Questions......

.....that keep me awake at night.

The later it gets, the more surreal the questions. I really should try to get some sleep.

April 30th, 2007 | |

Phew......

Everything that could go wrong did, but despite the odds, the preview page is now up!

Now I'm off for a much needed gin & tonic.

April 28th, 2007 | |

Eye Candy......

Feast your eyes.......

Have a wonderful weekend, loves, see you on Sunday evening!

April 27th, 2007 | |

Temptation......

Thanks for all the feedback on the new postal charges system. Phew, we got it right! That's good to know.

Now then, before I show you the good stuff that's coming up this week, I want you to earn your keep. Two questions:

Ok, onto the good stuff. Here are some of the spectrum of laceweight colours from Sunday's update.

Happy Thursday, darlings!

April 26th, 2007 | |

Bits and Bobs......

As of today, I have a cleaner. I feel like such a grownup. If you've never had someone come and clean your house for you, oh boy, it's so worth it. My house sparkles now. This makes me very, very happy.

As does the sight outside my window. 200 skeins of yarn blowing in the wind. And I know I seem to say this every week, but I really think that this week's batch is the best yet. Jam_Mam, look away NOW. Seriously. Because the laceweight colours this week..........wow. Jewels, every one of them. Deep sapphire, shimmering emerald, rich ruby. There are some real beauties. I'll give you some previews on tomorrow's blog.

Onto another topic. (I'm a little woolly headed today, because my head aches and I've taken strong painkillers, so do excuse the lack of finesse in today's blog). We've been having a lot more customers from outside the UK recently, which is totally fab. I get really excited packing up orders to go around the world. Posh Yarn in Japan, Canada, Finland, America, New Zealand..... oh, everywhere! So cool. But it has raised some issues with our postage charges. Because our postage rates were set by order value, not by where you live. This meant that this week alone, our postage costs came to £100 more than we charged you. Ouch. So, after a lot of consideration, we've come up with what we believe to be the best solution, both for you as customers and for us as a business.

From now on, postage costs will be at a set rate, regardless of the size of your order, and will depend on your location. The charge for UK customers will be £1.75, and for airmail customers (that's everyone outside the UK) the charge will be £2.75. I'm still figuring out how to handle multiple purchases - either I'll continue to manually check through and refund you if you've paid postage more than once, or I may set a third option on the delivery part of checkout, which says 'Multiple Purchase - no delivery charge'. What do you think?

April 25th, 2007 | |

Clever Customers......

One of the frustrating things about not having broadband is that it's very difficult to receive your photos of finished garments. I've had some beauties through, but they take oh forever to download. I'll have to figure a way around that. And I must, must, must take some time this week (next week, sometime, never) to update the gallery.

Here are two that lifted my heart recently. I love seeing all the photos that come in, but these two particularly interested me. The first because it was from one of our Lace Club members, and I think that the way she has interpreted the last club pattern is just spectacular (look at the edging!). Plus, the photo is just so...... Posh!

The next photos were from a much beloved customer, Anniken, who has taken some of our Sophia 4ply yarn and designed a gorgeous shawl pattern with it.

The pattern is available from her website. I think I might have a go at it myself (ahem, once the two current shawls are done, of course).

And I have so many other great photos sitting in my inbox, waiting their turn in the spotlight. I need more hours in the day. And broadband.

By the way, for those of you who are coming to Wonderwool: if you wear something made from Posh Yarn, we'll give you 10% off all your purchases. Get those needles a-clicking!

April 24th, 2007 | |

Falling In Love Again......

I have a confession to make. I lost my knitting mojo for a while there. I was still interested in what everyone else was making, I still kept up with the latest patterns and books, but when it came to picking up my own knitting.....eh. I just didn't want to.

I think that I'd started too many projects (two shawls, two socks - not matching - and a hoody). I knew I couldn't let myself start any more, and I wasn't that excited about the ones I had on my needles. And besides, I think that sometimes we all lose our mojo, even for the things we love to do.

But then we get it back. I've fallen in love with knitting all over again in the last couple of weeks. I've finished both the socks, and have started on their mates. I've picked up my Forest Canopy shawl again (I really need to get this finished before Wonderwool). I'm planning my summer knits. On the weekend, I knitted in every available moment: in Starbucks, in the car, in bed, in the cinema. I tell you, it felt good. There was definitely a gap when I wasn't knitting, an uncomfortable type of lost feeling.

This makes me want to stop people in the street, people who look like they need knitting in their life. I want to tell them how amazing it feels to create a sock out of a ball of yarn. I want to explain how soothing knitting is, how even thinking about it can calm you, how imagining those needles clicking in and out of the yarn can soothe your mind when you find it hard to sleep. I want them to discover this gift, this way of filling the dullest of hours, this source of creative potential.

