A busy winter

Following on from my last post, it certainly has been onwards and upwards!

January got off to a great start with a very busy St Albans farmers market followed a couple of weeks later by a successful Waltham Abbey Wool show. It's the most local show to me (about 20 minutes' drive!) and it was good to meet several people I knew from Guild and from my general social life as well as customers old and new!

February has been busy too - I was offered a cancellation spot at the Unravel festival in Farnham and was absolutely delighted to be able to go. I had been turned down in my original application back in September, but must have been on the reserve list. It was my first time there and was my best show ever in terms of sales. The venue, organisation and general ambiance get a big thumbs up from me too - the tea trolley going round the stalls and the house cat deserve particular mentions! I did take a picture of my stand, but it is so out of focus that I can't put it up here - you'll just have to take my word for it that it looked good.

I've got about eight weeks dyeing time to get ready for Wonderwool Wales now and then I Knit Fandango is a couple of weeks after that, so no pressure then!

I've got a couple of new colours for spring - Lavender Garden and Seascape (pictured below) - which are going to be featured in Inside Crochet magazine's next issue (no 63) Inside Crochet, but the surprise hit of the season has been Petrol Green, which has sold fantastically well. Bottle green was my school uniform colour, so I've always felt a bit ambivalent towards it! I'm sold out at the moment,  but will put up a picture when I've got a new lot ready. Now to go and get some more yarn ready to dye!

  

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!  

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.

 

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.

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.  

Getting There!

Saturday at the Knitting & Crochet Guild AGM was a good day - it meant an early start to catch the train to Birmingham, but it was so nice to see people I had not seen since last year and the day was full of interesting stuff. I enjoyed seeing other people's work at the show and tell, although it was a little daunting to be first up in making my presentation. There was also a talk on the Guild's vintage pattern collection and I have been inspired to have a look at one from my own, very small, collection to see if it could be updated to fit me. I'm a good bit bigger than their model!

Well, St Alban's farmers market was as wet as I'd feared it would be, but I did sell a few bits and managed to get home in time to watch the tennis, so not a bad day. Managed to get the wet stock dried out overnight!   

I've just got to add pictures to my bolero pattern and it will be ready to print. Here's the front view:

And finally - I was contacted by Knit Now magazine recently and they're featuring my yarn in their issue out on August 23rd. How exciting!
  

Working Hard!

Just a quick update - St Alban's market was good, sales were up on last year and the weather held up until I was on my way home. We had quite a run on tea cosies and are making sure we are re-stocked for next time, which will be July 8th.

In the meantime, I've nearly finished my dyeing for Fibre East - just on more colorway to dye, which I'll get done tomorrow. I had a look at the range of colors that I'd done and thought "I need more blues", so mixed blues it is. I've just got to do the sewing up and finishing for my bolero and I'm about two thirds of the way through the first draft of the pattern, so I'm sure it'll be all ready for the show. I've dyed a selection of five semi-solid colors to make it with, so people can buy the yarn to go with the pattern.

I went to a training session at our local business centre yesterday on social media and marketing run by a very professional lady called Jo Sealy. She packed a lot into half a day and I came away with plenty of ideas about how I could promote my business. Starting after Fibre East, I think an email newsletter would be a good way to go. I'll get started on that in my spare moments!

           

February update

January turned out to be quite busy online, although my market sales were down a bit on last year. We're finally getting some wintery weather now, so although it will be cold to be out selling, people should find that they need woolly scarves and hats!

I've been accepted to take credit cards and have taken delivery of my card machine, so I'm all set for my next market, which is a pamper and gift evening at Redbridge Drama Centre (London E14) this Friday. It's a new event and area for me, so I have no idea what to expect - let's hope it's successful! It's indoors - always good!

Also, I'm at St Alban's Farmers' Market on Sunday - last year it was pretty busy, but that's no guarantee that this year will be. Always a pleasant place to visit though and nice people, so I'm looking forward to it.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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!