Stay up to date with the latest news from Fyberspates HQ
Hi Folks!!
I hope you had a lovely christmas or Holidays :)
So we are having a january sale, there are some seriously good bargians all sorts of things which are discontinued or just odd weights etc etc, so there will be cashmere, dk, and sock yarns galore...oh and lace too.
All yarns will be online in the sale section at 10am tomorrow.
xx
Those of you who are in my clubs are used to my slightly weird creations for clubs...
This one is for the mini project club, but I am going to also gets some kits on the shop for this one, they make very quick and fabulous christmas presents.
It uses just one skein of the UBER chunky, which is yummy!
OK, I have a yarn/pattern idea thing for celebrating the Royal wedding, but...what I want to know is how interested are you guys in this whole thing.
Personally I am quite excited by it, and I never thought I would I have to be honest, but I am!
So, leave a comment and tell me what you think about it, are you excited? not bothered? Hate it?
tell me tell me!
xxxx
For some reason recently my designing and knitting mojo has come back with a vengence, I think its having all the new yarns to play with. Obviously part of my job is to design things for the yarn, but at the moment its my favourite thing, especially seeing as I have conquered quite a few techniques recently which have freed my mind a bit.
Anyway, the latest design are these, they are called heepy mitts, and made in scrumptious chunky, they take two hanks as they are pretty substantial, but they look so cute... this afternoons job is to deisgn a hat to go with them, think that might be a little more tricky ;)
The pattern is available on ravelry, or through the shop here:
Hello peeps!
Blimey, its been a tad busy here, and I completely forgot to blog, the workshop now thanks to my mum looks SUPER DUPER. I'll post some photos tomorrow :)
Anyway, I updated the shop today with some treats, and also a little pattern which is available for free download. Its for the faery wings yarn, its a slouchy glove pattern and it only takes one skein, to be honest I reckon you could get 2 pairs out of one skein, my mitts only weighed 21 gms so its perfect for Christmas presents. It can be worked flat or in the round, although its written in the round its easy to convert to flat.
Its also available for free on Ravelry here.
We are going crazy here getting ready for the weekend, as a consequence there won't be an update until next Friday where we will return to our normal schedule for the winter!
So....cakes are being cooked, silk painting things are being made for kids to have a go at, and the yarn shelves are being well stocked, its going to be loads of fun, if you feel like coming please just pop in even if its for 5 minutes or 5 hours! Tea and coffee is free and so is the cake!! And there is a cafe on Site open on SAT
The Unit is here there is a massive car park and I am tucked around the back but there are signs and I might get some balloons to mark the way.
Opening times are 10-4 SAT and Sunday.
Hope to see you there!!!
xxx
Actually I have lots of exciting things to tell you, but I am going to spread them out a bit, so todays is probably for me one of the greatest achievements I have ever made.
Notice I said on the knitter and not in the Knitter? .........I got a design on the Front cover of the knitter, front covers are uber important because they are what sells the magazine, so you know your design is ....well....you know ....alright and all that.
The irony of this garment is that in my head it was probably one of the simplist ideas ever made, and then in reality it turned out to be rather urm....unsimple to figure out armholes and all sorts of things because its knit side to side rather than bottom up or top down, the pattern is simple and makes uses of nice simple textured stitches, I have two versions, some of you have seen me at shows wearing the larger version, the one in the knitter is actually quite different, so we kind of got two designs out of one idea :) Its knitted in Scrumptious aran, although this garment in the picture is in hand dyed, unfortunately all the base for that one got burnt in the fire, BUT we have the gorgoeus new 10 colours in the commercial range to make up for that, and they are STUNNING.
So.....here it is on the front cover.....I can tell you I am so bloody proud of this, it certainly is up there on my list of achievments...
Also really great is the Knitter magazine now have a new website....and The lovely adorable Jen has a blog on there too, which is great, cause she just cracks me up!!!
Happy knitting peeps. I'll tell you more on Monday xxxx
Ok, I have so many things to tell you good and bad.
I think I'll get the bad thing out the way, and then we can end on a lovely positive note.
My main supplier and bestest woolly freind in the world Mr Wool has had a nightmare, one of his barns which stored all of his white yarn in was burnt down at the weekend, and they think it was arson, aimed at the farmer who's barn it was, not Mr Wool. That meant all if his white stock, about 5 tonnes I think was wiped out, I went today to have a look at it, and its was devastating, it also had a few hundred kilos of scrumptious in it too, which made me extremely sad and gutted. He is doing ok though, I came up for the week to look after him and make sure he doesn't get too sad, I think I am cheering him up, lol.....and some lovely peeps on rav got him a vege hamper, he was sooooo chuffed!!!
Anyway, its meant that I can't get any more of some of my standard yarns to dye for a while, I have some stocks thankfully, (never been so happy to be a hoarder ever) but things like the hand dyed scrumptious 4ply and lace will not be replenished on the shop for a while.
BUT there is a little silver lining, remember I told you about all the new scrumptious arriving? Well I was moaning like a B@%%&&D because it was late being delivered by peru, it was a day late last week, meaning that they had to deliver it monday instead of friday cause of the weekend obviously, imagine how much I would be crying if it had been friday as it would no longer exist :s, really I have to keep pinching myself to believe it, so this is some seriously blessed yarn.
So today we spent the morning opening the boxes and looking at the new yarns, and they are so so so so so gorgoeus, I have photographed them all and I will be putting them on my site today and tomorow, I think my favourite has to be the aran, even though I love the others, the aran gleams, and it screams knit me into gorgeous lovely jumpers.......we did laugh alot about one of the colours I choose; a colour called lime leaf.....I am not exactly sure who got it wrong, but the lime leaf is NOT lime its kind of oyster/camel colour, its totally gorgeous, BUT there is no green in the 4ply and lace range now, but its kinda funny, knowing us it'll be the best selling colour!
Talking of knitting........MORE TOTALLY WONDERFULLY EXCITING NEWS.....I got my first front cover design being published in the knitter, yup, FRONT COVER, its a gorgeous jacket in Scrumptious aran, I am so so chuffed with it. When I get the go ahead to put the pic on here, I will ok ;) its yummmmmmyyyyyyy.
Now....do you want to see some of the new yarns? This is the scrumptious 4ply, there is also natural too......
This one is the aran......my total fav of this is the slate, its completely metalic....
