Relaxing - sort of!

Well, Christmas Day is over - we had a lovely day, but busy, with family and friends visiting and a big lunch to prepare and eat. Now it's boxing day and we're relaxing at home - just us and our cat and a lot of leftover turkey!

I've tidied up my wool stash and have found a lot of yarn that I'd forgotten about, so there will be some interesting projects to look forward to making in the New Year. I've also got to re-stock my Farmers' Markets stocks - I had a really busy time late on and have sold out of so much. I'm also going to have a big effort at making lots of hats - it has been so cold here that they've been flying off the stall.

I had to cancel my last market of the year, at Wheathampstead, as there was just too much snow for me to risk getting the car out, which was disappointing, but I'm planning on being back there in January for my first market of 2011. Just a note to anyone who was hoping to catch me at St Alban's in January (2nd Sunday) - I'm taking that week off as it's too soon after Christmas and no-one has any money left to buy anything!

The overseas post has been dreadful this year - I sent a parcel to a customer in the US on 13th December and there is still no trace of it. The royal mail tracking number has said the same thing ever since I sent it, so I don't know where in the system it is - either it is still in the sorting office here or someone has forgotten to scan the barcode as it has moved on. It is so frustrating and I feel for my customer, who wanted it as a gift. I will have to go into the post office when they re-open and make a fuss!

Christmas Markets

I've sadly neglected to update this blog just recently - Christmas started in late September and I've been in a rush ever since!

This is just to let you know where I'll be for the rest of November and December:

November 21st - Wheathampstead Farmers' Market (10am to 1pm)
November 28th - Harpenden Christmas Carnival (12 noon to 6pm)
December 4th - Hatfield Farmers' Market (9am to 1pm)
December 5th - Royston Christmas Fair (approx 10am to 1pm)
December 12th - St Alban's Farmers' Market (9am to 1.30 pm)
December 19th - Wheathampstead Farmers' Market (10am to 1pm)

After that..... relaxing at home, knitting new stock and no markets until the end of January!
I may even find time for a little blogging!

Update

I have been a bit neglectful of my blog during the summer, but now that autumn's here I'm getting into a more busy mode and, as I've been reminded, Christmas is only 12 weeks away!

My Farmers' markets have been busy, (with one notable exception!) and I'm going to be at full stretch replacing sold items from now until December. I've added some new silk colours to my range , plus I've dyed some alpaca yarn for the first time.

More pictures and comments on my next post, but as a taster, here's my latest silk colorway - chocolate lime.

Holidays

Just a quick note to say that we're off to the west of Ireland on holiday tomorrow.



The weather is always uncertain there, so I'll be taking plenty of knitting with me! I took a couple of orders for boleros at Wheathampstead last week so I'll be getting on with them plus my open university studies (maths and stats) - I always seem to have an assignment hanging over me!



The weather has been very hot and dry here, which doesn't suit me, so it'll be a relief to be somewhere cool and damp.



We've remenbered to pack the camera, so there'll be pictures to post when we're back.

Quick Update

Not too much to report since I last posted, as June was a very quiet month - perhaps the heat is making everyone lethargic.

Our cat Katie is still missing and we're trying to keep hopeful that she will be found. There was one possible sighting of her some weeks ago but we weren't told until a couple of days later, so of course when we went to call her, she had moved on. Our main hope is that she wil get back to us eventually because of her microchip.

In the meantime, our other cat refuses to come in the house, except very briefly to eat, and has become very vocal. We're not sure what to make of that and hope she will get back to normal when the weather cools down.

Knitting wise, I'm off to Leeds tomorrow for the Knitting and Crochet Guild AGM, which should be a good weekend. there's a "show and tell" session for members to talk about their current projects and I'm taking one of my tapestry yarn cushions, plus a color-changing cotton scarf that I'm working on. It will be interesting to see what else is on show too.

I'm at Wheathampstead market next Sunday (18th) - it's usually pretty quiet, but sometimes I do have some good sales there and it's a pleasant place to go. Who knows - I may be surprised by a rush of customers!

Here's a couple of pictures of my new cushions, the completed one is the "rustic" style mix of colours and the one on the needles is the blue-green mix. The colours on the blue one are a lot brighter in reality!

Cushions and distractions

I can't believe that its been nearly a month since I last posted here.







May was very busy - after the wet and windy morning at Royston last month my markets at St. Alban's and Wheathampstead were pretty busy with the best market of this year (so far) for Wheathampstead.







We've been a bit distracted recently as our lovely cat Katie (pictured)has gone missing - she's been gone for eleven days now and we're so worried about her. She did this three years ago and we found her after three weeks, straying in some gardens not too far away, so we're hopeful that we will find her again this time too, although it is difficult not to dwell on all the bad things that can happen to a lost cat.

