Let Them Eat Cake....

Behold, the panacea, the answer to the world's problems, the silver lining to a cloudy day.........CAKE.

Cake! Here are some things you should know about cake, or rather about me and cake.

I love it. LOVE IT. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's my favourite food. Or was. Because I was diagnosed gluten intolerant a year ago, and haven't had a slice of cake since. The gluten free stuff you can buy from the shops is.....eh. I can bear the 'biscuits' but I haven't found anything that even comes close to real cake. And I don't have the time to bake for myself.

So where did this piece of deliciousness come from? The wonderful, adorable, delightful, Michaela. Honey, I'm going to love you forever. Michaela makes and decorates the most gorgeous party cakes, and she's super talented at it. She mentioned to me recently that a customer had requested a gluten free carrot cake. 'Sounds good', said I. And thought no more of it.

Then yesterday morning, in the midst of all the wailing and hair pulling, a parcel arrived. A beautifully wrapped carrot cake, moist and fragrant, and utterly delicious. I don't know how she did it, because it tastes like normal carrot cake (albeit a superior version) and has no gluten-free-ness about it. Two slices with a cup of tea was just.....oh, heaven.

So today, as well as all your lovely supportive comments and emails, I have cake to live for. Which is just as well because:

I have cake!

January 31st, 2007 | |

Welcome to my Pity Party....

Please put on your party hats, and help me blow up these balloons.

No, really, did you think it would last? All the positivity, all the sweetness and light? My name is Dee, and it's been a month since my last whinge.

Ah, you're still here. Obviously you're a good reader, a loyal visitor, and you'll stick with me through thick and thin. Well, it's about to get very thick (or should that be thin?).

Waaaaaaaaaaaahhh!! I'm on the Can't Cope train, and the next stop is Hell! Less than 3 weeks left before the big move, and we've only just settled the tenancy agreement on the house. The letting agency had all kinds of ridiculous perfectly reasonable requirements for new tenants, and eventually, due to the new (ish) nature of our business, we had to agree to pay six months rent up front. Apparently, even with a very healthy (and rising) income, and a million and one references, we still look dodgy. So we've dug deep, and paid up front.

But less than 3 weeks are left, and we are yet to book a moving van, or begin packing. So! Much! Packing! We will never fit everything in, so we have to figure out what to abandon and what to take. The 22,000 boxes of books are coming, the sofas may not be. But hey, I can read in bed.

I booked our phone line and broadband transfer today, and discovered that there is no way round the 10 day broadband down time. I'll be on dialup for at least a week, which will be oh so fun.

But the biggest straw of all has nothing to do with the move (although it dovetails nicely with it). As you know, I'm anally retentive with a well developed strain of perfectionism. This means that if I'm a day late for Sock Club, or if I don't answer emails within 24 hours, I break out in boils. So, I'm always well organised, and things generally run according to plan. The pattern for the next Lace Club shipment (which is due to go out tomorrow, sorry, WAS) has been ready for six months. The colourway has been carefully planned. The yarn was ordered in advance. And I planned to give you Lace Clubbers a nice treat - 110g of cashmere/silk Eva 2ply. Yummy stuff.

The yarn came today, which was cutting it fine. 6lbs of it. Does that sound like a lot? I need 6kg. Kg are not Lb. Repeat after me. A kg is smaller than a lb. No, bigger. Damn, you can see where the problem popped in. I ordered 6lb, I need 6kg, and now I have to wait for the supplier to send me more. Lace Club will have to wait until the middle of the month. I have to ask you to wait! Do you know how I'm hating this?

And the middle of the month, mmm, lovely timing. Sending out 65 parcels the week that I move 500 miles across country.

Just kill me now.

January 30th, 2007 | |

Metamorphosis....

I'm running a little experiment today. We got so behind last week (and if you visited the sale page, you'll know why. So! Much! Yarn!) that there was no time left to rewind yarn. I like to rewind at least a few skeins, because the transformation when you do is quite amazing. Let me show you:

I love this colourway (Regency). Rich, a little dramatic, just my kind of colour combination. But alas, it went unnoticed on the sale page, because like moi, it isn't very photogenic. But a little rewinding, and voila.....

