May already!

Just a quick update - I'll be at St Alban's  Farmers market tomorrow and am looking forward to it. It's finally stopped raining here and the forecast is for a sunny day tomorrow.

I've started dyeing in earnest for Fibre East now, so for the next few months my etsy shop will not have so much new yarn, unless I get all the fibre east dyeing done early! I've made a list of all the colors I want to take with me and in what yarn weights  - it looks a heck of a lot. I just hope I can sell most of it! 

Pictures etc. to follow.   

April Update 2

It's been fairly quiet for sales at my markets just recently- suffice to say that Wheathampstead didn't surprise me! I did sell a couple if bits there, but still came away having made a loss. I think it will have to go after May.

This weekend just gone I was at a craft fair in Hertford Corn Exchange on Saturday and that was even quieter! I only covered my parking, so another loss. I think it could be good there for the Christmas season, so I think I'll leave that one until September.

Finally, I was at Harpenden Farmers' Market on Sunday and at last some sales! The forecast rain held off too, so at least I can finish the month feeling good! I only do the winter months there, so I'll be back in September.

However, I've been busy online, especially with sales of my yarn, so the month is up on last year - not so bad in a recession.

My next event is a craft fair as part of the Kimpton carnival on 5th May - I stepped in as there had been a cancellation, but I did an event there a couple of years ago and it was quite well supported, so I'm looking forward to it.    

April Update

After a very pleasant quiet Easter at home with my husband and of course, plenty of knitting, I'm getting ready for my first Farmers' Market of the month at Wheathampstead. It's usually rather quiet, but I'm ready to be surprised!

I'm going to be computer-less for a few days next week while my machine is upgraded and tidied up - some thing necessary, but I'm not looking forward to it.

My consignment of yarn from India arrived very quickly (under a week!) and on a brief inspection the quality looks good. I'll have to go through it more thoroughly and also see how it dyes, but all looks well so far.

I'm down to my last few skeins of my previous base and have just been experimenting to try to get colorfast reds and yellows. One colorway (Firebird) is here and I'm going to try the same technique with a "berries" mix.

Easter Weekend

I sent my first parcel to Australia on Monday - it should be well on its way now and I'm dyeing again to re-stock the shop. Our new camera has really improved the pictures and I can get much better colour definition now.

I've added some more "Foliage" and have tried a new colorway - "Purple Berries", which I'm hoping will be popular. Pictures below:

I'm nearly at the end of this batch of yarn and will have to order some more soon.

Also, I've ordered a new base yarn direct from India, which I'm hoping will arrive shortly. I saw their stand at the Alexandra Palace show and bought a sample skein, which was really good quality - let's hope the bulk of it matches up! Just in case it doesn't, or that the parcel doesn't arrive at all (!) I've only ordered a relatively small amount.

I'm not at St. Alban's Farmers' market this Sunday at its Easter Day, but will be at Wheathampstead next week. Then the weekend after that I'll be at Hertford Craft Fair on Saturday and at Harpenden on Sunday.

New Plum yarn

Here's a picture of my latest colour yarn - Rich Plum. Three skeins available on etsy.

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.