But unfortunately, I don't think people would like to be stopped in the street by a stranger wielding knitting needles, however enthusiastic. What a pity.

April 23rd, 2007 | |

Sock Yarn Smorgasbord......

Updated to add: the preview page is now up!

I only intended to snap photos of a few skeins, but oh, I just couldn't seem to choose.....

I am definitely a sock yarn junkie. I can admire lace weight yarn, but it doesn't tempt me (very much). But sock yarn, how can you resist?! One for you, one for me. One for me, uh, one for me...........

PS. Well spotted, Kerrie, the second skein pictured is the skein that the boys were working on when I snapped them earlier this week.

April 20th, 2007 | |

Busy......

No time to blog today, too busy getting more scrummy yarn ready for this week's update. I think the sock yarn junkies are winning this week! Previews tomorrow.....

April 19th, 2007 | |

Goodies......

Has your postman brought you something nice in a pink package today? Judging by the number of parcels we sent off yesterday, there's a good chance that he has!!

I count it a day lost when I don't receive something yummy in the post. Today I'm waiting for a parcel of the latest knitting books, which I'm reviewing for Yarn Forward magazine, the complete boxed set of Jeeves & Wooster dvds (with Hugh Laurie.......be still my heart), and a funky silk skirt from Thailand. Sweeties to balance out the bills, don't you know.

By the way, I didn't realise that the latest Vogue Knitting hadn't been released in the UK yet. I got mine from eBay.com. Another postal goody!

April 18th, 2007 | |

Today I'm Loving......

My superhero friend, Chris, who is setting up my RSS feed from this blog, so I don't have to maintain two blogs....

The latest Vogue Knitting.....So! Much! Lace!

My clever Posh team mates, who worked through a record number of skeins yesterday.

The lovely Piglottie who is selling the prettiest cards to raise money for a friend's fundraising trip to Peru.

Everyone who left comments and emailed congratulations yesterday. You are all sweethearts.

This amazing collection of triangular shawl patterns - how fantastic a resource is that?!!

The gorgeous weather which is enabling us to dry quantities of yarn in record time.

Our local post office staff, who let us dump enormous piles of parcels on them, efficiently and speedily work through them, then let us know when its all done so we can pop back to pay. How's that for service?!

April 17th, 2007 | |

One Year Old Today......

And what a fabulous year it has been. We've come a long way, baby. When we launched, there was no 'we', just me, dyeing a few skeins a week in my kitchen. Now there are three of us in the Posh team, and oh, it's wonderful not having to play all the bases myself. Now I have time for more of the fun stuff, like blogging.

I was trying to persuade one of our lovely customers to start her own blog yesterday (updated to add: the nagging has worked: Stash Basket ). Despite the time it takes, despite the days when you think you've got nothing to say, despite the times when no one comments and you wonder if anyone is even out there, blogs are so much fun. And so.....uplifting. To connect with readers from around the world is something special. Through this blog, many of my customers have become cherished friends. The blog overcomes the main disadvantage of an internet business v. a traditional shop, namely the lack of personal contact with customers. It means a lot to me to read all the comments (hint, more comments please!), and often lifts my day from the humdrum to the delightful.

Anyway, back to my point. Happy anniversary to us! I wanted to mark the occasion with a gift - not for us, because this business is enough of a gift for us - but for you, my lovely, generous, supportive customers. So, picking randomly from the mailing list, our £50 gift voucher goes to............

Erin McGann. Congratulations, my dear! And thank you to everyone, for making this last year so special. Here's to Year Two!

April 16th, 2007 | |

Posh With A Capital P......

Updated to add:

The shop preview is up now, because I couldn't wait until tomorrow to show you all our lovely yarn!

I don't know when I've been so excited about a shop update. The sun is shining, and it's a gorgeous day to go out and do something fun, but I can't think of anything I'd rather do than get all the yarn ready for Sunday's update, because it's going to be a CRACKER!

Why? Well, first of all, there's piles of yarn. Especially laceweight. Yes, lace junkies, this week is your week. And the colours this week are just lush. I think this is one of my favourites, called Wreath:

But wait! What's that in the top of the photo? Could it be......labels!!!

YAY!!!

We have real labels!! I am So Excited. The labels have all the yarn info printed on the inside, and the Posh logo on the outside. They look tres fabulous. If I do say so myself.

What's that, you want a closeup? Oh, go on then.....

I just feel so.....posh!

So, shop preview will go live tomorrow sometime, the update is at 6pm on Sunday as always, and believe me, you do not want to miss it. Pack the kids off to the beach, send your other half to the pub, unplug the phone, do whatever you've gotta do. We're going to partay!!

April 13th, 2007 | |

Introducing......

The newest member of the Posh team, Daffyd.