SOLD OUT

From this skein of merino (Admiral), via the magic rewind, to this little beauty:

It's a funny thing. The colours don't change, but redistributing them like this enables your eye to see them all working together, and makes the yarn look much more inviting.

By the by, these two yarns were dyed in the same colourway, but the two fibre blends took the dye completely differently. The cash/silk is much more vibrant in colour, while the merino is soft and muted. Yarn always has the last say.

I love that.

January 29th, 2007 | |

Finally....

Phew, I didn't think I was going to make that. I'm a little cross eyed from all that photo editing, but I did it, the sale preview is now up. We've got some gorgeous colourways this week, and lots and LOTS of yarn. We've included a little more 6ply than usual this week - it always sells fast because it's such a versatile weight, suitable for everything from quicky socks, to scarves, to sweaters, to hats, to shawls. My favourite shade is Moth. No, Transylvania. No, wait a minute, Foxgloves. Although hang on, Dreamy.

Ok, I can't choose. I hope you're less indecisive than me!

Now I'm off to hunt down a few more sock pattern suggestions to add to the page, before the sale goes live at 6pm (GMT). Happy shopping!

January 28th, 2007 | |

The Good, the Bad, and the Interesting....

Lots to tell you today. Firstly, those of you who live in the North East or Scotland should take a wander down to St Abb's some time soon. There's a cool new shop opened up there, called WoolFish, which stocks all kinds of goodies, and they are now stocking Posh Yarn. There's only a teeny tiny selection at the moment, but we'll be doing a proper wholesale order for them soon (once this pesky move is over with - 3 weeks tomorrow, argh!). Pop along, it's worth the trip. Plus St Abb's is a really cool place, and if you drive on to Coldingham, you could visit Moondance Wools too.

What else. The lovely Emily emailed me yesterday to tell me about Wonderwool Wales, a wool festival that is being held in May in Builth Wells. A Welsh version of Woolfest. We're booking a spot, and Jeni from Fyberspates will also be there, so if you can, come along. It'll be our first show, and I want to meet as many of you as possible. I'm not entirely sure we will make Woolfest this year, although we're hoping to, so this might be our only summer show. Come see us!

Thank you SO MUCH, everyone who has been sending in photos of finished Posh Yarn items. Everytime I get one, it lifts my day out of the ordinary. And I don't want to keep all the fun to myself, so I'm going to put together a gallery page over the next week or so, showcasing customer's creations. If you haven't already sent in yours, please do!

Last, but not least, this Sunday's sale is going to be a fabulous one. We've got more of the anti-pooling yarn I was talking about yesterday, including this colourway (April in Paris) pictured below.

I'm working my butt off to try to get the sale preview up by tomorrow evening, but because I took time off at the beginning of the week, I'm behind, so I might not make it. I will get a preview page up at some point before the sale though, even if that's just an hour beforehand.

To work!

January 26th, 2007 | |

Innovation....

Where do you stand on the issue of change? I'm not a big fan, myself. On the one hand I know it's necessary, after all without change there can be no progress, and life must progress (or perhaps we would be living in a world without toilet paper).

But on the other hand, messing with something that is an established classic, that's a dangerous game, my friend. You're unlikely to improve it, and there's a good chance that you'll ruin it. A case in point: the corned beef hash that Mr P made for me while I was poorly.

Corned beef hash was the only thing I could fancy, so off he trundled to the supermarket to buy the ingredients. One hour later, with delicious smells wafting up the stairs ahead of him, he brought me a bowl of hash. Or should I still call it that? Because this was corned beef hash with a twist. A bad twist. To the classic and time honoured potatoes, onions, and corned beef (with a dash of ketchup, which doesn't class as innovation) he had decided to add garlic. And broccoli.