Lace
So ending on a happy note....really I am depserate to knit some of the aran into something new :)
I have been doing my first baby knitting ever, not really sure why I never did it before, this stuff knits so quick!!
Anyway, these are for Orla Esme, the first baby to be properly in my life and I am so excited, Anna and Pete are going to be the most amazing parents ever...
These are made in Sheila's sock :)
Pattern is here
Wow, I don't think I have had so many comments, thanks guys for leaving your thoughts, it seems like something people care about......am so glad some of you are going to do it along with me....
OK, here is a link the the spread sheet I made with the help of Mr Wool (Who trained as an accountant and he is super expert on this)
It has an example working in it.
There will inevitably be things which need to be changed to suit each person/business, if you have any questions pop them in the comments, and we'll see what we can do....save a copy and have a play.......I would urge you to also estimate costs of a show if you are thinking about doing one, and then figure out how much you would have to take to at least break even....then calculate how many units you would have to sell to make that happen, it might shock you!
Let me know how you get on if you try it...what will differ for everyone is the cost of their materials, for most shops it will be 50% of the takings, if you make the product you are selling it will be different.
I have been thinking about this alot recently, as most of you know, I do lots of shows, but I am becoming increasingly aware that lots of peeps are tempted to do shows and I really worry about how much money people are making or loosing. Its actually not as straighforward as you think to calculate whether you made a profit at a show, I think that lots of people see you taking money and think that you make a killing......this is soooo not true, and after the weekend of doing a very expensive show, taking thousands of pounds and calculating that I made a loss, I was annoyed, seriously annoyed because other people made bigger losses, this it's not OK. NOT OK that shows cost alot of money and then you are not guarenteed to make that money back, ofcourse you get new customers, but if you break even and do that then its not so bad, if you consistently loose money, then you could be spending it else where on something more effective.
So I thought I would write about it, I am going to to do a little spread sheet for vendors, where they can plug some numbers into, and it'll help them cost a show out, I have a day on wed to do it, so I'll share the link here so people can download a copy and run some figures through it...seriously if you do shows have a go, you might be really shocked at how much money you might not be making.
I know that maybe some people may not really understand why I would do this, but actually, there is a real community of vendors who do shows together, some of us only know eachother by seeing eachother at shows, but the shabby organisations of some shows and taking peoples money is starting to really annoy me.
When I twittered about this earlier some people were asking me if it was that it was organisers who were amatuers that was the problem, and actually its not, its actually the bigger shows which are the problem, when a stand costs a few hundred quid, you are not taking a massive risk, but when it costs you 500 or even a 1000 then you are. If I spend that much money on a stand I want to know that there is going to be the footfall I am paying for, and that the advertising has been made to get people there. And its not an excuse for the organiser to say they make no money out of it. We are here running businesses.
Someone said to me recently 'my stand cost 500, accomodation cost 200, I don't have travel costs and I took 800 quid, so I made 100 quid profit'. I had to restrain my self for not shouting because they probably made more like a loss of about 400 at least.
One thing that vendors sometimes forget to take into account is the cost of the product they are selling, how much did the materials cost? how long did it take to make? How much wages do you pay yourself per hour, and then add on NI and tax. Not to mention a squillion other things you have to take into account. So, I am going to do the spread sheet in the next few days and get peeps to have a go, but first of all, I know there are quite a few people who are doing this excercise with me, please go and work out how much profit you make on your product, once you have this information it will help you loads, sometimes its easier to figure out how much you make on a kilo, or a batch of items instead of 1, even time yourself over the next few days, its such a good excercise.
And you must make sure that you take wages as a cost before profit, don't not exclude wages.
OK, thats a start for now xx
Update was meant to be today, but I accidently left my laptop in a box of yarn which was taken to chester, hahahha, so we'll have to do it on wed, as I can't edit my photo's on the work computer.
So design wise I am churning out things at the moment; I might have something extremely exciting to tell you friday about one of my designs, but I have to wait until then, I don't want to jinx it incase. Also this morning I dropped off a 4ply jumper to the Knitter mag in Bath (its my favourite thing I have ever made), the stuff they are doing at the moment is exciting me so so much, there is some incredible things coming out in that mag in the next few months, and especially something I probably can't tell you about, but I managed to wangle a copy of the MOST gorgeous little pattern which I am so lucky to have!! I am still debating which yarn to knit it in, hehe....oh my life is sooooooo hard ;)
Goodness its all a bit cryptic today, but i am feeling rediculously excited :)
Ok I need to go and pack orders, as tomorow I have a talk to give to the Shropshire spinners and weavers guild so I have lots more travelling to do. Good thing I like driving init!
xxx
Its a pleasing update today, colours I could keep.....plenty of scrumptious lace for those wanting to make the cardi, cashmere lace etc....
Scrumptious lace in Violetta
Scrumptious lace in Bright moss
Scrumptious 4ply in Velvet rose..my fav new colour!
I am off to the opening of the dancing hens Craft Studio this evening, and a nice weekend of working on the workshop some more to get it ready for the open weekend.
happy knitting
xx
There are some seriously intense colourways of scrumptious lace coming tomorrow on the update, I have been dyeing some colours that go beyond rich, they are gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just for those of you who are after lace for the cardi ;)
xx
Does anyone else notice that life seems to go in cycles or kind of era's?
I went to Cardiff on the weekend on the Way to St Abbs Woolfestival, and stayed with Sole (princi) and I had forgotten how much I love talking to like minded people. She is going back to Spain :( and we realised that its kind of the end of 5 years of an amazing time together, its really strange to think of all the things changing, but what I realised is that when you change people either come with you, or they disappear. Princi, Carmen and I, always seem to have changes at the same time, I think our friendships are a bit mystic). The people that match your life come with you, and the people that stay in the same place sometimes get left behind, I don't mean in a physical sense if that makes sense.
I notice at the moment that I am being alot more assertive with people around me, not in a horrible way, but kind of not putting up with behavior which causes me stress or anguish. This means that some people have just gone, and it actually feels ok. I think what also makes me happy is that some relationships have truly changed into something lovely, even with Anth, we are what I would consider proper friends, that makes me very happy.
I am really looking forward to the next 5 years, I think there is alot of excitement to be had and wonderful things, and now Princi is going back to Spain, I think I am going to have to go and visit often, I also am determined to go and see Carmen before the year is out, I miss her so much too....I wonder what it is about me and friends all over the world, strange thing is, despite the fact that they are far away, it never feels like it, and some people who are here with me seem far away, odd isn't it?
