sosusie yarns

Couple of new projects and stall news

2011-10-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

So I've put three new projects up, one in Customer Projects and the other two in sosusie yarns projects.

We've ordered some gorgeous Manos Wool Classica which will be the first time that we've stocked it so we hope you like it and we've also order a few shades in the new Manos Serena which is a featherlight 3ply pima cotton/alpaca mix.

******NEWS******

sosusie yarns will be going back to every other week at Archway Market giving us more time to concentrate on getting the online shop up and running. We're at Archway tomorrow and next Saturday and then every following other Saturday.

We'll also be attending a few craft/Christmas fairs over the next couple of months. Our Calender has all the relevant information on where we'll be and when.

******STUDENT DISCOUNT******
We now offer a student discount on production of a valid student card of 10%.

As promised - new wools

2011-10-10T07:22:00.000-07:00

So here are some photos of the new wools we have.

Three new autumnal shades in Manos Silk Blend:

And four in the brilliant new Artesano Superchunky:

Marcia has been knitting

2011-09-22T05:25:00.000-07:00

So, I'm still pretty rubbish at blogging so here's the only way I can work out to let you know that I've published new photos on our sosusie yarns projects page.

Have you been knitting with our yarns? We'd love to post pictures of what you've knitted so please send them in to us as sosusieyarns at googlemail.com - thanks!

Well Oiled Festival

2011-09-22T05:15:00.000-07:00

It was a great day and Lauren rallied the troops perfectly - the ladies and men of the Stroud Green Knitting and Drinking Group (not correct title) did well serving teas, juices, scones and cakes as well as teaching several people to knit and make pompoms.

Two Festivals and gorgeous new wool

2011-09-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

sosusie yarns will be at two festivals tomorrow, The Archways Market Feel Good Festival which is on from 10am to 5pm and the Well Oiled Festival which is on in Finsbury Park from 1pm to 8pm (though sosusie yarns will be packing up before that unfortunately as Susie has prior plans for the evening).

Marcia will be at Archway Market and sosusie yarns will be running knitting lessons for anyone interested. Susie will be at Finsbury and will be running knitting lessons as part of a bigger WI type craft stall entitled Crafternoon Tea where there will also be tea and cakes we hope.

Assuming the weather holds out both events should be really good fun, goodness only knows that they were last year!

In other news - our gorgeous Artesano superchunky order has arrived just in time for the festivals - hooray!

Susie

Wool Week special offer

2011-09-10T01:28:00.000-07:00

Morning all, just loading up the car to head off to the market but wanted to post a little treat for Wool Week....we're offering a 10% discount across all stock today on the stall plus one customer will win one of our beautiful new autumnal Manos Silk Blends!

There's loads going on around the country for this so do check out the link and see where your passion for wool could take you this weekend.

Susie
xx

Making up

2011-09-08T04:45:00.000-07:00

Aargh - I cannot get away with it anymore. I have several projects that are basically finished ie they're knitted and blocked and they just need sewing up. I will endeavour to get on with at least one today and post pics later.

In other news we've just taken delivery of some gorgeous new autumnal colours in the Manos Silk Blend - photos to follow and we've finally got our mitts on a beautiful superchunky yarn. We've been looking for a suitable one for a while now and at last we've found one - or rather Artesano has started to produce one. It's not out yet but is due to drop within the next week or so.

Things I'm working on

2011-08-04T02:01:00.000-07:00

I've got three main projects on the go at the moment:

Please note that the links in this post will only work if you are logged in to Ravelry. If you're not a member yet do go and join, it's free and it is fantastic.

Aidez by Cirilia Rose which I'm knitting up in our Brigantia Luxury Aran in 796,

Jacket with moss stich bands by Debbie Bliss in Rooster Baby (which knits to exactly the same tension as Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino and is our gorgeous alternative to an equally gorgeous yarn) in 409.

And this little will, I'm sure, eventually be a beauty that I'm designing using our Rosarios4 Regata Cotton in 69.

Little gifts are sometimes the best.