Knitting wise, I've been using up a stash of tapestry wool (plus buying a bit more on ebay!) to make some colourful cushions. I'm very pleased with the results - there's such a great range of colours and you can plan out the stripes with the little skeins of wool before you start. I've enjoyed mixing colours that may not "go" to make a rustic effect in my first cushion, and I'm now graduating shades of blue and green to make a more shaded effect for my next one. There's no chance of getting bored making these either, as the colours are changing so often.

I'm waiting for a delivery of cushion pads so I can finish another and then they'll be ready for my markets this month. I'm off to St Alban's on Sunday and then Wheathampsted the week after.

Markets

Another busy week - I was at a very cold and wet Royston market last Sunday and was amazed to sell a scarfs. Several things blew off the stall and got wet and at 11.30 the stallholders rebelled and quit! It was nice to finish early and I got to go and have a coffee and big slice of cake in the old cornmarket buildings there - so warm and cosy after being outside since 8.30 and a really pleasant oasis!

There is now a proposal to move the market indoors - let's hope it goes through, so I can get out my spring and summer stuff without fear of it all being ruined.

I'm off to St Alban's this weekend - the forecast is for cold, but at least no rain - I don't think I'll be putting away the thermals just yet!

On a better note, I had an etsy sale this week, which was pleasing.

New Silk - 2

I've just had a scarf in my latest colourway back and am very pleased with it - I've decided to call it "blueberry". It's already in my etsy shop and I'll be taking one to Royston market with me tomorrow.

I had a fairly busy morning at Harpenden last Sunday, although the weather was not nearly as nice as had been forecast and we had quite a lot of rain to start off with! however, it didn't seem to put people off coming out and it was a good end to my season there - I'll be back in September ready for Christmas!

Tomorrow is forecast quite wet and windy too, so I'm not really looking forward to a morning outdoors. Royston can be a little quiet too, so let's hope people come out to support us.

New Silk

Just a quick update to show off a new colour in the silks - I've decided to call it "tropical" as it reminded me of a warm caribbean sea - turquoise and blues with a hint of emerald green.

One of the finished scarves is in my Etsy shop and I'm taking another to my Farmers' markets. I think my customers are going to like them!

I'm off to Harpenden farmers' market on Sunday, which will be my last one there until September.

The weather is forecast to be very warm, so I'll be concentrating on my silk and cotton scarves, plus hoping to get orders for my summer boleros.

I try to wind down a bit in the summer and get ready for my busy time in the winter - it will be nice to have some free weekends and I may even clean the house!

April Update

Well, spring now finally seems to have sprung and we're enjoying some fine weather at last! It's been a long cold winter and we're all ready for a change.

I haven't posted for a while, but I have been busy re-vamping my website (www.willowknits.com) - I'm changing it from a shop to a general information site and moving all my online shop stuff to Etsy. I've passed all the necessary alterations over to my website people and they should be doing the update fairly soon. I'll let everyone know when it's live.

I've also been busy deciding what to make a priority for my spring & summer Farmers' markets - I've decided on the centrepieces being my silks and the light cotton "colour changing" scarves. I've got a couple of the cotton scarves made already (silver -blue and silver-purple) and yarn for some more, so there's plenty to get on with. I've also dyed some more silk in two new colourways - a tropical blue-green- turquoise mix and a vibrant berry-lilacs-blues mix. Pictures to follow when the scarves come back from the knitters!

April is the end of my "winter season" and I cut down the markets to just St Albans' and Wheathampstead from May to September, although this year I'm going to give Royston a go as well, at least for May. They have had a new person take over the admin and she has been working very hard to promote the market, so if there are new customers coming I'd like to be there.

Update

Over a month since I last posted - how time rushes by!

We've been very busy, mainly because we've been away for a skiing holiday in Jasper, Canada - which was fantastic, although a very long journey (20hrs) and I came back with a heavy cold which has taken a while to shake off.

While away I found a lovely yarn shop - Stychen Tyme (www.stychentyme.ca)- I never actually stop thinking about yarn or knitting - and was tempted by some of their great range of books and patterns. It was only that I had very full suitcase going out that stopped me from buying more of their yarn, though I did manage to get in some skeins of a nice handpainted uruguayan wool to add to my stash! If anyone is visiting Jasper, Alberta it's well worth a look.

I'm off to St Alban's market tomorrow and am hoping that we will see some signs of spring at last. I've got my summer bolero samples ready to put out and some silk daffodils to decorate the stall, so I hope my customers will be inspired to place their orders for the new season!

Some more silks are due back from my knitters too, so I'm looking forward to that, plus I have to get dyeing so I can keep them busy!

More Markets

Hatfield and Royston were both very cold, but busier than I had been expecting and well worth going to.

I sold one of my new silks (sapphire sea), which was very pleasing and at Hatfield one kind lady gave me a pattern for a tammy that I can adapt and another gave me some pretty yarn (sirdar Fizz) which she didn't want - many thanks to them both!

