At least, that’s what they say.  In fact, so far my January has been anything but quiet.  Which is a good thing.

First off, my advert appeared in Yarn Forward Issue 10 and it looks great!  Ideal placement, on the top right hand side of a right hand page.  Absolutely perfect – go get an isse and have a look!  Never mind the fact that there are some lovely patterns in there – and they use some of my yarn.  The teen sweater Fusion can be made with Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend, which is a wonderful alternative to Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK (and is quicker to type…) and the lovely Orchid tank uses the Manos Clasica wool (scroll right down to the bottom of the patterns page to see it).

Second, I’ve had some wonderful new customers who are full of enthusiasm for the yarn they’ve bought, and thank you if you’re one of those who’ve sent me happy feedback by email – it makes my day all warm and fuzzy.  Ecoknits has taken on a life of its own and I love hearing about what you’re making with all this amazing yarn.

And third, speaking of amazing yarn, I’m very priviledged to announce the arrival of the most delicious naturally hand dyed yarn from Finland, called Riihivilla Aarni.

It is produced by a lovely couple called Jouni and Leena Riihelä.  The Finnsheep fleeces are bought directly from the farmers and shepherds at a premium price.  The fleeces are then hand sorted by Jouni and Leena before being sent off to a local mill to be spun.  Then comes the best bit – Leena dyes all the spun yarn by hand in very small dye lots, often using what she grows in her garden and finds in the woodlands around her home, including the most amazing looking mushroom!  She also uses cochineal, madder, Japanese indigo and tansy andthe mordants alum and cream of tartar.

I’m very lucky to be stocking Aarni – barely a day or two after Leena and I had agreed that I could stock it, Riihivilla was featured in an online knitting magazine.  Within a week, she had sold nearly her entire stock and had been approached by a handful of other shops wanting to stock her yarn.  But as she dyes only a kilo or two at a time, she’s turned them all down.

Slight errata in the last post – I’m interviewed in Issue 11, not 10.  But I am mentioned in two separate parts   Talk about fifteen minutes of fame.

Apologies for the gap in posting!  Goodness, it’s been a wee while since I put anything up on here.  I have been a tad busy though, and don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about part two of the business start up blog.

However, for now, I thought I’d let you know just why I’ve been head down and other wise occupied.  I’ve decided to take out a proper advertisement in a real magazine.  Yarn Forward is a fabulous new knitting mag that comes out mid month, and it’s very different from all the other magazines.

For starters, it’s more ‘grown-up’.  It’s not plastered with neon text and exclamation marks, and the pictures on the front aren’t garish and wince-inducing.  It talks to you like you’re an intelligent adult, and also, from the point of view that you can already knit, as you would’t be buying a knitting magazine if you couldn’t, right?  So there aren’t pages of ‘how to cast on’ or ‘how to purl’ at the back.  But there are articles on the more advanced techniques, like colourwork and how to design your own knitwear!

Plus, they have nice green credentials too – Yarn Forward isn’t wrapped in layers of plastic, which is good not only from an environmental point of view, but it also means you can pick it up and flick through it in store.  That and they can’t fill it full of dozens of advertising flyers either.  Added to that the fact it’s printed on recycled paper and paper from managed forests, and they make a donation to a tree-planting scheme for each subscription that’s taken out.  Very nice indeed!

They limit their advertising to ten pages of targeted ads as well.  Knitters want yarny adverts, right?  Not ‘find a friend’ or conservatory blinds ones.

And they do plus sizes.  Instead of stopping at a 38″ or 40″ size, they go up to 50″ chests.  Good for those of you who are blessed in the bra region.  And nice for me as a yarn retailer, because bigger sizes need more yarn!  Actually, that’s a plus from the knitter’s point of view too – more yarn is good for everyone!

I’m in the next issue, number 10, so keep your eyes peeled!  Yarn Forward has been spotted at WHSmiths, Tesco and Borders as of late.  If you find it anywhere else, let me know!

Kris x