Interesting stuff or hmmm

I need to make some changes on my personal and the guild's web pages.

On the personal page side of the house that's usually code for Liz at Needlecraft Cottage changed shop hours again. I usually wait a tick or six to see what else Liz is going to change.

Because of Ravelry I know that there are a few more group knitting events/groups going that I don't have up on my listing so it needs an update.
Even though I know that I'm never going to have a completely accurate list, it is worth taking an effort from time to time.

On the guild side of things we had some great ideas to invite the LYS to connect up a bit more with us and use some of the resources on our site to cross connect (or co-citation). I missed a couple of those (didn't make the queue) and others are not exactly the special events announcements I think we were trying for.

In other LYS interesting moments, there's a strange mis-perception among some people (well, some people on Ravelry) that somehow Whistlestop Knitting is associated with The Grove.

The only way that's true is that they are within spitting distance of each other and the knitting connection is a secondary part of the underlying business model of both places but that's about it.

The Grove was, at one point, somewhat affiliated with the charity knitting group that meets on Sundays at Rebecca's (aka the coffee shop on the corner of Fern & Juniper).

What's really weird, is that apparently, The Grove has recently discontinued (yet again) their Thursday night knitting salons (original controversy was that they wanted to charge for the event) and moved them to Sunday afternoons and more specifically the first and third Sundays which just "happen" to be the same Sundays that Whistlestop knitting happens.

Is this a coincidence or crazy under cutting of other -- seriously within eye sight -- local group knitting events?

Yes, I know that The Grove has ardent fans that will pimp it/pump it up as the bomb of a knitting shop (all San Diego LYS have a core fan-actic base) but if those people are honest they will acknowledge that the shelf stock has been steadily dwindling and that lately, it barely has any yarn to speak of.

Some of us, self included, barely think of it as LYS anymore.

If you're a die hard The Grove lover -- make your case.

Convince me that they really are a LYS and committed to growing San Diego knitting beyond their bottom line. Heck, convince me that they are actually a LYS and with stock/inventory.

With this latest cut into someone else's gig, I just don't get it. Why wouldn't you outreach instead of compete? The obvious answer on that actually is that you think that your branding can trump the competition and lure that market segment into your realm.

Somehow I'm thinking that it isn't that well defined but it might be a blunder in dumb marketing moment that still might have an end result of hurting and subverting local knitting groups.

Then again, I'm not really getting the whole de-centralisation of San Diego knitting that's been happening over the last decade or so and maybe this is just part of that trend.

Photos on the day, a sweet little house from last Saturday's walkabout and another under the nose change. The 17 January blog entry showed a picture of someone's abandoned glass on a newspaper vending machine -- that vending machine is now gone. I honestly couldn't tell you when and seriously it is just under my nose.