We had some minor dramas over the weekend - one of our cats had to be taken to the emergency vet's with an infected eye on Saturday afternoon and then our washing machine broke down on Sunday with a load of wet washing still in it. Fortunately all is well now, the cat, Tess, is recovering well although she didn't like the journey to the vet's and has spent several days hidden away since she got back and the engineer is coming to fix the machine next week.

I had some more of my new silks come back from the knitters and think they look fab!

Here's a picture, from left to right the colours are amethyst, rose pink and salmon. The picture shows each shade with a little bit more blue tone than it is in reality, but overall it's reasonably accurate.

I'm off to St Alban's market on Sunday, so I hope my customers like them. As ever - if you would like to reserve one, just get in touch.

Markets

This is just to let you all know that I've got two markets next weekend (6th/7th February) - Hatfield on Saturday and Royston on the Sunday - I'm hoping for good weather and some customers - both markets tended to be fairly quiet last year, even in December, so let's hope things pick up.

Harpenden was fairly busy last week - thanks to everyone who bought something and also to the people that came by to tell me how the scarves they bought as christmas gifts were liked or to show me that they were wearing one.

I won't be at Harpenden next month, as I'll be skiing in Canada (yay!). Sadly I won't be able to knit on the 'plane, but I will be packing yarn and needles so I can make something while I'm there!

Finally - a lady bought a hat from me at Harpenden, but must have dropped it, as I found it on the ground outside Cafe Gusto on my way to the car park! If this was you, I have taken it home and will keep it for you. Either pick it up from me at one of my other markets or contact me with your details and I will put it in the post.

New colours

We woke up to a bright morning today, with a dusting of snow on the ground - perfect weather for taking some pictures of my new scarves.

Here are two of the silks, "spruce" on the left and "sapphire sea" on the right. "Spruce" has photographed more yellow toned than it is - in reality it is slightly darker and more shades of bottle/pine green, but "sapphire sea" is just right.

I tried getting a picture of my cranberry red shade, but it just wouldn't come out anywhere near the true colour, so I'll have to wait until I can get outside with the camera.

I've also just finished this scarf in a wonderful new yarn from wolles yarn creations (available in etsy) - it is a cotton yarn that graduates from one shade to the next, so the finished article looks as if it has been dip dyed. I've got another to do in silver-purple and am awaiting a parcel with some more. I'm planning to make them a feature of my Farmers' markets stall in the spring.

Another busy week

Another week has gone by so quickly - the yarn I dyed is all dried now and is being knitted up. A couple of scarves have come back from the knitters in "sapphire sea" and "spruce green" and I'm really pleased with them. Someone told me once that it was very difficult to get darker colours to "take" on silk, but so far I haven't found it to be such a problem.

The "sapphire" has come out really deep and the "spruce" is a lovely mix of varying shades of the same green. I'll have them ready for my customers at Harpenden Farmers' market tomorrow and it will be interesting to hear what people think of them.

Wheathampstead last week was quite quiet, but I did break even on the day, so not too bad.

The weather recently has been a bit too grey to take good pictures, so I'll get the camera out when we see some sun again!

Busy Week

I've been busy this week dyeing yarn for my silk scarves and trying out some new colours.

I'm trying to get away from picking only the colours I like and have forced myself to try some that I would never wear, but my some of customers will. In particular, I've dyed a really vibrant amethyst -violet shade which is beautiful as a colour, although not one I would choose! I've also done cranberry red, salmon pink, spruce green, blue-green mix and a lovely rose pink mix.

Some yarn is out being knitted already and the rest is drying in the conservatory - pictures will follow soon.

I'm off to my first Farmers' Market of the year tomorrow at Wheathampstead - thankfully all the snow we had here has melted now and the weather forecast is for dry, sunny and not too cold. I'm looking forward to getting out and about again and hope that there will be at least a few customers - if you're in the area come along!

On the Needles

I can't just stick to one project at a time - It's always exiting to see how a new yarn or pattern will work out and always a bit of an effort to finish off. Here's what I'm working on at the moment:

Firstly, I'm often asked to make some scarves that would appeal to men - always difficult as I don't think men should just be confined to choosing between green, brown, black and navy blue - and this is one of my first efforts. I admit that it is green and black, but I think the space-dyed yarn and the checkerboard pattern make it a lot more appealing.

Secondly, I'm making a lace scarf in a fine shetland yarn from Jamieson & Smith - I sold a lot of these in my Etsy shop before Christmas and am taking the opportunity to re-stock while I have some quiet time. I've got mainly pink and blue yarn in stock, plus a little lemon, but have ordered some other colors which should be arriving next week.

Finally, a new color of fluffy yarn for my Farmers' Markets stall.

Happy New Year

The first day of a new year - it always makes me feel positive and ready to make a new start, that the months ahead will be full of possibilities and opportunities.

Willow Knits has had a very busy Christmas, which started around the end of September, so it is nice to have some time now to take stock and plan for the coming months. I'm always full of ideas for things to make and I've certainly got plenty of yarn, so I'll try and get some new projects done, along with making up stock for my Farmers' Markets.

Pictures and further info. to follow!