March update 3

Firstly, here's a picture of my latest yarn shade - cantaloupe, like the inside of the melon!

As I said before, I was aiming for peach, but came up with this, which I really like, so if it sells well I'll keep it in the repertoire.

I've been doing some more dyeing today and this time have gone for a rich purple-plum colour. I'd also like to do some jade green, a colour I hit on by accident when I was mixing up another blend, but I will have to get down to making sure I have all the colours in stock that I want to take to Fibre East first.

Harpenden was a lovely market last Sunday. the weather was great, it was well attended and my sales were up on last year - ideal! I'm not at another market until Wheathampstead on 15th April, so I've got a few weekends free to catch up.

Knitting wise, I'm trying to concentrate on my summer stock now - cotton scarves and an alpaca & silk lace-weight stole. Pictures to follow.

March Update - 2

Well, last weekend went as expected!

The craft fair at Hertford felt quiet for sales, but when I added up my figures, I had actually done quite well. I gave out lots of leaflets too, so I'm hoping that people will come back next month as well. I've found with my farmers' markets that some times people just check it out one month and then come back the next time to buy. I've signed up for next month too, so let's hope I'm right.

By next month the lifts in the car park should be working too - I couldn't manage to get my trolley load of bags down the stairs, so I took a risk and ran down the ramps with them - luckily I didn't meet any cars coming up!

Wheathampstead was quiet - as I'd expected, so I think I'm going to have to give that one a rest, over the summer at least. I haven't even covered my stall money there this year, which is a shame as it's a pleasant place to go and parking etc. is very easy. Anyway, I'll give it some thought before making a final decision.

I'm at Harpenden this Sunday, which I'm looking forward to. Plus the weather forecast is good - always nice when you're going to be outdoors all morning!

I've been doing some dyeing too - a new batch of my "Seas of Green" colorway and an experiment to try and get a pastel peachy color. This has actually turned out more of a bright cantaloupe orange - so perhaps I made the dye too strong! It's a lovely color, just not what I intended - picture to follow when it's dried.

March Update

Where does the time go! Sorry not to have posted for a while, but here goes with all that's happened since last time I was here.

Firstly - our holiday in Wengen was great! We did some skiing, some winter walking, riding about on little trains and generally having a good time, I think I may have lost weight too! Here's a picture of the view from our hotel room. I did take some knitting with me but didn't do any! I read "Little Dorrit" instead and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't get much time to sit and read, now that I don't commute, so this was a rare treat.

I did St Alban's Farmers' market last Sunday and sales were up on last year, which is good, but no cards sales so I didn't get to use my little machine!

I've got a busy weekend coming up, with an all-day craft fair in Hertford on Saturday and Wheathampstead Farmers' Market on Sunday morning. I'm not expecting too much at Wheathampstead, but am hoping for a good day on Saturday - it's a new venture for me, but an established event, so I'm hoping it will attract plenty of potential customers.

February Update - 2

It's been busy - which is great - but has meant that I've neglected to blog, tweet, etc. Anyway, now it's a rainy Saturday afternoon, the house is relatively clean, the shopping is done and I can sit at the computer with a clear conscience!

Updating from my last post - the pamper evening at Redbridge dram centre was dire as far as sales were concerned - I didn't sell a single thing, and it has been a long time since that happened! People did attend, but they just weren't interested in buying. This was true for all the traders, so it wasn't just my things which is some comfort. Also, to just make things worse, I forgot to take some knitting with me to do, so the evening was completely unproductive.

In complete contrast, St Alban's Farmers Market was really busy - I took more than I did at the December market and finally got to use my credit card machine! I didn't expect to do so much as the day was cold and wet and when I got home I had an online order too, so the month is ending on a high.

I'm at Wheathampstead Farmers' market tomorrow morning - perhaps that will surprise me by being really busy, but I'm not too worried now! The weather is forecast cold and sunny and I'm looking forward to the most delicious bacon roll for my breakfast there!

Next weekend we're off to Wengen in Switzerland for a week's skiiing, so I'm starting to relax already!

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.

A busy time

Wheathampstead was fairly quiet last Sunday - as expected - but the weather was good and I did sell a few things, so not too bad. Also, one of the other stalls - Barn Bacon - make the most delicious bacon rolls I have ever tasted, so it's worth going just for that!

I'm at Harpenden this coming Sunday, always a nice market and I look forward to going. Hopefuly sales will be OK - for January I'm not putting everything out, but concentrating on wintery things. I ususally sell lots of hats to dog-walkers and gardeners!

Apart from the markets, I've had another etsy sale to one of my regular customers and have been quite busy "behind the scenes" too.

There's three new colours of DK yarn in my Etsy shop ( see mini shop right) and I've been experimenting with a new dyeing method to get red based colours to be colourfast. I think I may have found it. I've dyed a lovely solid cranberry-red colour in my DK silk and am using some of it to to make a bolero. I'm going to write up the pattern and "publish" it in time for Fibre East, so I can offer it to my customers there.

Finally, I've bitten the bullet and decided to accept credit cards. I understand to 66% of transactions are now made with a card and I'm sure I've lost business at my markets, when I've only been able to take cash, so I've put in my application. I've done my money-laundering checks and it should take about 4 weeks if I'm accepted, so fingers crossed!

Into the New Year

After a snowy and none too busy Wheathampstead in December, it was so nice to get ready for Christmas and then really relax and enjoy celebrating with family and friends.

Now I'm all ready to start January - I love that feeling of starting with a clean slate and making plans for the coming year. Things have got off to a good start with a couple of yarn sales on Etsy and one of my customers buying a scarf for themselves. I'm having a 10% off online promotion for January, so if anyone has any money left it's a good opportunity to buy some thing for yourself.

I've been accepted for a stall at Fibre East this July - it will be my first yarn fair and I'm pretty exited about it! Not sure how much to take, but I've asked advice on several forums, so hopefully other people will be able to help. I'm going to try to build up the yarn side of Willow Knits this year and this event will be a great opportunity for sales and publicity.

I've made a couple of cowls for my Etsy shop - something new - and will take some similar ones to my Farmers' markets too. My next markets are at Wheathamptead (15th) and Harpenden (22nd).