Autumn News

Well, autumn is in full swing now and I'm getting busy. Harpenden was very good last week - plenty of customers and nice weather! I've got a "free" weekend this week and then back to St Albans on the 12th.

I'm making poppies this year, after a suggestion by one of my customers, which are being sold in aid of the British Legion - picture below:

I didn't get into Unravel, which was very disappointing, but I understand competition is fierce. I do hope that I might get a place if there is a cancellation, as it's commutable and I would be able to go at short notice. I was asked to take up a cancellation place for Yarndale, but I just couldn't do it. I wouldn't have had enough stock, plus getting somewhere to stay for the weekend would have been very difficult, I'll still apply there next year though. In any case, I've got Festiwool in a few weeks and then the Waltham Abbey wool show in January, so there's plenty to keep me occupied. I've just applied for Wonderwool Wales 2015 too and am keeping my fingers crossed for that.

I've added an "Events" page to my website, so I can keep a diary running covering the next couple of months' fairs and markets, so it will be easier for people to know where I'm going to be. I've already had a couple of enquiries via the "contact us" form - it's nice to know people are looking!    

Into Autumn

Wow, I've just noticed that I haven't posted here since May. I have been using my Facebook page to give small updates as I dye more yarn or do something interesting and have been keeping this for a longer posts, but always end up thinking that I'll sit at the computer and do it soon, but not right now - hence the long gap!

Anyway, here goes:
The yarn club went well this year. I announced the colour themes in advance, so people could pick which months they wanted to go for, avoiding anything they didn't like. I like the opportunity to experiment a bit and came up with some colours that will be keepers and going into my general rotation, plus a couple, which didn't fit the colour themes I was aiming for, but did happen to be just what I've been trying to dye for general yarn.

Shows: I've signed up for a new show, Festiwool, in November which, like the Waltham Abbey Wool Show, is fairly local to me. This one is in Hitchin, Herts - about 45 minutes' drive from home and timed in early November, so customers will still have time to make their gifts! I wasn't planning to do any more shows this year, but this looked to good to miss. For 2015, I've applied to Unravel in Farnham, my first attempt. The deadline for applications has passed now and I'm in tenterhooks waiting to see if I've been successful.

Markets: After a couple of months' break, I went back to St Alban's Farmers' Market on Sunday. It was fairly busy and several regular customers came up to say Hi and buy stuff! I'm at Harpenden in a couple of weeks time. I've got a new alpaca scarf in the ready-made ranges and am hoping it will be popular. The sample I took with me was stroked a fair bit, so that bodes well. I've applied for a couple of extra craft fairs local(ish) to me too, so I'll be adding them to the "Events" page of my website when I get confirmations. 

and finally, I've moved and updated my website to a 1and1 my website - I found it pretty easy to do and I like that I can update it myself, the old one relied on a webmaster to do everything and it just wasn't satisfactory.

This post is quite long enough now, so that's it for today - I'll write again in the next few weeks,     

Moving forward

Well, Wonderwool was quieter on the sales front than I had hoped, but otherwise a good weekend. Several customers from last year came back to buy more and I found I had given out all the leaflets I had brought with me, so as a publicity exercise it was good - since coming back I've had more likes on my facebook page and my yarn club sign-ups have been going well.

I think I really need to re-vamp my display and range of products, so I'll be working on that for the remainder of the year. I decided not to go to Fibre East this year and got turned down for Yarndale, so there won't be any more shows to do until 2015. I've started by ordering a vinyl banner with the logo very prominently on it - several people said they had been looking for my stand, but hadn't realised until they were right there and speaking to me, that they had found it!

I'll be investing in some gridwall too, so I can display the stock more effectively. I've been working on some designs for the stand too - sadly pilfering of both stock and samples is becoming a problem at shows and I'll factor in some anti-theft elements to the design.

As for the range of yarn, I'll be trying some silk mix yarns and some different weights. I don't want to move away from silk entirely, as I want to have products that are different from others that are on offer and there are already so many beautiful wools on the market.

The first show of 2015 has already been announced - the Waltham Abbey Wool Show, which will be in mid-January and I've already been contacted by the organisers. It was a new show last year and I found it very successful, plus it's held only 20 minutes drive from my home!

Some of the new yarns I'm considering have arrived - a silk-alpaca mix and a merino-silk mix, both lace-weight - and I'll be starting the dyeing over the next few weeks. Pictures to follow!