This was no longer hash. This was a bowl of unfamiliar grossness. Now it's not that I dislike broccoli, and I actually adore garlic. But there is a time and a place. And that was not it. We had a similarly unfortunate incident last week, when he sprinkled chilli and garlic (the man has strong taste buds) flakes on my egg on toast breakfast. There were tears.

Now the point of this long convoluted story is this: sometimes innovation is necessary, but sometimes you'd do better to leave well alone. Which brings me to today's photo. This is a skein of sock yarn that we have been experimenting with (don't worry, there was no cruelty involved). You see, every dyer wants to achieve the impossible - a variegated yarn that won't pool. In general, I think our yarns are pretty good, but every now and then I see a pair of socks knitted up and wince, because there is unfortunate pooling involved. Usually its when the sock has been knitted in stocking (stockinette) stitch, because that really doesn't suit variegated yarn. Brief tip: 3 x 1 rib. Gorgeous.

Anyway. We experiment often to try to achieve a non-pooling sock yarn, one that cannot possibly pool, no matter what you do to it, but - and this is important - still has plenty of variety of colour. Here is our current candidate. It has colour, it has randomness, it has cloudy, discreet colour change. It doesn't look as good in the skein as our regular variegated, but I think it will work.

Unlike that hash.

January 25th, 2007 | |

I'm Back....

Thank you honey, I can take back over now. No, really, I'm ok. Yes, you did a great job with the blog. No, I don't think you should take over permanently. No, I don't think we should put it to a vote. No, I don't need one more day in bed. Give me back the laptop. No, seriously. Give it BACK.....

Ahem. Ok, I'm back. Thanks everyone for your well wishes. It was nothing too terrible. I have an old, old illness that lifts up its head and grumbles now and then. And I've learned to take a day or two bed rest when it does, before the grumbling turns into full blown screaming. But I'm fine (ish) now, and back on my feet.

Although rather disgruntled. So, there's severe snow, is there? Then why is it raining here? Rain! We're living practically in the lap of Scotland, where I thought you were guaranteed snow every winter, and there hasn't been a speck of it! Just nasty cold rain and howling gales.

Still, I mustn't grumble. The fire burns brightly, I have Snow Patrol on the CD player, and Mr P is doing the postal run (oh, I'm too poorly for that). And tonight I'm going out for dinner and some fun. Snow or (more likely) no snow.

January 24th, 2007 | |

A.W.O.L....

Hello blog readers, this is Mr Posh, reporting for Posh News. I'm sorry to tell you that the lovely Dee has been poorly for the last couple of days, and I have put my foot firmly down, and insisted that she stay in bed today, with a large pot of tea, and a fat James Thurber volume. But she won't rest until I tell you the following:

Au revoir, mes amis, her hot water bottle needs refilling.

Mr Posh.

January 23rd, 2007 | |

Resistance is Futile....

I don't usually blog on a Saturday, but I just had to show you one of the colourways that will be coming up tomorrow. It's called 'Be Mine' and isn't it pretty?

See you tomorrow!

January 20th, 2007 | |

What's In a Name....

Did I ever tell you what my maiden name was? Dyer. Yes, really. Dyer. My dad's family were from Yorkshire, where so many of Britain's woollen mills were situated, and I suppose that at some point, hundreds of years ago, one of them was such a skilled dyer that when it came to picking names, they gave him that one.

I don't consider it a freaky coincidence that I've ended up doing a job like this. I know it sounds a bit fruitcakey, but I really think it's in my blood. There has to be some reason why it comes so naturally to me. And I don't mean that in a blow my own trumpet kind of way, I just mean that the skills you need to be a good dyer seem to be already in me, rather than needing to be learned.

It's not as though I'm arty in any other kind of way, or even very good with my hands, you know, practical or skillful. My strength was always academic, I'm good with my brains rather than with my hands, and much as I would love to be the arty type, I'm just not. I'm a reader, not a doer.

But dyeing is different. I can see a colour in my head, and mix it, without hesitation or even much thought. Its not something I even feel like taking credit for, because it seems inbuilt in me, instinctive. And I'm so grateful to that ancestor, who first learned those skills, and who passed that gene down to me, because I love what I do.

