Busy, busy, busy

The last few weeks have been incredibly busy here at the Being Knitterly Studio. I’ve done a lot of knitting, both in preparation for new workshops, new patterns and samples for kits, followed by photography, writing instructions and winding mini-balls for those kits. I have also been preparing for two craft fairs.

Craft in the City

I’ve often visited Craft in the City, in Waterstone’s Nottingham, to buy presents for the family because there’s always a great variety of beautiful handmade items. So, I was quite excited when I found out my application for a stall had been accepted for the weekend of Saturday 30 November. This was my first time as a stallholder at a craft fair, so beforehand, I had a go at laying out everything on the dining table, which helped a lot.

Meet Connie, my new assistant; she looks good wearing the Twist hat and cowl! The crate that she’s sitting on was much admired; it came from Great Crates and serves both for display and storage. I had to buy the clipboards and borrow the lights; I had everything else already. Oh, and I should say, I actually made the basket!

The craft fair took place in a room on the fourth floor of the bookshop. There were fairy lights hanging from the beams and subtle Christmas music which created a magical atmosphere. We also had great views, particularly of some spectacular sunsets!

I enjoyed meeting other stallholders. Jane Marrows, who makes hand felted accessories and wall pieces, had the stall behind mine. Jodie Patterson, who makes cards and wall art from her hand-cut silhouettes of birds, flowers, insects and dinosaurs, was opposite. And Anna French, who makes beautifully colourful glass pieces and organises Craft in the City.

Art & Design Christmas Fair

A couple of days later we were out again at the Art & Design Christmas Fair held at Nottingham Trent University on 3–4 December. All the stallholders were either current students or alumni from NTU. This was very busy since it coincided with an open day for potential undergraduates. It was great to meet those enthusiastic about going to university and to catch up with both staff and students I know at Trent.

As well as selling patterns and kits, I was advertising future workshops and asking interested people to sign up for my newsletter.

Next to me was Suet Yi with her lovely ceramics.

And opposite were more ceramics and prints made by students from the School of Art & Design.