Spring Shows

Since I last posted I've had two shows - Wonderwool Wales and Iknit Fandango and I've now got time to pause and reflect.

Wonderwool last year was a little quiet, for everyone and not just me, so it made me think about what I could do to enhance my display and make my stand more attractive. I sketched out some plans on the back of the proverbial envelope and the end result was that I invested in some gridwall panels so that the yarn is hanging up rather than just being stacked in baskets, devised some better labeling, made some samples and added some props to make the stand more "homely" like a rug and some chairs to make it more inviting as a space to step into. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera with me, so I couldn't add a picture here of the  finished effect, but I had my best level of sales yet at the show, so it must have been effective! I stayed at an absolutely delightful B&B too, so the whole weekend was a pleasure and I'm looking forward to next year already.

Just a few weeks later came Iknit Fandango in central London and after some intensive dyeing, I was ready for that! I did remember my camera this time, so here's a few pictures of the stand.

  
The venue was great - it had a glass roof and so much natural light, ideal for seeing the yarn and so many customers commented on it. It could have been a little busier from a sales point of view, but I loved being able to come in on the train and as it was fairly local to me, I met up with so many people I knew already from my Guild group, farmers markets and customers who had been to Unravel in February, so the weekend was as much social as business!

My next show isn't until Yarndale in September, so I can draw breath a bit now, although I do have some orders and my yarn club dyeing to do. It will be nice to do some knitting and crochet of my own too - I started a CAL on ravelry and have only done three motifs so far while other people have finished!

 

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!

  

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!

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!