Today’s podcast guest: Michael from Yarnbox!
Yarnbox was built out of a passion for discovering wonderful new fibers and yarns and sharing that joy with others. There are simply too many great yarns for even the largest of stores to carry. The sad truth is that many high quality yarns are simply unknown to many knitters. Yarnbox allows you to experience fibers you may never have discovered while allowing small brands exposure on an international level.
The core principle that drives Yarnbox is to create a winning situation for both our suppliers and our members. Our subscribers are rewarded by receiving a superior value in retail product vs buying yarns individually. Our subscribers also have the option of joining our rewarding Yarnbox community. Our suppliers benefit from Yarnbox by receiving free advertising, fame, and future business by providing goods for Yarnbox members at a greatly discounted rate, thereby building subscriber value.
The idea was that in most LYS, you can find the same major brands on the shelves. Lesser known brands have an impossible time gaining traction in the marketplace as they can’t afford to hire sales reps, they don’t have major advertising budgets, and they have little chance of gaining publicity.
Yarnbox serves as an avenue for these tiny brands to get thei products in the hands of knitters all over the world. Hopefully these knitters are putting the yarn on the sticks and bringing it to their LYS and showing off the great stuff the knitters scored in their monthly Yarnbox. LYS owners should pay attention and seek out these brands when considering what to stock in the future.
Subscribers also benefit from Yarnbox. For the monthly subscription fee they receive far more yarn than their retail dollar could buy alone. The reason is because the supplies give us a super sweet deal in return for the exposure, and subscribers reap the benefits by agreeing to accept whatever yarns sent to them.
Who wouldn’t want a lovely yarny surprise every month??
*Giveaway* – leave a comment here with the information Michael requested and be entered to win a free Yarnbox!!
You can find Yarnbox on their website Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Ravelry!
Let’s give some love to our sponsors!
XRX Books, Knitter’s Magazine, STITCHES Expos
Craftsy.com/yarnthing
Fiesta Yarns
Drew Emborsky
Love of Knitting and Love of Crochet
Bijou Basin Ranch
Yarnbox is an awesome idea. Everyone loves mail and knitters and crocheters love yarn, so can you imagine their glee when they receive yarn in the mail? I’ll be saving my pennies so I can subscribe.
My favourite colour is green, least favourite is pink.
The town I’ve moved to is lacking in LYS’s, so to get a monthly surprise of super fun and super yummo yarn would be fantastic! Michael, this is a fantastic idea! My favorite color is blue, and least favorite color is orange!
I love the yarnbox idea, especially if I could order more of a yarn I fell in love with. I’m trying to buy larger quantities of yarn, since I am not a big fan of most one-skein projects! My favorite colors are teals, blues, greens and plums. My least favorite colors are yellows, oranges and reddish browns, although I have plenty of those in my stash as well!
Yarnbox is such a cool idea. My favorite colors are purples, teals and dark browns, andmy least favorite colors are yellows and pink
Yarnbox is a great idea!. My least favorite colors are red, bright greens and white (does not look good on me). My favorite colors are purples, teal and autumn colors.
I’ve been salivating over the yarns you’ve featured to date–what a great way to get indie yarns into people’s hands! I’m a big fan of red, blue, and purple; green–not so much.
I like to knit with purples and teal. Really don’t like brown.
What an interesting idea! I may put yarnbox on my Christmas wish list. My favorite colors are purples, blues and greens, and least favorite are yellows and oranges.
I love the idea!! My favorite colors to knit with are purples, teals and greens. My least favorite colors are yellows and oranges.
I love this idea. We don’t have a local yarn store. My favorite colors are purple and blues. My least are red and oranges.
I have been eying Yarn Box for a little while. I’m so happy you guys ship to Canada!
As for least favourtie colour, I’d have to say beige. Mostly because it doesn’t look good on me; I’m too pale. Mustard yellow is close second. And I still have issues with pink (I’m trying to get over those).
Most favourtie is tricky too, it changes. I’d have to say blue/teal for right now. I’m a sucker for colour, bright greens, reds and purples also make me smile.
Most favorite color is yellow, now I look terrible in yellow but it does make me happy. So, I end up giving a lot of gifts,LOL! My least favorite is green. Just can’t stand it.
I’d have to say that right now I’m really having a love affair with blues and reds. I can get enough of them! And not dull reds and blues, I’m talking about those gorgeous, vivid, jewel-tone colors. Grey is my favorite neutral of the moment, anything from a soft dove grey to a darker gunmetal shade. I saw a gorgeous grey the other day that had a hint of a very dark blue-purple. It was brilliant!
Love Yarnbox! The Ravelry group is fantastic. Can’t think of enough great things to say about Hannah. My favorite colors are red, blue, and green and my least favorites are orange and yellow.
Yarnbox IS great! A true surprise (if you let it be) and it can help you get those creative juices flowing and your mind outside of the box. 😉
I think my current favorite is purple but I don’t know if I would be able to say a least favorite as I think every color has hues or shades that I can get myself into.
Loved the podcast!
Yarnbox is such a fantastic idea! I love greys and blues. Not as big on yellows and pinks. I can’t stand how brilliant this idea is!!!! Thank you for giving us the skinny on this awesome business!