2011-08-02T11:22:00.000-07:00

I won't lie to you, I've been struggling with doing the stall recently. Things have been very slow at the market since winter and what with all the family stuff I have going on at the moment sometimes it's an effort to drag myself out of bed and load up the car and set up the stall. And then a friend pops by for a quick natter and a knit or one of our regulars pops by for a chat and I remember how lucky I am to be able to do this. On Saturday I was visited by my friend B and a couple of my lovely customers, Chiharu (whose knitting can be found Chiharu's hats) and Claudia who brought me a small gift - four plump, juicy, sweet plums just picked from her tree. Ahhhh...perfection. Thank you Claudia.

Saturday 23rd July

2011-07-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

Had a lovely day on the Market on Saturday. The weather was fair for a change and I had lots of visitors - the promise of cake luring friends to come and sit and chat and knit.

Here are some of our visiors:

It seems that lots of people are interested in a sosusie yarns knitting group so I'll be turning my head to making that happen soon.

We are again getting lots of requests for knitting lessons. We're always happy to teach people the basics on the stall if we have time and the weather permits sitting out and of course if you're working on a project and need a bit of help we can do that (usually).

Oops x two

2011-07-08T15:58:00.000-07:00

Apologies to anyone who turned up on Saturday to see us, I was meant to be on the market and unfortunately was rather under the weather and unable to make it. We've been going over a year now and we have never missed a week so I feel really bad about it especially as it was Marcia's birthday on Saturday and I was meant to be doing the stall so she could have her birthday off. Anyway, onwards and upwards.

I was just getting back into the blogging, both here and on my personal blog, taking terrible photos and putting up less than beautiful posts when my father was taken ill at the end of March and my sister and I have been rather taken up with him since then. It's time to get some semblance of normality back in my life though and part of that is getting back on track with the blogging and the stall.

I'm off to Sally Bourne in Crouch End tomorrow morning, it's closing down and I'm hoping to pick up some cheap knitting and crochet books that we can have on the stall. We've been wanting to have a range of books for a while but we wouldn't be able to sell them at anything approaching the Amazon type prices and as such, where our stall is, we'd find it difficult to justify the space and cost of them. So here's hoping that I can pick some up cheaply to pass on to you our lovely customers. I'm also hoping to pick up some beautiful fabrics so that I can make some bunting to sell on the stall.

I'm really not into finishing things at the moment. I've been congratulating myself today because I managed not to start a new project. Doh! I have no less than six projects on the go at the moment some of which just need to be sewn up. Aargh.

Ravelry linking and weekend stall photos

2011-05-23T05:51:00.000-07:00

So this weekend I finally managed to get it on Ravelry so that you can link to our shop page on Ravelry when you put in a project that you're working on using our yarns or when you want to add yarns from us to your stash etc etc. I'm really really happy about that.

Saturday on the market was really good fun, it was a lovely day and there were lots of people out and about. I greatly enjoy being next to Amy who sells excellent plants, I bought practically all her stall on Saturday now I have to plant it all, though I do miss the previous plant guys John and Hugh. The big knitting needles are intriguing people and there were lots of requests to buy some so I'll have to look into a stockist for them or maybe even get some sosusie yarns ones turned!

The big knitting is slowly growing.

The bunting seems to go down very well.

sosusie yarns, Amy's plants, Farmer Teds veg and beyond.

Amy's stall, beautiful plants very well priced.

Stunning Cosmos, I bought these.

May 14th

2011-05-23T04:08:00.000-07:00

Early morning if 9.30am counts as early!

First few rows of big knitting.

Artesano Aran and Brigantia against a beautiful backdrop of Amy's plants.

May 7th

2011-05-23T04:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday May 7th.

sosusie yarns is one!!!!

2011-05-20T16:57:00.000-07:00

Yes it is hard to believe but a year ago, on the 18th May, we had our first stall. It was a lovely sunny day and lots of our friends visited us and came and sat and knitted with us. I'll do a proper round up of the year but for now here are some photos of Marcia and I out on Wednesday celebrating our first birthday.

I couldn't resist these char sui buns described as soft and pillowy and so they were! mmmm hmmmmm.

Interruption to normal service

2011-05-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

Bah. I was just getting in to the whole taking photos and putting them up on here and posting on my other blog when I was called away at very short notice as my father was taken ill abroad. My sister and I ended up being away for a month and since I've been back I've been struggling to find the time, not to mention the cable to connect my camera to the computer, to blog. Anyway, I'm all sorted again I think.

