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!