Shop Blogs

The ANG email list has been discussing blogs, what folks like or dislike about them, and their future in our stitching lives.  I am repeating a short note I posted there since I realize not everyone who visits Blog belongs to ANG's email list.  


Many folks have already talked eloquently about stitching blogs and their impact. I just wanted to add a category of blogs that I think are starting to expand--shop blogs. Shops are starting to realize that blogs are much easier to update than their website, and are using them creatively to promote their goods, announce trunk shows and special events, or talk about their classes and share needlepoint tips.
Pocket Full of Stitches is really good at this and Ridgewood Needlepoint isn't far behind.
http://www.pocketfullofstitches.blogspot.com/

http://ridgewoodneedlepoint.blogspot.com/

I have other shop blogs on my blog list that don't post as often but whose postings are full of fun information and personality. Chapel Hill (NC) Needlepoint is doing a series of ornaments for a boy and shows the latest off periodically. We all know how hard it is to find needlepoint with masculine themes so I have enjoyed this a lot.
http://chapelhillneedlepoint.blogspot.com/

Scarlet Thread's blog stands out because they specialize in counted canvaswork, not painted canvases. You can always find out about the latest charts or pick up a thread kit in your favorite colorway there.
http://stitchything.blogspot.com/

Bristly Thistle has just posted a short blurb about displaying holiday needlepoint.
http://bristlythistle.blogspot.com/

Rittenhouse Needlepoint has a behind-the-scenes look at their finishers.
http://rittenhouseneedlepoint.blogspot.com/

Stitcher's Workshop has a photo of the tree they decorated for a Habit for Humanity house.
http://www.stitchersworkshop.com/blog/

My favorite blog that combines personality and shop information is Nimble Needle. This week the owner posted a different gift idea, showed off some of the Barbara Russell trunk show canvases currently in residence waiting for good homes, and talked about how continental and basketweave differ.
http://thenimbleneedle.blogspot.com/

Finally, some shops are using blogs as a teaching aide for their mail order classes. Amy Bunger's Needlepoint Study Hall and Ruth Schmuff's It's Not Your Grandmother's Needlepoint talk about their current class pieces with tips that are useful whether you are actually stitching along with them or not.
http://needlepointstudyhall.blogspot.com/

http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/

All of these blogs are less than two years old and some are less than six months old. I can't wait to see what shop owners do with their blogs in the future.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow