Summer

Since my last post, where I anticipated having a bit of a rest, I've actually been quite busy!

I had an exam for my Open University course (Maths and Stats degree) in June and now that's out of the way, I'm feeling slightly less stressed. I've only got three more courses to do, so the end's in sight now and I've got way too far ahead to give up, although when I'm up against assignment deadlines I do some times wonder why I started it in the first place! Only a passing thought though - I enjoy having my brain exercised and the course has been full of so much interesting stuff.

Last weekend I went to the Knitting and Crochet Guild convention in Sheffield, plus an open day at the Guild collection, which is based nearby in Holmfirth. We got to see some outstanding pieces of historic knitting and crochet from the collection and some highlights from their pattern archive.  I didn't take as many pictures as I should have done, but one piece that I found very inspiring was a fair isle style slipover in a lattice pattern. I took a picture of the pattern and think it would look great used on a cushion or some other decorative textile.

      The first step will be to get the pattern onto squared paper and then the fun bit of swatching and planning!

I'm at a local show on Sunday (12th) at Southridge RSPCA centre - I'll be putting up a gazebo for the first time, which should be fun! Then I'll be having a break in August, although the online shop will still be open, and back to busy in September.

Designs featuring my yarn are going to be in issues 69 and 70 of Inside Crochet magazine, so I'm looking forward to seeing that. There'll be a "10% discount code" on my ad for those issues - so do look out for it and grab a bargain.

Finally - I'll be at Yarndale at the end of September. I've made a list of all the colours I'd like to have ready by then and it's a lot, so August will be give over to dyeing!  

Into Spring

It's been a little while since my last post, so time for an update. I've been dyeing lots since I got back from Unravel and I've nearly finished the colours I'd listed as "I must take these..". Once they're done I can move on to the "It'd be nice to take.." list. I've planned a new display to revamp the stand after last year's rather disappointing sales, so it will be interesting to see what difference there is. I'm going to try and make it a bit more homely and welcoming and will have chairs with cushions and a nice rug so I hope people will want to step in and of course buy something while they're there!

On Sunday , I took a few hours off and visited a local urban farm, Forty Hall Farm, which was having a lambing open day. It was a bit cold, so they were mainly cuddled up keeping warm and not gambolling about, but it was a nice afternoon out and I enjoyed seeing the animals - here's a picture:

  
I've been thinking about this year's yarn club and will probably go for at least two gradients this time round as there seems to be a lot of interest. I haven't decided finally on the colours yet, but am leaning towards cerulean blue and amber-honey, but I can always change my mind right up until the announcement is due! Sign-ups will open perhaps a little earlier this year, to coincide with my next newsletter (see right) and I'm going to offer two skein sizes each month - 5 x 20g and 5x 50g.  

I'll be announcing it on facebook too - here's a link to my page if you'd like to follow my ramblings!Willow Knits on Facebook

Back to the dyepots!

Autumn News

Well, autumn is in full swing now and I'm getting busy. Harpenden was very good last week - plenty of customers and nice weather! I've got a "free" weekend this week and then back to St Albans on the 12th.

I'm making poppies this year, after a suggestion by one of my customers, which are being sold in aid of the British Legion - picture below:

I didn't get into Unravel, which was very disappointing, but I understand competition is fierce. I do hope that I might get a place if there is a cancellation, as it's commutable and I would be able to go at short notice. I was asked to take up a cancellation place for Yarndale, but I just couldn't do it. I wouldn't have had enough stock, plus getting somewhere to stay for the weekend would have been very difficult, I'll still apply there next year though. In any case, I've got Festiwool in a few weeks and then the Waltham Abbey wool show in January, so there's plenty to keep me occupied. I've just applied for Wonderwool Wales 2015 too and am keeping my fingers crossed for that.

I've added an "Events" page to my website, so I can keep a diary running covering the next couple of months' fairs and markets, so it will be easier for people to know where I'm going to be. I've already had a couple of enquiries via the "contact us" form - it's nice to know people are looking!    

Into Autumn

Wow, I've just noticed that I haven't posted here since May. I have been using my Facebook page to give small updates as I dye more yarn or do something interesting and have been keeping this for a longer posts, but always end up thinking that I'll sit at the computer and do it soon, but not right now - hence the long gap!

