Hi! Do you like to answer questions and win stuff? Well, today is your lucky day, because I would like to ask you a question or two about how and why you buy single patterns. The poll was here:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pZVzpDL1MGmp5xd58T0hLaQ
One lucky random person who fills in the poll will receive PDFs of all my current patterns on Valentine’s Day as a present from me.
Bonus question — please answer in the text field there or in comments here. Does your local yarn store sell pattern PDFs on their website? If not, do you know why not? Inquiring minds want to know. And supermega bonus love if you tell me who your LYS is, but you can do that in email if you’d rather — admin @ this domain dot com. Thanks!
UPDATE: thanks to everyone who’s replied — we’re well over 1000 responses now, and I’m going to shut it down while it’s still small enough for me to manage the data and give all of your responses the thoughtful consideration they deserve. Winner to be announced shortly (20 Jan), because I can’t resist the temptation to give away the prize today!
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Laura 01.10.09 at 6:21 pm
I forgot to answer the bonus questions when I took the poll, oops. My LYS doesn’t sell pattern PDFs on their website (www.knitpickyyarns.com) but they have just started selling things on the website so I don’t know if they plan to add PDFs in the future. I would suspect that they aren’t aware of the possibility, or don’t know if the patterns they sell are available as PDFs– do most of the big name pattern companies (like Fiber Trends) even allow that?
Shannon 01.10.09 at 6:45 pm
As I told Laura in email — no, not everyone does that, but we are!
http://stitchcooperative.com/affiliate-program/
(This is the designers’ pattern co-op I founded. We’re selling directly into the yarn stores, which is why we’ve got a booth at TNNA this upcoming week. We have a new digital option, and we’re trying to move the stores away from paper wherever possible. It’s better for the environment, it’s better for you — the pattern purchasers — and it’s certainly easier for us, the designers, which means we can spend more time designing cool new stuff instead of trudging to the post office, you know?)
Plus I am just really curious to hear your opinions on these things! Thanks, everyone.
Rasa Chambers 01.10.09 at 7:10 pm
River Colors is my LYS..I don’t believe they sell pattern PDF’s from their website.
There are quite a few on-line yarn stores that cary PDF’s on their websites.
Michelle 01.10.09 at 9:58 pm
This is a great topic for research particularly since social media are changing so many day to day aspects to our lives.
Forgive me for asking, but was there a spot for contact information on the form? I’m afraid I didn’t fill out anything more than my first name.
Diane in Northern CA 01.10.09 at 10:05 pm
Although I am losing one of my LYS this weekend (Commuknity in San Jose, CA), I am very fortunate to have a number of LYS in my area (~ 20 - 30 minute drive). One of my LYS (Purlescence in Sunnyvale, CA) does sell their patterns both through their website (http://store.purlescenceyarns.com/) and via Ravelry.
Love the Rivulet Cardigan. Not sure I can wait until February to see if I’m the lucky winner of this contest….may succumb to pressure to purchase this on my next payday.
Diane
Meg 01.11.09 at 1:13 am
My LYS does not currently sell PDF patterns off their website, but they do have several good free patterns to download. My LYS is http://www.shopknitch.com Good luck with your research!
Elly 01.11.09 at 7:46 am
I just answered the poll - but just realised - there was no email space there?
jonquil 01.11.09 at 9:02 am
i don’t have a particular lds. i have a moderate-severe chemical allergy (perfumes, colognes, potpourri-the fake kind-, cleaning products–basically anything chemically based & in aerosol form) which limits my ability to shop as much as i would like
it doesn’t do any good for me to walk into a shop just to have to leave due to perfume residue.
Margit 01.11.09 at 3:24 pm
My LYS, http://purlescenceyarns.com, sells some of their own in-house patterns online, and they also have some free patterns you can download from their website.
turvid 01.11.09 at 4:30 pm
My LYS don’t have a website.
Autumn 01.11.09 at 10:14 pm
My LYS’s, (The Yarn Shoppe, Elk Grove, CA, Knit-Witz, Stockton, CA, and Knitique, Elk Grove, CA) don’t sell PDF’s on their websites. Their websites do not have a lot to them anyway.
Suzy 01.11.09 at 10:20 pm
Oppsie! I forgot to answer the bonus question.
