A yarn shop site should show which yarns and weights are in stock, list classes and knit nights with dates, offer holds or ordering, and give clear hours for knitters travelling to visit.

What the site is actually for

Many knitters arrive at a yarn shop with a plan. The plan usually starts online, with a pattern that calls for a particular weight of yarn, a particular amount of it, and sometimes a particular brand.

The next question is where to buy it. A shop whose website answers that question gets the visit; one showing only a photograph of the front window and a phone number gets a phone call at best.

The site also has a second audience: knitters on holiday, who look up yarn shops wherever they travel and plan a stop around them.

Both groups want the same things, in roughly the same order.

What knitters check before they visit

The sixth is the one that turns a customer into a regular. A shop known for rescuing a dropped stitch or a twisted cable becomes the place people buy their next project from.

Stock by brand, weight and fibre

A full online store is not the first requirement. A page for each brand the shop carries, listing its lines with the weight, fibre content, yardage per skein and price, answers most of what a knitter needs.

Weight is the word knitters search with: lace, fingering, sport, DK, worsted, bulky. Fibre comes next, since a pattern written for wool behaves differently in cotton or alpaca.

Colours change too often to list by hand. A line saying which colours are usually stocked, and that the shop will check a specific one by email or phone, is honest and enough.

Classes with dates, levels and supplies

Classes fill or fail on the details. Each one needs its dates and times, the number of sessions, the skill level, the price and how to register.

The supply list matters as much as the date. A beginner needs to know whether yarn and needles are included or must be bought beforehand, and in what size.

Put classes on a page of their own, with the next start date at the top. Classes announced only in social posts sink below newer posts within days, and a knitter planning for next month cannot find them.

Knit nights and drop-in help

Knit nights, a regular evening when people bring their projects and knit together, are often the first thing someone new to town looks for.

Say which evening, what time, whether it is free, and whether beginners are welcome. Those four facts answer nearly every question asked about it.

Drop-in help belongs on the same page. If the shop fixes mistakes at certain hours, or for a fee, saying so keeps those requests out of the busiest time on a Saturday.

A worked example

A yarn shop in an old house just off the main street of a small Fraser Valley town carries about a dozen brands, runs classes in the back room and hosts a knit night on Wednesdays.

Its website had a home page with a photograph of the window, a page of brand logos with no detail, and nothing about classes, which were announced on the shop's Facebook page.

Staff spent much of each day on the phone answering three questions: whether the shop had a particular yarn in a particular weight, when the next sock class started, and whether it was open on a holiday Monday.

The site held nothing that changed from week to week, so every changing question came by phone. Visitors from out of town sometimes arrived on a Monday, when the shop is closed.

The rebuilt site has a page per brand with weights and fibres, a class page with dates, levels and supply lists, a hold request form, and hours in text on every page with the Monday closure stated plainly.

The phone still rings. The questions have mostly changed from whether the shop has something to whether it can be held.

Holds, dye lots and ordering

Yarn is dyed in batches, called dye lots, and one colour from two different lots can differ visibly in a finished sweater. Knitters buying for a large project want every skein from one lot.

A hold request form solves this without a full store: the yarn, the colour, the number of skeins, and how long the shop will keep them. The shop confirms by email.

Online ordering with shipping is a bigger step, worth taking when the shop has hand-dyed or local yarns that people elsewhere want. Start with holds and add a store when demand shows up in the requests.

Patterns and kits

Kits, a pattern sold with exactly the yarn it needs, are easy to show online and easy to buy as gifts. Each deserves its own page with a photograph of the finished piece.

Patterns need care. Photocopies of commercial patterns cannot be shared, but the shop can link to where each pattern is sold and list the yarns it stocks that work for it.

Visitors from out of town

Knitters on holiday often seek out local yarn, especially hand-dyed or locally milled, as a souvenir that gets used. They plan around opening hours, and they arrive from far away.

Hours in text on every page, with holiday and seasonal changes stated, matter more here than anywhere. So does parking, and a line on which local yarns the shop carries.

The counter-case

A shop that sells mostly to local regulars who drop in weekly can start smaller: a class page, a brand page and clear hours will carry it for a long time.

A shop without staff time to keep a class calendar current should show fewer classes on the site rather than out-of-date ones.

But every yarn shop site needs the stock, the classes and the hours, because those are what knitters check before they get in the car.

What to build first

  1. Put hours and address in text on every page.
  2. List brands with weights and fibres.
  3. Build a class page with dates and supplies.
  4. Add knit night details and drop-in help hours.
  5. Add a hold request form.
  6. Give each kit its own page.
  7. Add online ordering once holds show demand.

Step five is where a yarn shop site starts earning its keep. A knitter who can hold eight skeins from one dye lot before driving over has already decided to buy.

The same planning for a business that people drive out of their way to visit is covered in what a riding stable website needs.

Frequently asked questions

What should a yarn shop website show first?

Hours and address in text on every page, the brands and yarn weights in stock, and a class page with dates. Those answer most questions knitters phone about.

Does a yarn shop need an online store?

Not at first. A brand page with weights and fibres plus a hold request form covers most needs. Add a store when hand-dyed or local yarns draw distant buyers.

Why do dye lots matter online?

Skeins dyed in different batches can differ visibly in a finished piece. Knitters buying for a big project want one lot, so a hold form should ask how many skeins.

What should a class listing include?

Dates and times, number of sessions, skill level, price, how to register, and the supply list, including whether yarn and needles are included or bought beforehand.

Why not just post classes on Facebook?

Posts sink below newer ones within days, so a knitter planning for next month cannot find them. A class page on the site keeps every upcoming date in one place.

How do visiting knitters use the site?

They plan stops around opening hours and look for local or hand-dyed yarns. Clear hours with holiday closures, parking details and a list of local yarns serve them.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Yarn shop site with only a window photo?

Tell us how the shop works now. We will suggest which brand, class and hold pages to build first.

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