London Again

Just a little trip to the V&A 

Logo, website, shop - GO!

So those of you paying attention may have noticed my new logo appear on the banner image for the blog:

Before the craft show I decided to give Polly Purl a little face lift, a new logo for a new start!
Also a new webpage www.pollypurl.co.uk - check it out and let me know what you think. But please don't be too harsh as it takes so much time and patience to just do the simplest thing on that darn website!
I am working on a 'design your own' page- to offer customised jumpers and cardigans in your chosen fair isle and colours! Once it's set up it should be fun but I am sure it will be painful to get there!
And finally my Etsy shop is now up to date- 'at last' I hear you say. All my stock up to now is there so take a look http://www.etsy.com/shop/Pollypurl
I am already working on Autumn/Winter stuff so who knows how long this up to date version will last!

The Contemporary Craft Fair Devon

Sorry it's late but here are some pic's of the Devon Show:

The Stall was only 1.5m by 2m

It was a real learning curve- the craft fair, definitely a new experience. Over 3 days, 150 makers got together in a muddy field hoping the public would not be put off by the rain. There was three main tents that were huge and hard to navigate, food vendors, demonstrations and the great little tent I was in. Called 'One Year On' it was made up of people in their first year of business, a variety of very experienced with the novice's like me. The atmosphere was great, everyone was friendly and chatting, standing around for 7 hours together meant we got to know each other. The support was great too - one girl made a big sale but was wary of celebrating too much in case some of us hadn't done too well that day. http://craftsatboveytracey.co.uk/makers/one+year+on/

My Lovely tables made by Rhys and myself

I didn't get much chance to look around the other tents but I did sneak a peak and the work was amazing. There did seem to be about 85% ceramics and jewellery but also some amazing art and textiles.
I am kicking myself that I didn't get photo's of anything, the ones here were taken by my sister. My only excuse is my exhaustion- staying up all night (no sleep at all) pre show and then camping on the ground in heavy rain does not make a happy Polly!

Overall the show was just the best way to launch myself into the craft world. It helped to kick start my motivation and the feedback I gained will help to push me onwards. Unfortunately I think the rain did put people off and I feel the numbers were down (they stated 6,000-8,000 visitors). In the end I just about covered my costs (which were not small) - I will have to think if I can improve and come again next year.




My neighbours -
 http://www.curiousthings.co.uk/
http://www.karen-fox.co.uk/#
http://harrietcecilecaslin.com/
http://yuxiart.com/
http://www.sophiestamp.co.uk/

And I had a lot I wanted to put into it

The hanging scarves did great but the rail not so much

You can see my lovely neighbour

Rhys trying to sell

Rhys in his lovely Wolf jumper

Mum was not camping but still came round for tea

Trying to look awake at the end of the first day

My amazing sister who helped in so many ways

A break in the heavy rain

The second day and feeling better

The most cool cinema experience...

The Craft Club will be bringing the knitted cinema to Manchester on October 19th - what a lovely and whacky idea. A short film about knitting and it's joy's within our lives. It is a family event and has a knit-along activity afterward. 
Cinema Knit-along with Craft Club / What's On / Crafts Council:

'

The Craft Club is all about getting craft to the young people - check them out below and you can also watch a bit of the film too -
http://www.craftclub.org.uk/news

Cinema Knit-along with Craft Club / What's On / Crafts Council

So I may not have been blogging for a while but I was
collecting ideas.....


I fell in love with the idea of knitted lampshades and so found some great examples online,
http://alovelything.com/2010/04/38-ways-to-light-up-your-lace/
How could you not want to make one of these- just so beautiful and delicate.



You can have lots of fun with them as well.... it's a trend that is picking up but there still isn't that many out there
http://www.design-confidential.com/trend-alert-8-knits-and-crochet-looks-for-interiors/


It seems the trend is not just for lampshades- anything interior can be covered in knit....

http://www.interiordesign.net/blog/Design_Green/37393-Christien_Meindertsma_s_Knit_Poufs.php

Off to the Woolfest

Polly Purl, by that I mean myself and my mum, are off to the Wool fest today!!!! http://www.woolfest.co.uk/
It's my first time and I am so excited, to quote the website

 'Woolfest is a celebration of natural fibres, especially all aspects of wool, wool products and wool crafts'

I'm not just going to this for fun though, I hope to come back with many ideas and contacts to help me with my yarns for Winter. I would like to create and use something extra special for the new collection, a yarn that is British but also something that will sit well with my luxurious designs'- nothing too scratchy in other words. 

It is unfortunate and somewhat surprising that there was not much ethical and/or eco friendly materials being shown at the contemporary craft fair. It maybe seems that when people buy crafts they are less worried about the products being tainted with sweatshops, un-ethical farming or anything of the like. Yet I would say as a small business it is harder to go eco- with cost being such an issue and companies not being worried about losing your orders- I certainly feel the pressure to take the easy route. 

Below is an article about last years Wool fest, very interesting reading - 

http://source.ethicalfashionforum.com/article/woolfest-developments-in-sustainable-wool-sourcing

A grand return

This weekend Polly Purl was lucky enough to show at the contemporary crafty fair in Devon. An amazing show with 160 designer/makers selling their wares over 3 days. 
http://craftsatboveytracey.co.uk/makers/one+year+on/

So to catch you up on all that has been going on.....
Pre-market it was this scary big cloud hanging over me,  a big step up from the little one day markets I had done before Christmas. But there was no turning back from it and it hurtled towards me, giving me no time to stop and worry. I unfortunately stopped blogging so you will have to take my word for all of this but I am sure anyone who was around could tell you just how stressed I was.

Of course in hindsight I see that stressing was helping no-one, unfortunately I wanted everything to be perfect. I was working on Shetland jumpers and cardigans with fair isle patterns on the shoulders, however this being June I was worried it would be one of those rare hot days we get during the summer. So I was also working with Merino and cotton. These I bought from a company called Yeoman Yarns and both were spun in Europe, although they are lovely yarns and got great compliments at the fair I don't think I will be using these again as I can not get full tractability of either. After the panic buying of these yarns I did some more research and found lots more information on British spun versions. But I think this is a topic for another blog as I still have lots of research to do.

I also had to worry about the layout, packaging and presentation, I didn't want to look out of place and I really wanted to help make my space feel luxurious -i.e expensive. So I roped the boyfriend into helping me make four small tables in varying heights and lengths. It was actually a lot of fun and we didn't fight too much! We managed to pick up some off cuts from B & Q for 50p each, these were then painted a dark walnut colour and we added detachable legs (the hardest thing by far was those darn detachable legs!)

My most lovely sister helped me out with the packaging, getting everything from leaflets (a really good idea) to bags and stickers with my logo on.

I fear this is already an overly long post so I will save the details of the fair for another day........