Things we can change

I'm sure most of you have seen the survey that pops up on our website from time to time. If this annoys you, we apologize. But it's a great way for us to get feedback on things that our customers would like us to change. And it's also a very good way for us to see what we're doing well.

We can't be everything to everybody, but we are always striving to be the best that we can be. We go through each and every one of your comments, and try to identify areas in which we can improve. We work on our website every day but sometimes it takes fresh eyes to point out areas that need improvement. We're always happy to take a look at something, and change it if it's going to make a difference. We've already made some changes based on recent comments. Here are a few!

Comment:
"This stupid survey popped up and I had to fill it out."

Our response:
Sorry! We certainly don't want you to feel like we're holding a gun to your head. Let me point out that you always have the option of clicking "yes" or "no"! (If I didn't want to take the survey, I would just click "no". I wouldn't click "yes" and then complain that I was forced to take it. But that's me!)

The survey was showing up for 4% of our total number of visitors. That meant that only 4 people out of every 100 would see it. We honestly thought that was a really low rate. But, we admit, 4% could be way too much, especially if a few people were angered by it. So we cut it down by 50% and now only 2 out of 100 people will see it. We hope that if you are one of those 2 people, you're not completely put out! And we hope that we can still gather the valuable input that we need.

Comment:
"I was looking for double pointed bamboo needles and your site didn't provide prices."

Our response:
Actually, we do provide prices on all of our items that are for sale. I think the confusion comes from the fact that most needles have different prices based on the size.

Here's an example... Brittany Needles (the item) is actually a "parent" item. We do not assign prices to the "parent" because each "child" (or choice in the drop down menu) has a different price. An item like this will show a $0 price until you select the size you are interested in purchasing. Once you choose the size (along with any other attributes available - like length, material, etc.) the price comes right up. So a customer would have seen this: and assumed we had no price listed. We're all different when it comes to computers. Even though I may think it's quite obvious that you need to select a size and length for the price to show up, I understand that not everyone gets that.

Luckily, it was simple to make this more clear. We've added a line of text (highlighted below in yellow) to alert folks that they have to make a selection in the drop down menu for the price to appear. We really hope this is clear for everyone now.

Comment:
I wanted to look at patterns by stitch gauge which I thought was offered at this site, but I could not find a place to search in that way.

Our Response:
Well, we do have this option currently, but we'll admit, it takes a few steps and there could be a better solution.

For now, you would select Knitting Patterns in the top navigation bar, and choose shop by projectThen, let's say you would like to look at hats, so you'd select the icon for Hat Patterns.
Then, use the Narrow it Down menu and select the Weight of the yarn you want to use.
(We know we're a little inconsistent here. "Gauge" refers to stitches per inch and "Weight" refers to weight of the yarn. We use them interchangeably, whether that's right or wrong. Kind of like hank, ball and skein, when we really mean "unit" of yarn. It's a knitter thing.)

Anyway, going forward, we CAN make a new category so that you can shop for patterns by stitch gauge. It's going to take some work but we just wanted you to know that it's coming. Look, there's already a place holder for it! From changing things to make them better, to explaining things that are already there that you may be missing, please stay tuned for more things we're doing to make your time on our site easier.