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.