For those of you who have been wondering about Batt Club, and if there’ll be another, and what you have to do to get in, here’s a quick update.

First, I have decided to do Batt Club again for Winter 2007. Maybe I should have called it Fall 2007 — but perhaps, with another day promising to bring record high temperatures, I’m eager to feel wintry. Anyway, Winter 2007 will be October, November, and December. Existing Batt Club members have right of first renewal — if you’re in, and you want to renew, you get first crack during the pre-registration period (which is going on now). Current Batt Club members have all been sent email notifications — if you’re in Batt Club, and you have not received an email notification, please let me know!

Second, I really should have instituted a waiting list plan; if I’d been sure I was going to do another round, I probably would have! So many of you have emailed me wishing you’d gotten in, and it’s been heartbreaking to say I can’t. Indeed, I opened up additional groups beyond the initial ten that I expected to do… But there are 40 people, and that is literally as much as I can handle, and still remotely be able to meet other commitments and do other projects. So, anyway, I’m going to start the waiting list now, while pre-registration is going on for existing members. If you’d like to be added to the waiting list, please send me email (to abby, at abbysyarns.com, if that link isn’t clickable for you) and I’ll send you back a waiting list number. You’ll be added first come, first served; and you’ll be notified as slots become available during the pre-registration period. What’s more, your spot in line will be held for next time around too (Winter 2008, in January-February-March) — so even if you don’t get in this time, you’d be in line next time.

Then, once pre-registration is done, and once the wait list has been served, if there are spots remaining, I will announce it here. I can tell you that as it stands right now, we do have quite a few renewals, but we also have some cancellations and there will definitely be wait-list spots available (some are even available now).

UPDATE as of Sun Sep 2 10:10:57 PDT 2007: So far, there are 31 renewals confirmed, 9 pending, and 46 people on the waiting list. To get on the waiting list, email abby@abbysyarns.com.

Third, before you rush to sign up, there are some changes to Batt Club moving forward. The quantities of fiber stay the same, which is to say 4-8 ounces total depending on the blend (in other words, a cashmere blend costs more than a pure wool) and the retail value will always be around $45-50 plus shipping; you’ll always be saving about 25% over what you’d pay to buy the batts without the club membership. Batt Club fibers will still be a surprise, and I won’t tell you much about them before they start arriving in people’s hands. Everyone will still get the same shipment of the same fiber. However, the 3-month subscription costs slightly more than it did the first time around: the price has gone up from $90 for three months, to $110 for 3 months if you’re in the US and Canada. If you’re elsewhere, then chances are that I can ship to you, but I’d need to get your address and give you a custom shipping quote.

Fourth, Batt Club now comes with club benefits: 5% off all purchases from this site during your membership period, and free shipping from eBay during your membership as well. For folks pre-registering or wait-listing, your discount is active as soon as I receive your payment — so if you’re in for October, November and December, your discount could start as soon as, well, now. And lastly, Batt Club membership now comes with the option of signing up to be notified of pending First Dibs, before they’re even active as First Dibs — in other words, Batt Club members get an ongoing discount and first crack at all my new fibers.

Whew! I think that’s it — except to say, the photos all throughout this post are from current Batt Club members, and if you’d like to see more…

…cruise on over to the Flickr group and see what’s there.