In the meantime, as summer appears to have arrived, I went for a lovely walk with my husband last week along the canal/river Lea towpath from Hertford to Ware and through the Hertfordshire countyside. Here's a couple of pictures:

Wonderwool

We set off on Friday and I'm almost ready! Just a couple more skeins to wind and then the checklist to work through on Thursday. The weather forecast isn't great, which won't affect me, but my poor husband has to amuse himself during the day and it looks like he won't be able to do much walking or fishing!

As ever, I always wonder if I've dyed enough yarn and is it the right colours. I've run out of undyed yarn now, so I can't do any more for the show! I'm always happy to take orders, so I must remember to tell people if they can't find what they were looking for. When I went to the Waltham Abbey show in January, I came away with some and it seemed to work well.

I'm starting the mini skeins club a bit earlier this year to coincide with Wonderwool - sign-ups open in May and I'll start organising that when I get back.

Thinking of Spring

Time has again gotten away from me once again and I've come here to collect my thoughts and put a bit of an update on screen.

Firstly, it seems to have stopped raining at last - I've had some very wet markets this winter! However, that doesn't seemed to have put off my customers at St Albans farmers' market and it's a big "thank you" to them for their support. Not the same at Harpenden unfortunately, which has been a bit of a disappointment overall this year, but I'm finished for this season there now and won't be back until the autumn. I'll see how it goes for the pre-Christmas trading and then make some decisions.

Otherwise, I've been pretty busy with online sales and now getting ready for Wonderwool Wales in April, which I'm looking forward to very much. This year my husband is going to come with me. I'll be working the stand alone during the day, but it will be nice to have his company in the evenings. We're going upmarket and staying in the Caer Beris hotel for three nights, which will be a nice touch of luxury. I've got a list of all the colours I want to dye, but don't know if I'll get it all done in time. At the Waltham Abbey show in January, I took orders, which worked out well, so I'll do that again.

Before Easter I've got three fairs to go to - I'm at Artisans of Ware on April 6th and the following weekend I've got two events - a fair in Wanstead on Saturday 12th and St Albans farmers market on Sunday 13th.

Finally, we had a nice break a couple of weeks ago, skiing in Levi, Finland and here's a picture of the snowy landscape which I loved.

January review

I can't believe how quickly January has gone by and it has been a great month, largely down to the Waltham Abbey Wool show, which took place on the 19th at the Mariott Hotel, only twenty minutes drive from home. It was a new show and I was wondering how things were going to go, there's always that feeling as you're all set up and the doors are about to open "will anyone come?" Anyway I needn't have worried - there were queues of people waiting and it stayed busy all day until we closed at 4pm. I don't know what possessed me to think that high heeled boots were a good footwear choice and I should have taken more yarn, but it was a great day and I came home having sold loads, taken orders and met very pleasant people. Let's hope it becomes a regular feature on the show calendar.

I'm not going to Fibre East this July. It was just too quiet last year, so I thought I'd give it a break and think about it again next year. I've been accepted for Wonderwool though and am planning my dyeing schedule for that, plus I'm going to apply for Yarndale in September. I take my yarns to St Albans every month too.

I had my new colors at Waltham Abbey, amber, slate and claret, with slate proving the most popular. I though claret would go first and amber is my favourite - which just goes to show that my own opinion isn't the most reliable guide!

  
I had a busy day at St Alban's market on the 12th and a non-busy wet day at Harpenden to finish the month on the 26th. Let's hope it finally stops raining in February. I'm at Artisans of Ware tomorrow, which is indoors, Yay! I don't know if it will be busy or not, but it's always a pleasant day and I'll take some knitting with me.

After that, I'm at St Albans again on the 9th.

New Year

I love January - it's great to review the past year and look forward to the new one.

December was a storming month for sales - my best month ever, so not bad for a recession! After a lovely Christmas, January has got off to a good start with a busy market at St Albans last  Sunday. The weather was kind and we had a fine clear morning with a heavy frost. It's been raining do much recently that I think people were glad to get out.

I'm off to Waltham Abbey Wool Show next Sunday ( www.walthamabbeywoolshow.co.uk ) and am just getting my yarn ready. As ever, I'm not sure how much to take, but time has caught up with me and I can't dye any more and get it dry in time, so I'll take what I've got ready and offer to take orders if it's not enough!

I've got three new shades - claret, slate and amber - pictures to follow.

I've had my confirmation through for Wonderwool Wales in april, so I'm looking forward to that already.