October Update

I was going to call this "into october", but as we're already half way through the month "october update" is probably better. It has been rather quiet this month for sales, which is a bit disappointing - the new craft fair I went to in Ware was very quiet in spite of being well publicised and in a very pleasant location and I had to abandon St Albans market as it was just too wet to even unpack. I'm at Harpenden market in a couple of weeks' time - let's hope that makes up for it all!

I've dyed the second round of my yarn club and am really pleased with the combinations. I won't say more about the colors, as I don't want to spoil a surprise for the members, but some will be finding their way into my normal rotation of colorways.

I've just sent off my application for Wonderwool Wales 2014. I really enjoyed the show last year and hope I'm successful in getting in again.

More later, and some pictures, when the weather improves enough for photography.

September update

Now that the dust has settled a bit, I can update with what has been happening in September.

Things have been overshadowed by the death of my brother-in-law after a short illness. Sadly he had undiagnosed lung cancer and by the time he got any treatment, there was nothing anyone could do. RIP Michael.

Although we have mainly been occupied with organising the funeral and now clearing his house, I have been to a couple of my usual Farmer's markets (Harpenden and St Albans) and have dyed the first instalment on my yarn club. I'm trying a different approach this year and, instead of doing a selection of colours, I'm dyeing five toning shades, so that they can be used in a project together. The first instalment was blues, and there's a spare set for sale in the shop - picture here:

I also attended a workshop last weekend on victorian style knitted lace run by the Knitting and Crochet Guild - it was so interesting to learn a new skill. I had seen in books how very fine steel needles were used and it took some getting used to - my hands ached after the session, as the needles (1.25mm) were so much thinner than those I'm used to! However, the lace you can make is lovely - crochet cotton is used for yarn - and makes beautiful edgings and trimmings as well as small gift items.

I'm starting a new market next weekend at Ware, run by Artisans of Ware www.artisansof.co.uk and am looking forward to it. It's indoors and a late morning start, which is a bonus!

Into September

Just a quick note - I wrote a post and then seem to have lost it all before I published it!

Never mind - I'll be at Harpenden Farmers' market tomorrow, my first one here this season. The weather forecast is good and I'm looking forward to it. Once I get back, I'll write more about what's been going on in Spetember... 

August update

I've just signed up for my first CAL (crochet along) on Ravelry. The pattern ( www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/simple-circles-scarf ) is a lovely scarf designed by the talented Valerie Bracegirdle and she used mini skeins of my yarn for her prototype. I've got one and a half skeins of Silver Berries in my stash for personal use, so I thought I'd join in, expand my crochet skills and make something nice for myself.

Here's the yarn:

I'm starting to think about my September (and beyond) markets and am getting autumn/winter stuff on the needles. I've got a new yarn for this season, which is a nice and bright space-dyed wool-acrylic mix in three colorways. I've used a chevron design again (my favourite!) and I'm pretty pleased with the result:

 

The colors remind me of liquorice allsorts - my favourite sweet - and the scarves will be going out starting with my October markets. 

 

I'm starting a new market this year in Ware, the Artisans of Ware craft fairs, which begin for me on  6th October. It looks like a great venue - indoors too, yay! I went to a college in Ware for a while and it's a nice town, not too far from me. September at St. Albans is my first though on the 8th. I've been off for a couple of months and it will be nice to get back - fingers crossed for dry weather. 

 

I've taken the plunge and joined Facebook too www.facebook.com/WillowKnits so there's another way to keep in touch with people.

 

Fibre East 2013

I'm just begining to recover from a busy weekend at Fibre East. The bags are unpacked and the banking is done, so it's time to review.

Firstly, I like the new venue as I can drive there in just under an hour and so didn't need to stay over and it was easy to find and park etc. I was in one of the marquees, but as they were on hard standing there was no tramping about in mud and there was penty of room for everyone to get round and see the stands. There was heavy rain overnight on the Saturday and some water did run through, but I and the people nearby had the put everything up off the ground or in plastic storage boxes, so no damage. Other weren't so lucky and had stuff in cardboard get damp.

I set up on the Friday afternoon, so I wouldn't be in a rush on Saturday morning and would be all ready for the customers when the show opened.  The only thing that struck me was that there were many different rooms and it did take a while for everyone to filter through and I'm not sure that everyone got round it all. My sales were actually down on last year by about a third, which is of course the bottom line and I was a bit disappointed. I did think that I would be up on last year as the weather was so bad then that people must have been put off attending. Saturday was busier than Sunday by a long way. Many of the other traders I spoke to had the same experience.

It must be difficult to find a venue where you can get so many traders under one roof though as at Wonderwool Wales and I think people will get more used to the school's setup for next year.

However, I don't want to sound as if it was a negative experience - I enjoyed the weekend, met some great people, stallholders as well as customers, and was very impressed with the efficiency and good humour of the stewards, not to mention the bathroom facilities!   

Here's some pictures of my stand and I've added the bolero pattern to my Ravelry store (I'm AnneWillow there):

I've been Culled!

Just a quick post - I normally steer clear of being even the tiniest bit controversial, but I'm just going to vent a little.

I've been removed from the one team on Etsy that I really enjoyed being on for not being active enough! They do have a point, I should have made some treasuries to promote team members' work - which is lovely by the way - and been a bit more active in "liking" and "favouriting" their items. I always thought "favourite" items were those that I was actively considering buying, but apparantly not - I should have used it as a promotional tool and not included former team members, not really comfortable with that.

It would have been nice to have had some warning though - I was just settling down to read through the previous day's chat, and maybe post a few comments, when I got an email saying my inactivity meant I was selfish, ashamed of my team mates and was therefore being removed!

I do feel a bit cut off, but of course I'll get over it. I have real life, with husband, family, friends, a job and a business, so I shouldn't be too cut up about an unpleasant email from someone I've never met and am never likely to. Vent over - I feel better already and can carry on getting ready for Fibre East. Set-up is on Friday, so I've got plenty to do.     

Knitting & Crochet Guild Convention

I've just got back from our convention weekend in Derby - what a great time! There was so much to do and every moment had an activity, workshop or talk.

We stayed in the Hallmark Hotel, which was so convenient as it was just two minutes walk from the station. I decided to go by train this year and I'm glad I did. It was the hottest weekend of the year so far and it would have been quite an ordeal to have driven up and back. I don't do well in heat - I'm more of a winter person and love snow!

Fortunately the conference room we were using was air conditioned and comfortable. It was great to meet people I already knew and to get get chatting with new people too. I did a workshop on hairpin crochet - a new technique for me, which was interesting. I'm glad I tried it, but it's probably not for me although you can make some beautiful fabric with it. As well as workshops there were interesting talks on aspects of the Guild's collections of patterns and garments, plus two outside speakers on (loosely) knitting related topics (ceramic tile designs and the olympics sports clothing). I enjoyed these - I don't think the weekend should be exclusively focused on technical details of knitting & crochet, although those are of course the main interest of the members.

We also had an exhibition of items from the collection called "in the nursery" focusing on children's wear, shawls and toys. some very old and all beautifully worked and inspiring.

Last, but not least, was the "show and tell" session, where members brought an item they had made and told everyone how they had made it and then passed it round for everyone to see and feel.    

I'm all unpacked now and can get back to getting ready for Fibre East. I'll dye the last batch of yarn tomorrow and then start getting my checklist of things I need to take with me up to date. At least, as I'll be commutng this year it won't be a disaster if I forget something initially.