Lovely Malvern!

Yesterday we did the Malvern Christmas Lights fair - it was amazing! Organised by Steve Boffy, and our best event yet.
Still erratic internet access though so limited entries on the blog sadly. Hopefully more pictures some day soon. Our next big weekend is next weekend when we have 2 days at the Frost fair at Attingham Park and Much Wenlock and Bridgnorth xmas fairs at the same time. Colin has his first go at manning the stall and he's scared, so if you see him, be kind!

Back in Shropshire

Little Florence modelling a little tunic, she wants to keep this one!

Met lots of people, and made lots of things. Credit crunch has made things a bit tight, but we stay optimistic! We've changed a few dates, and at some you might even meet Colin!

November
Saturday 14th Fair in the Square, Shrewsbury
Saturday 21st Apple Tree Craft fair the Corn Exchange, Devizes
Sunday 22nd Hand made craft fair Whitminster Inn, Whitminster
Wednesday 25th Home and garden bazaar, Cirencester
Saturday 28th Malvern Christmas lights, Malvern
Sunday 29th Home and garden bazaar, Cirencester

December
Saturday 5th Christmas fayre, Much Wenlock
Sunday 6th Winter Fair Bridgnorth, Shropshire
5th & 6th Frost fair at Attingham Park, nr Shrewsbury
Saturday 12th Leominster Victorian Market, Leominster
Saturday 12th Fair in the Square, Shrewsbury
Sunday 13th Ludlow christmas craft market
Saturday 19th craft fair, Malvern

latest commission

Latest tunic for a lovely lady from Burnham-on-Sea. Modelled at campsite at Brixham! Weather still wonderful, hurray!

Friends old and new

Met some lovely people over the past couple of weeks. Some I met at other folk festivals (the rainbow booties are being done later in the week!)and a lovely lady whose son received one of my hats for her little grandson and was thrilled! I love hearing where our things have gone and seeing them on people!
A break from fairs for a couple of weeks while we get back to making whilst living in a caravan. Knitting on the cliffs at Brixham is my next stop :)

sunny swanage

And it really is sunny! Sitting in a field by the sea selling rainbow jumpers, doesn't get better than this!

Off tomorrow!

All packed up and ready to go! Pictures and updates will follow as we get to grips with mobile technology. Meanwhile we can be contacted on rainbow-baby@live.com
Pictures of work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/29606010@N05/

Dates for the next few months

August
Thursday 20th Craft market, Market Square, Ludlow
Saturday 22nd Apple Tree Craft fair in the Corn Exchange, Devizes
Friday 28th craft market at Kidderminster Festival, Kidderminster
Saturday 29th craft market, Malvern
Saturday and Sunday 30th & 31st Burford St Mary's Flower Festival and Craft Fair, Burford

September
4th-6th Burnham on Sea folk festival, Burnham on Sea
11th-13th Swanage folk festival, Swanage
Saturday 26th Apple Tree Craft fair, town hall, Marlborough

October
Saturday 3rd Apple Tree Craft fair, St Michael’s Crypt, Bath
Sunday 18th Hand made craft fair, Exmouth Pavilion, Exmouth

November
Sunday 15th Hand made craft fair, Racecourse, Newton Abbot
Saturday 21st Apple Tree Craft fair the Corn Exchange, Devizes
Sunday 22nd Hand made craft fair Whitminster Inn, Whitminster
Saturday 28th. Malvern christmas lights, Malverne
Sunday 29th. Home and garden bazaar, Cirencester
December
5th Christmas fayre, Much Wenlock
5th & 6th Frost fair at Attingham Park, nr Shrewsbury
Saturday 12th Leominster Victorian Market, Leominster
Saturday 12th Fair in the Square, Shrewsbury
Sunday 13th Ludlow christmas craft market
Saturday 19th craft fair, Malvern

Counting down to big adventure

All of a sudden it's just a few days to go until we tootle off in the caravan to the west country for 3 months! There is such a lot to think about with huge amounts of wool and a two year old. Lots of last minute felting going on at home as wet felt and a caravan don't go together in the autumn really.
A few pictures...

