Monday is the only day the store is closed, and as much as one would think we would welcome it, I always feel a little paranoid. Maybe I should run in and see if I remembered to turn the heat down, see if there are any knitters wandering around, lost, looking for a yarn fix, see if UPS came.....you get the point. So I am forcing myself to stay put and actually work on some projects. This has me thinking about setting goals, planning the next project, and for some reason, trends.

If you have lots of projects in mind, and weaving projects really fall into this category, how do you stay ahead of the trends? Is that important? I have a lot of yarn in my stash that is from the 1970's. LOTS of Manos, believe it or not, and some Lopi, both of which have changed in quality dramatically, but you should see the colors! I must have purchased the Manos with the Partridge Family in mind.

I think there must be a big difference between trends and trendy. Thank God and my partner, Myra, that we don't have a lot of 'trendy' yarn in our store. We got some, but just enough for the customers who asked for it. I wondered what it must be like for some great stores who have a ton of it. So I went to some their websites last night and got a surprise. One of the stores still specializes in it. It must mean that their customers like it and want more. This just amazes me, because it means that everything that the sales representatives and magazines are telling us doesn't apply to that store and it's customers. Are their any demographers out there?

My son is big on demographics and his theory is that you can forget everything you thought you knew about them and create the market you want. You provide the interest and motivation to capture the interest of your customer. If you like it, they will buy it. And then you have the internet, which upsets the balance. What we like on the east coast is completely different than what is liked on the west coast, or so I've heard.

I wonder what other's are doing with their eyelash ribbon fake fur acrylic $15 a skein yarns? Surely not another scarf? I like Chris Bylsma's Crayon Jacket as a way to use several interesting yarns together. Maybe I'll do that project next!