A new shop for me!

Hi there!

Once again it has been a long time between posts, I don't know why, but I haven't really found my blogging rhythm this year, but there has been plenty happening behind the scenes!!  

I guess the biggest thing that has happened since I last posted is that I've moved Little Woollie Makes Yarn Store into a proper shop in Hastings, a town not far from my home.   I no longer run it from home and it feels much more legit!

It has been a big decision to move into a shop.  Would it be the right move? Could I cover my rent?  Plus all the other expenses that crop up with a lease?  Would I find more customers?  Would they buy from me?  Would I get bored being tied to a shop all week?   There were plenty of unknowns!!

In the end I just decided it was time to give it a go,  if it doesn't work at least I will have given it my best and will not die wondering!  So the last few months have been a whirl wind of leasing a shop, setting it up, moving everything from home to here, and getting open!  Luckily I have an awesome family that have given me a lot of help and been very encouraging and supportive, it would have been a lot harder without them!

So you know what?  I am now running a local wool shop!!  Yay!  I can hardly believe it myself!!

Little Woollie is no longer just an online shop,  people can come and give the yarns a squish and see all the beautiful colours in the flesh, much better!! :)

I have to say, I have had so much fun over the last few weeks, setting everything up, meeting lots of gorgeous yarn loving people who all get what I'm trying to do here, it is so good!!

I have a lot more space than I did at home, so I have been busy sourcing new stock and approaching suppliers on my wishlist, so many new things coming into the shop over the next few months, it's going to be great!

So here are a few pics I took of the shop this morning, it is looking nice and colourful at the moment, I really like coming here to work each day! 

......my green table and chairs is a nice place to work at, and I popped my 'little woollie' sign up too, it still gets lots of nice comments even though it's looking a bit the worst for wear these days! 

....there is pretty much yarn everywhere you look! :) .......

......I am trying to get  more patterns in store, I didn't really stock patterns when I was at home, so it has been fun seeing what I can find.

....My dad made me some great peg boards so I could hang up the skeins of Ultra Pima Cotton, I am so happy with how this looks, so good to see all the colours in one glance!  there are a few holes where I've sold out of some colours, but I have more stock coming so it should be refilled soon! :) 

The shop is at 1/99 High St, Hastings, Victoria, on the Western Port side of the pretty Mornington Peninsula, if you are ever down this way, pop in and say hello, I'd love to meet you! 

(One other good thing about working in the shop is that I don't get distracted by home things, so  I am trying a new thing where I write a blog post every few days, we will see how it goes!  I have lots of things to share with you! ) 

Have a great day everyone, signing off from Little Woollie headquarters in Hastings!

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Yarny Love Club :)

Hello! How is your day going?  

It's beautiful here, the Winter sun is shining and it feels like Spring is not that far away!

I am feeling very happy today, I have finally got something organised that I have been wanting to do for a long time, but have been procrastinating about.  

So, what is it ?  I have started a Subscription Yarn Club and sign ups are now open!! 

I have so many gorgeous yarns in my shop, 

I can't wait to share some of them with my special club members. :) 

So here is some more info!

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I am excited to announce I am starting a special club for all the yarn lovers out there, the
Little Woollie Makes Yarny Love Club!

By joining my Yarny Love Club you are signing up to receive 1 parcel per month for 3 months,(September, October, November) so 3 parcels in total.  Each parcel will contain at least 100g of beautiful, premium quality yarn, project/pattern suggestions for crochet and knitting, and crafty treats specially for my club members.(Such as ribbons, labels, buttons, stitch markers, washi tape, stickers, handmade embellishments, or anything else I think might be a cute addition!)
  Your parcel will be a surprise each month, and hopefully will be a great way to try some beautiful yarns!

The cost for the 1st Yarny Love Club is $110.00, which is for September, October and November, and includes postage. :) 

I will be sending out the yarn club parcels in the first week of each month, you can sign up by  emailing me and I will send you a Paypal invoice for the subscription, or you can pay through direct deposit.  Your membership is not  secured until payment has been made. There are limited places for this Yarn Club, sign ups close 29th August
(or earlier if full),so get in quick!

(This club is only open to Australian residents)

PS.I want you to love your yarny parcels, so when you email, tell me your colour preferences if colour is important to you! :)

Have a lovely crafty day! 
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So that is what I've been working on recently, (plus I have started a new blanket, but I'll show you that another day!), what have you been up to? 

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Cascade Ultra Pima - new in the shop, yarn love!

Hello! How is you week going? There seems to be a lot happening around here, this week is going to be a busy one for me, I have lots to share with you all!  

Last week while I was off on my road trip, my order of Cascade Ultra Pima arrived from the USA.  