Website

We just can't make enough stuff to sell on a website at the moment! We have quite a few markets which we expect to be busy over the autumn but we can't make felt when we are on the road as it is such a watery experience (condensation being a big problem in a caravan). So we have put website plans on hold until after Christmas. If you want anything in particular please phone or email and we will do our best to come up with it though.

We were accepted by Made in Shropshire and have really enjoyed the Fair in the Square in Shrewsbury - next one is 1st August, 9 till 5 in the square at the top of the high street. See you there!

Made in Shropshire and making like mad

Last week had a meeting with Made in Shropshire, hoping to join, and happily we've been accepted! I'm having a few days off from markets and Colin is making felt booties this week. We have sold 5 pairs in the last few weeks - so not as seasonal as we had thought. I'm working my way through commissions, including 2 cardis, felt slippers and a couple of cups and saucers! I like a challenge.
Oh, and thanks to Vicky's mum who showed me how to crochet grannie squares! It's much easier being shown rather than trying to follow crochet instructions, especially as a knitter. Back to it...

Getting there with the website!

It's so time consuming! But we're making slow progress, got some words, taken some photos. Hope to go live early July. Watch this space!

Oh, and Ludlow market went well. Sold the purple tunic as seen on Florence a few days ago to a lovely lady, I'm sure it will look great on her! I'd love pictures of people wearing the things I have made.

Last-but-one commission

Joseph's jumper, modelled by Florence. A friend wanted a jumper like this but the pattern we had was for fine yarn and we wanted aran weight to be snuggly in winter. Using school maths I made up a pattern from several different ones and came up with this.
The latest commission was for a little rainbow cardi as a christening present, but I forgot to photograph it!

Where you can find us in 2009

Mostly around Shropshire til August then we're off on our travels to the south west for a few months.

August
Saturday 1st Fair in the square, Shrewsbury
Thursday 6th Craft market, Market Square, Ludlow
Sunday 16th Chorley show, near Bridgnorth, Shropshire
Thursday 20th Craft market, Market Square, Ludlow
Saturday 22nd Apple Tree Craft fair in the Corn Exchange, Devizes
Friday 28th craft market at Kidderminster Festival, Kidderminster
Saturday 29th craft market, Malvern
Saturday and Sunday 30th & 31st Burford St Mary's Flower Festival and Craft Fair, Burford

September
4th-6th Burnham on Sea folk festival, Burnham on Sea
11th-13th Swanage folk festival, Swanage
Saturday 26th Apple Tree Craft fair, town hall, Marlborough

October
Saturday 3rd Apple Tree Craft fair, St Michael’s Crypt, Bath
10th/11th Weston super Mare pavillion, Weston-super-Mare
Sunday 18th Hand made craft fair, Exmouth Pavilion, Exmouth

November
Sunday 15th Hand made craft fair, Racecourse, Newton Abbot
Saturday 21st Apple Tree Craft fair the Corn Exchange, Devizes
Sunday 22nd Hand made craft fair Whitminster Inn, Whitminster
28th & 29th Hand made craft fair, Winter Gardens, Weston-super-Mare

December
5th Christmas fayre, Much Wenlock
5th & 6th Frost fair at Attingham Park, nr Shrewsbury
Saturday 12th Leominster Victorian Market, Leominster
Sunday 13th under the Guildhall, Much Wenlock
Saturday 19th craft fair, Malvern
Sunday 20th under the Guildhall, Much Wenlock


Posted by Michelle and Colin at 02:24 0 comments
June 2009 April 2009 Home
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Phew, that was busy!

I've just done a marathon 2 weeks of markets with 4 markets a week. Too much really as Colin can't do any feltmaking as he's childcare officer, and I am so tired! We have tried some local markets - Ludlow and Bridgnorth - which have been really good, and finally took the plunge and did the Fair in the Square in Shrewsbury last Saturday (Made in Shropshire), which has been our best market this year. I have had three commissions for woolly jumpers as a result of the markets so things are looking up!
Looking forward to a quieter week, then off to Tissington again in the Peak district for a two day craft fair.

