I am not exactly what you would call a people person. I’m not a complete hermit, but I have terrible social anxiety, am terribly shy, and have a good bit of social awkwardness. When I first discovered Amazon.com in 2000 during my senior year of college, I was elated. Finally, I could browse from my dorm room and not have to drive 45 minutes (no joke) to the nearest shopping mall. I could have things delivered to me and I didn’t have to people. It was delightful.
When I got back into crochet 18 months ago, I wanted to use that same philosophy to buy my yarn. Amazon has been my trusty friend for so long, it won’t let me down. I got my first shipment of yarn from Amazon (via Prime, so it came in 2 days) and I absolutely hated it.
My daughter is on the autism spectrum, and one of her major triggers is touch. If anything has too coarse of a texture, she cannot tolerate it. I think over time of making sure materials were soothing to her, I myself have become less accepting of certain textures. So, when I got my first skeins of yarn from Amazon, I was immediately dismayed with the texture. It wasn’t soft. I was going to be – at the time – making hats and scarves; no one would want this material to be rubbing on them.
Dejected that my trusty friend, the online shopping experience, had failed, I gathered my courage and went to the bricks and mortar stores. And for the next several months, Michael’s and Joann’s became my best friends. There I would be able to feel the yarn and determine what would work best for me to hold. What would feel comfortable. What color looked the best for a project. And the stores loved me as I came out laden with bags and coupons to come back in the next few weeks for even bigger sales.
However, the further I went down the crochet rabbit hole, the more I realized that while I liked a lot of the yarns at my local stores, I still didn’t like the social interaction and I had this feeling there was something better yarn wise out there that I was missing.
I started to do what I seem to do best….research.
Over the next several months, every lunch break I had I would find myself scouring the Internet for articles on the best yarns. I would cross reference that list with reviews of the yarns and the availability. I also started to pay attention to the patterns I was beginning to collect: I was looking to see if the designer would mention what yarn s/he would use and evaluate the appearance to see if it was something that I would like.
As I researched my options, I found that even a lot of the yarns that my local Michael’s and Joann’s carried that I enjoyed were available from online retailers (either the direct manufacturer or third parties), and often at the same prices I was paying at the store with my coupons, or even a little less expensive – depending upon the company and if there were any sales. Even though I knew what to expect from these brands, it still took a while for me to fully trust myself and the companies before I was comfortable ordering online.
And it seemed that once I started ordering online, I couldn’t quite stop (my need for a yarn intervention is legendary in my house, but I’m not going to stop any time soon).
I’ve found companies such as Paintbox and Knit Picks that I wouldn’t have found if I stayed in the stores. I found color options available online through Craftsy (now Bluprint) and Yarnspirations that were maybe too unconventional for my local store to keep in stock, but I liked. I also have been able through Love Crochet to try some of the brands such as Schjeepies that aren’t as easy to come across in the US as they are for our UK and Australian counterparts.
I won’t say that every online purchase has been a success: Even though I’ve taken recommendations from designers I like and solid reviews, the yarn doesn’t always live up to my expectations. So, there have been skeins that have been gifted to other fiber artist friends, or that are sitting in a corner of my living room looking forlornly as their more comfortable counterparts are enjoyed.
I think that Joann’s and Michael’s have finally realized that I might not be coming back. The past few days I have had about 20 emails and app alerts telling me they have yarn on sale and that it is the biggest sale of the year. I look to see what they are offering, and then usually go to my online vendor of choice. I have some new goodies coming in the mail in the coming days and weeks, so I think I have more than enough to keep me busy….for now.
Hugs and cuddles,
Elisha
Lil' Luvvies 