The final push!

Getting ready for Wheathampstead Farmers' Market this Sunday morning - my last thing before Christmas, barring any late present buying from my etsy customers - there's still just about time for any UK parcels to get there before the holidays.

I was pretty busy at St Alban's, even though it got colder and wetter as the day progressed! I was pleased to pack up and go home and then had to dry all my stock out in the conservatory overnight before packing it away. It's all ready for this week now and the weather forecast is for cold and sunny - ideal - so let's hope people turn out for some last minute shopping.

Into December

I'm at St Alban's Farmers' Market this Sunday - their last one before Christmas. The weather forecast isn't brilliant, but at least it's not snowing!

I've been trying to make up some stock, but won't get everything done in time. I did try to tell people last month that I wouldn't have much left after Harpenden, but I don't think they believed me!

The week after is Wheathampstead - as long as the weather holds - it was too snowy to get there last year! If it goes ahead, I'll have to decide if I'm going to continue there after April - at the moment I'm not really selling enough there to make it worthwhile.

Then I can finally get ready for Christmas - I'm doing hampers as presents this year - it certainly saves a lot of worry over what to get people and really everyone in our family has got everything they could possibly want, so it's nice just to get some edible treats.

December is coming

Had a busy day at Harpenden Christmas Carnival yesterday - my best yet. The weather was great - clear and sunny, after a bit of a windy and rainy start and there were lots of people out and ready to start their christmas shopping.

I also sold some yarn on Etsy this morning, so I'm off to the post office shortly to send that. I've had quite a few sales recently and my basket (see last post) is getting a bit depleted, so I'll have to get dyeing again!

Quick update

Here's a picture of the yarns I've got on sale at the moment - I arranged them in a basket for my Fibre East application and thought they looked good enought to share! I've just dyed some rose-pink too, which will be going on Etsy as soon as I can photograph it.

I went to a local school Christmas Fair last night, really to support a friend of mine who works there, but it turned out to be quite busy - just goes to show that things don't always go the way you expected!

Wheathampstead Farmers' Market last Sunday was rather quiet - disappointing for pre-Christmas and I think I'll have to review that one at the end of the season. So far this year I've lost money by going there and you don't need to be on Dragons Den to work that out!

I'm at Harpenden Christmas Carnival on Sunday - looking forward to it as it's usually fun event and sales should be good too. I've been making up some nice colorful hats as the weather's getting colder - they should be all ready by then.

I'm on Twitter now too - see the button on this blog to follow us!

A Busy Weekend

A busy weekend is coming up!

I'm at a garden centre christams fair near Royston, Herts. all day tomorrow (Saturday) and then at the ususal Farmers' market at Wheathampstead on Sunday morning.

It's the first time I've been able to go to the Garden Centre fair, although they have asked me in previous years - let's hope it's succcessful as it's a long way to go and I'm having to take my own table! Wheathampstead could be OK or people could all be waiting for the Harpenden Christmas carnival, which is the week after and is usually very busy.

I'm getting ready for the next Fibreholics round too - out 1st December - and have been busy dyeing this week - check out my mini etsy feature for a couple of new shades of yarn.

And finally, I've applied to Fibre East for a stall at next year's event - if I'm accepted it will be my first show.

Into November

November at last and Autumn's truly here - grey, misty and generally damp outside. Great weather to be at home knitting though!

Harpenden was a bit quiet for sales, but I think people there are holding themselves back for the town Christmas fair, which is at the end of this month - I hope so anyway!

I'm off to St Alban's this coming Sunday - the weather forecast looks good and I'm hoping for strong sales. When I was tidying up I found some winter scarves in lovely bright colours that I had finished and put away somemonths ago, so I'll be taking them with me and making a feature of them on the stall. Plus I have got my holly garland out of the loft, for a not-so-subliminal message that Christmas is coming!

I'm venturing onto twitter for the first time as I've heard it's a good way to share business news - I'm not really into social networking so I'll see how it goes!

