We’re doing things a little differently than usual here at Digits & Threads, partly because we believe the business model of magazines should have changed a long time ago.

Traditionally, magazines in print and online have relied on display advertising for a sizeable portion of their revenue. Subscriptions have been sold for cheap because advertisers want to reach as many eyeballs as possible. Or if an online magazine is available for free, it’s littered with ads and pop-ups and click-bait to maximize eyeball traffic so more ads will sell.

We think you’re more than eyeballs. We think you’re a complex, fascinating person who loves learning about fibre and textiles from all angles, whether it’s examining the properties of a certain breed of wool, exploring how to make a new kind of project, or learning about where a textile artist finds inspiration.

We want to spend all of our time and energy creating a magazine that you, our reader, want to read. (Frankly, we’re making a magazine that we want to read, too.)

In our more flippant moments, we insist that if we’re going to pander to anyone, it’s going to be to you, not to advertisers.

So we are ditching the business-as-usual approach to delivering this online magazine.

Digits & Threads is supported entirely by our members.

Wait. “Members?” you say, “Not subscribers?”

Right. Members.

It’s a fine line, we know, between a subscriber to online content and a member of an online community. In both cases, you pay money once a year to gain access.

The difference—the major difference—is that a subscriber is eyeballs and a member is a partner.

We rely on our members not only for the fees they pay to read our online magazine, but also to let us know what they love, what they want to learn more about, what we could do better. Our magazine is not a fire hose that’s pointed at your wallet; our magazine is a dialogue.

This magazine has been a dream for many years, for both of our founders. With your involvement, we are making it into something that inspires, educates, encourages and connects—us to each other, and to the materials, practices, traditions and innovations that make our hands itch to make something.

We offer three levels of membership, two of which are paid. There will always be some content available to free members, and sometimes we make pieces available to the public. Our two paid membership levels, Armchair and Studio, include access to all features, articles and posts. Studio Members additionally have access to the craft patterns we publish, and are invited to participate in our monthly live virtual Studio Hours.

Whatever level you choose, we look forward to getting to know you and to exploring the vast landscape of Canadian fibre and textile arts, crafts and industry with you.