knitting news

doing a little search of knitting news around the world, there's some pearlers....

"The knitting craze sweeping trendy Melbourne cafes appears to have spread to Shepparton judging by the outstanding response to the 2003 Guardian Angel Knitting Project. " craze? sweeping? trendy melbs cafes? yeah. right. hmmm. perhaps if we substitute "journalism craze" "infecting" and "desperate media" it's a little closer to target. full story.

there's an article about wal mart in the u.s. and how stores can compete against them...an issue becoming increasing closer to home. Big W, of all places is now stocking knitting pattern books (and no doubt, plenty of feathers, too!) and advertising through editorial in related mags such as good taste (woolworths have their fingers in both goodtaste and bigw pies, of course.) the problem is, stocking a full set of knitting needles isn't enough, because in a smaller store, customers expect the full range of knitting needles, the full range of the yarn they want to use, the full range of patterns, and the full range of pattern books at the cheapest price possible in a small store. that's a big ask. pertinent bit from the article - "He suggested that retailers should offer different merchandise from the standardized Wal-Mart—or complementary merchandise that Wal-Mart doesn’t carry to go with what they offer. As an example, he said, if Wal-Mart sells yarn but only two sizes of knitting needles, a local business could carry a complete selection of knitting needles.
He also said a local business should have exceptional product knowledge, “so that the customer comes to you to find out why it doesn’t work the way they want it to work when they’re doing their knitting,” reliable guaranteed services and the lowest possible prices, although “you don’t have to beat their price.”"
full story
proving that knitters do indeed lead interesting double lives - "Presiding over two of the largest communist spy networks in the late 1940s, Bentley earned her KGB moniker, "Clever Girl," by arranging clandestine meetings with U.S. government officials and hiding documents in her knitting bag."
full story.