But here's something I've never told you: every skein we dye, every colourway I create, I always think the same thing: 'oh no, I've lost it. This one is a disaster. My lucky run has ended.' And we cook the yarn, and rinse it, and dry it, and wind it into skeins, and ta-da!! Another glorious colourway. And I truly feel like it had nothing to do with me, that it would be rude and rather presumptuous to take credit for it, because it's a fluke, a beautiful, beautiful fluke. Maybe that's how mothers feel when they look at their children. This is from me, but not really from me, and look how lovely it is.

..................

Have a wonderful weekend, my dears, and if you can, do join us on Sunday for our big sale page update, at 6pm (GMT). If not, see you next week, and take care.

January 19th, 2007 | |

Worth a Thousand Words....

Let's hope that saying is correct, that a picture speaks a thousand words, cos I haven't even got time to write 100 words today, let alone 1000. So instead, I present:

Sale yarn sneak peek No. 1:

Sale yarn sneak peek No. 2:

And the very beautiful Sarah, showing off the funky neckwarmer she knit out of some of our chunky cashmere (from the sale):

Now I must fly!

January 18th, 2007 | |

Variety, the Spice of Life....

Is it just me, or have Rowan slightly lost the plot? Design companies generally have a unique identity - what do you think of if I mention Laura Ashley? - and Rowan used to be known for a classic, but slightly English Eccentric style of design. But now? They're everywhere! It must be because they've accumulated such a huge stable of designers, but how can you go from designs like this:

To ones like this?

Now I'm all for variety, having something for everyone, but at some point, don't you have to draw a line? Don't you run the risk of losing your own identity if you try to be too eclectic, try to reach everyone's taste?

Don't get me wrong, there are some great designs coming out of the Rowan stable - although you'd hope so, with the number of books they produce each season - but I find myself turning more and more to my older Rowan books. And I'd like to think that one day, when we have our own pattern line (oh yes, its something I'm planning on doing), that it will have a strong identity. That our designs will be distinctive, but distinctively ours.

(All that being said, if anyone wants to volunteer to knit me that dressing gown, be my guest. I have a kilo of cashmere here that would be perfect for it.)

.......................................

For those of you have are now completely bewildered, wondering where the Wednesday sale update is, sorry. Our big sale day is now Sunday, and the preview page will be live on Saturday. However, we do still have some yarn left from last week's sale, so go and have a look, see if anything catches your fancy.

January 17th, 2007 | |

Feel the Love....

I love, love, love the fact that this business is a work in progress. That I can talk to my customers, get their feedback, hear their complaints, listen to their suggestions, and adapt Posh Yarn accordingly. I love that I'm not alone here, carrying the burden of making decisions that affect the future of the business. I love the fact that when I asked you for your opinion on the Wednesday/Sunday debate, nearly 150 of you took the time to go and vote. Thank you so much.

And Sunday - with the occasional Wednesday - it is. This is going to work really well, because it gives me all week to show you sneaky previews of the yarn. Such as this squishy merino (merino, Michaela honey, do you see?). I want to eat this colourway.

Sunday was HUGE, our biggest sale yet. For those of you who missed out on the popular Cover and Safari colourways, don't worry, I did more for this week's sale. So, Sunday it is, and at the adjusted time of 6pm (GMT), to suit those of us who don't live in this time zone. Because no one should have to be out of bed at 7 a.m. on a Sunday.

Other stuff I'm loving today: you darlings who send me photos of what you've knitted with our yarn. I had a little album of Posh socks come through last night, and I was so excited looking through them. What else....Post Office staff who don't visibly flinch when I walk in with two sacks of parcels on a Monday morning....leftover Chinese food for breakfast.....a new series of Grey's Anatomy on DVD.....a cold sunny morning.....labelling yarn next to a crackling fire......

Feel the love, people!

January 16th, 2007 | |

The Choice Is Yours....

