November 11

Whoops!

First of all, I'm sorry the newsletter is so late. I don't really know what happened, only that we had a very busy Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace and then had a quick holiday (if you came to the show, you'll see why we needed a holiday!) and then all of a sudden it's over a week into November and I haven't written the newsletter. So apologies everybody, but better late then never, so welcome to our November newsletter.

I told you last time I would have to start mentioning Christmas, so apologies for that too. Although I think a lot of people are now starting to think about presents, and if you're stitching for someone for Christmas, you really need to be getting on with it! I would love to stitch more for my friends and family for Christmas, but unfortunately I've usually already moved onto stitching for the major trade exhibition in February by November, so I'm afraid I'm not organised enough to do my Christmas stitching in the summer, which would be the only way to get it done!

Anyway, have a look at our Christmas designs, which I have been tempting you with for the last couple of months, and see if you can squeeze in a little christmas cat or dog.

Have you bought or made any presents yet?

The Knitting and Stitching Show - Review

What a week! For those of you who popped down for a day to visit the show, thanks for calling in to see us. But even if you have been, you probably don't quite realise the massive undertaking that is the Knitting and Stitching show, or indeed any large exhibition of this nature. So let me give you a little insight.....

Although the show opens on Thursday, we usually begin to pack up all of our stock on Tuesday and we have to set up our stand on Wednesday, which is a feat of organisation in itself! Making sure everything is priced and it all fits on the stand is pretty tricky, and underneath the tables is a mass of boxes and bags for restocking.

Early Thursday morning, once everything is set up, the doors open on the amazing Ally Pally venue and the stitchers, knitters and other crafters flood in, eager for bargains and inspiration. We get to chat to existing customers and newsletter subscribers, quite a few of which had read our guide to visiting shows in last month's newsletter, it's good to know that my advice isn't falling on deaf ears! We also meet a large number of people who haven't seen our designs before, so that's always gratifying, to be able to offer fresh, new and unique designs to stitchers who (in their own opinion) are getting a little tired of stitching the same old stuff time and again. Well, we aim to please!

For the next 4 days, we spend lots of time talking to stitchers, advising them on designs and techniques, as well as selling kits, charts, accessories, acrylic and 3 fold aperture cards. The cards are always popular at shows, particularly near Christmas. If you're interested in 3 fold aperture cards, have a look at our products on amazon. We're not currently selling the cards on our website, although we may do next year, but you can see them here.

Finally, at 5pm on Sunday, the show closes. Secretly, if the end of the day is quiet, we might have been sneakily packing away under the tables where customers can't see, for maybe half an hour or so, but as soon as the show closes it takes on an entirely different atmosphere. Staff rush about, lorries and vans are everywhere (outside and inside in some areas!) and everyone has the finish line in sight. We usually complete our packing at about 8pm, collapse into the car and breathe a sigh of relief that we've made it through!

I hope that it was interesting, getting an insight into the other side of these exhibitions. If you've never been to an exhibition before, I can highly recommend the Stitch & Craft Show at Olympia in London, 15th - 18th March 2012. Or if London is a little too far away, why not visit Sewing for Pleasure at the NEC, 22nd to 25th March 2012. Yes, you read that correctly, we do 2 shows back to back, with just a couple of days in between to restock and relax. I'm not going to think about that just yet!

Our stand, with the lovely rose window behind us.

One of our aperture cards, available in packs of 5, either at shows or on Amazon.

Happy Stitchmas!

Yes, it is time I'm afraid. I have now bought 2 Christmas presents (one has even been delivered!) and I'm starting to be gripped with fear about the season about to land upon us. Especially as this year we have launched our first ever Christmas designs, as part of our Kate Mawdsley by Stitchtastic range. The Christmas Cat and Dog are gorgeous little designs, which take a week or two to stitch, with backstitch used to create a fur effect. They measure approximately 7" by 6" (18cm x 17cm) and have already gained themselves a reputation of being very cute indeed!

However, there's still time to create something a bit bigger for Christmas, if you feel that way inclined. Our brand new Pets in the Snow kit, also by Kate Mawdsley, is proving extremely popular for the festive season, although it is not so Christmassy that you would have to take it down on twelfth night - you could certainly display it all year round. It measures 14" by 10" (36cm x 24cm) and I stitched it in 3 weeks, so it is certainly still a possibility for that special day.

All of our Christmas kits come with Zweigart aida and DMC threads, presorted onto thread cards. The Christmas Cat and Dog kits are priced at £24.95 and Pets in the Snow costs £29.95. We're pretty quick at delivery, usually within a day or two, although of course we can't guarantee the Post Office will be as quick!!

Merry Christmas.

Very cute, and quick to stitch.

Takes a little longer, but even cuter!

Quick Stitched Gifts

Right, picture the scene. It's the middle of December (don't panic, it's not yet!!) and you have a couple of presents still to sort out. You'd like to stitch something, but what, at such short notice?

How about one of Patrick Scott by Stitchtastic's designs? Last month we featured Patrick's Computer Sayings design, but this might take a little longer, perhaps you should keep that for Uncle Fred's birthday in January.

Patrick has also designed some smaller, easy to complete kits, all priced at £9.95. These will make great last minute stitched gifts, or could be fantastic to give to a friend who'd like to try stitching for the first time.

Anyway, back to our scenario. You need presents for your best friend's little boys. How about stitching them both a name plate in the design of a number plate? Patrick has designed this brilliant, easy to complete kit which comes with 2 full alphabets of differing sizes, so that you can fit any name onto the number plate. The number plate kit comes with everything you need to complete the presents, including a needle.

Now, what about your best friend herself? She loves to shop, so why not stitch her the unusual 'Shop Till You Drop' barcode design? It's a quick, fun stitch and only uses black thread, so is a whizz to stitch in front of the TV. When I stitched this kit, I had it done within a couple of nights.

Finally, your auntie has just bought herself a smart phone, so how can you possibly stitch something to go with it? Well, give her somewhere technological to rest her coffee mug with Patrick's ingenious QR codes kit, framed inside acrylic coasters. For anyone out there who doesn't know what a QR code is, it's like a fancy barcode which a simple ap on your smart phone can turn into all sorts of fun phrases or even websites! Patrick's kit contains 4 QR codes linking to 4 stitching appropriate phrases, which would be great fun on your auntie's coffee table, in our acrylic coasters (sold separately). And yes, to answer the stitchers who have asked, the QR codes do work!

So, you've no excuse now to avoid those last minute stitched presents. As long as you order from us early enough........