Freshisle Fibers

The Upgrade

The learning curve has been steep, but I'm almost there.

I've been getting ready to move my entire site to a new system and the move will happen next week - February 1-5.  The shop may be unavailable at different times throughout the week.  Some links may change and the entire look will hopefully be better and smoother and more modern.  I hope! 

The entire site will still be available at www.freshislefibers.com.

 

Julekuler

I've been in the Christmas spirit.  I discovered Julekuler the month!  The little, quick to knit, whimsical, stuffed Christmas balls that are delightful and look lovely on the tree.

I knit loads of them for the markets and sold loads of them!

During the process, all I could think about was how all that red and white would be perfect for a Canadian Christmas ball with a red maple leaf.  I set to work and couldn't stop at just one.  The variations are endless and I'm still at it!  For the next week at least!

The result is a new pattern - Canadian Christmas Balls.  Available in my shop and on Ravelry as pattern only or also available as a kit with our Double Down yarn and pattern with enough yarn to knit your own loads of ornaments!

And for today only - purchase the pattern on Ravelry and get $1 off with the coupon code - freshislecanada.

The pattern includes charts for five balls plus a bonus chart for a variation of one of the balls. 

Happy Holidays!

Gore Bay Christmas Market 2015

Never enough room.  Or, I have too much stuff!  I think I just need to have more space.  Again.  Always a struggle.

Not a great turn-out of people and we (other vendors) think that the nice weather was probably to blame.  But, great sales so .... more people would have meant even better sales.  Next year!

Now onwards and upwards and preparing for the next one in two weeks time.

To Market, To Market

My summer is speeding by with days spent outside enjoying the warm weather, lots of gardening, and many walks and swims with the Dusty puppy.  So many plants that I use for dyeing yarn and for my soaps and salves are harvested at this time of year and I've been busy collecting.  Our home is full of the wonderful scents and colours!

Being a vendor at one farmers' market a week has kept me very busy.  Busier than I expected!  I'm not sure how some of the vendors do three markets a week! 

I love retail sales and the good experiences far outweigh the not so pleasant.  This past week was one that was particularly special and good.

I had three separate customers that were delightful.  They were little girls.  Maybe not so little.  Around 10-12 years old and each of them stood for a long time in front of the yarn display.  Wide eyes, gently touching the yarn, and looking at each carefully.  Then came the look up to their parents.  Can I have one?

I love that in two cases it was to their father they pleaded their case.  And, I love that the parents purchased the yarn for their child.  Not one of them said anything negative and they valued their daughter's feelings.

We talked about what kinds of crafts they liked to do, what their plans were for the yarn, why they liked certain colours, and how fun it was to play with yarn.  It was special.  It was me at 12 years old.  I remember how it felt to love making things like blankets for my dolls, finger knitting, pompoms, spool knitting, and more.  And, I still like it.  It's still fun!

There have been many of these little girls over the summer at the market, but to have three in one day made me stop and think that this is where it starts.  This love of fibres, and wool, and yarn.  One of my first knitting projects was a startling bright purple pillow for my bedroom.  I think I was about 11 or 12 years old.  I still have it. 

Re-Knits

I'm living in the land of re-knits.

Since going to the markets, I've realized that many of my samples knit for my patterns have been gifted away.  This is fine for online sales because the patterns and pictures are still there, but not ideal for face-to-face sales.  People want to touch and see the real thing.

So, I'm re-knitting and re-doing.  It's actually not a terrible thing because it's also giving me a chance to review the patterns and edit them a bit, add more detailed photos, and just generally make them look better.

A new and improved Manitoulin Island hat.

This is probably even more popular than the watermelon yarn at the local markets!  I'm not sure how many we could sell of the finished hat because we repeat ourselves over and over again that we sell the yarn and the pattern, not the finished hat.  When they see the hat, they don't read the signs that say that, they just want the hat!

New and improved wristwarmers and hunters' socks.

We are asked many times how much will a skein knit, so these serve that purpose as well.  This is about how far a skein will go.  Both were knit with from the one skein.

The markets are mostly fun.  Because it is outside, the weather is always a concern.  Too windy, too rainy, too sunny, but last week was perfect and I'm hoping we have more of those ahead this summer.  The people are interesting and the response has been very positive.  I love retail sales and being at the market reminds me of how much I enjoy that.  Even the not so positive experiences have a funny side.  I could write a book!  I think, especially now that I'm retired, I enjoy the social part of the market with lots of people to see and visit with.  I'm very much looking forward to the next month when the tourist visitors really arrive on the island and to see how I manage with those shoppers.  Lots of fun and new experiences!