Welcome.

Welcome to the Willow Knits blog.

I'm Anne and I'll be using this blog to let you know what is happening with Willow Knits during the year.

I'll include which Farmers' Markets and shows I'm going to be at, what I'm working on and general news and events plus a little about myself.

If you want to buy one of the scarves or some of the yarn featured, just look in our etsy shop (to the right of the page) or contact me and I'll reserve it for you.











Saturday 31 March 2012

New Plum yarn



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

Thursday 29 March 2012

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.



Thursday 22 March 2012

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.

Friday 16 March 2012

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.