My LYS does have pdf patterns online. The link to River Knits (in Lafayette, IN): http://www.riverknitsyarns.com/
Kristen 01.12.09 at 10:12 am
My 2 main LYS’s don’t sell PDF patterns on their websites….one, White River Yarns, in White River Junction, VT doesn’t sell from their website, Lois isn’t set up for it, just lists classes, new arrivals etc. The other, The Knitting Studio, in Montpelier, VT doesn’t either but I’m not sure why. They are set up to sell yarn, and register for classes, but there are not patterns available online. Contact them, I bet they’d put some up, they may not be aware that they could.
Shannon 01.12.09 at 11:27 am
To answer a question I just got — if whoever wins hasn’t also left a comment here (and therefore, I’ve got their email address), I’ll hunt them down / announce it here…
My bad to have not entered an email address field (I’ll do that now, and make it optional in case you don’t want to answer).
Tammy 01.12.09 at 11:46 am
I hadn’t checked on my lys website until you asked & as far as I can tell, they don’t have any pdfs there, don’t know why.
http://www.ewellloveit.com/
http://www.elegantewe.com
bunnysquirrel 01.12.09 at 12:11 pm
I’m in Baltimore and none of my LYSes sell PDF patterns that I know of.
chelsea 01.12.09 at 3:25 pm
My LYS does not sell pdfs online… and I have absolutely no reason why they don’t! I would definitely buy them!
Lisa 01.12.09 at 3:42 pm
Just completed the poll and answered the bonus question….hope I win. Fingers crossed!
Leah Vanessa 01.12.09 at 4:01 pm
My LYS is the Fiber Factory in Mesa, AZ and they don’t have any PDF’s on their website. They do have a few free patterns up, but they aren’t PDF.
Andrea 01.12.09 at 4:49 pm
I know my 2 lys do not sell pdfs online. To be honest I don’t know how much of their business comes from online users, because their sites are general information sites at best. (Although their offline(!) personas are 110% better.)
Jason 01.12.09 at 4:59 pm
Just a comment to say that I’m a dolt and answered the question wrong on the poll. I don’t frequent any LYSs, but of those that I’ve been to around me, none offer pattern PDFs online.
MaggieBelize 01.12.09 at 5:12 pm
Neither of my LYSs offer PDF patterns for sale or even free download through their websites. They are Village Wools of Albuquerque, NM (http://villagewools.com) and Good Fibrations of Edgewood, NM (http://www.goodfibrations.net).
Why not? Not to sound too snarky, but my guess is computer illiteracy. Neither has the in-house expertise to maintain an e-commerce site.
Kata 01.12.09 at 6:08 pm
My LYS doesn’t sell pdfs on their site… either LYS. Both Needles and Pins, and London Yarns (both in London Ontario). I think it would be a good idea (mind you neither of them really sell ANYTHING from their site), because I prefer things to be paperless if at all possible. If I NEED to print it out and mark it up, I can… but when they sell fancy patterns in plastic sleeves on nice paper, I feel like I’m juts going to destroy it somehow.
I’ve purchased about 100x more patterns online as pdfs from the designer (another benefit!) than I have in store. It just makes more sense to me.
Good luck with your survey!
Darci 01.12.09 at 7:21 pm
My LYS is Unwind Yarn in Burbank, CA and they do sell patterns and PDFs ( http://www.unwindyarn.com/shop/) because they rock that way.
Shannon 01.12.09 at 7:37 pm
I’ve been to Unwind — it does indeed rock!
Karen 01.12.09 at 10:36 pm
I forgot to add the bonus answer… I generally only shop online, so I don’t have a specific LYS. There are a few that I’ll go to if I’m in dire need of a new needle, but otherwise I usually order online or download directly from the desingers.
heidi 01.13.09 at 12:02 am
We now only have Joanne’s, Michael’s and Beverly’s . We lost our small independent yarn shop last month. I’m not sure if those chains sell PDF patterns I know that the independent didn’t!
D Louise 01.13.09 at 12:29 am
No, my LYS, Fiddlehead Yarns in Kenosha WI, does not sell PDF’s on its website.
plumbum 01.13.09 at 4:06 am
LYS is not even a concept for me. Thank heaven for the Internet!
Walden 01.13.09 at 4:13 am
My LYS doesn’t sell PDFs on their website, but they are just starting to sell things at all on their website.
Michelle in Colorado 01.13.09 at 7:10 am
The LYS that I go to do not sell patterns online. One of them just now started to have the class schedule online.
JE 01.13.09 at 8:48 am
I don’t have a specific LYS anymore. When I am out and around if I see a yarn shop, I will go in and probably buy something. When I travel, I check to see what LYS might be in the area.