I don't think I am wording things quite as eloquently as I would like today but that's whats in my head soo.....
xxxx
I am really sad today, I had to take monkey to the vets to be put down because she had kidney failure. She couldn't even jump up any more, last night she came and wailed for me to pick her up and put her on the bed for cuddles, bless her. She has been my little monkey for the past 4 years, always making me laugh by licking my eyebrows and making me get out of bed when I wasn't feeling like it in Cardiff. I can't really imagine life without her, but I am going to have to.
Little monkey, you were the cutest little monkey there ever was, hope you are starting a new life somewhere amazing....hopefully coming back as a kitten with a mission to love and cheer someone else up who needs it as much as I did......
Rearranging my workshop into a space which is more visit friendly. I moved all my shelving (when I say I, I actually meant they got moved by a forklift truck ;) haha) so it separates the dyeing area (because it is dirty and industrial) and now it looks like alot more like a shop/studio!!! I have my large leaf table out so that I can actually do some knitting workshops now, and also cause I have lots of pretty china and no kitchen to put it in, I decided to get it out the boxes and make the space pretty....
I have a tonne of work to do on organising sorting out, cleaning, and some painting too, I need to paint some furniture lighter colours, but my mum is going to come and help...I want it all looking gorgeous ready for the open day on the 16th and 17th of October, you are welcome to come, there will be cake! Probably after that I will open the workshop for regular hours; 3 days a week, visits are always welcome now, but you need to check first that I am there ;) I want to make it a little more accessible.
Lace has just taken hold of my imagination recently, not lace in the thin sense, cause really I am not a thin yarn kind of girl, more of a 4ply really, but lace in 4ply or even chunky just totally makes me shiver with excitement.
So I have 3 lace treats for you today, 2 pics/ new patterns and a gorgeous wedding veil of one of my very talented customers
OK, firstly the gorgeous cardigan pattern is finally up in the shop and up for sale, it will also be up on rav this afternoon too. This has probably been the MOST tried on garment at any show I have ever done, it totally captured peoples imagination and the pattern is very well written:
Aquamarine lace Cardi By Judy Furlong for Fyberspates Scrumptious Lace....if your local yarn store stocks the commercial range, its likely they will have this pattern very soon....if not ask them.....
Secondly I finished my lacey cowl in Ethereal for the last installment of the project club:
Its so soft and drapey, and actually I wear it every day at the moment, its perfect for early autumn days, ethereal is one of my all time favorite yarns at the moment, in fact I am knitting a pair of gloves ready for the next round of the project club to go with the cowl, yum yum yum. This pattern will be available in the shop after Fibre Flurry, its going to be an exclusive pattern in the brochure until then....
At the moment I am knitting every day, at every spare moment I can, this is so so wonderful for me, I am churning my way through a design for the knitter a fair isle yolked sweater in scrumptious 4ply, the gloves and also the chunky water bottle cover for the Christmas present club (will blog about new clubs tomorrow, they are well fun!).
And Finally....some seriously beautiful lace, one of my lovely customers knitted her wedding veil out of silk lace which was undyed I think if I remember rightly.....look at these pictures, they are gorgeous and you can see the veil 4 pictures down in this post aren't the pictures gorgeous??? and she is such a beautiful bride!!!
Seems like I am on a blog roll this week ;)
The shop has been updated with treats, I have also redone alot of the patterns, with more info and better photo's so make sure you take a look, here is the gorgeous new lace cardigan pattern by the talented Judy Furlong which is an exclusive design for Fyberspates Scrumptious Lace, you can only buy it here or all good stockists of Fyberspates Yarn.
Below is the pic, sorry its a pic of me,its all I got for now ;) I have to make a few tweaks to the pattern and it will go on sale from Monday, I'll blog about it, but the pattern is exquisitely written and really this garment is so flattering, I had so many compliments on it when I have worn it and at shows.
Happy knitting peeps :)
xx
Thanks soooo much for the lovely comments on yesterdays post, sometimes its a bit horrifying to put things out there and be honest, I just felt like I wanted to share my happiness in making my way forward, so thank you!!!
At the moment I am knitting prolifically, this is a huge change, I know some people might be shocked by that considering I am surrounded by lovely yarn every day, but in the past two years I haven't knitted as much as I should, or as much as I wanted too, sometimes I just get overwhelmed with stuff and I can't see the wood for the trees, BUT since I gave up dyeing for wholesale for hand dyed I have so much knitting mojo its ridiculous, my pace of life has calmed down, its had to really because I have to design for the commercial scrumptious range, working already on the collections for autumn 2011, this feels so indulgent to be working that far ahead, but it feels like I am living my dream as well, being able to take in the wonderfulness that I surrounded by for once, instead of it rushing past, taking time to translate ideas into reality, and I even have time to get it wrong, change it and redo things, this is something I love because ideas don't always work quite right the first time around!!
Anyway, I have a project club, which is so much fun to design for mainly because its in yarns I normally don't even get to knit, hehe, but this month is the Ethereal yarn, and I am just enjoying this so much, I can't tell you what the design is because its a suprise, but I can show you my swatch....you remember my graceful Jumper? Well I am IN-LOVE with that lace pattern down the middle and I haven't finished with it yet, so I decided to add it into this months design for the project club:
I choose this colour because I keep seeing it everywhere, and I want to make something totally gorgeous with it.....I'll post next week the finished article, once all the clubs have got to their destinations!
xx
Normally I wouldn't write stuff like this, however, I feel like its probably a subject which affects alot of people and I guess sometimes when people have the courage to talk about their circumstances, its helpful because you know you are not the only one.......
I have for a long time been battling with alot of debt, probably I guess about 7 years, 4 years ago breaking up with Anth plunged me into unknown depths of it, and I spent about 3 years simply surviving not to go under, so many times I thought that it would be easier to give up everything, the business, my house, and simply go under, but I never did, I always made sure somehow that things got paid, I even remember a week when I didn't even have a tenner to buy monkey cat food, so we had cupboard feasts, she loved that, haha!!! Most of my stress during the business more than working very hard has been that, making sure that it survived, that I survived, in a way I just kept my head down and kept on going, I am not one to give up ever, I hate quitting!! I never ever want to go back to those nights of not being able to sleep because I couldn't see a way out, the sickness in your stomach is the most horrible thing ever.