More October

After a busy week last week, it's been quieter, but I've still got loads to do!

I was at Wheathampstead last Sunday and sales were actually good! I think people are starting to think of their gifts in good time this year - it's always better for me if sales are steady over the whole of the autumn rather than a big rush at the last minute as it gives me time to replenish things that have sold well.

I had a good day in Birmingham last Saturday and was able to get plenty of knitting done on the journey, plus the meeting was successful and I met some nice people there.

I'm off to Harpenden this Sunday and am hoping for good sales. The weather is forecast good and dry, even if it will be a bit windy and Harpenden is always a nice place to visit. Some of the shop owners there don't seem to like the Farmers' market and resent that there are stalls near their shops on one day a month - these are usually the shops that aren't open, so I don't see what they are complaining about, especially as the market does draw people into the town.

The yarn is begining to sell online now, which is very pleasing - I was thinking I would end up using it all myself! I'm debating whether or not to take a stall at Fibre East next year and really launch the yarn. My mum can come and help me man the stall and it would be a fun weekend, so I'm moving towards "yes". I think the bookings open in November, so a couple of weeks yet to finally make up my mind.

Update

Phew! The exam's over and I'm begining to wind down from all the last-minute studying. I'm glad I did it though, as it was a great paper and I found it reasonably straightforward, except that I ran out of time and couldn't attempt the final question. doh!

St Alban's market was busy, the weather was good and I had steady sales - up on last year, so a good day. I'm at Wheathampstead this Sunday, which may or may not be OK - it's a nice place to go, but sales there are just not cutting it!

I've had a couple of online sales this week, which is always nice - I love it when my stuff goes all over the world! I'm a bit sad and look places up in the atlas when I'm sending them off!

Off to Birmingham by train on Saturday for a Knitting and Crochet Guild meeting - I love train journeys, hope it's not too crowded, so I can get my knitting out!

Into Autumn

After the mini-heatwave at the begining of the month, Autumn is certainly here!

I was at Harpenden Farmetrs' market at the end of September and it was so warm! I put out my hats and of course didn't sell any, plus I had to put the air conditioning on in the car on the way home!

What a contrast now - I'm at St. Alban's tomorrow and it's time to dig out the fleece to wear, plus I need to sort out my winter-weight scarves to sell. I'm hoping that people will start to think about christmas gifts now the weather has turned.

I've made a few more squares scarflettes and put them in my etsy shop - I'm very pleased with how they have turned out and I'll try and get some done for the markets too. I've added a picture of one I made in a handspun yarn, which is particularly soft.

I went to the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace earlier this week (always a great day out) and bought some Colinette yarn (prism), that I think will look good in this design. in my spare moments I'll have to get started!

I've got my OU exam on Tuesday, so at the moment I've just got my nose in my books - it'll be relief when it's over and I can concentrate on my knitting (plus some housework - a very poor second choice of course!)

Update

Just got back from Wheathampstead - weather fine and dry, so not at all as expected!

I didn't sell as much as I hoped, but did give out plenty of fliers for my yarns and plus, when I got home I found I had sold my Squares scarflette on etsy, which was good news.

I'll have to go through my stash of yarn and see if I have anything that would look good made up in that design.

I'll be at Harpenden next week and am looking forward to it - it's always a pleasant place to go to and the market is held in quite a sheltered place, so even if the weather isn't great we don't get too wet!

New Scarflettes

Further to my last post, here's the pictures of my new scarflettes, made with some beautiful handspun yarn from shop "auntpeggyscloset" on etsy.

They're imaginatively named "diagonal" and "squares"!

I've put them in my own etsy shop, but was quite tempted to keep them for myself!

Off to Wheathampstead tomorrow - weather forecast not good!

St Alban's Market

Just got back from St Alban's Farmers' Market - we were so lucky with the weather - the forecast showers held off and, although it was quite windy, the market was busy and we had a successful morning in bright sunshine.

