It’s funny how an idea can snowball.
We have a great wool shop in the town called The Wool Bar, it sells wonderful interesting wools, has unusual patterns and if you have any knitting/crochet problems there is always someone to help you out. A few weeks ago I joined their Facebook page and since then have gathered lots of ideas for knitting projects. There is only so much I can do in my small garden and not being at work at the moment am beginning to get exceptionally bored. I need other things to do and an opportunity of trying to make a little extra money also.
There was as a great knitting pattern/wool pack for a slouch hat on The Wool Bar FB page which I bought to set me going. I thought I would buy a few more balls to make a selection of hats, unfortunately they didn’t have any more of the King Cole Galaxy DK wool. When I got home I ordered from the Black Sheep Wools website four other balls in an assortment of shades. It arrived in just a few days, so I was up and running, circular needles at the ready.
It has been a long time since I have used circular needles so had to have a quick reminder courtesy of You Tube - such a great way of learning how to do anything. Within two days I had finished my first hat.
I had a Folksy shop a few years ago to sell handmade cards, so have revisited it with a view to revamping it to sell my knitted hats. I am under no illusions, there are so many doing the same thing so the competition is enormous. The prices vary incredibly, one shop sells hats at £5 each and has what seems like good trading figures. Other Folksy shops sell handmade knitted hats for as much at £20. The dilemma now is how much to sell them for. The wool was £3.29 a ball, only one required for each hat and it took me two days to complete. This will take a little working out.
Aware that I have to make a small supply before re opening the shop but at the same time not make too many in case nothing sells. There is a shop at the top of my road that sells polystyrene in all shapes and forms including heads. I will get one as it will be better for showing off the finished product rather than photographing them flat, it may look a bit more professional. Before I go to the shop, I’ll advertise on Freecycle in case someone has one to give away for nothing.
Caught by the knitting bug, and the excitement of having something definite to spend my time on, I purchased a chunky hat pattern and Sirdar Click Chunky wool yesterday and finished off another hat this morning.
Another discovery is a great website called Ravelry which is packed full of projects and patterns, some of which can be downloaded and all can be saved to your own library page. I can see that this is a website I will be visiting often.
The market for handmade cards is overflowing these days, but I may also look at selling cards and notelets using some of my better photos. This brings another dilemma of what to call a shop on Folksy which sells hats and cards. Thinking cap on! By the time I have made enough hats and cards I will have come up with an idea I am sure.
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