I had help from my best-est friend in the world, who simply kept me smiling when I was crying cause I felt like I wasn't gonna get out of it, and always promised me it would be ok and not to give up, he also was amazingly strict with me, he took no crap, he would sit me down time after time we would go through personal finances and tell me how it was, that's really hard to admit you are in a mess and that you need to change things, and that you can't simply hope that everything will be ok if you ignore it.
Last year I had a tough decision to make, I wanted to expand my business premises and at the same time, I didn't have the money to do it, so I decided to come and live with my mum and dad and rent somewhere to work, they have been amazing in supporting me, they never once offered me money simply loved me and looked after me. Initially I struggled so much with this choice, because I LOVE Cardiff and I love my house, and I am a proud person, but it was the best thing I ever did, I have lovely lodgers looking after my beloved house, and I have had an incredible time with my mum and dad, we have grown so close, and they are such wonderful people, I feel like I have made up for the 10 years I didn't see them that much.
Sometimes I get mad because I can't buy things, and every spare penny over pays loans and such things, and it has felt up until today as if I will never get there, but today is kind of special, I looked at all my loans, they are massively reduced and my determination is that by Christmas I will have my two large ones done and dusted......and that means I am nearly out of debt, not quite, but I will have overcome such a massive hurdle that I wanted to share the fact that I can actually see a huge light at the end of the tunnel, and that for anyone else that is out there who might have debts which sometimes make you feel as if there will be no end in sight, I just want to say, don't give up, you HAVE to be strict with yourself and remember that you don't actually need THINGS, sometimes its better to take that 20 quid and instead of buying a new lipstick, take it to the bank and over pay something, trust me it works, and by Christmas 2011 I am going to be completely debt free and I have vowed never ever to take out any loans or credit cards ever again, I shall always save up first.
Just sayin....;)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As part of their celebrity hat campaign, they are asking thier
readers to design a hat for their favourite celebrity.
They could be past or present, a film star, your favourite soap
character or a sports personality... the choice is yours!
What
you can win
The
closing date is 31 August, so please
make sure your entry reaches us by then. Please post your hat and
pattern to:
The Knitter/ Mencap competition
Future Publishing
30 Monmouth Street
Bath
BA1 2BW
Remember to include
your name, full address, email address and a contact number.
You
will be able to collect your entry from The Knitter's stand at The
Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace, London, from 7
to 10 October 2010. Any unclaimed entries will be sold in aid
of Mencap.
Oooops I haven't blogged for ages, sorry peeps, I have been having too much fun, but I shall tell you all about it here :)
Well, I have been to Florence to Pitti Filatti,
Its a yarn trade show where various spinning mills show their wares, except its not really hand knitting a such its more for commercial machine knitting, but still it has all the trends like colours:
They displayed the colour trends as a carpet, cool or what huh????
They also display fabric/texture and shape trends to come, really interesting!!
This was all about a mix of colours and textures from all over the world, LOTS of intarsia :)
And of course the best part of Florence is the shops, gorgeous designer shops who have all the winter knitwear, it inspired me to knit quite alot of things with the samples I got from a few of the stands, I just need to translate them into my yarns now. I will take photos soon to show you, I am obsessed with grey and slate at the moment so everything I knit has to be grey, weird I know but I love it.
Anyway, so I knitted lots, drew lots and started on the collections for scrumptious ranges for 2011, its kind of exciting to have to think so far ahead because it means things won't be rushed, very exciting.
I did find new yarns HOWEVER they are not suitable for hand dyeing, possibly for the commercial range if we expand it, I also noticed the number of stands were reduced alot of companies had gone bankrupt which was worrying, and frustrating because the stands I wanted to see weren't there, but never mind.
I do have a stunning new pattern designed my Judy furlong in my lace weight, but I need to finish putting the pattern altogether first so its ready for sale. But I'll preview it this week.
xxx
Thought some of you would like to see the woolfest stand, it looked fabulous I have to say :)
I have a massive update to do, and I shall start this afternoon, it will take a day or so to do ;)
Hey peeps!!
OK, here is the link to my flikr account so you can see the TNNA pics if you would like to :)
Tnna was awesome, and I am so glad we are getting there with the commercial range, we have just ordered a screw load of scrumptious in the 5 weights for the USA and the UK for Autumn so fingers crossed it will all go to plan, in the mean time I deleted the wholesale section on the website, there will be no more hand dyed wholesale any more from me, as much as I LOVE it I can't manage everything any more, this makes me really sad, but I have to be realistic about things and what I can manage, and I just can't do it. BUT instead the commercial range is really really gorgeous!!! I got samples in on cones of the new colours of the 4ply and they are STUNNING, I have a design to do in them, so once my jacket is finished monday I'll be testing them!
I am annoyed with myself because I am part of the Summer festival here in wantage, and I can't now open as much as I intended to because I have so many meetings/work trips to attend which just wernt there 2 months ago when I agreed to it.
So peeps if you want to visit please check with me first before you make any long journeys, just to be sure ok?
I have to now finish editing all my patterns ready for printing, Finish a garment for monday, although that means I have to just knit, so secretly this is a real treat, knitting for the entire weekend!
There won't be an update today I can't squeeze it in, I shall probably try and pop some things on on Monday, BUT I shall be getting ready for Woolfest so thats all good! I can't wait :)
Hope you have a lovely weekend peeps :)
xx
So this is what the space looked like initially....
We had curtains and poles and in the rules it says you can't attach anything to them......but everyone else did :s, but because we didn't know this, we planned our stand to the enth degree and built a frame so that we could attach fabric to the sides to make it like a room....
Sorry the photos are so blurry!
We stapled the fabric on and then I added a sticky border to the top, hehe, it looks wonderful now!
We split the stand so half is rooster and half is Scrumptious :) we'll take some better ones today :)
xxx
Ok, I have my iphone camera, so I should be able to bluetooth my photos to my laptop and upload them through my trip, YAY!
I am sat in the BA exec lounge, (I got business class flights on a special grant I applied for, I am not that rich yet ;) haha. I have a major fear of flying, but traveling business class helps sooooooo much. I have to stop keep saying, 'they don't do that on RYAN air, hahahahaha.
Its so different, its quiet and calm, free food and drink and even champagne if I wanted it, really very relaxing, I could seriously get used to this.
