dyes in “Getting to the Heart of Hand-Paints” on page 52.

Many of you are already “on” Ravelry, using it to manage your personal stashes and reading threads to find out what people are knitting and talking about. And lots of LYS’s have active groups going. But there are still many shop owners who either “don’t have time” or just don’t get it. Leslie Petrovski, one of the moderators of the Yarn Market News Ravelry group and an active Raveler herself, has written a primer for LYSO’s to help the Ravel-resistant understand a bit more what this social knitworking phenomenon is all about—and how it can work for you. (Read “Unraveling Ravelry” on page 44.)

And when you do get on Ravelry, check out the Yarn Market News group and let us know what’s on your minds.