Anyway, here goes:
The yarn club went well this year. I announced the colour themes in advance, so people could pick which months they wanted to go for, avoiding anything they didn't like. I like the opportunity to experiment a bit and came up with some colours that will be keepers and going into my general rotation, plus a couple, which didn't fit the colour themes I was aiming for, but did happen to be just what I've been trying to dye for general yarn.

Shows: I've signed up for a new show, Festiwool, in November which, like the Waltham Abbey Wool Show, is fairly local to me. This one is in Hitchin, Herts - about 45 minutes' drive from home and timed in early November, so customers will still have time to make their gifts! I wasn't planning to do any more shows this year, but this looked to good to miss. For 2015, I've applied to Unravel in Farnham, my first attempt. The deadline for applications has passed now and I'm in tenterhooks waiting to see if I've been successful.

Markets: After a couple of months' break, I went back to St Alban's Farmers' Market on Sunday. It was fairly busy and several regular customers came up to say Hi and buy stuff! I'm at Harpenden in a couple of weeks time. I've got a new alpaca scarf in the ready-made ranges and am hoping it will be popular. The sample I took with me was stroked a fair bit, so that bodes well. I've applied for a couple of extra craft fairs local(ish) to me too, so I'll be adding them to the "Events" page of my website when I get confirmations. 

and finally, I've moved and updated my website to a 1and1 my website - I found it pretty easy to do and I like that I can update it myself, the old one relied on a webmaster to do everything and it just wasn't satisfactory.

This post is quite long enough now, so that's it for today - I'll write again in the next few weeks,     

November-December update

Well, I knew it had been a long time, but I've just seen that I last posted on October 17th and have missed out November entirely!

Since then, I've dyed and posted the third instalment on this year's yarn club and I hope people like it. I've tried a different approach this year, by thinking of a base colour and trying it in different strengths and combinations, so each month's club yarn is a toning set rather than a collection of different colours. The final set of the third instalment, which was based on turquoise as the dominant shade, is now in the shop.   

I particularly like the Plum & Jade colourway on the far right - I think it will be added to my repertoire!

November sales were a bit varied - in particular I was really busy at St Albans Farmers' Market, but only took about a third of what I was expecting to do at Harpenden Christmas Carnival, which is usually the best market of theyear. Other stallholders felt the same, so I'm glad it wasn't just me, but it was disappointing all the same. Anyway, in contrast December has got off to a storming start - Ware was really good and I had my best market ever at St Albans yesterday. My bank manager will be pleased!

I'd like to wind down for Christmas, but can't do that not just yet as I've still got three fairs to go to - I'm at an event in Wanstead Village (London E11) on Saturday and then two final markets the following weekend - Royston on Saturday and Harpenden again on Sunday. Let's hope they're just as busy as the previous December events have been!  

October Update

I was going to call this "into october", but as we're already half way through the month "october update" is probably better. It has been rather quiet this month for sales, which is a bit disappointing - the new craft fair I went to in Ware was very quiet in spite of being well publicised and in a very pleasant location and I had to abandon St Albans market as it was just too wet to even unpack. I'm at Harpenden market in a couple of weeks' time - let's hope that makes up for it all!

I've dyed the second round of my yarn club and am really pleased with the combinations. I won't say more about the colors, as I don't want to spoil a surprise for the members, but some will be finding their way into my normal rotation of colorways.

I've just sent off my application for Wonderwool Wales 2014. I really enjoyed the show last year and hope I'm successful in getting in again.

More later, and some pictures, when the weather improves enough for photography.

September update

Now that the dust has settled a bit, I can update with what has been happening in September.

Things have been overshadowed by the death of my brother-in-law after a short illness. Sadly he had undiagnosed lung cancer and by the time he got any treatment, there was nothing anyone could do. RIP Michael.

