Miracles never cease. I was all resigned to telling my lovely Sock Clubbers that this month's yarn would be a few days late. And I hated having to do so, because I like the new month's yarn to go out promptly, to arrive on the 1st if possible, or early in the month for overseas members. I think our club members deserve extra special attention and service, since they trust us with their money and orders months in advance. Besides, I don't like to let anyone down.

However, wholesale orders were first on the list - one having waited oh so patiently for four months for their order. And we were still struggling to catch up on all the orders that came in while we were moving. I gritted my teeth, and started writing the disappointing email in my head.

Then yesterday, a little miracle occurred. My partner had spent the Bank Holiday setting up the dye room properly, but although it looked nicer, I didn't think it would make a huge difference. Until we started work, discouragingly late yesterday lunchtime. I hoped, not very optimistically, that we could get through a couple of kilos of the wholesale order. Four hours later, we had done......

EIGHT KILOS

Eight kilos! That's 80 skeins of yarn, all variegated (which is the most time consuming), in four hours. That's about 3 times faster than we've ever worked. And we hardly broke sweat. This means some very exciting things: in the short term it means that Sock Club will go out on time this week. In the longer term it means that we have a much faster turn around time on orders. That we can accept a few more members of the sock and lace clubs than we'd hoped (more on that later this week). And that we can start accepting more wholesale orders again, without asking an unreasonable waiting time from buyers.

Now if the weather will continue to cooperate, all this yarn will be dry today. Packed tomorrow. Sent out. And next week we can clear up the final outstanding wholesale orders. I can't tell you how happy this makes me. I hate, hate, HATE to keep people waiting. I expect first class service, and I enjoy giving the same. And now I can be assured, and assure you, that that's what you'll get from Posh Yarn in future. Whether you order one skein or one hundred skeins.

So here's a sneak peek of this month's sock club yarn. It was inspired by the mellow colours of the landscape around us here in Northumberland, and I think is one of our prettiest yet. One skein, the sample that I dyed on Saturday, is nestled into my knitting bag, waiting to become some snuggly winter socks. Happy sighs all round.

We even did a few extra skeins this month, because, well you never know..........

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August 25th 2006

Yee-ha! Broadband is back! If only I had the time to do some serious surfing to enjoy it. But alas, things are still very busy here. I'm trying to clear the decks ready for September, when we have some great new stuff for the autumn. New yarns, new shades, a few spots opening in the two clubs, a new line of products, an exciting new feature of the site, oh all sorts! All worth the wait, and all to be announced over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, here are some promised pictures. I'm no Annie Leibovitz, even less so when I'm in a hurry, but these give you a glimpse of my life right now.

Sheep, sky, and sea. And sun!

Slow progress on the Fair Isle slipover. I'm loving it, but oh boy does it need blocking.

My lovely new spinning wheel. I. Am. So. Excited. About. This.

Another shot of our view, showing more of the shoreline. The lighthouse is there, somewhere!

Have a great weekend, everyone. I'm looking forward to creating September's Sock Club colourway, knitting on a new sock design, eating dark chocolate, and surfing as many image heavy sites as I can find. Back next week with the first bit of exciting Posh Yarn news!

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August 22nd 2006

Still too busy getting orders out for a proper post, which is a shame because I have lots to tell and show. Later this week, I promise. In the meantime, here's a brief summary of where we're at.

Things we have:

Oh boy, the word chaos doesn't even begin to describe my life right now. The move is over, and we are slooowly getting things straight, but there is a huge backlog of orders to work through. We're trying to catch up as fast as we can - thanks everyone for your patience. Proper update coming soon!

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August 8th 2006

Damn. I knew I shouldn't leave things to the last minute. The phoneline at the house won't be activated until next Monday, and my broadband connection won't be activated until 7-10 days after that. And we move in tomorrow. No internet access for TWO WEEKS. I think I will die.

I'll do my best to keep checking emails remotely, but please be patient if I don't reply immediately.

Edited to add:

Thanks so much everyone for your supportive emails and good wishes. The nicest part of my days this week has been the stolen moments when I can log on and catch up with you all. From Friday I won't able to do that for a week or so, as explained above, and that is going to be so difficult. However, I have to keep my eye on the prize at the end of this race: bigger premises = more yarn, a quicker turn around time for orders, and a better business all round. We have some really cool things planned for Posh Yarn over the coming months, and I can't wait to share it all with you.

Au revoir!

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