I am on the stall tomorrow so I really must head off to bed but first I'll attempt to do another ultra short post....

New wool

2011-03-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd post a few pictures of some of our wools that are new or that we've taken delivery of new colours in.

A trio of Artesano Arans, a beautiful 50% Alpaca/50% Wool mix yarn. We currently have in stock the three colours pictured - Walnut, Pine and Sunset. Though we can order any of the many other colours on request.

The stunning Fyberspates Scrumptious DK shown here in Water.

Artesano Inca Cloud, 100% alpaca 4ply. The colours are jewel rich and I particularly love the purple shown below.

We have about 10 balls of each colour at the moment and won't be getting any more in stock as Artesano have discontinued the range in favour of their standard alpaca.

Manos del Uruguay Maxima in:

Red

Blue

Scrumptious Purple - this is my favourite but we only have one left at the moment.

We've also got a dark/forest green colour but I'm afraid I've not got any in my stock, what we have left is with Marcia.

Again, as with the Arans, we can order other colours on request.

Market on 19th March and a new knitting/crochet group

2011-03-19T15:39:00.000-07:00

I went today to a new crochet and knitting group being held at a pub down the road from our stall, I was arrived towards the end of the session and there were four others there. There had apparently been others there earlier, the four that were there seemed very friendly - one I had previously met at the stall a few weeks back - and the group leader is a stylist assistant who seems to have lots of enthusiasm and ideas. I'll post details another time.

For now some close ups from the market today. I will get better at this photography lark but for now I'm just concentrating on posting! It was lovely today, the sun always brings out lots of people and it always feels a bit like a street party to me.

Hat made by Marcia using Artesano Aran/Wool mix

I want this jug for myself!

Cute little booties made by Marcia using, amongst others, our Rooster Baby yarn

Some of the beautiful handmade Kate Halliday buttons we stock.

Sorry....

2011-03-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

Never did post that photo of the new boots! Oh dear, I think I've finally cracked the photo business so hopefully I'll be better now. Promises promises.

Winter on the stall was MISERABLE. Here's a photo, not exactly sure when it was taken but it wasn't in the depths of winter that's for sure. I think it's some time in February.

Last Saturday was great, it was a lovely sunny day, well morning, the first nice weekend day in a long while and there were lots of people milling about drunk on sunshine and good cheer.

New boots

2010-11-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

It's getting rather cold out on the market now, I've still been out in my Converse but one thing that's coming across loud and clear from the traders that have worked a winter before is how important proper footwear is. I suspect I'll end up getting some Doc Martens as that's what a few of them wear and I used to wear them all the time in my teens so it'll be a throw back to my carefree days. For the moment I've some beautiful new boots, probably not thick soled enough, that I'll be road testing on Saturday.

I'm still having camera issues, hence the lack of posts on here or my other blog but I'll aim to have those sorted in the next few days and will post a photo of me on the stall in my new boots next week.

New yarns!!!!

2010-08-04T03:33:00.000-07:00

Wooooooo.....all our Rosarios4 order has just arrived. So we'll have lots of new things for the next market day. We've got a selection of bamboos, baby cotton, beautifully soft 'adult' cotton, and organic cotton.

I've also ordered some corn fibre but that's for me to play with at the moment and if I love it we'll order more. I'm planning on making Carnac. I LOVE all of that collection and might make the bikini for Lexi who sells flowers on the market.

This is a rush post, if you can't tell, but I'll update about my trip to Knit Nation soon.

Market day today

2010-07-17T01:25:00.000-07:00

Marcia's just arrived and we're packing up the car ready to head off to the market. I am dead on my feet after getting home pretty late from the Lovebox festival and doing WAY too much moshing! A very close friend of mine's son was performing with one of the big acts on the main stage no less so it was a must do but now I'm exhausted and my body aches which is not great for spending a day at the market.

Anyway, come and say hello if you're about.

We can be found at Archway Market at the top of Holloway Road just outside Budgens.

Over and out because Marcia's almost finished the packing up! oops!! heh heh.

In the end of the beginning

2010-07-01T04:26:00.000-07:00

Well, the end is really just the beginning.