Although we have mainly been occupied with organising the funeral and now clearing his house, I have been to a couple of my usual Farmer's markets (Harpenden and St Albans) and have dyed the first instalment on my yarn club. I'm trying a different approach this year and, instead of doing a selection of colours, I'm dyeing five toning shades, so that they can be used in a project together. The first instalment was blues, and there's a spare set for sale in the shop - picture here:

I also attended a workshop last weekend on victorian style knitted lace run by the Knitting and Crochet Guild - it was so interesting to learn a new skill. I had seen in books how very fine steel needles were used and it took some getting used to - my hands ached after the session, as the needles (1.25mm) were so much thinner than those I'm used to! However, the lace you can make is lovely - crochet cotton is used for yarn - and makes beautiful edgings and trimmings as well as small gift items.

I'm starting a new market next weekend at Ware, run by Artisans of Ware www.artisansof.co.uk and am looking forward to it. It's indoors and a late morning start, which is a bonus!

August update

I've just signed up for my first CAL (crochet along) on Ravelry. The pattern ( www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/simple-circles-scarf ) is a lovely scarf designed by the talented Valerie Bracegirdle and she used mini skeins of my yarn for her prototype. I've got one and a half skeins of Silver Berries in my stash for personal use, so I thought I'd join in, expand my crochet skills and make something nice for myself.

Here's the yarn:

I'm starting to think about my September (and beyond) markets and am getting autumn/winter stuff on the needles. I've got a new yarn for this season, which is a nice and bright space-dyed wool-acrylic mix in three colorways. I've used a chevron design again (my favourite!) and I'm pretty pleased with the result:

 

The colors remind me of liquorice allsorts - my favourite sweet - and the scarves will be going out starting with my October markets. 

 

I'm starting a new market this year in Ware, the Artisans of Ware craft fairs, which begin for me on  6th October. It looks like a great venue - indoors too, yay! I went to a college in Ware for a while and it's a nice town, not too far from me. September at St. Albans is my first though on the 8th. I've been off for a couple of months and it will be nice to get back - fingers crossed for dry weather. 

 

I've taken the plunge and joined Facebook too www.facebook.com/WillowKnits so there's another way to keep in touch with people.

 

Fibre East is coming

Still cold and almost wintery here, but my next parcel of silk has arrived from India and I'm getting ready to start dyeing for Fibre East at the end of July.

Mainly I'll be doing some old favourites, that I sold out of at Wonderwool, but I've got a couple of new colour combinations running around my head, that I'll be trying out, plus some other colours that customers asked for.

I've also got St. Alban's Farmers' market in June (9th) to make some stock for - I've got a couple of new cushions to take, plus I'm trying to get some more colours in my cotton scarves finished. As usual the "summer" is upon me before I'm really ready!

I'll be away from the market in July and August, so I should really think about getting stock ready for Christmas!

In the meantime, I'm going to the Kaffe Fasset exhibition in June with my mum as her birthday treat - we're both looking forward to that, it should be so inspiring.

Busy again - into May

Well, I still feel tired after Wonderwool, but am now getting back to normal. The next focus is Fibre East in July. I didn't apply for Woolfest (june), but might consider it next for year.

The yarn I had left is mainly in my Etsy shop now, with a smaller amount kept to take to Farmers' markets. I've got to order some more yarn and have a list of colours that I want to dye. It's funny how the colors that sell well online or in other areas didn't go at wonderwool, but others that I thought may stick went straight away. I was pleased that the new lace-weight yarn seemed popular and I'll be ordering some more in time for Fibre East.

Since getting back I've had several online orders and a busy morning at St. Alban's Farmers market yesterday - my bank manager will be pleased!

Fibre East is at a new (indoor!) venue this year and will be near enough for me to commute from home, which will be great. Nice as it is to stay in a hotel etc. nothing beats your own bed for a good night's sleep.      

April update

Once again - time has flown by since I last posted and lack of blogging means that I've been very busy!

I've just got back from St Alban's market, where I actually felt warm for the first time this year! It was fairly busy and I sold a couple of my wooly scarves, plus a mohair, which was pleasing as this was their last outing until September and I'll now move over to summery yarns (cotton and silk).

I've nearly finished my dyeing for Wonderwool - I've used nearly all the yarn I bought and have done what I hope will be a nice selection of colours. It's hard not to dye all colours I like myself, but I've bitten the bullet and done some that I really don't like (lilacs especially).

I'm now concentrating on the labelling and packing - just a little less than two weeks to go. I'm looking forward to it and it will be an adventure!

March update

How time has flown by since I last posted!