I never thought I would want to join yarnbox but after listening to your podcast with Michael, I totally do! I love greys/blues/purples. Not keen on yellow.
I love the idea of Yarnbox. I was listening to the podcast and had to email my coworker to let her know about it. I would love to get that surprise every month and will be trying out a subscription soon. Have to use up some stash first b/c it has gotten way out of hand. 🙂 My favorite colors are red, all shades of blues and most autumn colors. My least favorite would have to be orange and yellow.
I love teal.
I love this idea, especially since you are getting the “little guys” some attention. I love going to LYS and asking for local yarns to buy. We own a local family business so I can relate to the dyers/spinners who are trying to get their name out there. I would have to say I love “fall colors” like the deep reds, earth tone greens and mustardly yellows. Oh and the fall rust like red browns.. I am not a fan of Neons although that seems to be the “cool” thing right now.
O love Yarnbox! Discovered it a couple months ago. I have yet to experience the joy it will bring…it is on my wish list :-). My fav colour is purple and my least would be peach! Thank you for the chance!!!!
It was such a good question about what colors we love. I know that looking at my stash page in Ravelry I tend to collect purples, greens and teals. My least favorite color is white except when knitting for babies. The same for pink and soft blue. I also prefer finer yarns. I rarely knit with anything heavy than worsted because i prefer fingering and sport.i thoroughly enjoyed the interview and learning about Yarnbox. I live in a 1 yarn store town so the variety is limited. As soon as I go off my stash diet I will be heading over to the Yarnbox. Thanks
Yarnbox sounds faboo!! Getting surprise yarn in the mail – what could be better?? My favorite colors are greys and purple. My least favorites are reds and oranges.
Yarn box is a genius idea. Almost a monthy present full of stuff you love with a world of possibility and creativity. Unpacking it will allow you to explore colour you may never pick. Is there a bad color – impossible. Yes we all have favorites like reds, especially burgandy reds and plums, and interestingly some of our least favorite colours can fall in the same spectrum in a shade, like pink.
My most favorite colors for yarns are vibrant purples and vibrant teal/turquoise. Magenta, fuchsia, turquoise, teal … anything jewel toned in purples and blues. I really dislike flat, dull colors like a dull oatmeal. If it doesn’t invoke gold, I walk away.
Yarnbox is such a great idea! Hearing Michael and Marly talk about it has convinced me to sign up.
My favorite colors are greens and blues. Least favorite would be lavender.
What a great business idea and fascinating interview! Really enjoyed this one. My favorite colors to knit with are the jewel tones (reds, blues, purples). My least favorite are pastels.
Hi – loved the podcast & I love getting yarn in the mail almost as much as I love going to a fun yarn store! My favorite color is periwinkle blue & my least favorite it orange. PICK ME and happy creating : )
Yarnbox is fantastic…what a great opportunity to try new and different yarns–possibly in colorways and/or bases that stretch your creativity–and to learn about multiple designers, while at the same time supporting up and coming businesses and entrepreneurs. My most favorite color is blue and my least favorite is yellow.
Yarnbox is an awesome idea! My favorite colors are jewel tones. Saturated! My least are pastels. Makes sense, huh? Haha! I see the person before me said the same thing! Jewel tones rule! (of course, in the spring, all the Pastelites will be out!)
I really enjoyed this podcast because I have been thinking about trying yarnbox. My favorite colors are blues and greens. My least liked colors would be black and purples. I was so happy to see the crochet option too.
I’ve been a subscriber from the beginning, and it was great to hear Michael’s perspective on it all. My favorite color is green. And my least favorite color is pink.
Yarnbox mailbox! Love jewel tones, less excited by muted flat neutrals.
I just listened to the podcast-what a great idea for getting small company yarns out to all of us. My favorite colors are the warm tones, especially corals, greens, purples, and blues. I’m less likely to pick up reds and black.
Sounds like a good idea and would like to give it a try. I like purples, teals, and pinks. Not crazy about orange and yellow.
Yarn box is such a genius idea! My favorite colors are shades of blue, especially teal and turquoise. My least favorite would be anything neon.
Wow imagine getting a yarn box in the mail every month. So much fun. My least favorite color in yarn is yellow, a most favorite would be a deep pine green.
It sounds amazing! My favorite colors are reds such as garnet and Merlot.
I love teal, it reminds me of the ocean, my least favorite is orange, don’t know why, it is just the color I have the least of and only use it as accents!
This sounds like a great company, thanks for bringing Michael onto your show. I got a little behind in my listening, but I’m glad I heard this one with enough time to post a reply. As far as yarn goes, my least favorite color is white and my most favorite is a deep rich blue.
I love getting surprises in the mail. The Yarnbox is a fun concept. My favorite colors are gray, purple and pink. I’m not opposed to any color really as I can make something out of anything that comes my way.
What a great concept for a yarn enabling company!! My most favorite color is grey – blue gray, purple gray, charcoal gray, you name it!! I really like saturated colors all over the spectrum! My least favorite color is yellow.
I know the drawing is long past, but I wanted to thank you both anyway. This is a very cool idea and I’m glad I got to listen to this episode, finally! I’m going to put this on my Christmas list, absolutely. Also, green is gorgeous and burgundy is blech.