WEBS Acquired by LoveCrafts

Kathy and Steve Elkins announced that WEBS – America’s Yarn Store has been acquired by LoveCrafts, but nothing should change for customers.

The WEBS website will stay up, and purchases can be made through them as always. All yarn lines currently produced are expected to continue “outside the range of normal range refreshes,” Steve wrote in an FAQ on the WEBS website.

Our companies’ values align perfectly. LoveCrafts has built a community of smart, kind, and passionate makers who champion craft and the joy of making. Together, we believe we become the destination for yarn enthusiasts in America.
It’s a privilege to work with a community as loving, creative, and kind as you, and we’re excited to continue in the next chapter of our story.

WEBS was founded in 1974 by Barbara Elkins and Donna Muller as a weaving business and its first storefront opened in 1984. Kathy and Steve took over daily operations in 2002, and started their website at yarn.com in 2003.

LoveCrafts bills itself as a global community of knitters and crocheters and was originally launched as LoveKnitting in 2012. LoveCrochet launched in 2015 and the sites merged into LoveCrafts in 2019. The site sells yarn as well as knitting, crochet, sewing and embroidery patterns.

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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