Last night's sale went really well, in fact we had a record number of sales. Which got me to thinking. Is a Sunday a better time for the regular update? Is it more convenient, since you don't need to juggle work and family responsibilities as much as you would on a weekday? Would the majority of you prefer a Sunday?

As you know, we like to take everyone's wishes into account, so I've created a poll below that will allow you to tell you what works best for you. Cast your vote, and if you want to make an additional comments, you can either email us or leave a comment. I'm really intrigued to see which way this goes.....

January 15th, 2007 | |

Sentences? Too Tired....

1. Yourself: tired
2. Your spouse: asleep
3. Your hair: uncooperative
4. Your mother: supportive
5. Your father: remembered
6. Your favorite item: laptop
7. Your dream last night: forgotten
8. Your favorite drink: tea
9. Your dream car: free
10. The room you are in: scruffy
11. Your ex: nonexistant
12. Your fear: everything
13. What you want to be in 10 years: together
14. Who you hung out with last night: mister
15. What you're not: laidback
16. Muffins: gluten-free
17: One of your wish list items: maid
18: Time: please
19. The last thing you did: post
20. What you're wearing: sweats
21. Your favorite weather: snowy
22. Your favorite book: old
23. The last thing you ate: icecream
24. Your life: chaotic
25. Your mood: stressed
26. Your best friend(s): elsewhere
27. What you're thinking about right now: breakfast
28. Your car: his
29. What you're doing at the moment: thinking
30. Your summer: hopeful
31. Your relationship status: perfect
32. What's on TV: dvds
33. The weather: dull
34. The last time you laughed: yesterday

Yarn, Yarn, Everywhere ....

....and not a moment to knit. Alas, the irony of this business is that I'm so busy dyeing yarn for you to knit, that I have little time left for my own knitting. This week I have started the second front of the Central Park hoodie, done about 10 rows on my scrap shawl, and knitted a few rounds on a sock. So if you're wondering why I never show photos of my knitting on this blog, well that's why.

But that doesn't stop me planning! There are some fabulous patterns out there at the moment, and if I get a chance I'm going to add some pattern suggestions to some of the yarn on Sunday's sale. If you're anything like me, you fall in love with yarn, buy it, and then wonder what on earth you will make with it. Sock and lace weight yarns are easy enough - although it's a pity to only ever use them on socks or shawls, when they are so versatile - but 6ply? 12ply?

And it would be a shame to have our beautiful yarn languishing in your stash, where only you can see it, don't you think? So, I'll be sprinkling a few pattern ideas in with the sale yarn on Sunday.

Speaking of the sale, I'll be taking the sale page down tonight, refilling it, and loading a preview page on Saturday evening. So you can have a nice leisurely browse before Sunday's fast and furious sale. There's lots of Cover yarn, and a few new colourways which I'm thinking of adding to our regular range, including the one pictured below, called Safari.

See you Sunday!

January 12th, 2007 | |

Olives & Bagatelle ....

I like treats spread out through the week. I know that traditionally you do your work in the week and your play on the weekend, but that's rather a dull way to live, don't you think? Every day should have a treat, and midweek days especially.

Which is one of the reasons I came up with a Wednesday sale. Wednesday can be a blue day, and it needs all the brightening it can get. But last night's mini-sale meant that I wasn't tied to the computer on a Wednesday night like usual, but could go out and have my own Wednesday treat: supper at a friend's house. And what a treat it was.

Little Miss T made us a gorgeous supper, simple and all the better for being so, with pasta, the most incredible olives in the world, wine, and baked apples. Delicious. Then we sat by the fire, and knitted, while Mr P played bagatelle. I tell you, it doesn't get much better than that.

So here are some more peeks into Sunday's sale yarn. Yes, I do have some Cover left, in Lucia and Sophia 4ply. I love that you love it so much! I think I'm going to try to squeeze a little more dyeing in today as well, because you can never have too much cashmere sock yarn on sale. So if you have any requests, make them now!

And even if you don't, please do still leave a comment. This week is delurk week - did you know? - so just drop in and say hello. Yes Miss T, that includes YOU!

