News

TNNA seated a new Board of Directors this past fall 2023! We welcome Cynthia Spencer as President, Liz Sytsma as Vice President, Heather Metzger as Secretary, and Sunni Scrivner as Treasurer. They look forward to serving the organization! Since going on hiatus in 2020, your TNNA board has been working behind the scenes to keep the association alive and in good standing. We are in the process of rebuilding this membership website, with more content being added regularly, and the board are excited to help TNNA move towards its next chapter.

CYNTHIA SPENCER: Cynthia loves all parts of the fiber world. She learned how to sew as a child from her mother, and to knit as an adult from a local yarn shop. These yarn-shop lessons developed her love and appreciation for local yarn shops. After earning a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, she immediately opened a fiber-arts shop, Stitch Your Art Out. Twenty years later, she's never looked back. She’s also designed over 100 knitting patterns for her pattern company, Really Clear Designs. Her objective is to help yarn-shop owners teach skills to knitters, from beginning through advanced, in a relaxing, enjoyable way. She has also taught many classes in past years at TNNA shows, and she looks forward to finding ways to help the organization continue shop-owner education and support, along with bringing together all levels of the yarn industry. If you have questions or thoughts for TNNA, please send a note to hello@tnna.org.

LIZ SYTSMA: The owner of Wild Hand, a local yarn shop in Philadelphia, Liz has created a community that believes in the magic of fiber craft. Liz arrived at the yarn shop world after a career in the nonprofit arts and culture sector where she helped create CultureWorks Greater Philadelphia, a Model A Fiscal Sponsor. She brings to TNNA the business design/development, community engagement, equity-building, fiscal management, nonprofit leadership, and creativity that was a part of her work in the nonprofit sector for many years. She's looking forward to supporting the re-development of TNNA into member-centric organization that supports folks across the industry in a way that is useful and meaningful to the day-to-day lives of local yarn shops. Liz has an MBA from Cornell University and loves a good spreadsheet. 

HEATHER METZGER: Heather owns a local yarn shop, Kid Ewe Knot, and loves everything fiber. She keeps her shop humming with classes and events. This year, for example, she has coordinated the Pittsburgh Satellite Crochet Coral Reef project, a unique community initiative that encourages people to come together and create something beautiful. The project involves many people creating hyperbolic shapes using crochet and combining them into a singular coral reef that will be displayed in the Carnegie Museum of Art. She enjoys dyeing yarn for her shop, and helping her customers become expert knitters. Her private lessons fill daily, for weeks ahead! 

SUNNI SCRIVNER: Sunni Scrivner is a knitter, pattern designer, yarn dyer, teacher and the owner of Yarn in Eureka, California. Sunni opened Yarn in the spring of 2008. She has guided the shop as it has grown steadily over the past 15 years. She loves teaching and has taught knitting classes for more than 20 years. She has been designing knitting patterns for 10 years as Sweet Shop Patterns. In 2020, Sunni founded the Have A Ball Fall Crawl; a virtual yarn crawl that takes place across North America. In 2021, Sunni took on the adventure of creating her own 100% local yarn created from wool from a local sheep ranch. Sweet Shop Yarn is the result of that project. In January of 2023, she took over Tributary Yarns and is now dyeing yarn for the shop. Sunni loves wool and color, so dyeing yarn and owning a yarn shop is her idea of the best possible job.

COURTNEY KELLEY: Along with her business partner, Kate Gagnon Osborn, Courtney founded Kelbourne Woolens in 2008. Their primary focus is creating yarn with accessibility, quality, and functionality. The yarns are meant to be worked with, worn, and enjoyed by all, with as few barriers to entry as possible. Courtney has been the TNNA President well past her tenure, keeping the Association alive during the COVID pandemic and subsequent suspension of member services. She is thrilled to have a team with fresh vision bring TNNA back to life with a renewed mission and spirit.

 

Wendy shared her ideas for making your Local Yarn Store Day the best it can be! Focus on the things that work best for your shop so you can make the day fun for you and for your most important business asset - your local knitters! Thank you to everyone who was able to attend! And be sure to check out Wendy's popular podcast, The Creative Shop Talk Podcast. We think you'll love it! View the Webinar Here!

TNNA would like to help you have the best LYS Day ever! We're starting 2023's event with a kick-off meeting on March 6, 2023 at 8:00 pm EST. Our guest speaker that night will be Wendy Batten, whose mission in life is to help small retailers succeed. She particularly enjoys working with creatives - that's us! While you're waiting, check out Wendy Batten's popular podcast, The Creative Shop Talk Podcast. She'll be talking about how you can make the day a party for your store, how to publicize and manage the day, and - most importantly - how to increase sales. We think you'll find this event invaluable, so mark your calendar now!. 

Local Yarn Store Day is a celebration of local, brick & mortar yarn shops all over the world. The event brings customers into stores during a time of year when small retailers welcome a boost. Hosted by The National Needle Arts Association (TNNA), we’re thrilled to announce that Local Yarn Store Day is continuing this year. Sign up for no cost at the website, localyarnstoreday.com. Local Yarn Store Day is a terrific opportunity to promote our industry! We’re all pulling together to celebrate fiber, each other and the power of hope and togetherness!

