tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47799434104429427542011-12-19T19:13:56.015ZCreate and Knit is an on-line knitting yarn and craft shop based in Breedon on the Hill, NW Leicestershire, UK. We supply yarn, knitting needles, patterns and more.Catherinenoreply@blogger.comBlogger281100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-18371406033398707232011-07-20T11:55:00.004+01:002011-07-20T12:59:58.533+01:00

Over the last couple of weeks we have expanded the shop into the next room! The settees for knitting groups and workshops are now next door which means we have more spaces. The shop is now the whole length of the room, more spread out and feels soooo much better!I've started to get some of the new yarns in for the Autumn. Wendy have brought out a brushed aran blend with alpaca in called Osprey

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-90963972189019871002011-06-24T10:43:00.011+01:002011-06-24T11:05:55.797+01:00

I've not been in the shop this week! I've been feeling quite stressed recently about all the things I've needed to do at home and am not getting time to do, so I arranged with a couple of friends to give me some time off. I have had a great week, sorting out rubbish, weeding the garden and cleaning the house, and I feel loads better! :o) There is still loads left to do but that feeling of being

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-47673811635126396452011-06-17T11:59:00.003+01:002011-06-17T12:23:09.718+01:00

I've had quite a productive week this week, getting some patterns on the site and sorting out photos. I had a delivery from King Cole the other day and checked stock of the Bamboo Cotton and added a few colours to the site that hadn't yet been uploaded. There are now patterns on the site for the King Cole Riot, although most King Cole DK yarns can be used for these patterns. King Cole patterns

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-42019743582468918102011-06-10T10:44:00.005+01:002011-06-10T11:32:33.956+01:00

I've not quite managed to post overy Friday so far, but at least it's not been months! Last week was half term and routine went out of the window. We had a good, busy week, the kids were happy and very little work got done! The previous Friday I had a visit from a rep distributing Filatura di Crosa yarns. There are some fantastic yarns in that range - I want to build on my range of Centolavaggi

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-36702071092141062812011-05-20T10:50:00.003+01:002011-05-20T10:59:46.127+01:00

I know it has been a very long time since I last wrote a post, but I have a plan! Friday morning is the probably my least crazy morning, so I am going to try to write a blog post every week on the Friday.There have been several times when I have wanted to write and have planned sections - particularly when something has happened. Every time though, the planning has been while I've been washing up

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-78655615455089521792010-12-31T12:09:00.002Z2010-12-31T12:12:58.171Z

The shop is open on New Year's Eve, Sunday (2nd Jan) and on Bank Holiday Monday (3rd Jan). I will be closing on New Year's Day. Shop opening hours will be as normal from 5th Jan.

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-67964212908544244562010-12-26T11:46:00.002Z2010-12-26T11:50:53.999Z

Somebody has been abusing the 'Tell a Friend' feature on the website and using it to send spam emails.We are trying to remove this feature to prevent this happening, but for now we have put the site to 'Down for maintenance'.Please note that these emails were not sent by Create and Knit, but we advise people not to click on the links as they may take you to a site with malicious content. We get

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-35968961296695654272008-10-06T11:03:00.002+01:002008-10-06T11:09:32.984+01:00

I don't quite know where the time has gone - it's been ages since I wrote a post on here!In my defense, there has been a lot going on - with school holidays and opening a shop! I now have a bricks and mortar shop in Breedon on the Hill, NW Leicestershire on the same site as Priory Nurseries. The owner is gradually converting the old farm buildings into small retail units to give new businesses

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-47905065365278997442008-07-04T21:14:00.004+01:002008-12-10T05:57:34.077Z

I never thought I would have a go at designing my own knits, but it seems to be happening at the moment!I saw a picture of Yoga Socks on Ravelry and wanted to do some for a friend since she always has cold feet! I was going to use one of the patterns in the database, but decided to have a go at making my own pattern so that I could sell them to other people in the yoga group if they wanted them :

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-43861453743671325822008-05-25T20:31:00.003+01:002008-05-25T20:52:54.872+01:00

I've been tagged by Lottie. I've not done this before :o)RulesThe rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-71135986556283619152008-05-24T20:27:00.004+01:002008-12-10T05:57:34.314Z

I had a good day at the market - this is the first time I've actually been able to sit down and think enough to write this! I learned alot on the day - knowledge that I will use for future fairs etc. Firstly, there were several people who visited my stall who asked for cheap acrylic yarn in a variety of colours. I had been thinking about moving towards stocking mostly natural fibres, but I'm now

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-24052991961665907102008-04-28T15:43:00.002+01:002008-04-28T15:58:45.592+01:00

I'm going to be having a stall at the May Market at Castle Donington on 5th May. I'm really looking forward to it - hopefully I'll make enough sales to cover my costs, but the main aim of the day is to market my business in the local area.I've got some business cards and leaflets printed now - it's all feeling very professional now! The market should be fun - I'm making a medieval dress and a

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-66637007384126762392008-04-20T11:47:00.008+01:002008-12-10T05:57:34.668Z

I finally finished my Mum's jacket - a pattern from Simply Knitting. To be fair - I finished it before Christmas, but it was a bit too tight, so I unpicked the seams and re-knitted the body sections. The knitting went fast, but then I left it for ages because I was putting off doing the sewing!I've got 4 more projects to finish now before I'm going to let myself start any other big project -

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-52715303142081727282008-04-17T15:54:00.003+01:002008-04-17T16:03:12.491+01:00

