Stand for my naturally dyed merino

Dyeing with plants from the garden and making a gorgeous range of colours is one thing packaging and displaying  well to sell is another and  one of the challenges  about having  a stand at a craft fair is making good use of the vertical space.   If you hang things from the tops of the stand they don't sell but if they are on something that stands up they do. My merinos and hand spun yarn  are particularly hard to display and although I have tried all sorts of ways I finally asked   John Stoker the partner  of the Mulberry Dyer to make  me two stands  one for my hand spun yarns (on the left)  and then one large one for my merinos which at Woolfest and Wonderwool occupied one side of the stall.  Then having got got used to hanging my merinos up I was frustrated as I could not take this large stand to many of the smaller events I  do.  For  example next week I am off to teach at Malvern Hills Summer School where I will have twelve students in a small classroom  (Incidentally there are a few places left I believe on the Felted Collars-where we will be using 15micron merino.) .  After a table for samples this  leaves me one table for the "shop".  So. a few months ago .........from the back of my studio I stumbled on a  rotating stand made  many years ago and found it useful  for hanging merino only a little small.   I tried it out when I taught the North Wales Embroidery Guild and the Fiesty Felters in Shrewsbury and found I seemed to be selling more merino despite a price increase. So I decided to ask Michael Williams   who made the stand to make another one only a bit bigger.   Efficiently he still had the design for the first  one although it must have been a few years ago and made me a new one  and  here it is  it arrived yesterday .

Back from the Textile Market

I am just back from the Textile Market at Trefriw. This being on my home stamping ground (well an hour away) has been great fun as so many people I knew popped in. People who had been on my workshops, someone who had been to an open studio event as well as all my old spinning friends . All but one of the local spinning guilds from Cheshire to the Lleyn peninsular came. A fellowblogger Artis-Ann from Snowdona came and bought some of my fibres. As she is a beautiful spinner and knitter I am expecting wonderful things and as we had "met " via our blogs it was good to meet in the flesh. Thanks to Debbie's John who has made two stands for me I sold more merinos than usual especially the handpainted 18.5micron and 3/4 of my hand painted cashmere and silk -recession what recession! The Beyond the Twist Yarns marched off the stand into people's bags. Imagine a trumpet fanfare at this ! Anne (who taught me to spin) had written a dear little pattern for a neckwarmer which I printed on sheep poo paper (made in Snowdonia)and this went with the handspun kid mohair and tussah silk . Nearly all of this went-apart from the one which was a cochineal pink -people found it too pink! As I am now out of Kid Mohair it is fortunate that some of Lesley Prior's kid mohair is on it's way as I write. I don't Knit -at least I can knit garter stitch but I don't knit as some people knit ( steeks and complicated patterns and things) so questions throw me. What thickness's are your yarns for example sent me off at great haste to Anne to ask. Chunky to aran weight in case you are wondering
Sunday was a quieter day but I had a delightful customer in the morning - a mature lady (but not as mature as me) - who had started a fine art degree now her children had left and she was on her own. She bought a full set of inks and was very excited about them. So was I as seeing someone really inspired by something I produce - it gives me a most fantastic buzz. In between customers and visits from people like Alison Daykin who popped in enroute (?!!) from Derbyshire to South Wales Debbie- the Mulberry Dyer- and I propped up the wall and put the textile market to rights and discussed dyeing (well what else!).
I made enough money to keep me happy. I sold lots of my new yarns which not only gave me a thrill but means I can spin more! Now I am free till Mid January -apart from a small commission or two. ( And I am g0ing to spin some cashmere and silk too as there were two hanks left)
Welcome to new followers-pop in and say hello

Art Yarns or Extreme spinning! ( And the Textile market)

I have been having fun! Early on this year when I was recuperating from Pneumonia I came across Pluckyfluff's book Intertwined , full of wonderful textured yarns. A light bulb moment came "Idid not need to spin for a project-which I find boring- I could spin for fun!" and as the mood took me and use up some of my stash into the bargain. This November after the dreaded horrible asthma and huge doses of steroids etc etc I suddenly felt as though all the energy had drained out through the bottom of my legs and gone somewhere. On top of which we now have a wonderful cosy sitting room with fantastic wood burner.
So guess what? Some ( but only a tiny bit really ) of my stash mysteriously moved into corner of the sitting room My lovely lovely lendrum spinning wheel took up residence and I was away spinning textured and very textured yarns in the evening when I am too tired for anything else . At first I thought I would just spin but everybody ( well nearly everybody) was so enthusiastic about the resulting Yarns I decided to sell them. I had a few at the Real Colour Show where I sold some but here are the ones I have spun for my Next Event
The Textile Market at Trefriw Woollen mill 5th /6th December

This a wonderful event-last year it was called The Artisan Market and there were only three of us selling but this year it is much bigger with Me selling fibres ( new range Beyond the Pale- merino's,cashmere and silk, teeswater) Beyond the Twist Yarns, natural dye inks ,brooches books& kits. Debbie The Mulberry Dyer, with dyes, books, yarns tools, my friend Anne with brooches, scarf kits superb designer knitted scarves and more more more!
I will be putting the yarns on my website in the next few days.

Artisan Market

Posted by Helen

Today was day one of a two day Artisan Market at Trefriw Woollen Mill near Conwy North Wales. There were three of us there, Anne , myself and Wendy. Both Anne and Wendy demonstrate spinning and sell their own work from May to September and Iwas invited as well probably becuase the market came out of a suggestion of mine that since Anne was there all the way through the winter for the first time she and Elaine whose family owns and runs the mill ( three generation family business) should advertise her presence to the local Spinner Weaver and Dyer Guilds. Somehow this became a two day Artisan Market in which I became involved. To enable us to make up a poster I took some photos mostly of Anne's work at the end of the day I was visiting her using the candle light symbol on my camera as the light was going and fortuitously this came out quite well. I made up the posters, Elaine did a fantastic job advertising the market to local papers, Anne and Wendy dropped leaflets around the place and I emailed and handed them out to people who came to my workshops . This was all very much at the last minute having been organised about six weeks ago so none of us were hoping for much -given the normal take up of craft fairs, the recession etc- but to our astonishment we were busy all day , the first visitors if not quite queueing to get in at 11 am were nonetheless there on the dot. Wendy asked everyone how they had heard of the event and we were all fascinated to learn that we had fibre enthusiasts coming as a result of my email, interested members of the public coming because of local advertising and friends of the mill as well as guild members.

I managed to take a few pictures but generally when there were not so many people around but here they are to give you a flavour.

I sold lots of inks-I was so pleased as at the Woolfest I did not sell a single bottle but this autumn they have really started to sell. Maybe it is the addition since the summer of purple, blue and bronze.