I love travelling because it always gives me a chance to sit back and reflect on my business, to think about where it is going, what is working, what is not working etc, I really hope that that the commercial range works, the new yarns are absolutely stunning, we have rolled out the scrumptious range to 5 weights in solids, lace, 4ply, dk, aran and chunky. My favourite by far though is the 4ply, that yarn just makes me smile everytime I handle it, the colours are so rich and intense and the yarn is really quite strong and resilient, yet soft. I got all the samples in on Tuesday, because obviously I had to bring some with me. I have a hank of cherry for the plane because I want to knit a headband for my unruly hair ;)
Hmm, I am just waffling now, we fly to Chicago and then to Columbus Ohio where the show is, and then set up tomorrow, and the show starts sat and goes on until Monday.
Send me good luck vibes peeps ;)
xxxx
Peeps, I am so damned excited, we go next week to TNNA, I am just full of excitiment I cant contain it!
I have worked so hard on the stand and my goodness there are so many rules, and my wonderful distributor debbs has been working hard too getting everything ready.
I am gonna explain the layout to you so you can imagine it, hehe.
I wanted something to look absolutely styled all based around a beautiful picture that was taken for the knitter for my graceful pattern:
This photo completely encaspulates the styling/brand of scrumptious for me, and so we got a massive banner printed of this to put at the back of the stand, then we decided that the whole stand had to look amazing, so we are having a frame built and then we will cover the frame with fabric the back panels will be covered in this:
We then will have the rest covered in cream fabric, and I got these amazing borders that are gold and swirly, its gonna look fabulous!!! Mr wool, Debbs (my distributor in the USA) and debbs' husband bill have all worked so hard on this, inInfact look at the shade cards debbs has done for the dk, she totally got the way I wanted it, she is amazing!!
How gorgoeus?????
You know when a plan feels like its coming together? well its coming together........
Oh and we are launching our new distribution here too in the UK, we will have 5 yarn weights in the scrumptious in august ready for the winter, and the 4ply samples are arriving today, I am trying my hardest to think about the update and not the yarn due to arrive.................................
I will indulge in these alot until TNNA is over, lol
(take a look at the blog, I guarentee you will love it).
I dyed my hair for the upcoming summer shows etc, it took three boxes of bleach, but I like it, and seems my curls stayed too, thought the bleach might kill those, not that you can see them in this photo, lol.
Ok, in addition to the friday update I have some things to go on the sale section, my mum has been organising my workshop and has made up some mixed packs (I know how you guys love those) and all sorts of other little treats, I am going to time the update to start at 1pm friday lunch time.
See you there ;)
xxx
I have been so anti bloggin, having no laptop or phone doesnt help but, it wasnt really that it was just that fact that I was in a transition, for me that means things are changing everywhere, not big changes, but changes enough to make me feel like I don't fit into anythng or belong anywhere, its something which normally only lasts a couple of weeks but it makes me miserable and stressed, but also I did recognise that might have been the cause of recent moods, and also secretly look forward to where everything clicks into place, today just felt like things all clicked together gorgoeusly.
So we have been getting ready for TNNA in the USA, this has been really quite stressful, its not like doing an exhibition here, there are so many prohbitive rules, but I think we have pretty much managed to work our way around all of them, even if we do have to pay 170 dollars an hour for building our stand, (fricking rediculous if you ask me, but anyway) so the styling of the stand has been a massive massive thinking point for me, its all based around a photo of one of my garments, and the fact that I am becoming incredibly interested in styling and decor and fabrics. Its pulling me strongly in a direction which is perfect for my commercial yarn range,and this weekend it all came together.
Firstly we have terminated our aggreement for distribution of Scrumptious and Rooster with Creative yarns, this means we have found some alternative solutions which infact suit me alot better, it allows me to be in control completely of the image of my brand and the way it is sold, for me that is the most important thing ever. Infact yesterday was a lovely and fabulous set of meetings to which I can now say I feel as if we have a cracking team ready to take the commercial range into the market place in a gorgeously stylish way, lol, listen to me and my stylish, but really this aspect is very important to me. This change in particular has been a godsend, the previous 6 months were very very stressful.
I also had a megga creative weekend with freinds helping me get a really clear sense of how far ahead I have to think for pattern collections, and just getting a really clearly defined image and way of doing things, it was so so helpful and wonderful thanks loads ;) xx
Oh and another exciting note, my Brother has moved home too, he got a place at university at the age of 32 and well...he needs to save loads of money before he goes, so my mum is a little overwhelmed I think to have us both home, but I am so so happy to have him around, we get in so well. Although he has been home 24 hours and he has decided he is going to get me fit and ready for the world of...hmm well I am not too sure really (but aparently it means I have to go on a strict diet, no more cake, excercise every day, I have to get my hair done properly) I said, do you think I can look like someone of depserate housewives in a month?? he said yes ofcourse, but you have to train everyday, (urmm.....ok). I am sure this will give me something to legitimately moan about on my blog, I think I am going to be put through hell soon (but secretly it will be fabulous having a personal trainer/style advisor/someone to go to the pub with, haha).
OOOH! And I have always wanted to do some upholstry forever and ever and ever, I love the idea of recycling old furniture, I used to do it when I was a child, and I accidently bought some beautiful fabric at the weekend:
This morning my dad found me an old chair in the garage, so I am going to have a go....I am sure I can clean rub down and paint it in the evenings, hehe!! and this fabric would make the perfect seating......
I was in a filthy mood this morning, no reason, I am a woman afterall I don't require a reason for being moody, in such a bad mood infact that I couldnt concentrate properly, clear there was only one answer, I went to waitrose bought cake and coffee and am just about to sit outside with it and some knitting in the sunshine, even the thought is provoking a smile.....oh to be a woman huh?
xx grrrrr
*Edited to add*......they fixed it, I am a bit worried now...anyone else have sugar and coffee withdrawal moods????
maybe a detox is on the cards....thoughts peeps?
xx
OK, I did have my Wonderwool stash to photograph to show you, BUT unfortunately my mother nicked half of it!! Can you believe that?
I had some incredible coily hand spun yarn that I got from Daniella from felt studio UK
Mum has nabbed it for necklaces....