February in St Alban's was very, very wet and so fairly quiet. I moved stalls, as my usual place had a cover that was full of holes and drips were coming through onto the "counter". I'm so glad I did, as it gave way at the end of the market and a huge deluge of water flooded over the stall - it could have been all over my stock! Harpenden was better, although so cold!

March is nearly over now, but it still doesn't feel like spring - we had snow at St Alban's a couple of weeks ago, but a busy market in spite of that. I'm at Harpenden again this Sunday and am just hoping that we won't get rain! That will be my last one there until September - I just go to St Alban's all year round.

I'm getting a bit stressed as I'm getting ready for Wonderwool. I has a delivery of yarn from India held up in customs for a week or so - entirely my own fault - while I applied for an import number from HMRC. It all got sorted out reasonably quickly and I've now got the yarn and am dyeing it, but I'm about two weeks behind my rather ambitious schedule!

I'm sure it'll all come right in the end and as long as my stand looks well stocked, no-one is going to know what else I had hoped to bring...... I keep telling myself that and just keep dyeing!  

New colour of lace yarn (Lilac blossom) just added to the shop - the heavier weight yarn is being stockpiled for  Wonderwool.

February update

Well, January was a lot busier than I thought it would be! I was looking forward to hibernating a bit and getting on with some personal knitting - mainly a fair-isle pattern hat for my husband in his rugby club colours-  but business got in the way - which is good!

I went to St Alban's Farmers' Market in January and was expecting it to be fairly quiet so soon after Christmas, but it was really busy. Strangely, Harpenden market, at the end of the month and after payday, was quiet - so it's difficult to plan! I was fairly busy online as well, selling quite well in my new year sale and making my first lace-weight sale. I've now got a couple more lace-weight skeins in the shop and will be dyeing more as I work through my plans for Wonderwool. 

It's just hit me that I have only about 10 weeks to get all the yarn ready for Wonderwool, so I've done a stocktake, made a list and started dyeing. I did the first colorway yesterday - bottle green, a surprise hit at Fibre East last year - and will start stockpiling.

I'm off to St. Alban's on Sunday (10th) - the weather forecast is for rain and sleet, so I can't say I'm looking foreard to being outdoors all morning! I'd feel warmer of course if it was busy - last year was, so thermals on and fingers crossed!    

Starting 2013

A rather belated Happy New Year to all  - I can't believe we're already nearly half way through January - it feels as if the Christmas celebrations are only just finished!

I'm back doing some dyeing again and have added some laceweight silk yarn to my range. It takes the dye slightly differently from the heavier weights and tends to come out a couple of shades lighter, but I'm pleased with the results so far. I've donated one skein to Bianca Boonstra in the Netherlands, who is writing a book of shawl patterns and wanted yarn for the samples. I'm looking forward to seeing it made up - the book should be published later on this year, but I think there will be some sneak peaks on Ravelry. I've got just got one skein for sale at the moment - 123g of winter berries, pictured on the right in my etsy mini.

I've got my first Farmers' market of the year at St. Alban's on Sunday - unfortunately snow is forecast, so i don't know if it will be busy, but I'll get the thermals and heavy boots on and give it a go!

One last effort!

Just getting ready for my last Farmers' Market before Christmas - it's at St. Alban's tomorrow. The weather forecast is for cold, but no rain, so not so bad. We've had some odd weather here, with some high winds - A couple of weeks ago Harpenden market was cancelled as the stalls were being blown all over the roads as they were being put up, so it was unsafe to hold it.  This was such a shame, as it's my busiest market of the year and I'm sure a lot of people were going to buy their Christmas gifts - let's hope they find their way so St. Alban's this week!    

To compensate a little, the Christmas Fair at Russet House School that I went to was great - really well attended and plenty of sales. I've been knitting like crazy over the past ten days, but as ever, there's still some stock that has sold out and I won't be able to replace in time.

Next week it'll be all go getting my own Christmas preparations done and then I'm hoping to have a week relaxing a bit and  perhaps doing some dyeing!

November update 2

Not the most snappy title for a post, but I really couldn't think of anything better!