To say I was happy is a bit of an under statement!  I have been eagerly awaiting this delivery, it was my first time ordering from overseas and I was a little apprehensive about dealing with customs and the like.  But it was actually a breeze in the end.  I don't know why I am so timid and afraid to deal with things outside my comfort zone, things are usually easier than I anticipate!  

The moral of the story is to stop procrastinating and just have a go. 

Anyway, I now have a beautiful stock of Ultra Pima cotton in my shop!  I have been frustrated by the lack of good cotton colour ranges available here in Australia, you know I like my colours bright, bold, pastel and varied! ( there are some lovely cottons, but they don't come in many colours) I  am thrilled with the huge colour range in the Ultra Pima.  I have 31 colours for sale!  And I have already earmarked some more purples and deep colours to extend my range in my next order.  

...look at all these beautiful cool colours! Swoon! .......

Have you ever used Cascade Ultra Pima? It is a very lush yarn! I made my hearts washcloth from it and found it lovely to crochet with, I like that it is an 8ply yarn, and comes in big 100g hanks, making a nice sturdy fabric quite quickly, but still has a great softness and slight sheen to the finish.  And have I mentioned the colours? :)  If you have any questions about this beautiful cotton, please feel free to ask!

So in short, I am very happy to announce new stock in my shop, Cascade Ultra Pima Cotton, I spent yesterday uploading photos and product descriptions so it is all good to go, have a look over here if you are interested! 

Maybe you would like to visit my shop Little Woollie Makes Yarn Store and see what other yarns I have for sale, slowly my range is growing!

   

I would like to take the opportunity to thank each and every one of you who has ordered yarn from my shop, I do so appreciate you supporting my little corner of the internet, and will keep trying to improve my shop with interesting yarns and other goodies for you all. I love being a shopkeeper and wouldn't be able to do this without my gorgeous customers, so thank you all so much!

I will be back tomorrow to introduce my new friend Martha the (knitting) machine!  I think we are going to have some fun together, I found an instruction manual online, so there is no stopping me now!  Just got to get some yarn wound the right way and I think I an good to give her a spin! Eek! 

Have a lovely day!

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Shade cards are go!

Hello!  

How has your week been going?  Life has been good around these parts, Autumn has thrown a beautiful week of sun and clear skies, so nice to spend time outside! 

I don't know if you will remember the piles of little circles I was hooking up last week? 

Well, I have been having some fun these last few days putting together some shade sample cards, sticking down all my little crochet rounds for yarn ranges in my shop.  I have enjoyed creating these cards of colour bursts! They looked a bit like an art installation on my table.

There is something quite satisfying and lovely about colours in there "correct" colour order!

So far I have made some for the Loyal, Colorworks and Babywool colours, still got Merino Magic, Cotton and a few other ranges to go.

I have put this first lot into the shop now so if you would like a little sample card to see the colours in the flesh and get rid of the problem of subtle differences in colours on a screen versus real life, you can have a look in my shop over here.

They are $3.00 each which includes shipping. (Australia wide)

I really like how they look all together in these photos! So colourful and pretty!

I have actually been quite busy with shop things this week, I will be back with other new things to share soon!

So what have you been up to today, got any crafty business going on at your place?

New Yarn in the shop! Baby Cashmerino!

Hello.

I have been busy today updating my yarn shop with this gorgeous stuff.  I received my shipment of Debbie Bliss's Baby Cashmerino yesterday, and I have to say I am really happy with it.  You know how you can see things online and then they are disappointing in real life?  Well, this is happily not the case with this yarn!  I am sure lots of you have used this before, but it is not easy to come by where I live so this is my first encounter with Cashmerino, and it is very soft and tactile!

So now my shop has 19 colours available in Baby Cashmerino, and I am wondering which colour to try out first!  I am hoping to add to the colour range as my budget allows and would love to stock the Aran weight Cashmerino too, and some Madeline Tosh, sigh, so many yarns to choose from, I am getting a bit ahead of myself!

......there are bright shades.....

.....and because I like to play around with colour I couldn't help myself putting together a couple of little schemes, I love these muted washed out colours, very vintage feeling don't you think.....

....and these 4 look good together too, red and blue a classic combo really.....

......and then I thought these chalky colours all looked beautiful together too.....

.......very  hard to stop once you start!  I am thinking a little stripy scarf in these 4 shades would be very acceptable for this winter.....maybe with a bit of this mint added in!

Anyway, if you would like to have a little drool for yourself, they are all now available over here!

I have popped a couple of colour collections up too just for fun!

Have you used this yarn before?

Did you like it too?

What's on your hook/needles at the moment?