It's been just over six months since we opened our doors for the first time, and we cannot thank you enough for your support. Whether you've bought a sweater quantity of yarn, or brought friends and family to shop, or left us a review, or taken a class or private lesson, or forwarded our newsletter to another crafter, or done any of the million other small things you've done to spread the word about us, every little thing helps us grow stronger roots in this community. 

As part of the growth process, we're very excited to take part in our first Small Business Saturday on November 25! Here are all the details. 

• We're going to open an hour earlier than normal - 9 AM - and we'll close at 5 PM.
• The first 10 customers who make a purchase will receive a swag bag - what's inside? Could be needles... or yarn... or a pattern/patterns.... there's only one way to find out! 
• A different item will be on sale, 15% off, every hour. We'll let you know what's on sale by posting to Facebook and Instagram at the top of every hour, but you can only get the sale price by coming into the store to make your purchase. Each item will only be on sale for one hour, so keep your eyes peeled! 
• Best of all, we're raising donations for the Stanwood-Camano Food Bank - and your qualifying donation earns you the chance to draw an extra discount at checkout. Bring any 2 of the following items to the shop on Saturday, November 25, check them in with Lindsey, and you'll get to pull an extra coupon from the bucket when you're ready to check out. 
  • Canned soup
  • Canned vegetables
  • Canned fruit
  • Pasta sauce
  • Crackers
  • Baby food in jars
  • Diapers/wipes
  • Shampoo
  • Toothpaste/toothbrushes
  • Laundry soap
  • Toilet paper
• We've gotta put a few limitations on the coupons: they're not valid for spinning/weaving/fiber processing equipment, items from our consignment vendors, or special orders. One coupon per customer for the day, and each coupon is only valid in the physical shop on Saturday, November 25, 2017. The coupon is only good on an item/items present at the checkout stand at the time the customer draws the coupon. You may not use a coupon along with an existing rewards points coupon ($20 credit given after earning 200 rewards points). Rewards points will be awarded for purchases made with the coupon, but points will be given according to discounted prices. 

My husband, Eric, and I will be celebrating our twelfth wedding anniversary this weekend. We got married over Labor Day weekend in 2005, just after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Louisiana. We donated somewhere around the equivalent of 20-25%  of the value of cash and gift cards that people gave us - even though we only had one job between the two of us, it just didn't feel right to buy things to replace or upgrade what we had when so many people had lost everything. 

That memory came to me this morning as I was getting ready to come into the shop. Yes, there's a lot of financial investment in opening a brick-and-mortar shop, and summer is definitely our lean season... but we find ourselves once more in a position to help those who need so much more right now. 

So.

Next week, from opening on Tuesday to the close of business on Saturday (September 5-9), we're going to do our usual yarn shop thing. And on Saturday evening, I'm going to tally up the week's gross pre-tax sales, and 10% of that number - that's before I pay shop bills, rent, or even take a couple of bucks to buy a cup of coffee -  will be donated to the Houston Food Bank. (Since we work with the Stanwood-Camano Food Bank, it seemed like a logical choice.) 

We hope you'll come by, make a purchase or two, and help Stilly River Yarns make a significant donation to the cause.  I look forward to sharing the final donation total with you all next weekend! 

-Lindsey