Supporting Yarn Shops, Charities, & Yarn Friends Everywhere!

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It's been a busy week at Anzula. You might see me say we, it's still just me, but I'm not used to saying me/I. Anzula has been a team for so long, and will be again when we’re able to be together again. In the meantime, as we all stay quarantined for the benefit of health of so many individuals, I want to share with you all the ways you can partner with us to do good in the world!

1) Many local yarn shops are shipping orders, doing live video sales, mystery kits, bespoke surprise kits based on a word you give them, and in general offering so many fun ways for you to shop. If you need yarn, you should definitely check out LYS social media pages to see all the great stuff going on!

2) Another way to support LYS right now is to purchase yarn from the Anzula Online Shop and mention your favorite LYS (and the city and state the shop is in) in the comments during checkout. We will send them 25% of your purchase! This way you get to easily order yarn online right away, I get to keep working, and your LYS gets money to keep them going. It’s a win-win-win!

3) 25% of all retail sales of For Better or Worsted go to Central California Food Bank, World Central Kitchen, Oxfam America, World Health Organization, Doctors With Out Borders, or Feeding America. All you have to do is type your preference in the notes at check out. I will send the payment for you! And if you don’t want to choose, I will rotate through the organizations for any FBoW sale with out a charity mentioned.

4) Are you doing great? Do you have a ton of love and you want to share with other yarnies? You can Pay It Forward by going to https://anzula.myshopify.com/…/pay-…/products/pay-it-forward

5) If you are experiencing financial hardship we will gift you one skein per person in Luster, Silken, Croquet, or It Could Be Worsted. Enter the code stitchinplace at check out to get your free skein. You only need to pay shipping!

6) Designers, we love you! I promise I haven’t forgotten you. If you need yarn support let me know, I have something special set up for you to make sure you can get exactly what you need!

We love all of you so much, I can’t imagine my life without you and your support. Thank you so much for all the kind comments, yarn you’ve purchased, sharing your beautiful projects, and all the ways you share goodness through the whole world with string. We really couldn’t do this without you. You are amazing!

Coming soon to a California LYS near you—#AnzulaTakeOver Trunk Show →

Anzula is about to hit the road again—it's been a while since we've shown our home state love—and we hope to see you there! Check out our California tour dates and come see us as we take over your favorite LYS! 

January 19
3p  A-Major-Knitwork, Van Nuys, Ca

January 20
12p  Jennifer Knits, Los Angeles, Ca

January 21
2p  Twist Yarns of Intrigue, Manhattan Beach, Ca

January 22
3p  Alamitos Bay Yarn Co., Long Beach, Ca

January 23
1p  Yarn Del Sol, Mission Viejo, Ca

January 24
2p  Common Threads, Encinitas, Ca

January 26
2p  Yarning for You, San Marcos, Ca

January 27
3p  Wildfiber Studio, Santa Monica, Ca

January 28
4p  Anacapa Fine Yarns, Ventura, Ca

January 29
2p  The Swift Stitch, Santa Cruz, Ca

January 30
1p  Monarch Knitting, Pacific Grove, Ca

January 31
2p  Green Planet Yarns, San Jose, Ca

February 2
4p  Nine Rubies Knitting, San Mateo, Ca

February 3
2p  Imagiknit, San Francisco, Ca

February 4
3p  Atelier Yarns, San Francisco, Ca

February 5
3p  Atelier Marin, San Anselmo, Ca

February 6
1p  A Yarn Less Raveled, Danville, Ca

February 7
1p  Avenue Yarns, Albany, Ca

Not a Californian? Don't worry, we're always on the move. You can keep up with all our travels on our Events page.

Remember to Keep it Small!

Shoppers at The Sedona Knit Wits

First things first—I am totally not hating on Black Friday. I get it, a 3 foot teddy bear is totally worth camping out for. And losing sleep in the name of shelling out less cash for cool gifts makes sense. I guess. 

My sister-in-law is a die-hard Black Friday shopper. Every year we make the drive up to Morgan Hill from Fresno on Black Friday and we usually arrive right when she's just getting home from an 18 hour day of shopping. We get to see her favorite deals of the day while she tells us the tales from the mall—the people grabbing scarves off of a table and pulling on the same one, the purse that one of her shopping companions had to have, and they had to turn around after they'd left the mall because it wouldn't leave her mind, fighting the parking crowds twice. I love Black Friday when someone else is in the thick of things.

But you know what I like even more? Small Business Saturday. I'm sure you've heard about it. Shop Small Saturday is the mom-and-pop shop's answer to Black Friday. This is a chance to use your dollar to empower an entrepreneur to continue building their dream (or empire). Plus, often times when you shop small for your holiday gifts you find unique items you never would have stumbled across in a 4am daze at the mega-mall. It totally ups your gift-giving skill level from super-basic to extraordinary. 

Anzula Trunk Show at Fuzzy Goat Yarns.

So why, on a yarn blog, am I talking about Small Business Saturday? Because while the craft giants are super enticing with their "Buy 1 xcraftsupplyx, get 800 xcraftsupplyx," the majority of yarn shops are Local Yarn Shops (LYS) and are part of someone's entrepreneurial dream. As you're stocking up on yarn to make gifts (or to give as gifts) your dollar will take your community further when spent in an LYS. You give a boost to a local business owner, and you usually don't have to fight anyone for anything (even though I have been in an LYS that was wall to wall with shoppers, and people had armfuls of fiber and spinning wheels and yarn and it was STILL all very civilized.) And let's face it—even the lower end yarns at an LYS are still much more fun to knit with than anything you'll ever find at MEGACRAFTSTORE. 

That's because the owners of local yarn shops are part of the community they live in. They pay attention to what their customers like, see the trends. They know that if they live in the desert, in the middle of August they probably want to have a variety of lighter yarns that won't induce heatstroke to just cast on. (I'm looking at you, alpaca.) They pay attention to the colors their customers like, they keep the patterns that appeal to their region on hand. It's a beautiful thing. 

Shoppers at an Anzula trunk show at Fiber Creek.

Sure, it may be more expensive, but when I'm creating something that takes hours of my life, I like to feel good about it from start to finish. I like buying the yarn that I know directly impacts someone—and when you buy yarn like ours (subtle plug) you aren't just giving your dollar to an LYS, you're also passing that vote of confidence along to a funky little warehouse with a few handfuls of employees who love what they're doing in the middle of a revitalizing downtown. 

Don't get me wrong, there's a time and place for SUPERMEGACRAFT—7:30pm on a Sunday night when you've just broken the knitting needle and you have to finish the project for a gift tomorrow night? Yep. However, when it comes to conscientious gift giving and project making shopping small is the way to go. 

To learn more about Small Business Saturday, click here. Wanna get started right away? Well, here are a few suggestions for you.