Toni 01.13.09 at 11:24 am
Of the four yarn stores in the area that I visit on a regular basis none of them sell PDF patterns on their websites.
Christie 01.13.09 at 1:07 pm
I forgot to mention my LYS in the poll. It’s Karen’s Needlecraft in Pitman, NJ. Although, I do tend to quite a bit of my yarn and supplies from Michael’s and A.C. Moore.
kimberli 01.13.09 at 3:42 pm
My favorite LYS (Black Sheep Wool Co. in SLC) doesn’t have patterns on their website. They have a free Pattern of the Month every month, though, but it’s not in PDF format, you just print out the page. Other LYS’s that I know of don’t have any PDF patterns on their websites - Kamille’s, and Needlepoint Join (Ogden, UT). The Needlepoint Joint does list pattern books for sale/ordering, but no PDF’s.
Terri D. 01.13.09 at 3:46 pm
My LYS, Knitty City in NYC, does not sell PDF patterns on their website…but they are lovely, anyway.
ellen 01.13.09 at 9:22 pm
Of the two LYS in Oklahoma City, SWAK in the City does sell patterns via PDF download, but Gourmet Yarn Company does not. Too bad, because while I will happily browse a selection of patterns online I won’t bother to dig through a looseleaf notebook, which is what Gourmet Yarn uses.
Sasha 01.14.09 at 5:34 am
G’day!
I’m based in Western Australia and we haven’t as many LYS’ as you lucky US & Canadian folks do! So, as far as I know across most of my “local” yarn stores (some a good 45min drive away) none sell PDF patterns. The stores include - calicoandivy.com & woollylattes.com. Hope this helps!
MBelford 01.14.09 at 8:58 am
My LYS is just getting up and running with their web presence, (Knit & Caboodle, St. Charles, MO) and I’m not sure what their plans are for offering .pdf patterns as this presence grows.
shihtzuma 01.14.09 at 12:09 pm
I have 4 LYS’s. Only two have websites, only one has on-line shopping and http://www.Yarn-IT.net but does not have download-able patterns.
Thanks!
Estella 01.14.09 at 12:21 pm
Forgot the bonus question too - my LYS, Knitting Central in Westport CT, does not sell PDFs on their website.
Gina 01.14.09 at 12:58 pm
No the local shops do not sell PDF’s, it would be nice if they did, but I tend to purchase from an online store or direct from the designer.
Donna 01.14.09 at 3:01 pm
My LYS does not sell PDF’s on their web site but I wish they would (altho I can understand why a LYS would want its’ customers to come in to buy a pattern). My LYS is Chix with Stix in Forest Park IL. (It has a bead shop on one side & an ice cream parlor on the other - heaven - esp nice when I take the grands yarn shopping & they can look forward to a sweet treat afterward!)
Chelsea N 01.14.09 at 4:29 pm
My LYS (Sow’s Ear, in Verona Wisconsin), doesn’t sell anything on their website…I’m not sure why though. It would be super awesome if they did, though!!
Meta 01.14.09 at 6:50 pm
My LYS is Cynthia’s Fine Yarn and Gifts in Mackinaw City, Mi.
She is not currently selling PDF’s online but maybe someday!
ReginaInCA 01.14.09 at 9:56 pm
no, i dont think any of my 3-4 LYS sell PDFs online. thanks!
Yvonne 01.14.09 at 11:03 pm
My LYS, Shuttles,Needles and Hooks in Cary, NC does not sell PDF’s on their website mainly because they don’t have a website.
Connie 01.15.09 at 5:00 am
My local yarn shop, Spirit Work, does not carry PDF patterns on their website. I do not know why.
Rachel 01.15.09 at 9:16 am
My LYS (Webs in Northampton, MA) does offer some downloadable patterns for their line of yarn (Valley Yarns). Not a lot- and I can’t see a way to access only the patterns you can download- but they’re there! yarn.com is their site.
Meghan 01.15.09 at 10:50 am
My lys, Nina in Chicago, does not carry PDF’s on their website. They should.
Diane Vanderwerff 01.15.09 at 12:38 pm
I <3 several LYS and none of them sell PDF patterns on their websites that I am aware of. They are Gate City Yarns - Greensboro, NC, Common Threads - High Point, NC, Knit Picky - Winston Salem, NC and Hillsborough Yarn Shop - Hillsborough, NC
Liz 01.15.09 at 6:32 pm
My LYS is Twist in Lahaska, PA.