I will try and get it back off her because its just stunning, I also got enough camel silk roving to spin a tank top from Daniella and some to make a hat, really, her colours totally blow my mind and her stuff is just wonderful! She is akin to me to Babylonglegs, Love them both I really do......
And actually, Babylonglegs did a cracking wonderwool post with photos...She also got herself a cherry matchless spinning wheel, lucky monkey...she is going to teach me to understand my wheel better soon.....
So there are so many things going on at the moment my head hurts, I am rubbish at change, its exciting, but sometimes I wish I could be content with wanting normal/average/coasting along, but I am always in search of something amazing, at the moment I seem to be finding amazing around every corner, but amazing doesnt nessasarily mean easy....infact, not easy at all, business and personal life seems to be stretching me way out of my comfort zone, actually, I don't want that ever to stop, every year I look backwards and dont recognise what came before, life really is exciting when you choose to follow your heart.
xxxx
As you can tell with the crappy grammar of that title I am tired, Wonderwool was loads of fun, not just for the selling wool part, but meeting my lovely customers and keeping up to date with everyone. Plus realising, that sometimes you got to always make sure you are ahead of the game....which means I kind of realised at the weekend how much effort I now have to focus on the commercial side of the business, which in turn will hopefully fund a new project, its big and exciting, but something I have been thinking about for quite a while (2 years infact), but didn't have the contacts or partner to do it with, now I think I found someone, ofcourse it doesn't effect the hand dyed side, I love that and its my little cherished baby, that ain't going nowhere ;)
So I was up at 6am this morning getting ready to set up an exhibition at Wantage museum, thankfully Brian is helping me.....after this its packing orders and then I am going to sleep, oooh and tomorrow I shall tell you about my absolute finds/purchases, there is a dyer there who just makes me totally excited with her wonderful creativeness and colours.......
;)
xx
Ok, I am sooo excited, its wonderwool on the weekend, and I have a lovely big massive stand and loads of gorgoeus yarn and treats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
xxx
Two posts in one day, not bad huh?
Ok I have always sold my yarns wholesale, its always caused me alot of complications but I still tried my hardest to do it because I love having people sell my yarns in all corners of the globe, BUT, the reality is that I struggle to do it as well as maintian normal service in the shop, so much so that I miss out on doing the dyeing I love. Not only that but I end up just doing administration, thats not what I signed up for, I need to streamline so that I can get on with developing fyberspates hand dyed online and the commercial range.
So after trying it a million different ways, i.e. getting help to dye the wholesale providing an off the shelf service and dyeing to order, I have come to the conclusion that financially it doesnt work. That makes me really sad to say, but its the reality.
In its place I will be developing the commercial range which starts with scrumptious, lace, 4ply, dk aran and chunky. This is what I am taking to TNNA, and is what will be available to customers in the UK and europe.
I feel sad, but juggling too many balls will mean a reduced service to my customers which even the thought of makes me extremely anxious.
So, what is left in the wholesale section is it, and then in the Autumn we will launch the new range of gorgeousness that is the scrumptious commercial range.
I feel a relief saying this really, its a challenge I have worked so hard at and had many conversations with other dyers about it, and sometimes you just have to change and let things take you in other directions.
xxx
OK, well guess what?? we officially got into TNNA, we got our confirmation yesterday, very exciting, we are booth numbers 1248 & 1250, I am kind of a mixture of excited and terrified, mainly because I am terrified of flying, and also because omg, we have to construct an amazing stand over in the USA, not an easy task I can tell you.
So, big deep breaths and I need to make a big massive plan.
A MASSIVE PLAN
LOL ;)
XXXX
I went to Baa Ram Ewe in Leeds last night for a trunk show, and it was fabulous, what a gorgeous shop it is!!!! And verity is a total hoot! I really enjoyed it, even though it took me 6 hours, traffic jams and getting lost, lol.
Anyway I am in Chester this weekend sorting out my accounts, so that means no shop update, ,....BUT, instead, I am giving you a little discount in the shop, 15% of purchases until sunday if you enter 'Spring' into the discount code box at the checkout!!
Happy shopping ;)
xxxx
I am waiting to hear if we got a booth at TNNA this summer (tnna is the main US trade show for knitting and needle work). To be fair its quite scary we had to book flights and hotel rooms before we even heard confirmation, but I have a good feeling in my guts.
We are taking the scrumptious range ( not the hand dyed, as I don't have the capacity to dye loads of yarn, and I am fastly coming to realise that unless you can produce hand dyed with cheap labour, the prices don't work for wholesale on any basis which can work long term, probably why most large hand dyed companies get it done in other countries, its a shame but its true). Anyway the whole distributor thing has been a bit of a learning curve, more on that once I can speak, BUT I have a new distributor for the USA and I am so excited, we are having a properly British stand, total vintage British, its not easy though as we have to get stuff over there, and you have no proper walls like exhibitions in the UK, so we are going to have to be VERY inventive, but boy its exciting!!
The range will increase to include the lace weight, the 4ply that we all know and love, the dk OBVIOUSLY, the aran weight, and the chunky. I have to figure out the colours, not easy when I am not so sure of what colours the US market go for...but I'll just have to use my instincts, I feel really proud that my little company is getting there finally. I think I am going to have to scale down the amount of engagements I take part in next year, I love to travel around and see shops etc, but I think I might have to stop that as I need to concentrate on the pattern support and other things for this range, and ofcourse it needs to be launched here too, but I am thinking allypally might be great for that.......
Ok, I am just wanging on now, so I will stop, I did do some lush kniting over the weekend and made a calomitery, which is knitted in babylonglegs hand spun (my secret fav yarn of all time) it stripes just beautifully. Its a little big, so I have to kind of tie it, but it looks really cute, I am actually wearing it in the new profile pic, not that you can really see it!! hehe, it took me about 2 hours to make, this would make a cracking quick present.....
It feels almost like spring today, the flowers outside my unit are so pretty, its a gorgeous contrast to the industrial environment I work in.
I am feeling on top of the world today, don't know if you ever get this, but always when change is coming, I feel rubbish because I like holding on too hard, and then change comes and once I accept it its really ok :)
Carmen and Fran came from Spain to visit, and they are both so good for me. They think global, that's the only way to describe it, they don't worry about the small details they have a goal and they work towards it, Carmen was a major supporter in my business and in my life generally, I like to think of her has my female soulemate. So their visit has been perfectly timed, she inspires the hell out of me, we are spending easter together and boy and I excited.