So much for me doing a few posts over a few days! Where does the time go?I met with a rep from Coates Crafts today to talk about stocking some yarn from Patons. There are some really nice yarns in that range at reasonable prices! He's going to send me some style sheets of the yarns I am interested in, so I'll be ordering some from them at some point.I've booked a stall at the Castle Donington

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-74524247354904894222008-04-09T21:26:00.004+01:002008-04-09T21:32:09.100+01:00

I've not managed to do any posts for the last few days so I'm going to have to do a few posts over the next couple of days!Nothing ever happened about that order - not that I expected it too! I just don't see the point in doing something like that - but hey ho!I've put in another order from SWTC, so I'll have some new yarns on the site soon - and more for me to be tempted with!!! The Terra yarn

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-43241016270144764872008-03-29T10:10:00.002Z2008-03-29T10:17:57.137Z

I had a sale last night on the website by cheque/money order, but the person hadn't used the discount coupon. I know that if it was me, I would have been kicking myself but wouldn't want to contact the company or cancel my order (to re-order) because I would have felt that it was my fault. So - I emailed the person to find out whether they knew about the discount and that if they wanted to take

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-52349812821445119982008-03-26T12:07:00.003Z2008-03-26T12:11:31.900Z

I had my first sale on the website last night and sent the parcel this morning! It's really nice to get started. Hopefully, this will help other people have confidence in me, so I will get some more customers (fingers crossed!)My brother wants some yarn from me and I've spoken to other people who are interested, so here's hoping that this is the start of it.I've been thinking about visiting

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-77974403315024623772008-03-21T18:46:00.003Z2008-03-21T18:50:35.732Z

I'm going to start using the Create and Knit News blog for updating the website, so this one can be more about me and my projects, although I'll keep updating this one with general progress on the business etc.I've looked at other people's blogs from ravelry recently, and it has been interesting seeing what other people do with their blogs.I've just got a new digital camera and once I have worked

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-18227661143731738142008-03-18T14:42:00.003Z2008-03-18T14:51:24.395Z

We're still waiting for a couple of boxes of yarn from America, but they should be here in the next couple of days. We've moved the shop to the front now so now I need some customers! :o)There's still a few things to do on it - a few pictures to upload and some tweaking to make it look more attractive. Still - it's live!

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-60902628479496487702008-03-14T15:23:00.001Z2008-03-14T15:24:57.502Z

My first load of yarn has arrived, along with some needles and patterns. Hopefully the rest will arrive later today or Monday. I need to get all the photos done now for the site and finish inputting all the details - then we can go live!

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-75869477769832871312008-03-11T15:50:00.003Z2008-03-11T16:02:32.181Z

We've got paypal working now, and most of the legal stuff on - just a few more bits to write now. And of course, wait for the yarn to arrive so I can do some photos! I've ordered some yarn from a British company as well as some needles and patterns, so at least I will have a few different brands of yarn to start with. I'm going to re-invest the initial outlay as I make sales and gradually build

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-74084603408580850222008-03-07T13:07:00.002Z2008-03-07T13:11:29.197Z

We've got the logo up on the web-site now, and a series of pictures as a header - the same as on the holding page.I've started putting the details of the yarns that I've ordered in as well, although obviously the pictures will have to wait until I receive the yarn.We've also managed to get the weight to show in grammes instead of pounds, although I don't know if I'll keep the shipping weight of

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-65659279977815754392008-03-06T12:23:00.002Z2008-03-06T12:27:29.606Z

I've placed an order with the American company and it is on its way! :o) It was very scary placing that first order, but hopefully now I've done it once I won't be so difficult next time. It should be here in just over a week and then I can start putting pictures on the website and start selling!I need to place an order with the British company now as well, so that I have all the stock I need

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-67484442051013038222008-03-03T11:05:00.002Z2008-03-03T11:10:22.915Z

I've been speaking to a rep from an American company about being a UK stockist of their yarns. They are nice looking yarns and there aren't many stockists in the UK that I have found while searching. They have got a review about one of their new yarns going in a UK knitting magazine next month and he has offered to have my site as the named stockist on the article! I've just got to get an

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-52691810616001552592008-02-26T15:41:00.003Z2008-02-26T15:48:20.153Z

I spoke to the Area rep yesterday to get some more information about making an order and asked which yarns were the most popular. The yarns he told me were the ones that I had been thinking about ordering, so that was encouraging! He is going to send me some style sheets for a few yarns which have been brought out since I first enquired.I will probably make my first order in the next couple of

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-26254913839852381512008-02-25T16:16:00.008Z2008-12-10T05:57:35.073Z

I've started putting images of knitted/crocheted items onto ravalry and I thought I'd start putting some on here too. At least the finished ones for now.This slipper pattern was in one of the Simply Knitting magazine and I have bought some more yarn to experiment with different colours/yarns etc.They are very quick to make and warm to wear!

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-4346948704923008612008-02-19T12:37:00.003Z2008-02-19T12:45:50.076Z

We've started to create the web-store - behind the scenes at the moment so we can build it and get everything sorted before being visible. It's interesting trying to get it how I want it - influenced by other web-sites that I've been looking at. There are some things on other sites that I think work and some I don't. We're sorting out the categories of items, although this is difficult until I

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779943410442942754.post-24660921843599063502008-02-15T20:52:00.000Z2008-02-15T21:05:50.590Z

I've been thinking recently about setting up a shop to sell knitting yarns and needles etc, partly because I have a yarn addiction and can't resist buying it when I see it! The plan was to wait a year and write a good business plan and then set up a shop when my youngest started playgroup.I started contacting yarn manufacturers to get an idea of the minimum orders and costs of buying wool to sell

Catherinenoreply@blogger.com0