The shop does not offer PDF patterns for sale.
I do bring my patterns in, and everyone enjoys looking them over I share the url, but not the pattern etc. Twist is VERY good in not copying patterns etc. I applaud them.
Twist is not online, but does email customers.
I do shop about once a quarter at Purl in NYC.
While they do not sell PDFs, they do have lots of free patterns available via their blog. Currently, you just print the pages, but we are told the patters will be available as PDF soon. I do bring these Purl patterns with me to purchase yarn for Purl projects.
Jan 01.15.09 at 10:05 pm
My local yarn store (Knaughty KNitter in Murfreesboro TN) doesn’t carry PDFs on their website nor do any of the ones near me in Nashville! Don’t know why either!
Tracy 01.16.09 at 3:26 am
Michaels is my LYS and their patterns on the website are all free. All you gotta do is put what you are looking for in the search box.
Sheknitsone 01.16.09 at 9:53 am
OOoooOOops! I forgot the question on the bottom too! I don’t think that any of my 5 lys’s sell PDFs, I’m not sure why though…………..
lynn 01.16.09 at 3:03 pm
My LYS, Knitche in Downers Grove, Il does not sell patterns on their web site (it is pretty basic) and I am pretty sure they do no sell them in store.
Jamie 01.16.09 at 8:06 pm
my lys is about 50 miles away and they will mail me anything but I don’t think they do PDF……
Audrey S. 01.16.09 at 9:27 pm
My LYS is Unwind in Burbank, CA, BTW!
Liz 01.16.09 at 10:27 pm
I don’t think that any of my LYS has .pdf’s to purchase, one of them might have some patterns to share. http://www.sit-n-knit.com/index.htm is their website, and the pattern tab just has a list.
pat 01.17.09 at 11:06 am
forgot bonus question
I don’t think that my LYS sells PDF on their website (I don’t visit their website much). Knit a Round (Ann Arbor, Michigan), Michaels, Flying Sheep (Ann Arbor, MI)
Lindsey 01.18.09 at 12:01 pm
Forgot to answer bonus question — I don’t really have a LYS as I live in benighted NW London, and the nearest place that sells yarn is over a mile away — a vast department store called John Lewis in a huge and horrible shopping mall. It has a yarn corner full of overpriced yarn (mostly Rowan and some of the German sock yarns) and as far as I know doesn’t have anything about knitting or yarn on the store website. Real yarn shops are further away, and I’d have to travel for an hour or so to get to them, so I do most of my yarn purchases on the internet.
Ellen 01.18.09 at 9:47 pm
My local yarn shop, The Yarnery in Saint Paul, MN, does not appear to sell pdf patterns. They do sell patterns online, however, but they appear to be just regular patterns that they mail you.
knittinella 01.19.09 at 8:52 am
No - my LYS doesn’t sell ANYTHING on their website let alone PDF. It is Cricket Cove in new brunswick, I wish - wish they would sell online though.
Marsha 01.19.09 at 10:20 pm
I never buy online from LYS that I walk into. The world is my LYS via the internet. I tend to subscribe to all of the knitting magazines, including Knitty.com and Twist and knit many patterns from those sources. Seeing and hearing a designer always results in a purchase!
Marsha 01.19.09 at 10:22 pm
My LYS is Black Sheep in Encinitas, CA, BTW. There are several more and we are lucky to have choices. Black Sheep is my favorite.
Cheri Sicard 01.21.09 at 12:56 pm
I live in Big Bear, CA and my LYS is Yarn Designers Boutique. To be honest, I don’t know if she sells PDF patterns. She’s pretty computer savvy, so she might, but if she does, it’s not publicized. Store owner Gena is fabulous though, great customer service and really caters to her customers.
twinsetjan 01.31.09 at 11:59 am
I just did the poll as it seemed to still accept data even though you say it’s closed. In the event you didn’t get my input, the important thing I wanted to share was my strong feeling about .pdf naming conventions. It’s really helpful to knitters if the .pdf has a meaningful name — instead of design12.pdf use something like cable_and_lace_celtic_socks.pdf — otherwise we have a hard time finding patterns we bought earlier. I also recommend you include a large photo of the design on the first page as the first page will show in thumbnail view and help your buyers.
I don’t believe my LYS sells .pdf’s, but then they might just advertise it very poorly.