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I wrote “The Ideal Crocheting Customer” for Yarn Market News. This was the January 2007 issue. The three steps yarn shop owners can take are still relevant today.

This is the second of six News from the CGOA columns I wrote beginning with the May 2006 issue. Text of my original, updated submission follows.

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The Ideal Crocheting Customer

If the ideal yarn shop customer is enthused, skilled, confident, open-minded, and spendy, find and keep these “supercustomers” with a few simple steps. My focus is on the crocheting supercustomer. Few people seem to know how to reach this untapped market.

Step 1. Sharpen your Focus

Depending on your locale, you’ll find big differences between the crocheting general public and CGOA members. The latter, especially conference-going types, are the avid connoisseurs of the crochet world. They’re likely to:

• take an artistic approach
• know how to read crochet patterns and how to crochet clothing
• have more funds to play with
• be well-educated
• aspire to design professionally
• be fiber savvy.

Step 2. Reel ‘em in! Before the Competition Does!

Who is already serving this market? By default it is primarily the yearly CGOA conferences and internet groups. An intensely gratifying sense of community is not available to them locally year-round. In other words, no one locally, yet.

What many don’t realize–whether they be shop owners, craft store execs, or the many disaffected crocheters themselves–is that crocheters simply don’t have community pit-stops. That’s what most yarn shops are for knitters. Contrary to popular belief, the big craft chains do not serve this function. Whether or not a crocheter buys hooks or yarn there, the craft store is not an irresistibly cozy community magnet for crocheters to “hook up” with each other and stay in the loop. Not yet, anyway.

An easy shortcut: invite CGOA members to meet up in your shop. Find out if there is a CGOA chapter in your area or email [email protected].

The need is there and it’s increasing. Proactive yarn shop owners who are community builders for local crocheters now will be locked in with fiercely loyal hookers in the event that the chain stores decide to do the same.

Here’s an easy shortcut: get CGOA members to meet up in your shop. Find out if there is a CGOA chapter in your area or email [email protected]. If so, invite the chapter to hold meetings in your shop.

Offer enticements that you’ve seen work for knitting groups—a discount on purchases, or refreshments, for example. If classes work well in your shop, consider helping a chapter bring in a guest teacher. CGOA chapters tend to be education-focused.

No CGOA chapter in your area? Step 3 is for you.

Step 3: Turn Existing Customers into Supercustomers

Be the shop that starts a new chapter, or helps interested customers or employees do so. Then, brag about it. Post a simple sign near a crocheted swatch about CGOA or how to join your chapter. Do you do email blasts? Add a recurring “Proud to be a supporter of the Crochet Guild of America, click here for more” link.

Many yarn shops I’ve visited don’t have much information available (if any) to customers about CGOA. At yarn shop “Knit’n’Bitch” groups I’ve gotten blank looks when I mention a conference. Yarn shop owners think I’m referring to TNNA shows or Stitches Expos. Customers are often unaware that crochet and knitting guilds exist, or else they picture guild members as doddering grandmothers.

The reality is that serious crocheters attend CGOA’s Chain Link conferences to stay current and to be creatively challenged. The sense of community is intense and electric.

The Conference Quotient

Why should you put a tent sign near the register announcing an upcoming Chain Link conference? Crocheting customers who start attending guild conferences will:

• sell for you! After the intoxicating exposure to information, authors, and products at conferences, they return home with stories that excite their fellow customers who didn’t attend. Their fresh enthusiasm for your shop items is contagious.
• become skillful and confident quickly. They’ll not only need much less in-store hand-holding, but they can provide valuable help to other customers while you’re helping someone else!
• take on more challenging projects and are less likely to have stalled projects at home that inhibit new yarn purchases.

The conference-goer is a shop owner’s dream customer who already has the true community spirit. S/he’s just waiting for a way to hook up locally, instead of going online while waiting for the next conference to come around.

Since 1995, CGOA has run at least one Chain Link conference a year (sometimes two). That’s over 20 years, which makes it the longest-running crochet event—often the only crochet-focused event. If you as a yarn shop owner haven’t yet attended one yourself, now is a great time.

Don’t feel you have a good sense for how to have crocheters beating a path to your door? This is how to get in the loop fast. These conferences are where the serious Crochet Culture happens. Don’t make your crocheting customers rely on the internet for community for the rest of the year.

