Lots of changes this week. Smaller set requirements, fewer places we can ship to, more lengths in Northern Light™ needles! All of it is in our newsletter.

Our newsletter this week features Darn Pretty™ needles in Sunrise Stripe and Rosewood Swirl. Amazing needles. Tom has worked for months to improve his methods. It has paid off in the finest work he has ever done. Really. The needles are amazing.

We are also featuring four women and their businesses that we would love for you to experience. Kim Kaslow of The Woolen Rabbit. Amy Ross Manko of The Ross Farm. Jill Duarte of HipStrings. Scarlet Tang of Huckleberry Knits. 

https://mailchi.mp/dyakcraft.com/sunrise-rosewood-and-yarn-love

Let's see. We have more Black Nickel in. And we are taking 20% off! More Heavy Metal™ needles. Some incredible emerald green Darn Pretty™ sets, as well as individual pairs of Darn Pretty™ needles - also 20% off! We have free shipping and we are willing to hold orders. Woot!

And we have friends. This week's newsletter has loads of links to dyers, makers, and merchants - all independent small business persons who are taking huge hits right now, between show cancellations and shelter in place/essential businesses only orders. We encourage you to spend some time with this issue and get to know some of these amazing people and their work!

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From our newsletter:

But there's more! We want you to save on needles, but also shipping. Right now we are offering free first class shipping in the US, free first class international with insurance to Canada on orders over $50, and free first class international with insurance world wide on orders over $75.  (Please see note at bottom from USPS) It's a bit of savings that we hope you can pass on to the many vendors, designers, and teachers who have lost so much! So many of our friends and colleagues are hurting right now. They are reliant on shows for income, and shows are canceled for the spring and possibly longer.

Visit the vendor/exhibitor pages of the shows you had planned on attending and brighten the day of a few independent artists. We all Iive with little to nothing for a safety net. It's a trade off we make in order to do the work we love. But it makes for stressful days and nights in times like these. 

One of my favorite of these is The Ross Farm. Having recently lost her husband, Amy runs the fiber end of the farm herself, featuring some amazing wools from some amazing sheep. Her son, Drew, runs the meat end of the business and is presently working to feed the community!  

And then there is Shannon Okey. Shannon has the energy and creativity of a dozen people! Shannon created and runs the Cleveland (Ohio) Bazaar, which relies on people gathering and shopping, and Cooperative Press, publishing a multitude of pattern books. Like Amy, Shannon relies on shows to reach her customers for a significant portion of her income, so after you have purchased some needles from us and some amazing yarn from Amy, pop over to Cooperative Press and pick up some wonderful new pattern books!

There are so many more people we could recommend. We love them all and hope we all get through this. One thing is for certain - we can only get through this together!

Thank you. Be safe, be well, and stay home and knit!

Love,
Tom and Linda Diak

Service Alert from USPS (Visit this link to read the service alert in full) "The Postal Service has so far experienced only minor operational impacts in the United States as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We do continue to have a temporary suspension of the guarantee on Priority Mail Express International destined for China and Hong Kong, which has been effective since Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, due to widespread airline cancellations and restrictions into this area. In addition, customers may see delays in mail and packages destined to China as well as from China, as well as to and from European countries subject to restricted passenger airline travel. The Postal Service is undertaking all reasonable measures to minimize the impact to our customers."

We have added a selection of Darn Pretty™ 5 inch tips to the shop inventory! And possibly some double points - waiting on a list from Tom right now!

Tom has created a new batch of 5 inch Darn Pretty™ sets - from Top Left clockwise: Apple, Cocobolo, Mixed wood tones, Winterberry, Chestnut, and Hazelnut. All are lace point, 5 inch sets, and all are beautifully crafted and finished by Tom!

Tom has made a batch of interchangeable crochet hooks. These are straight shafts - they perform beautifully for bullion stitches, Tunisian work, or just picking up the stitches of a collar band!
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And we have a batch of Northern Light™ needles that are seconds. A wee bit of spotting, a shade difference in the violet - Tom says to offer them as Seconds! Violet and Gold, both lengths!

This is what happens when Tom gets snowed in at home and can't get to the wood shop! Hummingbird™ and Peacock™ hooks appear! Listed on our Crochet and Turnings pages. Hurry - there aren't many!

We have a fresh batch of Northern Light™ needles and due to some spotting on some of the needles, we are calling the whole run Seconds. Gorgeous Colors!!!

We have two new colors in our Darn Pretty™ interchangeable needles - Winterberry and Spring Forest. Winterberry is a rich red paired with charcoal, while Spring Forest is an intense green and charcoal combination. Gorgeous needles! We have them in sets in the 3.5, 4, and 5 inch lengths!

We have also restocked our amazing Black Nickel needles, both 3.5 and 5 inch lengths. We have added US 6.5/4.25 mm in the 3.5 inch length, and the 5 inch tips come in US 10.5/6.50 mm and US 11/8.00 mm now too!