Halcyon Yarn News, Notes, & etc.

Posts in the ‘Notes’ Category

Kinda Silly… But Fun! TP For Fiber Arts…

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 Posted in General News, New Items, Notes | 1 Comment »

I’m a little worried… Just as we’re starting to have fun making videos, we’re going to get very busy putting together the next Yarn Catalog… Now, don’t get me wrong, working on the yarn catalog is fun too! But making a short on using toilet paper rolls for fiber arts was definitely a hoot. We might even have to produce an “outtakes”… We have more fun(ny) ideas so will try to keep rolling on them, time permitting. Anyway, in the mean time check out Gwynn and Kendra’s most recent video tip:

Useful toilet paper rolls… Yarn and fiber arts tips! from Halcyon Yarn

Some people had trouble with Vimeo video not loading, usually a page “refresh” fixed it, but if not you can see the same Useful Toilet Paper Rolls video on youtube!

New Shopping Cart for halcyonyarn.com

Thursday, February 4th, 2010 Posted in General News, Notes | No Comments »

Hi from Amos, tech-nerd at Halcyon Yarn. I have made some changes to halcyonyarn.com, and hope that you like them! One dramatic recent change is that we have changed the way you checkout by developing new shopping cart software. I would LOVE some feedback as you check out these new features:

1. You can now see volume-discounts in the cart! Did you know that if you buy 5 or more books, you get a discount? That most yarns (and fibers) have three prices, and the more you buy the cheaper it is? Well with our old cart it was not possible to show these discounts at check-out, and now we can!

2. You can now add gift certificate codes, and discount codes to your order and see the correct total. Keep an eye out as we add discount codes to up-coming newsletters!

3. Web 2.0 goodness – you can add items without a page reload, the cart can update qty totals without a page reload, the cart keeps track of the page where you added an item so you can get back to it later and more!

4. Provides a platform for future improvements! Most importantly it is flexible, so we hope to add more features incrementally.

Please give it a try, and feed back is WELCOMED! Please also do send me an email at mis@halcyonyarn.com and let me know what you love (and more importantly don’t love) about the new cart. There may be the odd bug out there, and I can only fix them if I hear back… Suggestions for new features are welcome too – I’m looking forward to an exciting year of developments at halcyonyarn.com, and I want to focus on what is important to all of you! Thanks much! Amos.

Ravelry Group for Halcyon Yarn

Thursday, November 20th, 2008 Posted in General News, Notes | 4 Comments »

ravelry group bannerWe’re a small company, and we love to get to know our customers. We have an exciting new way to do just that: We have a group on Ravelry! For those of you who haven’t heard of Ravelry, it’s a place for knitters and other fiber artists to share their work and ideas, have discussions and much more. We welcome people to join our group (you must join Ravelry first)… then we can chat-it-up with thoughts and opinions, share your projects, talk about favorite yarns, give us feedback, ask questions, spout non-sequiteurs and just join in the fun with us on Ravelry!

Now is the time: Start your Holiday Waffle Weave Towel Kit!

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 Posted in Notes | 2 Comments »

holiday waffle weave kit…’Tis not yet the season, but it will be soon. In anticipation of the holidays, now is the time to start this wonderful weaving project – and to start down the road to adding a third dimention to your weaving. Waffle weave is a fascinating weave structure that looks more difficult than it is. The little craters create a soft yet functional towel. Since the kit will get you on track quickly you’ll be done in time to proudly display your handiwork at home or to wrap and give as a gift to someone special!

Caps For Kids and More: Fun, Fulfillment & Fibers

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 Posted in General News, Notes | 4 Comments »

Caps for Kids donationThe recent visit from Sgt. Wall’s family coincided with our regular seasonal preparations for our “Caps for Kids” drive. We had a great drive last year and you can see in this photo the boxes of hats that we were able to deliver on behalf of our customers! It was a wonderful feeling and an honor to be able to pass along your good will and beautiful caps to an appreciative Salvation Army. Thanks to all who contributed last year and we’re looking forward to seeing what you all come up with this year!

Now, with the holidays fast approaching (er, the “make it yourself” crowd have to start thinking a bit earlier then everyone else, no?), we’ve been thinking about giving in general. We thought that this would be a good time to highlight some of the many ways that knitters, weavers, and other fiber artists can help others through their work.

There are many knitting projects that are available to help different populations. You can find a listing on our charitable links page (and you can let us know of others to add). This time of year many contribute to our “Caps for Kids” program (donation to the Salvation Army and other local organizations), you can download the free pattern here. You can also contribute items to be given to Afghan men, women, and children directly through Afghans for Afghans. Closer to home, Project Linus has great free patterns and accepts donations that are used in hospitals and shelters in the US. Project Linus has many chapters, there may be one close to you!

Again, if you have the time and the fiber, be sure to check out our charitable links page, and find a way to help that is right for you. If you want to help out with the KAL for our troops in Afghanistan, or the Caps for Kids program, then we’ll be handling storing and moving the knitted goods, so please mail your finished items to:

Caps for Kids (or KnitALong)
C/O Beth Quivey
Halcyon Yarn
12 School Street
Bath, ME 04530

Thank you for your help and support!

Weavolution Auction

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 Posted in Events, Notes | No Comments »

We have several items that will be available as part of a fundraising auction from weavolution.com. There will be several auctions, starting this weekend, Nov. 1st. Included items are: Waffle Weave Towel Kits, Newport Linen Classic Linen Towels Kits, and one of our Pearl Cotton Color Gamp Kits. The weavolution site aims to be a social network for weavers and is in the development phase. We look forward to seeing it develop!

Does anybody ever win that darn thing anyway?

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008 Posted in Notes | No Comments »

Gift CertificatesEver noticed the blue survey card that comes in your order? Have you tossed it aside, thinking, “I’ve never even heard of anyone winning one of the prizes anyway?” Well, the truth is we value those cards a lot, just as we value your input into all that we do. They’re an important way for us to evaluate and improve how we do things, and we always love to hear back from folks. So, we wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU to all the tons and tons of folks who do return the cards. And, oh yeah, people really do win stuff – just look at the list from the last year:

First, the $10 winners:
Jean Jacobson
Carol Harvey
Laurel Hayama
Bob Carr
Paula Bottomley
Larraine Spector
Susan Rizzo
Jeanne Smith
Avima Darnov
Mary Lee
Janet Colville

And then there are the $25 winners:
Susan Bulk
Mavis Pacchioli
Ann Bont
Mary Ann Wendell

And finally the Grand Prize $50 Winner:
Lois Koenig

Congratulations to all!

Thanks again to all who order, and to all who have returned the cards!

Halcyon Yarn Newsletter = Arty Throne, Sewn Cleanly

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 Posted in Notes | No Comments »

OK, so spring is in the air, and it’s making us a bit antsy. We’re longing for some afternoons knitting on the beach, or spinning in the backyard while the smells of BBQ drift on by… But, being in Maine, we’re not there yet – we’re still getting scrambled by snow! Warm sun in the morning, sideways sleet in the afternoon. In honor of the crazy mix up that is spring weather, we’re mixing things up a bit: This issue is chock-a-block with some hard-wrung anagrams… Enjoy!