January 11th, 2007 | |

All Play, No Work....

First things first, the Wednesday update. I have an enormous box of yarn for this week's sale, but as mentioned previously, this week the big update will be on Sunday, at 5pm (GMT). Tonight's update (also at 5pm) will just be a baby one, a taster of what is to come on Sunday.

I'll be interested to see how Sunday goes - I know lots of you struggle to make the Wednesday sale, so this is your chance. We've got something for everyone, silk, cashmere, merino, pastels, bright, darks, variegated, solid, semi-solid, lace weight, sock weight, chunky. Phew, I'm out of breath.

I'll be posting sneak peeks all week, and today's photos are of some of the yarn that will be going on tonight's update. I managed to recreate the much coveted 'Cover' colourway, and there's a few skeins of that in various weights.

.............................

Thanks everyone for your good wishes for the move. They made happy news even happier. And this month, we're all about the happy.

I had a lightbulb moment last night, while I was wrangling with myself about whether to start a new knitting project. I love to start, but I'm not so good at the finishing, and I've been trying to be more self disciplined.

But suddenly I thought: this is supposed to be fun, not work. I don't have to be disciplined. I don't have to be good. If I want to start 10 projects, then I will. If thats the part of knitting that I love the most, the expectation, the planning, the casting on, then why ration myself?

There are no knitting police. No one is looking over your shoulder (at least they shouldn't be) knocking off marks for all the unfinished projects you have, or naming and shaming you because you have a stash that would clothe an army, but you just bought three more skeins, or setting you deadlines to get projects finished by.

We have passed the days where knitting was a necessity, a chore. Don't let's recreate them. Knitting is a joy, a treat, a luxury, a pleasure. Do it how you want, when you want, with what you want. If it makes you happy, knit it. If it doesn't, don't. There are far too many dos and don'ts in this life as it is; let's not bring them into our knitting world too.

And having built that case for myself, I feel fine with telling you that with one pair of socks, one shawl, and one sweater currently on the needles, I have just bought some handspun to start another pair of socks, and snagged some laceweight from this week's sale yarn, to start a shawl from A Gathering of Lace.

My head is high!

January 10th, 2007 | |

I'm Perfectly Normal Really....

I was tagged for a very fun meme before Christmas, by the lovely Annis. If you want to join in, consider yourself tagged. The point of the meme is to list 6 weird things about yourself. Hmm, how to limit it to just six........

1. You know when light switches are in pairs? Well, I can't stand it if they don't point in the same direction. To the point where I'll go upstairs in the dark rather than 'unmatch' them. And I hate the dark.

2. When I eat stuff with my hands (which I am not fond of doing), such as chips, I can only use one hand. And once started with one, cannot switch to the other.

3. I have an overdeveloped sense of personal space, and privacy. I can't share my house with anyone for more than a couple of hours without feeling sort of claustrophobic. This is even true of friends and family, which is regrettable. But I make exception for the Mr, who I cannot be without for one day.

4. I cannot abide (and I'm having trouble even typing the words) bare feet. Keep them away from me, please!! I don't like my own feet to be bare either, especially at night, and wear socks to bed even if it is boiling hot.

5. I don't like paying in restaurants - and this is not because I hate parting with money! I get really nervous and uncomfortable, and the weirdest part is, I have no idea why. But I avoid it whereever possible. I don't like to be there if Mr P pays either, I have to leave him in the restaurant and go stand outside.

6. I have a whole range of recurring nightmares, two of which I had last night. But I've been having them so long, that I'm rather fond of them. They make me laugh.

There you go. Not only am I a freak, but now I am a public one too.

Do you still love me?

January 9th, 2007 | |

I've Got A Secret....

And I've been longing to tell you. Today is the day, but first, I think you want an update on my health, don't you? Yes, I thought so.

Well, the danger has passed. I think it probable that I will live to see 32, and even possible that one day soon I might be able to breath without the assistance of a nasal spray. The weekend was spent alternately groaning on the sofa and sniffling in bed. One consequence of which is that this week's Wednesday update of the sale page will be a mini one, just a few select skeins, with the big update on Sunday. But I did promise a monthly weekend sale, didn't I, so that works out nicely. More on the yarn we've got for you (for both Wednesday & Sunday) later in the week. But now for today's headline.