I'm off to Harpenden Farmers' Market on Sunday. It is held to coincide with the town's Christmas Carnival, so it wil be a later start and a longer day (12noon 'til 6pm) than normal. The weather forecast isn't great, but I hope we will be able to set up while it's still dry and then we'll just have to take our chances with the rain! My husband is coming to help me and to provide much needed relief breaks during the day, so it will be nice to have some company. I was reasonably busy at Royston last weekend, so I'm just trying to get enough stock together at the moment.

I sent out the final shipment of my yarn club on monday and it's started arriving - so far people seem to like the colours and I'll be listing some spares in my etsy shop, once I know they've all arrived safely. I need to dye some more yarn, but may wait until after the holidays as I'm so busy trying to keep up with scarf sales at the moment.

I've only got two more events after this weekend - a school Christmas fair next Wednesday (28th) and then St Alban's Farmers' Market on 9th December. It's always a relief to finish and get ready for my own Christmas - so far all I've done is order a turkey!  

November Update

I can't believe that it's been a month since I last posted here - things have certainly been busy!

I had an exhausting but enjoyable day at the Alexandra Palace show - it was great chatting about knitting and crochet to fellow enthusiasts and we had several items from the Guild's collection on show, which were great conversation starters. Another lady demonstrated Tunisian Crochet - something I've never tried but now feel I could tackle. Probably something to keep for a break over Christmas - before then I'm just making stock for my Farmers' Markets.

St Alban's was very busy last month and I'm off there again tomorrow. Fortunately the weather is forecast cold and bright, ideal for me, and I'll be putting the holly garland on the stall as a not-so-subliminal "Christmas is coming" message to market-goers!

 The following weekend I'm at a craft fair at Royston garden centre - indoors (yay), which I'm looking forward to. I did one day there last year and it was pretty busy, so I'm hoping it will be the same again this year. As there's no Wheathampstead market this year, I can do both days and I can leave the stall set up overnight on Saturday. 

I've sent of my application for Wonderwool Wales, so fingers crossed that I'll be accepted. After the muddy experience of Fibre East, I'm not sure if I can persuade my mother to come with me, so I may have to do it on my own....anyway I'll cross that bridge when I come to it!

October update

Wow - October already! Things have been very busy - which is good - but the blog has been sadly neglected.

I've been busy dyeing and am now on the second instalment of my mini-skeins yarn club. There aren't as many members as I'd initially hoped, but those that are in the club have been very positive and it's a good opportunity to try out some new colorways. I dye two or three large skeins at the same time as I dye the mini skeins and those that are popular, I'll bring into my standard rotation of colors -there's a couple already that I think will be a hit, plus a couple of custom colors that can be added too.

I'm off to the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace tomorrow, where I'll be helping on the Knitting and Crochet Guild stand for the morning and then get a couple of hours to look round. I still haven't made up everything I bought last year, so I'll have to try to be restrained - not easy when there's so much good stuff there!  

On Sunday I'm at St Alban's farmers market - fingers crossed for good weather. We've got much more autumnal weather now and I just hope that it doesn't rain. A cold bright day would be lovely! I'm taking my yarn too as there was a lot of interest in it last month. People were talking about Christmas presents last month, so I'm hoping they'll start buying now!

September Markets

It was a lovely sunny day last Sunday at St Alban's Farmers' Market - warmer than it's been for the rest of the summer, which was nice to be out in, but unfortunately made for quiet sales. There's no market at Wheathampstead this coming Sunday, due to (I think) a change of management. I'm actually quite pleased as it has been very quiet and generally unprofitable during the year and it remains to be seen if it will get going again in October.

It will be nice to have a Sunday morning at home this week anyway.I've got some custom dyeing to do, plus getting my yarn club parcels ready to send off on Monday, not to mention knitting, so I've got plenty to keep me busy.

It's back to Harpenden Farmers' Market on Sept. 23rd, after my summer break, one I look forward to going to - it's always fairly busy and it's a pleasant town to visit.  

Into September

Now we're into the autumn and it's time to get ready for a new season of Farmers' Markets and even start thinking about Christmas! I'll be at St Alban's on Sunday and will be taking some yarn with me as well as my ready-made scarves, cushions etc. I'm charging up my Credit Card machine, so lets hope it's a busy start to the season.

Before that, here's a few pictures of Ireland, just to show it doesn't always rain in the summer!