New this year! LYS Training! Make Local Yarn Store Day a Success for Your Shop: Generate More Sales and Gain New Customers with Gwen Bortner. Join the LYS Day Committee and business leader Gwen Bortner Thursday, March 3 at 8pm EST/5pm PST   This free 30-minute training is brought to you by the LYS Day committee of TNNA. Suppliers are encouraged to attend as well. Register for the Webinar! Looking for more ways to get the word out about your business? Sponsor the live training session with Gwen Bortner. Proceeds from LYS Day sponsorships will go to fund marketing, web hosting, graphic design, and administrative costs for Local Yarn Store Day 2023. Our current Local Yarn Store Day budget is $0, and is being run by the generous donations of personal time and resources by the TNNA board members and Local Yarn Store Day committee. This is a great way to show your support for one of the biggest sales days in our industry!    Sponsorship opportunities range from $75-250 and include: Your corporate name and logo on the Local Yarn Store Day website Dedicated social media posts and email blasts focused on your business Exclusive mention during the webinar Questions? Email hello@tnna.org. Sponsor LYS Day! Local Yarn Store Day (LYS Day) is a TNNA program designed to drive traffic to local yarn stores. Visit localyarnstoreday.com for more information. Thank you to our Local Yarn Store Day Committee Members: Cynthia Spencer: Stitch Your Art Out and Really Clear Designs Cathy Hougan: The Artful Yarn Deb Doyle: TheStringAlliance Courtney Kelley: Kelbourne Woolens Kalliope Sabrina: Anzula Abby Glassenberg: Craft Industry Alliance

Join us for Local Yarn Store Day on Saturday, April 30, 2022! Local Yarn Store Day is a celebration of local, brick & mortar yarn shops all over the world. The event brings customers into stores during a time of year when small retailers welcome a boost. Originated by The National Needle Arts Association (TNNA), we’re thrilled to announce that Local Yarn Store Day is continuing this year. We hope that you’ll create patterns and special yarns or kits for the day!

Retailers and suppliers can register at localyarnstoreday.com. Local Yarn Store Day is a terrific opportunity to promote our industry! We’re all pulling together to celebrate fiber, each other and the power of hope and togetherness. 

Thank you to our Local Yarn Store Day Committee Members:

Cynthia Spencer: Stitch Your Art Out and Really Clear Designs

Cathy Hougan: The Artful Yarn

Deb Doyle: Stage2Marketing

Courtney Kelley: Kelbourne Woolens

Kalliope Sabrina: Anzula

Abby Glassenberg: Craft Industry Alliance

• What happened? Where did TNNA go? 
  TNNA still exists, now as a self-managed association through its volunteer board and committees. The function of a Board of Directors is to ensure that the Association is fulfilling its stated mission and purpose, and that the Association is working in the best interest of the members, in a fiscally responsible manner. The job of a management company is to enact the policies that the board determines will best serve the members, within the budget approved by the board. A management company is the staffing and administrative function of the Association. Without a contracted company to fulfill our staffing and administrative needs, this work has been done, and continues to be done, by your volunteer board.
  
  
• Why can't I log in to the website anymore? 
  TNNA moved the website from our membership platform to a basic site, that currently has no login capabilities. The Association did not have the funds to continue to use the platform we were using or sign up for a new association membership website platform, though we could do so in the future if needed.
  
  
• Will there be another Association trade show? Can we have a virtual trade show?
  We are currently working on a partnership with the H+H North America team to bring a first class trade show for yarn and soft crafts to the US in June of 2022.
  
  
• Can I get a refund from my payments toward the Summer Show that was cancelled. 
  TNNA is not currently in a financial position to offer any refunds for the Summer Show at this time. The board has some records of who is owed money, and those debts are still outstanding. Like many small businesses, TNNA's insurance policies did not offer any protection from the pandemic. If you paid for classes at the Summer Show we do not have a record of your payment. Please contact hello@tnna.org with receipt of payment for our records. 
  
  
• I tried to contact you and no one got back to me.
  For many months TNNA had no way for anyone to contact the Association directly, and no way to contact members. You can now email the TNNA board at hello@tnna.org.
  
  
• Can I access the member database? 
  There is currently no way to share or view the membership database. Once the new website it up and running we will contact you regarding your membership and member access.
  
  
• What about the Foundation?
  The Foundation, and its funds, are still intact. The funds of the Foundation may only be used towards the administration and mission of the Foundation, which is currently needlework education. TNNA will be hoping to form a new Board of Directors for the foundation soon.
  
  
• Has my membership lapsed?
  The new member year begins in October. However, if you were a member at the time operations were suspended in the spring you will by default remain on the member list for the time being. TNNA will not be collecting new or renewal membership fees at this time. Stay tuned for updates on membership committee formation.
  
  
• Who do I contact with questions?
  For now, you can email info@tnna.org with any additional questions and comments. The board will do everything we can to help you within a timely fashion.

 
Thank you for taking the time to read all the way through the FAQs!