Our Story

WEBS - America's Yarn Store is located in the picturesque Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. WEBS started as a family-owned business and has been the destination for knitters, crocheters, weavers, and spinners for 50 years.

1974

WEBS was founded by Barbara Elkins and her then business partner Donna Muller and was solely focused on teaching weaving and renting looms. The business was initially located in Barbara's basement. After eight years, Donna sold her share of the business to Barbara

1984-1992

From 1984 to 1992, WEBS grew rapidly: it first moved out of the Elkins' basement into its initial storefront on Main Street in Amherst, then in 1987 shifted again to a larger Victorian house on Kellogg Ave, where Barbara added knitting yarns and permanent weaving lines, hired her husband Art full-time after his retirement from UMASS, and together they discovered mail order by sending out the company’s first sets of “samples,” which quickly generated customer orders. Although they believed the Kellogg Ave location would sustain 10 years of growth, it lasted barely three before they needed more space, leading to the 1992 move to Northampton - where, after exploring every option in Amherst and nearby towns, Barbara and Art decided to settle the business permanently and where WEBS is still located today.

2001-2005

From 2001 to 2005, WEBS shifted into a modern, multi-channel yarn business: in 2001 they mailed their first catalog featuring mostly looms and weaving tools after years of simple black-and-white text mailers; in 2002 Steve and Kathy took over day-to-day operations as Art and Barbara began planning for retirement; in 2003 WEBS launched its first ecommerce site at yarn.com; in 2004 the growing Northampton store was renovated to add 2,500 square feet of shopping space and the catalog evolved into regular, full-color mailings with yarns for both weaving and knitting/crochet plus project ideas; and in 2005 the introduction of Valley Yarns Berkshire and Berkshire Bulky firmly established the Valley Yarns line for knitting and crochet, which had previously focused mainly on weaving yarns and relabeled closeout lots.

2006-2008

From 2006 to 2008, WEBS continued to grow and refine how it served customers: in 2006 the first Valley Yarns catalog was introduced, featuring the full Valley Yarns knitting/crochet line along with patterns for inspiration; in 2007 the catalogs were split to better match each craft, with separate knitting/crochet and the first weaving-only catalog; and in 2008 the building was renovated again, adding offices, consolidating stock into a single stockroom, creating an additional warehouse area, and moving shipping into a much larger space.

2012

Yet again, WEBS outgrew the predicted space and our Easthampton warehouse was purchased. This warehouse now houses all of our yarns, Customer Service, and our Shipping Departments.

2018

Steve and Kathy were approached by Stacy Charles and made the decision to purchase Tahki Stacy Charles and String Yarns. In addition to the yarn labels, String Yarns in New York City is now part of the WEBS family.

2020

WEBS is acquired by LoveCrafts, creating a partnership with two companies who share the same values that have made each company a success in their own right—a love of crafting and makers, a desire to source quality products and bring them to makers at great prices, and growing a thoughtful and kind community of yarn enthusiasts across the globe.

2024

As part of LoveCrafts, WEBS joined Missouri Star Quilt Company. We continue to offer yarns and supplies for everyone, and our retail store in Northampton, MA, continues to serve our local customers.

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Our Story

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