At 2 PM Eastern time, the first online retail Needle Show will open.

Organizers of The Needlework Show, the online wholesale trade show that Everyone can view, are testing the waters for an online retail show. Anyone can make purchases at the retail show. If you have a local needlework shop (LNS), I urge you to support it by purchasing patterns and materials there. LNSs are wonderful resources, where we find helpful experienced people, specialized and unique materials, classes, and a community of fellow stitchers. If we don’t support LNSs, we won’t have them.

But plenty of us don’t have them, and this show can be a place to find a DNS (distant needlework shop) or e-tailer.

Funk & Weber Designs is participating, too, as are other designers. I love The Needlework Show and how Cindy, the chief organizer, wants to explore new options for needleworkers. She’s got a great sense of adventure, she works hard, she’s optimistic, she welcomes suggestions, and she’s all about having fun with needlework. Of course I’m going to support her and stitchers everywhere.

But sell retail? Ay-yi-yi. You know what a trip to the mailbox entails.

So I got some help. Funk & Weber is partnering with Lena’s Counted Cross Stitch and Arctic Needle (sometimes referred to as “Karen”).

Lena is my mother. Arctic Needle is my LNS, if you consider 100 miles away “local,” which I do.

As a Sometimes Stitcher, my mother doesn’t have a stash of patterns, fabrics, and fibers (I know! Can you imagine?!), and she doesn’t want one (nope, cannot imagine). When she wants to stitch, she buys a kit with all the materials included. She’s been hounding us to make kits of our patterns for years. We haven’t, so she has. With our permission, of course.

So, for all you Sometimes Stitchers or orphan stitchers (those without an LNS) here’s a chance to get a complete kit of some Funk & Weber Designs patterns. Not all. But some. How’s that for making it easy? Oh, and by the way, Lena has kits of all the individual animals from Portraits of the Wild Life. If you want one that’s not listed, send an e-mail, and we’ll see that you get it.

Arctic Needle will take orders and process payments, Lena’s Counted Cross Stitch will fill the orders. Me, I’m gonna browse the show and design a new bookmark.

Waddaya say? Let’s go to the show.