More new patterns

Have been quite busy this week finalising some new miniature knitting patterns (ie knitting them over and over to proof the instructions). I have an outfit for a lady doll, consisting of a cardigan, skirt and top, with instructions on how to make a pearl necklace to go with it.

I have also finished a pattern for a belted car coat, hat and trousers. This one developed from a design I was asked to make for a customer in America, who was making a 'bag' lady doll!

I have nearly finished a new bedspread miniature pattern kit in 1:12 scale which I am quite pleased with, more on that soon. I need to knit a couple of versions and they do take quite a while to make.

I am hoping to have some more work published this summer in one or more of the dolls house magazines - more information when I have the final details!

I have enquired this week about having my brochure professionally printed. At the moment I print them off myself on the computer but I get through so many print cartridges! Not to say the frustration when the printer misfeeds or I manage to get the wrong page on the back of another. It may not be any more expensive than buying print cartridges to have the finished brochure printed, but I think the art work to set it up might be prohibitive. I will have to think about it very hard to see if I can justify the outlay, and also have to think that as I update it with new patterns quite often it could go out of date. I have had some customers think that because my leaflets are self-printed on non-glossy paper, that I have photocopied someone else's work, or that they are somehow not 'official' patterns. I can assure everyone that they are all my own work, and they do cost me a significant amount to print! It is not possible to have every leaflet professionally printed as I don't sell enough of each design to justify the cost.

I have had a lot of hits on the webpage asking for a copy of the brochure, so it was obviously of use adding the button to be able to do this. Strange how sometimes I get requests coming from the same area (I had a spate of orders from Tyne and Wear). It makes me wonder if I have had some publicity I don't know about, or if I have been mentioned at a Dolls House Club. The link on the webpage to the 'I love knitting' is down at the moment - the external site has undergone some changes and we haven't yet been able to pin it down.

So next weekend we have the big wedding(s) of the year, when beepone and Ram finally get it together! I have got the big hat(s) and the chocolate fountain is ordered, so nothing holding us back now. Might need a few days to recover before I am up to blogging (or knitting) again!

My new stash!

I have got around to sorting out my new stash of yarn which I bought in New Zealand. Firstly, I found a wonderful knitting shop in Auckland (no web page unfortunately) which sold lovely pure wool local yarn made by Touch. The first one shown here is a hand painted DK Touch yarn made from 65% pure wool, 35% possum. Possum is very light and very warm, so I am told that my 3 skeins of 100g will be plenty to knit a sweater. Possum are seen as a pest in New Zealand ('buy possum, save a tree') and the fur spins well with wool to make a lovely soft yarn. Anything bought ready made with possum is very expensive, but this cost me about £40, which is not an excessive amount for such a lovely yarn. The next one is also a handpainted DK Touch yarn, this one is 100% Super Fine Kid mohair, and again 3 skeins, for a total of about £30, should make a beautiful sweater.

Whilst driving along a typically empty New Zealand main road in the middle of nowhere, I suddenly spotted at the side of the road a largish warehouse with WOOL painted in big letters on the roof. I yelled STOP!!! and we found ourselves at the Wool Company. This was a big shed with sheep in the back field absolutely stashed full of beautiful 100% wool yarns and garments. They seemed to process the raw wool there, sending it away for spinning and dying. I was in heaven! They had every colour, every weight, both pure wool and possum mixtures. I really didn't know what to buy, but being restricted in what I could bring back, treated myself to some bright red DK. This was about £4.50 for a 200g skein. They do ship all over the world and the shipping rates are not unreasonable, so I might even think about ordering online.

By now I was banned from buying any more, but we just happened to stop at a little cafe cum craft workshop at the side of the road, and I spotted this bag of mixed pure wool in eight toning shades, for about £3 for 200g. I haven't opened it yet to see if it is spun for knitting, but it may need some attention before it can be used. Haven't yet decided what to do with it but I am seeing some sort of patchwork sweater with a linking colour. Need to think about that, but I am sure I have got enough yarn to keep me going for a while yet, so no hurry!!

Can't wait to get knitting.

Have a huge stash of wool!

So we are back from our big adventure on the other side of the world, and I have reduced the stocks of wool in New Zealand by a fair amount, with help from airline baggage handlers internationally.
Just catching up on the sleep and wondering what to knit first. Will post piccies of some of the wonderful yarn I have acquired soon!
bitstobuy was left in the capable hands of beepone, and has been ticking over while we were away. I have some new ideas for patterns so hope also to get onto those soon. So much to knit, so little time.
I have opened a new shop on the website, selling knitting related items; see the 'I Love Knitting' button on the home page. There are lots of things for all those knitting fanatics out there, including t-shirts and tote bags!
Back soon