Several regular customers stopped by and after a fairly quiet start, sales picked up and we were busier than we were in September last year.

I'm at Wheathampstead next week, which has been pretty quiet so far this year - let's hope the wallets come out and people start shopping (very) early for Christmas!

I bought some lovely handspun yarn in the summer and I couldn't resist making it up - in spite of having a huge stash of yarn to knit up! I made a garter stitch scarflette "on the diagonal" with one 100g skein and am nearly finished another in a "squares" pattern. Pictures to follow.

Finally - I have been published! Not as grand as it sounds - I was a runner up in a "design a scarf" competition run by "Knitting" magazine and they have published all the winning and runner-up entries in a new book. It's called "Scarves" and is published by gmc books (www.gmcbooks.com) I do get a namecheck as the designer though, so I am thrilled!

Enfield Show - A busy Weekend

We're having the last gasp of summer weather here, with a lovely warm dayyesterday for our annual town show. I entered some classes of the baking competition and am pleased to have won some prizes (first in bread, fruit cake, sausage rolls and cookies and a third in jam tarts) - all we have to do now now is take the entries home and eat them!

I'm also on the home straight with my Open University maths studies for this year, but it is getting a bit difficult! I've been trying to work through the unit about applying complex numbers to fluid flows, but I'm just not getting it! I think I'll have to give up on that for the time being and wait for the tutorial - often when someone explains the topic, it is just so much more straightforward than when I've been trying to work it out for myself. In the meantime I'll go onto the next topic and try to get ahead with that. I've got the exam in October and it will be relief to get it done, although in post-exam euphoria I'll probably sign up for another course!

Knitting wise, I'm trying to finish an alpaca & silk lace weight stole that I started ages ago, so I cam get it in the shop for Christmas orders, plus I have got half way through a bamboo shawl, but think the colors don't look right, so I will have to undo it, wash the yarn to get the kinks out and start again. Oh Joy!

Autumn Starts!

There were no posts during August as I was taking a bit of time off, but now September is here, I'm back from my holidays and getting ready for autumn-winter 2011-12!

I've been accepted into fibreholics - I'm so pleased - and will be included in their next round - due to go out on September 7th I think. I've sent some aran silk and some DK silk and hope people will like it. I've added some DK weight silk to my etsy shop (pictures below) and to Ravelry and have some more ready to dye. Let's hope I'm rushed off my feet with orders!

Seas of Green DK Silk

Leaf Green DK Silk

Fall Garden DK Silk

Sadly my suppliers are having problems getting the aran weight silk, so I may not be able to continue with it, but I'm hoping that they will be able to resolve things. The only other alternative seems to be to import it directly and I really can't afford to buy 200kg at one go! Plus imagine having to go and pick it up from Felixstowe or wherever it would arrive - it certaintly wouldn't fit in my Nissan Micra!

My first Farmers' market of the new season is on September 11th at St. Alban's and then I'll be at Wheathampstead on the 18th and Harpendend on the 25th. I'm hoping people will start shopping (very) early for Christmas!

Fibre East

I had a thoroughly enjoyable day at the new show Fibre East last Saturday - the weather was fine, so it was easy to get around the marquees and the event was well managed by the friendly officials.

It was really well-attended and of course I bought much more than I intended! Pick of the show for me was the Teeswater wools stand - www.teewaterwools.co.uk - loads of beautifully dyed yarn for knitting or weaving, plus samples of finished projects for inspiration.

I also found out about Fibreholics UK and their scheme for sending out sample bags from small independent dyers - just what I could do with to publicise my dyed silk, so I have applied to join. fingers crossed that I will be accepted.

July - August

Just got back from Wheathampstead market and luckily managed to dodge the showers. I didn't sell a lot, but did have a run on my crocheted flower hairslides, so I'll have to get making to replace them.

Plenty of time for that though, as I'm taking August off and my next market will be at St Alban's in September. It seems like a long way away, but I've got plenty to do in the knitting department, as well as two assignments for my OU Maths course, so it will fly by.

