October 5, 2026

The Missing Skein Report: 1

Exactly three weeks ago, I launched The Missing Skein website. This has been an idea in the works for almost a year, and I have checked my stats more often than I’d like to admit.

Mostly, I feel like a knitter who just cast on something enormous and hasn’t checked gauge yet.

So, you’re new here. Welcome! We’re all new here. But in just three short weeks, The Missing Skein has already started to gain some real traction.

By the numbers

September 14 to October 4

• Facebook: 11,900+ views and 69 followers
• Instagram: 4,100+ views and 78 followers
• Website: 555+ page views

A quick clarification: “views” on Facebook and Instagram means people saw a post. It does not mean they visited the website. I’d rather give you the real picture than a flattering one.

But people are visiting the website, creating accounts, and starting to explore.

Thank you to everyone who has signed up. Each new account belongs to a real person who took a chance on a brand-new site, and I don’t take that lightly.

What I’m learning

One thing I am learning very quickly is that building a website and actually watching other people use it are two completely different things.

A lovely woman emailed me this weekend because she needed to know where to enter the quantity of yarn she wanted to sell. The field is there, but it appears toward the end of the listing process, when you enter the selling price.

I knew that, of course, because I have been staring at this website for months. She had no reason to know it.

Feedback like that is really, really helpful.

The other thing I knew intellectually, but am now getting to experience firsthand, is that starting a marketplace is a little tricky. People are more likely to shop when there is plenty of yarn to browse. But to have plenty of yarn to browse, people have to start listing it.

Which is where I am hoping some of you come in.

Yarn of the Week

Wooldreamers Mota in Lovely Lavender

This week’s yarn is Wooldreamers Mota, a beautiful 3-ply DK-weight yarn made from 100% Spanish wool. It is a blend of Merina Entrefina and Manchega wool from local flocks in Castilla-La Mancha.

This skein is listed for $10, compared with a retail price of about $17.50.

Not bad for some spectacular Spanish wool.

Don Quixote himself would be envious.

See the listing here.

What’s next

I am planning to make The Missing Skein Report a regular feature.

Of course I’ll share updates about the website, but I don’t want this to become an email that does nothing but tell you to buy and sell yarn. I want it to be something I would actually enjoy opening myself.

So each issue may include a beautiful yarn from the marketplace, a knitting tip, a book I’m reading, or even a recipe if I happened to make something particularly good that week.

We’ll see where it goes.

In the meantime, I need your help with the most important part: yarn.

A marketplace is only as good as what’s on its shelves.

If you have yarn sitting in a closet that you know you’re probably never going to use, I would love for you to list it on The Missing Skein.

It takes about five minutes. It is free to list, and the 10% commission only applies if your yarn sells.

List your yarn here.

Thank you for being here this early.

Happy knitting,

Catherine
Founder, The Missing Skein