Although I havent been miserable or anything, I felt a little sapping of my spark recently, maybe with the growing of the business it changes things (growing of the business has meant some rather tough times (not financially but some rather unpleasant learning curves, but they have been learnt, and I shall tell you all about them soon when I am allowed to, but I need to keep shtum for a bit longer). But its good, I took action and made decisions and have learnt not to take crap any more, or really to trust people so much.
I have been going to the gymn to destress and as a result I am getting well fit! Plus it mean I can eat cake guilt free, haha!! Also just really thinking about what I want in the future and making plans, I like a good plan, I do ;)
And also introducing a little more life into my work life balance, and its meant I have met and spent time with some rather special people recently, all really lovely stuff. So today I think is the first day of that change and I am in a cracking mood.
Oh the shop is being updated today, AND I am gonna do som photos over the weekend for the fairisle stuff i was talking about.
xxxxxxx
So I am having a slightly easier week this week, update is on for tomorrow instead of friday, as Friday I am spending it with my bestest friend in the world Carmen and her husband Fran. We went for lunch today, and we had massive lunch and beer and now I am sat at my desk ready to sleep!!! hehehehehe!
Anyway, I am really looking forward to Easter weekend as I am going to be spending the whole of it makng things, I have a few projects in mind.....yipppe!
xxx
Ok lets start with a pic seeing as I keep tempting you! Right, I am going to do some pics of holding the yarn for fairisle, really its soooo easy.
This is my first piece, its a Tam, but obviously its not shaped yet, I got a bit stuck last night on decreasing and making the pattern fit in, so I will have another go over the weekend.
I know the colours are really strong, BUT I needed a huge contrast so I could see the tension of my stitching properly. I want it finished so I can get onto some designing with this now, the pattern is from my Alice Starmoore book, but I changed the fairisle pattern because I am only using two colours instead of more. I know it doesnt look much, but I am really proud of it :)
Ok, so secondly, I am doing a show in Liverpool this weekend which is called Make do and KNIT
I am really looking forward to it, I have lots of yummy yarn and fibres to take......anyone coming?
xxxx
I was thinking, cause I am on a totally gorgeous journey of discovery at the moment with fair isle to write a bit about it, and maybe even do some photos?? Any one be interested in it? I used to look at gorgeous fair isle things and think, nahh, I am never gonna be able to do that, and then I researched it a bit and did it and now I am addicted! I especially want to become expert at it using hand dyed yarns, cause obviously that's my thing...so I am working on some little kits. And....talking of which do any of you think you would be interested in a club with some fair isle kits for small items?
Let me know...
anyway, I forgot my camera today, but the fair isle hat is nearly finished, it looks amazing, the colour choices were made to be highly contrasting, and so its not to everyone's taste BUT, its gorgeous! I promise I'll pop it on tomorrow
xxxxx
What a week I have had, a really good week though, well there was food shopping accounts and drama, lol!
Monday and Tuesday were shopping and accounts, I love and hate accounts, we go through the entire last month of business and work out profits and things (love my sage package for this) and its always so interesting, and informative, if not sometimes annoying, lol, and we have some plans for scrumptious and the USA, I am relly very excited about it.
Shopping was amazing, I got quite a few lovely dresses from French Connection, that's my shop at the moment, I just adore it, everything fits, and its so classy and....just seems to fit my frame of mind, not that I am particularly classy haha.
We then went for the most amazing meal ever ever ever, to the Grovesnor in Chester, it was so good it brought tears to my eyes, as did the bill, but I wasn't paying so I just enjoyed every second, haha!! I also had a gorgeous lunch with Jo, and it was soooo lovely to spend time with her.
Drama was yesterday however, someone decided to try and kill them selves by throwing themselves infront of my van, no I am not being sarcastic, she really did try, three times, I swerved, went up the road parked and ran back, by which time she had tried it twice more, but you know what, the road was busy and me and another guy were the only people who stopped to help, god knows why, clearly the woman had serious stuff going in, but we stayed with her and made sure she was ok until the police came, it was really quite a freaky incident (she was totally fine by the way, very good at rolling it seems, but clearly needed alot of hugs and a section).
Anyway, I am updating the shop today, I am just having a slow relaxed start and catching up with everyone, so I will start in a mo, and I PROMISE today there will be a shop monster ok!
I will try and photograph my tam I am designing in a mo and pop it on here, I AM ADDICTED TO FAIRISLE!
Ok, well its my birthday tomorrow, and so I decided to have a couple of days off and get some designing done with a little bit of shopping and eating cake thrown in, so I came away up to Chester....so far I have been organising consignment pickups etc from afar which wasn't quite what I had planned, so to the girls on sat who said I would be on the beach with my laptop, I am kind of shopping for clothes with my lap top, hahahahaha!
The workshop on sat was absolutely brill, we had sooooo much fun, and loads of cakes and amazing home made cookies were eaten. Yarn was dyed and fun was had, It realy was super duper!!
Guess what?? I learned to knit continental yesteday, because I need to learn fairisle pretty quickly so I read Alice Starmores book from cover to cover and got started and well its so blimin easy!!!! And I knit so much quicker with continental, I used a combination of that and english to fairisle but its so much easier than I thought. I have been swatching in the round and I am going to make a tam by the end of the week, then I can start on my yolked sweater design, *gulp*
I'll pop some pics on in the week, but I am TOTALLY addicted, I think it could become an addiction.
Right I am off to try some clothes on and decide what to wear out for dinner and drink something yummy.......
xxxxx
Generally I am good at getting things done, but sometimes there are little things which seem so big and difficult that they loom large and make me feel like I am stressed, then it takes 20 minutes to do them and you feel so relieved that its like a celebration, do you ever get that?
Today I had to write a piece about me and my business for a press release for an exhibition I am doing at the museum, and its been there making me feel stressed, then I moaned to Brian about it (he is the king of THE OPPOSITE of procrastination) and he made me make a list. I did it and then it took me 20 minutes to do the damned thing!! What am I like huh????
Anyway, I am having a good day, all forms are filled in, bills paid, van unloaded, custom orders pretty much done. And I am planning for TNNA rather in advance for me, lol, but I am getting so excited, I really am. I have a very clear idea of how I want the stand, its gonna be vintage British if that makes any sense?