I've dyed some more yarn - plum purple colour this time - and have put it in my etsy shop. Sales have been quiet - I was hoping that the yarn would be a year-round seller, but it is a very crowded market place and I will reassess things in the autumn. I will probably start taking to to my Farmers' markets and will look into doing the round of yarn shows, taking out ads etc.

I'm off to Fibre East next Saturday as a customer. It's a new show and I'm looking forward to it. I'll post a review next week.

July update

Just to let you all know that I'll be at St Alban's and Wheathampstead Farmers' markets this month (10th & 17th respectively). I don't know how awake I'll be at Wheathampstead as we're off to our niece's wedding in Cambridge on the Saturday!

Highgate Fair in the Square was a little quieter than I thought it would be, but it was a pleasant day out and my husband stayed for the day instead of just dropping me off which was a great help - among other things, the Ladies' were a long way from my stall!

I've just been reading up on a new event - FibreEast - which is taking place at the end of the month. It's only about an hour's drive from me, so I'll be going for a day and I'm looking forward to it.

Finally, I'm in a really active team on Etsy, Knit1Treble2, and we're having a July sale with 10% off in our shops between the 9th and the 24th. Let's hope it generates some sales for everyone in what can be a quiet time of the year.

Mid June update

I've been having a busy time since my last post - here's an update:

St. Alban's farmers market was so cold and wet last Sunday! I really thought I should have put on my thermals! However, thanks to the customers who braved the weather and came out - my takings were up on last year, which is good news.

I went for a day out in Highgate yesterday to have a look round the area before I go there on Saturday to do the "Fair in the Square". What a lovely place it is - nice little shops and restaurants and a beautiful park - I'm really looking forward to the weekend.

I'm at Wheathampstead Farmers' market on Sunday morning, which may be quiet, but is still a pleasant place to visit.

I've dyed some more yarn and put it in my etsy shop - "Marine" and "Summer Lilac Blooms" as I mentioned before - here's some pictures. Both have turned out to be quite difficult shades to picture accurately, but I do try to give a full description as well and of course will always take returns if anyone is unhappy with their purchase.

Marine

Summer Lilac Blooms

My parcel of yarn has arrived - all 10.2 kg! so I will have to get on with dyeing that and possibly working our a new scarf design to use with it.

More updates after the weekend!

Yarn

Since my last post, I have had a sale of my silk yarn - Thank you to Esther in Munich!

I'm now sold out of the Berries and Teal colorways and am getting ready to dye some more. I thought a turquoise mix for one batch and a lilac/pink mix for the other. I recently had a couple of scarves made up in the lilac pink shades, but I didn't write down the dye recipe, so I'll just have to try to reproduce it as best I can! It's always fun mixing the colors, but I'm trying to be more accurate at recording them now, as I expect I will have to replicate them.

I've dyed my sample of the new yarn I mentioned in my last post - it has become a little more loose and soft in the process, but is still more like dk than aran, so I'll work out a new design to use with it. Probably time for a change anyway. I've gone ahead and ordered ten kilos, so let's hope it's popular!

Still no pictures - I will get the camera out soon!

May-June update

May has been a very slow month for sales, both St Alban's and Wheathampstead markets were quiet - for many stallholders, not just for me, and the Etsy shop has been quiet too. I had hoped the yarn would fly out the shop, but perhaps I'm being too optimistic!

I've been trying to use Ravelry more - I had been on it for ages, but not really used it as much as I should, so I've been busy uploading pictures and joining groups. It's quite compulsive!

I'm looking forward to June, with the Fair in the Square at Highgate (London N6) on the 18th being the highlight. It's a lovely area and I've never been to a sale there before, so I'm hoping to meet lots of new customers. Check out their website www.fairinthesquare.co.uk for all the info.

As well as thee, I'll be at St. Alban's (12th) and Wheathampstead (19th) as normal. Let's hope they're busier than May!