This photo is from a glorious beach near my home. No, not this home in Northumberland (because even with global warming the sea here would never be that colour). My real home. My homeland, if you will. You see, as some of you might already know, I'm from Wales. West Wales. Pembrokeshire, to be exact. And in a few more weeks, I'll be going home for good. Cymru calls, and I must answer.

We moved up here in 2002, and although it is beautiful up here, it's never felt like home. Because home is where your family is, and although you can always make new friends, it's never the same as being with people who really know you, friends you grew up with, family who know all your little quirks and love you for them. We've wanted to go home for a long while, and now the timing is right.

We've found a lovely little cottage in a coastal village called Bosherston, near (as in run-really-fast-and-you'll-get-there-in-five-minutes near) the beach you can see in these photos. It's an idyllic spot, and a gorgeous little cottage, and it's nothing short of a miracle that we have found it.

And this is a wonderful thing for Posh Yarn too. Because in our combined, extended family, we have a great combination of talents, from arty to practical. So we can start to expand a little bit, do some delegating, get others involved. I cannot wait.

The move is planned for the first week of February, which gives us just a few weeks to prepare. There is SO MUCH TO DO, and it seems an impossibility to get everything done in time. But I don't care, because in just a few weeks, I'll be home.

Home, home, home.

January 8th, 2007 | |

Groan....

He was right. This is NOT just a cold. I think I'm dying.

Send soup.

January 5th, 2007 | |

We Shoot! We Score!!....

At last! After weeks of sales, we cracked it!! We finally did enough sock yarn so that there is actually some left over! Amazing. (And this week was the first week that our checkout software worked at 100% accuracy - I can't tell you how stressed I've been getting behind the scenes about this, but it's finally resolved.) That was a good start to the year.

And it was needed, because life Chez Posh has been a little subdued this week. We both have a nasty cold (yes, Mr P, it is a cold, and not the flu), so life has been tinted a murky blue. Everyone has there own way of dealing with the blues - alcohol, chocolate, shoe shopping. My chosen form of therapy is books. Books, books, and more books.

To me, a house is not a home without books. Walls couldn't have better decoration than shelves of books, tables don't look complete without a teetering pile of books, and there is no sweeter perfume in the world than the smell of a bookshop. (Non booklovers, I've probably lost you at this point. But my fellow bibliophiles will know just what I mean)

My weekend is not complete without a visit to Border Books - books and Starbucks, in the same building? Yes please!! But in general, I prefer old books to new, and secondhand book shops to new book shops. I count it one of the luckiest occurences of my life that we live within half an hour's drive of one of the country's biggest secondhand book shops, Barter Books. This place is heaven on earth.

It's an old railway station, which has been cleverly restored and converted into a book shop, and it has a huge, eclectic selection of old books. I walked in yesterday, feeling like death, and was grinning with one minute. The atmosphere, the books, the music, the free coffee, all combine to make this place perfect. If you love books, and you live anywhere within a day's drive of this place, go. It is truly fabulous. The Posh Yarn of the secondhand book world, if I may be so bold.

I sat up until 12 last night reading, and owuld love to climb back into bed now, and read some more. But there are parcels to pack, and yarn to dye, so to work! To work!!

January 4th, 2007 | |

Hiding Behind the Sock Yarn....

Well, that went down like a lead balloon, didn't it?! I knew that there would be a mixed reaction to the news, but I didn't realise that so many of you would be upset (and even a little cross) about it. Last night we had an emergency business meeting (in pj's) and discussed how we could meet everyone's requests with our own limitations.

You see, I don't want anyone to forget that this is a VERY small business. There are distinct advantages to keeping things that way - at least for now - but also distinct disadvantages. One of which being that we have to work really, really hard to keep up with demand. I don't mind working hard, but occasionally I get tired of working really hard, six days a week hard. This seemed like a good compromise, a way of easing some of our workload, without minimising our yarn output too much.