Immerse yourself in the thriving crochet culture. Witness firsthand which classes, teachers, designers, vendors, and products generate the most buzz. Meet the designers or national-level teachers your customers want to learn from in your shop. Some of the most prominent crochet designers have actively supported CGOA for years. They’re very accessible to their fans at conferences. This keeps the inspiration stoked, which pays off for the shop owner who takes advantage of it.

A few yarn shop owners have been attending CGOA conferences all along. I have a feeling, however, that many others do not see it for the business-savvy trip it is.

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This article is the second of six “News From the CGOA” columns I wrote for Yarn Market News. Find links to all six in the Advice for Yarn Shops blog post.

I wrote “New Guild Goings-On” for Yarn Market News magazine in 2008. Both the CGOA Design Contest and the growth of local chapters are still important for yarn shop owners to know about in 2020.

This was the January 2008 issue. Beginning with the May 2006 issue I wrote the News from the CGOA column every January and May for three years. Text of my original, updated submission follows.

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New Guild Happenings

CGOA has two important developments to announce. The most exciting news is the launch of our first annual Design Contest, with a grand prize of $1000. It is open to CGOA members only and the four prize categories are: Women’s Fashion, Home Decor, Baby, and Accessories. A First Place ($300), Second Place ($200), and Third Place ($100) prize will be awarded to entries in each category. The Grand Prize will be awarded to the best design among all categories.

Note: Prizes for the CGOA Design Contest have increased every year since 2008! –2020 Vashti

First Annual Design Contest

All entries in the contest will be displayed and judged at the CGOA Annual 2008 Chain Link Conference in Manchester, NH. We’ll announce the winners on July 24, 2008 during the Keynote Address. The People’s Choice Award carries an additional prize of $100. Attendees are encouraged to cast a vote for their choices on the market floor.

We are especially grateful to Coats & Clark. By generously providing the cash prizes, they are making it possible for us to revive our beloved tradition of juried exhibits. Gwen Blakley Kinsler, founder of CGOA, established them.

The CGOA Design Contest will also serve to powerfully reinforce the guild’s mission—to promote future design ideas, to encourage excellence in all facets of crochet, and to uphold standards of art and skill. Viewing a CGOA exhibit has always been an unforgettable experience.

Freeform and thread crochet designs are also encouraged. For contest rules, entry form and general information, visit https://www.crochet.org/page/CLConference (in 2020 the direct link is https://www.crochet.org/page/CL20DesignCompetition.) Email questions to [email protected].

Note: The deadline for 2008 entries was June 15, 2008; in 2020, due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the event has been postponed.

Local CGOA Chapter Upsurge

Even in this age of electronic and mechanical automation, crochet is one of the very few crafts that cannot be machine-made. This special attribute makes CGOA’s mission to promote crochet a crucial one. Crochet can continue to exist for only as long as there are hands that know how to create it, stitch by stitch.

As you might imagine, we’re also very pleased to report that CGOA is seeing a sustained upsurge in local chapter activity; it’s fundamental to the success of our purpose. Broader lifestyle trends in the general public, and flourishing online crochet resources, bolster interest in crochet. Another likely factor in the growth of our local chapters is that non-CGOA members are now welcome to participate in the local chapters.

Chapter Projects for Charities

Many members cite their chapter’s charity projects as being the most rewarding. This includes creative reasons: members learn from each other about new yarns and stitches. The One Hook Hookers Chapter of central New Jersey is a good example. Their members are abuzz about donating to area cancer care hospitals for anyone undergoing chemotherapy.

Members of the Fishnet Hookers in Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire just finished lapghan donations for HEARTH (Helping Elders At Risk Through Homelessness). They’re now starting on pocket scarves and shawls for them. One member wrote, “It is great fun to see the variety of creations that come in – we all ooh and aah over each other’s work.”

Retailers who keep current with the charity projects that hook their local crocheters will capture their hearts and create repeat customers.

Another thing to know about charity crocheters: they typically clock a lot of yarn-miles. They need a constant supply of yarn. Consider that it is the widening range of charity projects, from durable afghans for the homeless to butter-soft chemo caps, that teaches many crocheters how to choose the right yarn for the job.

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For CGOA Design Contest or chapter inquiries in 2020, please contact CGOA’s Executive Director Deb Ryan of Celtic Associations. Call 847.647.7500 or email [email protected].