I took a wander round the site I am on to see if there was any useful bits of tat, and I found TWO massive picnic benches, I need to go flutter some eyelids now to see if i can 'borrow' them and get them moved by a forklift to outside the unit, they will make a great space for when visitors come to visit....oh which reminds me, I am going to be open from now on to the public in the UNIT after this week, we are organising and tidying this week so we can operate more as a shop, I still advise you to ring before you visit just incase, like next week for example I am away monday tuesday, BUT Brian will be here.
I shall have opening times for each week up on the information pages on the website, plus you can always ring me (which I recommend before setting off).
We were discussing this morning having the outside area converted into a shop space, which I am sorely tempted by, it will take some work but it would provide a nice distinct area away from the workshop for people to browse in.
OK, I am off to start photographing for the mammoth update on friday, I have so many boxes of yarn its a bit scary to be honest, its going to take days........
I had a totally great time on Saturday, I went to the kennet spinners and weavers guild to give a talk, and it was so much fun, I have to confess to being very nervous, I really need to work on my public speaking, however, I think its probably just a case of practicing. The ladies were sooooo lovely, and they liked my yarns and fibres too, hehe!
Yesterday was a total chill out day, the first day I have had off for three weeks, and it was bliss, total bliss, so today I feel very rested and in a cracking mood :) I just sent Brian to get me some prawn sandwiches from Waitrose, haha, the delights of being a boss!!!!!
So, I am looking forward to this week, its catchup and organising week, I have So much stock to go on the shop its ridiculous, so this Fridays update will be a bumper one.
Ok, I am off to make coffee to go with those sarnis and get packing my orders from the weekend.
Happy spring folks ;)
xx
Unravel was really really good fun, that show is amazing considering its in its second year!! I had a fab spot in an alcove, I have a couple of pics, BUT it was hard to take them because the stand was busy lol.
You can see my new shelves at the back and they mean I can fit loads more yarn on the table, hahaha, anyway, it gives you a little idea, hehe. (loving my new sign too) I always get told off for not having a sign.
So there we go, a blimin successful show if I do say so myself, it was also lovely to be in the same as Mr Bluefaced, Skein Queen and Mr Uppingham, who is a rather cheerful chap it has to be said.
Next show is Wonderwool, although I have a talk this Saturday to the Kennet spinners and weavers guild, so that's quite exciting!
I am updating the shop today, and also swatching and sketching because I have designs to be submitted to the knitter by friday, (gulp)
PS, yesterday was just the most glorious day, I can feel spring coming and I can't believe how good the sunshine felt yesterday.
yay!!!!!
xxxxx
Right, I can never just do one topic in a post can I!
First of all, if you are coming to Unravel on Saturday or Sunday you are in for a treat. We are just putting the finishing touches to my stand setup, I decided I wanted a sort of French market theme with tiered layers, and it looks cracking!!! I shall be looking rather professional ;)
Brian is coming on Saturday, so he will take some pics, he's been instructed. The gorgeous yarn and TONNES OF FIBRE is all packaged up into bags, I think the only way you will recognise me is that I have a humongous sign, hahahahahaha.
Secondly, I am going to be running workshops in the Unit, first two have been put on the website, one is the 13th of March and the second is the 1st of may. If you are up for it, go sign up, cost is 50 pounds, its alot of fun I promise you :)
Right, back to the labelling ;)
xxxx
Ur, really wanted to write about Unravel, but I'll do that tomorrow.
Here is the thing about wholesale. IF YOU ARE A SHOP and you want to buy from me wholesale you need to contact me and no body else. I have a distributor for scrumptious dk ONLY, they do not distribute or wholesale any other of my yarns from the hand dyed or the rest of the scrumptious range. You can purchase ALL of my yarns from me wholesale and we have stocks of everything. I just need to make that clear because people are asking the distributor for my yarns and they are not referring them to me, and the issue is getting very confused and complicated and my customers are unsure how to get hold of my yarns.
If you want your local shop to sell my yarn, please ask them to get in touch with me.
The end.
*breathe*
xxxx
haha, Brian is tidying, and I am labeling and updating like a crazy woman, as we have special visitors tomorrow, and I am well excited :) hehe!!
xxxx
About time I blogged huh???
Well as usual things are busy, which is fabulous, but today I feel like I have no life, lol, but thats the price you pay for wanting to get somewhere, no pain no gain, that's what I keep reminding myself!! hehe. I am however consoled by the fact that if I did ever manage to stop work early enough to knit or spin, I have some incredible yarns and fibres to use, haha ;s No really its not that bad, we are in the throws of busy season now and it doesn't end until August time, which is ok cause we have LOTS of exciting things to do in the next six months. Good thing though is that I have to start taking a day out a week for designing, this will mean pj's, coffee, knitting and cosyness/ and inevitably tearing my hear out, but while the dream still lasts I shall see it with rose tinted glasses, lol.
So update on the inside wool world, there is not enough wool to go around in the world and china is consuming it like there is no tomorrow, so wool prices are going through the roof, this means that yarn prices across most yarn companies big and small will now go up in the next few months, but at least it should also effect the price of clothing too so it should stay in balance.
I had the great good fortune on the weekend to raid Mr Wools shed of fibre and yarn, and found three bumps of incredible deliciousness, one is Falkland superwash, which is currently blowing my mind with gorgeousness, some extra fine 14.5 micron superwash merino, and some yummy merino nylon blend, so we have been playing and there is gonna be some fibre this week on the update, here are just a few of the Falkland, the pics don't convey the gorgeousness of them....its so damned plump and soft!
and I have something like 50 packs of sparkle fibres too
OOOOHHH and is anyone coming to Farnham, to Unravel next weekend?? I am desperate for a social trip, (shows for me are always social) i am soooooo looking forward to it. I have just a tonne of stuff for it, lol.
I am very lucky to have great designers designing patterns in my yarns, I have two absolutely beautiful designs to show you today that are in the shop, (I just need to get the details of the cardi in there, but its very economical.
The first is Carol Fellers' beautiful Captiva wrap made from 2 - 3 hanks of scrumptious dk.....gorgeous or what???
The second is Lien Nego's Arachne cardigan, this is a lovely cardi, the first design to be made for the scrumptious 4ply, I LOVE this little lacey cardi its sooooo cute! This also is very very economical, I waited til I had loads of 4ply in the shop for this.....am gonna make one myself...
Both patterns are on the new arrivals page with this weeks update
xx