But, of primary importance, more so than anything else, is keeping my customers happy. Many of you have been with us since we launched, back in April 2006, and have become friends. Hearing your comments, both public and private, came as a bit of a shock, but a welcome one. If we were going in the wrong direction then I'd rather know now, before we lose half of you.

So, here's our compromise. We will reinstate custom dyeing, and I will add the colours page to the website later today. If you want to place an order, simply choose your yarn from the yarn info page, choose your colourway, and email me. I will then let you know how long your order will take, and we'll go from there. I must admit though, that my heart is still in the weekly sale - one off dyeing is so much more fun than dyeing to a recipe. But I hope that this way will please the majority, with something for everyone.

Have the clouds lifted now? Good. Let's move on to today's sale. So. Much. Sock. Yarn. I've snaffled a couple of skeins for myself this week, because I'm determined to knit more socks in 2007. I've seen a sneak peek of Issue 2 of Yarn Forward magazine, and let me tell you, socks are going to be even bigger news this year. So, we have piles and piles of sock yarn on this week's sale, as well as lots of other yarn (including the yarn that knitted the swatch shown on our new home page - see if you can spot it!). Again, I hope there is something for everyone.

As always, the sale starts at 5pm (GMT). See you then, my pretties!

January 3rd, 2007 | |

New Year, New Us....

Updated to Add

Thanks so much, everyone, for your welcome back and your feedback on the new site. We're taking as many of your suggestions on board as possible, and will continue to ask for your feedback and input. I do understand that not everyone can make the Wednesday sale, so as suggested by one customer, we will have a weekend sale once a month, for those of you who can't make the mid-week sale. Plus, the sale page will available all week round, for you to browse and buy, just that it will be updated on Wednesday evening. We are also doing larger quantities of lots of the colourways, especially the solids, so you can buy sweater quantities, not just sock quantities. Keep those suggestions coming!

.................................

Here we are, all shiny and new, with a brand new pencil case, and a fresh ribbon in our hair. And what do you think of the new look?

As you might have already spotted, we've changed more than just the look. We have been having so much fun doing the One Off Wednesday sales, but it's been difficult balancing that with doing custom orders. So when we were discussing the direction we wanted the business to take in 2007, we felt we needed to make a choice, between custom dyeing and one off dyeing. And, for several reasons, we decided to continue doing One Off Wednesday, and to discontinue dyeing to order.

This decision wasn't just based on what would be best for us, but also what would be best for you, my lovely customers. For one thing, it is very difficult when hand dyeing, to replicate colours. And I like to be sure that when you buy from us, what you see is what you get. I couldn't bear anyone to be disappointed or let down by their choice of yarn. So when you choose a yarn shade from our range, and we dye it, and it comes out slightly different, well that makes me twitchy. We often rejected as many skeins as we sent out, because they didn't look close enough to the originals.

Also, I hate keeping customers waiting for yarn. When I buy something, I want it right now, please, and I know lots of you do too. But probably the biggest reason I prefer one off dyeing to dyeing to order, is that every skein is different, every colourway unique. What is posher than limited edition yarn?! It allows me to be much more inventive with the colourways, to adjust yarns and shades to suit the seasonal. Heck, it's just more fun.

So, from now on, all our yarn will be sold as one offs. We will continue doing our sales on a Wednesday, as that seems to suit most people. There will be a bigger selection of yarn, and shades, and the reduced sale prices will be permanent. Your purchases will always be sent out the next day. And if there's something particular you are looking for, email me, and I'll make sure I include a few skeins. If you are planning a bigger project, maybe a sweater, and you are concerned about getting enough yarn for it, drop me a line, and we'll work something out.

This is just one of the things we have up our sleeve for 2007. There's lots more news to come, so watch this space. I'm so excited to be back, and so looking forward to the year ahead.

Phew, what a long post. I think I must have missed you all even more than I realised.....

January 2nd, 2007 | |