After much, unnecessary, ummming and aahhing on my part I joined forces with Marcia from my Saturday knitting group or rather she joined forces with me. I know from bitter experience that I'm not easy to work with, I very much know exactly what I want to do and how I want to do it, and I don't find it that easy to work with other people. But this stall is meant to be about having fun and I thought it will be more fun if I'm not doing it on my own. Who knows, we may in time be joined by others.

Anyway, my house is now a mess again because we have NO storage space for our normal day to day clutter let alone a whole load of new stall stuff.

Still it felt good to have made the decisions about the initial order and to receiving boxes of stunning wools and cottons. The first order I made was the Rico Essentials Cotton DK (which has gone down a storm) and for that I had a rep come to visit me. I couldn't help feeling nervous and giggling to myself before he arrived but it was all fine, down to business straight away and very interesting.

Our first market day, May 22nd, was one of the first gloriously sunny days we'd had this year in London, great for getting people out and about not so great for getting people in the mood for buying wool perhaps! As I prepared to load up my dad's car, on loan to me for not much longer now, my son fainted in a most dramatic manner - falling straight backwards - hitting the back of his head on a small chest and knocking himself unconscious. He's ok now but there was lots of blood and panic and when I finally did get off to the market worrying that his father would keep a proper eye on him and whisk him off to hospital at the slightest hint of trouble.

We had a brilliant day, it felt good to be outdoors, and we were visited by many friends and fellow knitters who sat at the side of our stall (we were lucky enough to get the corner pitch but haven't had it since) knitting and chatting and bought us cups of tea. We had lots of interest from passers by - well, there really isn't much available to the discernible knitter in these parts and all in all we had a fantastic first day.

I went home happy and exhausted and not quite ready to face an evening up at the Whittington Hospital with said son, which is how we spent our evening. Better to be safe than sorry they do say.

In the middle of the beginning

2010-06-21T09:06:00.001-07:00

After talking through my ideas with my Saturday morning library group and my Thursday evening The Noble group, geed on by their enthusiasm for the project, I decided to borrow some money - not too much mind - and make some orders.

I read lots of reviews of yarns and noted the yarns that I had used and enjoyed and began approaching companies and distributors. Some companies I really wanted to work with completely ignored me but most of them took me seriously and didn’t judge a market stall on the Holloway Road to be too insignificant a concern for them, indeed one of the reps pointed out to me that one of his great regular customers started out her business as a stall and then an online shop and finally moved into ‘real life’ retail after some time. Getting samples of yarn in and shade cards was exciting but also frustrating because with my budget I couldn’t even get a fraction of what I wanted to. I decided that I would mostly order what I would like to buy, so, no novelty yarns and no acrylics! I decided to begin with as big a range of colours of cotton as I could afford, as I would be opening in summer, and a modest range of my other yarns.

Whilst most of the wools are hand wash only I did plump for a gorgeous new merino from Artesano which is machine washable.

In the beginning of the beginning

2010-06-21T08:51:00.001-07:00

A while ago I started thinking, not very seriously, about opening a shop selling hand knitting wools, cottons, bamboos etc. I was regularly going to a knitting group at my local library run by the rather brilliant Sara Noble and feeling happy, calm and inspired. We got to chatting about wool and where we all bought ours from and how there really was nowhere locally selling interesting and good quality yarns. I started checking out all the places that did sell yarns locally and they were almost exclusively selling a small range of cheap acrylics and I started talking to knitting shop owners about their experiences of owning a yarn shop. After one particularly enlightening and enjoyable weekend in Scarborough visiting my friend Kim and nosing round the two yarn shops there, Multi-ply and Knitter's World, sitting drinking tea and chatting to the owners I made up my mind that I would open a shop in Crouch End. I had no experience but what the hell, that was the message that was coming across to me, just do it!

After checking out shop rents in Crouch End, £30,000+, I realised that perhaps I wasn’t ready to open a shop – more or less on a whim – and it would be a good idea to look into ways of selling yarns locally without all that financial risk. I started investigating local markets and decided upon Archway Market on Holloway Road. A lovely little market, still trying to establish itself, it seemed almost just right for my little venture. The only problem with the market is it is outdoors so I had to think of a solution to the problem that wool cannot get wet at all and then be sold.