So, what can I tell you about Daffyd (because he's too busy swimming in a sea of dye to blog for himself).... First of all, his name is pronounced Dav-id, not Daff-id. And like me, he has resigned himself to never having his name spelled correctly (why do you think I've shortened mine to Dee?!). As you can guess from the name, he has Welsh blood in him, although until last week he lived up in the Scottish Borders. But now he's discovering his roots in glorious Pembrokeshire.

Is he a knitter? Well, yes and no. He certainly can knit (he was taught by his grandmother). When I gave some yarn and needles to his wife a little while ago, so that she could learn to knit, he started knitting to show her what to do, and two hours later was still knitting..... Yes, the bug is in him, we just have to lure it out. I think daily exposure to cashmere should do it, don't you? I caught him fondling a skein in a dark corner earlier.

What else...... as well as having a gorgeous wife, he has three gorgeous kids, 2 of them angelic looking twin girls. Honestly, when you see them all together, they look like they should be in an Eternity ad. He's also a surfer dude (which is part of the reason why he's moved down to Pembrokeshire). And he's always up for anything, which is why we're excited to welcome him to the team. Because here at Posh HQ, anything can happen!

April 11th, 2007 | |

Yee-Ha!......

What an absolutely fabulous weekend. We barbecued, hung out with friends, lay on the beach, barbecued again, and most of all, laughed, laughed, laughed. Here are some photos from Sunday night, courtesy of the man of the moment, Chris Kellett (take a bow, Chris). He's a fantastic photographer, and so I'm shamelessly stealing his pics from the weekend. I was far too busy laughing to take photos.

Mr P at the beach (he wants me to tell you that he doesn't really have a double chin.....and they say women are vain).

The misty moments before sunset, on Freshwater West beach.

The gorgeous bonfire we had after the sun went down (I'm third from the left, and our new posh recruit is sitting next to Mr P).

Today I'm raring to go, and really excited about the week ahead. Today and tomorrow are dye days, with piles of laceweight yarn to be done (I'm on a mission to satisfy the lace junkies this week),and we have our new recruit working with us today.

I hope you all had fabulous holiday weekends too, and you're feeling nicely refreshed for the week ahead. Don't forget, Saturday is our one year anniversary, and we're picking one lucky subscriber to receive a £50 gift voucher, so if you're not on the mailing list already, get on!

April 10th, 2007 | |

Oops......

Thank you darlings for all your lovely emails and comments. I've had such a lazy week, napping, reading, knitting, and sitting in the sunshine. I'm feeling pretty perky now, although you wouldn't think it to look at me. On Thursday morning, I walked smack-bang into a scaffolding pole, which was just at nose height (it was wedged horizontally between the shed and house, goodness only knows why). I hit it so hard, I knocked it down. Which was just as well, because if it hadn't moved, I expect I would have broken my nose. As it is, I have a nice Roman profile at the moment, and a huge purple bruise across the bridge of my nose. People in the supermarket yesterday were giving me sympathetic glances. Mr P didn't even dare come in with me. My head still aches a little from it, but not enough to stop me enjoying the Bank Holiday weekend. Beach, barbecues, food, friends, sun, and sock knitting. Can you ask for more?

Why yes, you can! Sale day tomorrow!! Preview page is now up.

(And I know, not much lace weight. I will make up for it, and then some, next week. I promise.)

April 7th, 2007 | |

Mr P Reporting......

Hello everyone. I'm afraid that my lovely wife is still feeling poorly, and so I've put my husbandly foot down, and ordered her to take the rest of the week off. All the recent orders are on their way to you, as well as April's Sock Club. And there will be a big sale on Sunday (with the usual Saturday preview). But otherwise, all will be quiet on the Western Front.

Over and out.

April 3rd, 2007 | |

The Best Laid Plans......

Well, my weekend was less Starbucks / shoes / cinema, and more backache / bed / broadband blues. I twanged something in my back on Saturday, and spent most of the weekend tossing and turning in bed, trying to find a position that didn't hurt.

And BT scored the final point in my broadband battle when they informed me that even a business phone line (which I had ordered specifically to get broadband) would be DACS'd in my area. So no broadband for me.

Ack.

Still, Sunday's shop update was fun. Hopefully, by doing two updates last week, most of you got a little bit of what you wanted. My supplier is running a little behind this week (let's blame him, rather than admitting that I underestimated the speed with which we would go through the last yarn order), and Mr P is going to be away for part of the week, so we won't be dyeing yarn this week.

Wait! Don't panic!! I've been setting yarn aside each week, ready for the show. But instead, I've decided to put it all on the shop page this Sunday, which will also help us clear some space in the store room. And, since it's a Bank Holiday weekend, and I'm feeling generous (or could that be the painkillers?), everything will be at least 10% off.

So tell me, what did you do this weekend?

April 2nd, 2007 | |