I've started making up a wrap in the bamboo yarn I dyed and am going for a dip-dyed effect and a chevron stitch pattern - it's going a bit slowly, but I hope to have it finished in time for Highgate.

Also, my silk supplier has had to switch to a different yarn and I've got a sample of that to dye and make up. It's spun in the same way as the original one, but is thinner - more DK than Aran - so I think I'll take the opportunity to try a different design. It's time for a change anyway.

Picture to follow!

Silk Yarn

I've just decided to offer some of my silk yarn for sale - I am often asked by visitors to my Farmers' Markets "where can we get this yarn?" and up until now the answer has been that you can't! But I thought "why not" and when I was dyeing another batch of yarn for my silk scarves, I did some extra and this is now for sale in my Etsy shop.

I've started out with just three colorways - Teal, Foliage and Berries - and will just see how they go. They're all popular colors, so if they don't sell as yarn I can always use them myself! Pictures below:

Berries

Foliage

Teal

Bamboo

Just finished dyeing some bamboo yarn - I wasn't sure what colour to try, but went with a lovely deep cerulean blue - always popular. I diluted the dye for each skein, so it started off with a strong solution and by the time I'd got round to the fifth and final skein it was quite weak, making the colour range from dark to pastel.

There should be enough yarn for two stripey wraps - all I've got to do now is get knitting!

April Update

A little late, as April's nearly over, but we were pretty busy, especially at St Alban's Farmers' Market, and have done better that April 2010, which is nice in a recession.

No Harpenden market for us this month as it was Easter Sunday and we had church followed by a family party - a lovely day, plus it forced me to tidy the house! We have had the builders in to refurbish one of our bathrooms, so there were a lot of thing in the wrong place plus Dust! They're nearly finished now and it's looking great, so all the upheaval will be worth it.

I had the great news earlier this month that I've got a place at Highgate's Fair in the Square to be held on June 18th - it's a lovely area and I'm hoping to meet plenty of new customers. Still working on my shawls, which I hope to have ready for then.

In the meantime, I'll be at St Alban's on May 8th and Wheathampstead on May 15th as normal and possibly at Harpenden on May 22nd. I'm on the reserve list for Harpenden, so I won't know until nearer the time if I've got a place.

Spring

Well, the weather seems to have finally turned nice and sunny and under that influence, I'm feeling vaguely optimistic, although Wheathampstead market last Sunday was very quiet - I sold just one tea cosy, which didn't even cover my petrol money getting there!

Other stallholders were fairly quiet too, so I don't know how long the market will carry on for. There's a new market setting up in Radlett on the same Sunday and several people are transferring to that one, so there will be less stalls, which in turn will mean that the market is smaller and less people will come to it, so those stalls that are left will have fewer customers and so on until it just dwindles to nothing. I have decided to stick with it for the time being - as my business is quite seasonal, there's no point in moving taking on any more markets until September.

On a more cheerful note, I spent Tuesday afternoon at my beautician getting a lovely relaxing body wrap and facial - it's so nice to have some time to myself and it feels great afterwards. If you're in north london give them a try - www.parksidebeautycentre.com - I've been going there for over 20 years!

I'm at Harpenden farmers' market this Sunday - and am hoping it will be quite busy. The weather forecast is perfect for my stall - cold but sunny, so I'm hoping to sell the last of this season's hats and woolly scarves before putting my spring and summer stuff out next month.

Still working on my summer shawls!

March Markets

Well, I've just read through my last post abpout february markets and March looks as if it will be pretty much the same!

We were on holiday at the begining of the month - a great week skiing in Are, Sweden. It was so nice to be out in the open air and in the mountains. We've been there several times, so we know all the slopes. This year I managed to do several runs that I've wimped out on in previous years so I was feeling quite pleased with myself, but this was balancd by falling off T-bars a couple of times and also getting hit on the head by said T-bars too! This is the first year that I've worn a helmet from day one and I'm so glad I did.