Cirencester corn hall

Is a lovely venue for a fair. We didn't do as well as hoped but will go back as it was so nice. Quite a distance though, it took 2 hours to get there but I didn't get lost - pretty good for me as I usually do.



My little rainbow baby showing off my latest creation. It also looks really good on adults!

Before and after!

My two lovely girls modelling knitted hats before felting..


And after!

Knitted on biggish needles and washed in the machine for 20-30 minutes. If I forget about them they go smaller (hats, not girls)

Audlem was sunny!

Hurray! It wasn't what we expected though, more a sort of carnival without the floats. Met some nice people, including a woman writing a book about knitting on circular needles, which I do a lot of and looking forward to seeing it.
Tomorrow I am venturing south to Cirencester to have a try at a home and garden bazaar in the Corn Hall. It will take a couple of hours to get there, but a friend has had a stall there and it has been good for her, so fingers crossed. I would love to make more complicated pieces - aran or fairisle, and find the right people to buy them. They will take many hours and so will be expensive, which is putting me off a bit as I can't afford to have too much stock which makes people gasp at the price!
Off to finish a blue and white jumper for a friend's little boy, photo will follow soon.

Audlem music and art festival tomorrow

And there's a severe weather warning for rain! Hopefully it will be later in the day.

Looking for more fairs

After another day at Much Wenlock when we made a loss we've decided to spread our wings a bit and try other fairs - off to Cirencester next Wednesday to have a go at a Home and Garden Bazaar which has been a good event for my friend Cushion Penny! Long way, but I'm good at getting lost and will have plenty of practice I'm sure. Will update the listings in a day or so when dates confirmed.

On becoming a blog follower

It's great! Trouble is I'm not knitting, but reading other people's stuff is fascinating. I've made 3 felt hats since Thursday though so my hands are happy with the break. Well back to the reading...

Bank holiday weekend

It was a bit breezy this May bank holiday, we needed lots of weights to anchor the gazebo down! We had a bit of a disappointing weekend at Berrington Hall, a national trust house in Herefordshire, where we only sold little things (like Colin's new range of bookmarks). We made the stall fee back, just, but people were really looking, not buying. I'm exactly the same though so can't complain!
Clun Green Man festival was on the Monday, which was great. I've gone as a punter most years but this is the first visit as a stallholder and I loved it. Lots of lovely people, lots of cold wind. Several folk asked if I had mittens - in May!!
Back home knitting woolly hats to felt as I sold 4 - only one sunhat though :(

Beginning to think about our adventure later in the year when we head for the South for a few months to try our luck there. We've booked some promising-sounding hand made craft fairs as we get a bit fed up competing with bought in mass produced stuff, so fingers crossed.

Next job is a website of some sort, or an online shop like Folksy. As ever I expect it will take me weeks...

Cake in the oven smells cooked, must go!

Michelle

Finally got some photos online, hurray!!

Our camera is not the best so I've borrowed my daughter's and managed to upload the photos onto Flickr. I'm so impressed with myself! This is how to find them (I hope): http://www.flickr.com/photos/29606010@N05/

More to follow, when the boss allows it...

Oxford farce

The season has got off to a silly start with the Oxford folk festival. I don't think I've attended a more poorly organised craft fair - I shall never go back! Wrote letters of complaint, will they respond?? I met some lovely fellow crafters though and walked along the Thames which was beautiful.
We are back to the small local events this week with a regular craft market in Broseley up the road from us. Hoping to get some photos on soon, and a list of where we're going. Our grand tour starts in August...

The first time...

Well I've never done this before, writing stuff for anyone to read. I intended to start on January the 1st, but knitting got in the way. Last year we decided to try and sell the things we make, mainly for babies and toddlers, so we booked a few craft fairs (the best ones were Leominster Victorian Xmas Fair and Much Wenlock Xmas Fair) and to our excitement people loved what we made and we sold stuff! Brilliant!. So we're carrying on. We work harder than we ever did in jobs, as lots of you know, knitting and felting is very time consuming when you do it by hand, but it's lovely to be creative every day.