This article is the fourth of six “News From the CGOA” columns I wrote for Yarn Market News. Find links to all six in the Advice for Yarn Shops blog post.

“Hooked On Hooks” is a 500-word article I wrote with yarn shop owners in mind for Yarn Market News magazine. Yarn shop owners should understand the importance of the Hook Collectors Group to CGOA members and conferences. Imagine having a yarn shop and not knowing about an affliction called H.A.S.!

This was the May 2008 issue. I wrote the News from the CGOA column every January and May for three years, starting with the May 2006 issue. Text of my original submission follows; I’ve updated links and added new ones.

“Hooked on Hooks”

Every year the Hook Collectors Group, a CGOA special interest group, selects a limited-edition crochet hook designed to commemorate our national Chain Link conference. Each commemorative hook is imprinted with “CGOA” and the year. Selecting, collecting, and displaying these hooks is a popular tradition among our members.

The group selected Brian Bergmann of Brainsbarn from a list of four finalists to create the commemorative hook for 2008. Brian will carve it from an exotic reddish-brown hardwood, Chakte Kok (Sickingia salvadorensis). This wood is lightweight and fine-grained. A hook made from it should be a pleasure to crochet with. Brian’s design will also feature a 12mm cloisonne bead and two silver accents, and will cost $30.

Hooks selected in recent years: a decoratively carved teak one from Dodo’s Design (2007); a dramatic curved abalone hook from Lacis (2006); and Grafton Fibers’ double-ended hook carved from European olive wood (2005).

H.A.S.: Hook Acquisition Syndrome

Our membership grows yearly and so does attendance at our conferences. This naturally puts more crocheters at risk of contracting the fondly named “Hook Acquisition Syndrome” (HAS). As I write this, our members-only forum is attempting to come to terms with the fact that there is only a very limited supply of this year’s commemorative crochet hook, which is (as in many other years) painstakingly handmade.

Most American crocheters grew up on the only two crochet hook brands consistently well-stocked in craft stores: Susan Bates (Coats) or Boye (Wright). The two brands differ significantly enough to have their own loyal following and, at least in part, they define how crochet hooks are categorized. For example, the Bates “head” (hooked end) is constructed as if an angled slit has been cut into a rod of uniform width; this is called an “inline” head. The Boye head is more bulbous with a curved cut-out for the hook.

Hooked on Hook Styles

Crocheters can contract HAS and yet never compromise their Bates or Boye loyalty; after all, crochet hooks are always disappearing behind chair cushions or being left in an unfinished project. Handy tools that they are, crochet hooks are often borrowed by family members for many non-crochet purposes. In addition, hook sizes and features can vary tantalizingly over time; witness the bamboo-handled versions recently added to the Bates line.

Sometimes a crocheter branches out from their Bates or Boye camp out of necessity. S/he discovers, perhaps at a conference or local yarn shop, that a hook made of wood or bamboo rather than metal eases arthritis. Some crocheters complain of hook handle discomfort because their hands are larger, fleshier, or more sensitive. Other crocheters take a liking to Japanese or British crochet hook brands that they find in thrift shops for pennies. During the novelty yarn craze, crocheters learned in online forums that sometimes changing the hook brand helps with crocheting the furry yarns. In my own case, I took a class in single crochet variations and found that certain stitches are easier to make if the hook has a distinctly pointy head for working into the back “hump” of a stitch.

Hook Collectors Group

Fortunately for crocheters afflicted with HAS, the Hook Collectors Group, which is open to all CGOA members, meets during the conference. Some crocheters see and hold the one-of-a-kind embellished hooks for the first time. I have seen the look of wonder on their faces. Others catch the HAS bug in one of the most enduringly popular classes offered at Chain Link conferences: “Make Your Own Crochet Hook” taught by Nancy Nehring.

As every crocheter knows, one can never have too many crochet hooks. Place orders for commemorative CGOA crochet hooks at the conference website.

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More Information on the Hook Collector’s Group

Two long time leading members of the group have blogged about it: Nancy Nehring and Dee Stanziano. Gwen Blakley Kinsler (founder of CGOA) blogged about the Hook Collector’s Group in 2014.

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This article is the fifth of six “News From the CGOA” columns I wrote for Yarn Market News. Find links to all six in the Advice for Yarn Shops blog post.