I came back to St Alban's market and, like last month, it was busier than last year, so thanks to all my customers there. I'm at Wheathampstead this Sunday - hopefully the pattern will continue. I'm also doing Harpenden this month - I did hope to have one of my shawls ready, but I don't think I will get it done in time.

I've got an assignment due for my OU course and I'm in a display with my Keep Fit group this Saturday and there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day!

I have finished a bamboo yarn scarf though and am very pleased with it. The yarn drapes really well and I think my customers will like it for spring and summer.

February Markets

Just a quick update on work in progress and my markets.

St. Alban's Farmers' market last Sunday went very well, in spite of the weather being a bit overcast and drizzly and Very Cold! I had wondered if I would still need to wear my thermals and I'm so glad I did. However, I had lots of sales - more than February last year and enough to compensate for not going to Hatfield or Royston this month.

I'm off to Wheathampstead this Sunday, which is always a nice place to go to, but can be a bit quiet. I'm trying to be a bit more disciplined in replacing the items I sell each market, plus of course catching up with what I sold before Christmas and making my new spring and summer stock!

I dyed my alpaca and silk laceweight yarn last week and am very pleased with how it has come out. I've done five pastel colours - lavender, rose, turquoise, pistachio and blue, which should please most customers. I thought they were going to be too bright, but the yarn has dried to a nice heathery effect and they should look beautiful once I get them made up. Pictures to follow once they're on the needles!

February already!

Into the second month of the year already - I've started my spring and summer designs already as I know I'll find it hard to keep up one the season is here.

I bought some lovely soft wool and cashmere lace weight yarn on etsy (www.chopped-tomatoes.com) and have started using it to design a stole, which I hope will sell well this summer. It's a lovely moss green colour, which is always popular, and I'm thnking fishtail lace pattern for the two ends, with some thing a little more solid (cat's paw?) for the middle third. I'll just have to see how it looks as I go along. I'll put up a picture one enough is done to get a good idea of the pattern.

I've also got some alpaca and silk lace weight yarn to dye and some bamboo, which I've heard is going to be the new eco fibre, as cotton becomes too hard on water resources to irrigate.

I've also just unpacked my maths course for this year - complex analysis - which looks very interesting, although I think I may find it quite challenging! I want to get well ahead with it as we're off skiing in Sweden for a week at the end of the month and I know I won't do anything if I take the books with me except feel guilty for slacking!

No markets until the middle of the month, when I'll be at St Alban's on the 13th and Wheathampsted on the 20th. No Harpenden as I'll be away.

January Markets

Well, Wheathampstead went quite well, it was nice to be back after the holidays. The wet weather held off until we were packed up and ready to go and sales were up on January last year, so all in all, a good start to the year.

I'm off to Harpenden Farmers' Market tomorrow, again the weather forecast isn't too good, but as long as the rain holds off I'll be pleased. It's always a nice market to go to and I did well there last year, so I'm feeling quite optimistic.

I've finished at two of my more unprofitable markets - Hatfield and Royston, so I'll have the first weekend in every month free now, which I'm looking forward to. Plenty more time for knitting and my Open University studies (Mathematics) and of course housework (a very poor third!).

Finally, I've taken some pictures of my throw, still a work in progress, but I am making a concerted effort to finish it!

New Year

Happy New Year to everyone.



This is my first post of 2011 and it certainly seems to have taken a while to get back to normal after the holidays. I'm off to my first Farmers' Market of the year tomorrow, at Wheathampstead, and have loads of hats ready - let's hope there's plenty of customers there to buy them. The weather forecast isn't too bad (no rain) and I'm quite looking forward to it.



I've been trying to finish off various projects from the stash, including a squares pattern throw that I've been making for ages. It's in Sirdar Escape, a lovely soft spun pure wool in toning colours of blue and grey, and is nearly finished now - I'm hoping to have it ready for the end of the month - pictures to follow!