April Update

It's been a while since I posted anything.  My husband and I have been concentrating on establishing our Scottish arts and crafts shop/gallery in the West End of Glasgow, called Janet & John.

My hot water bottles with cases were popular purchases in Janet & John at Christmas time.

I've been knitting all Winter, though, probably more than in the same period in 2012-13.  I have a wonderfully comfortable armchair in the shop, in which I can work when the shop is quiet.  I sold a lot of my work in Janet & John in the run up to Christmas.  Thankfully, I was able to put some of the stock that came back from the Loch an Eilein gallery in early November straight into Janet & John, or I'd never have kept up with demand in November and December.

My 2013 design Christmas tree decoration, a stocking with a cute wooden heart button.

By Christmas, it was clear that I couldn't continue to stock Janet & John, the Loch an Eilein Gallery and fill tables through the Spring 2014 craft fair season.  Although I could not get confirmation at that stage that I would be exhibiting at the gallery on the Rothiemurchus Estate this year, I decided to concentrate on knitting for there and the shop and not to exhibit at fairs until the Autumn.  We have booked a number of "Janet & John" stalls at craft fairs through the Spring and Summer and there will be Baljaffray Handknits items on those stalls.  These are listed on my Craft Fairs page (link top left).  Our next one is at New Lanark on May 5th - this is a fair I've exhibited at for the last 4 years, though it will be our first time there with a variety of arts and crafts from the shop.  I'll be demonstrating my free mobile phone case (available on this website) during the day.

With less than a month to go until it re-opened, I heard at last that I would again be exhibiting at the Loch an Eilein.  They were in the process of changing manager, which accounts for their late notification, and they're now open for business again, until early November.  Thankfully, my decision to build up stock to take has paid off and there's a wide variety of my work to be seen there.

I needed to knit large quantities of everything for delivery to the Rothiemurchus Estate, including paper cup cosies!

By contrast, I have significantly reduced the quantity of knitting in Janet & John until the Autumn.  We still stock my mugs with cosies, tea cosies, cafetiere cosies, phone cases, other gadget cases and purses.

A two cup Price & Kensington teapot with cosy is still £10 in Janet & John.

Just today, I have booked my first Baljaffray Handknits stall for 2014.  I will be at The Curlers Rest in Byres Road (very near our shop) on August 23rd.  I've already booked three Autumn Byres Road Makers Markets and a November date at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh and hope to add another couple in Glasgow in late November or early December.

The Curlers Rest, Byres Road, venue for my first fair of 2014 in August

I'll post some design photos over the next couple of weeks.  In the meantime, there's lots of photos from the Loch an Eilein delivery on my Baljaffray Handknits Facebook page.

News

My last fair of 2013 has been and gone and I have decided to take a break from the craft fair scene as Baljaffray Handknits for a while. I am therefore not booking any events in the New Year at this stage. I need to concentrate on our Janet & John business and may do some Spring fairs under that umbrella, where my knitting will be available alongside the work of the many other artists and crafters we have the privilege to stock. Baljaffray Handknits is not likely to return to craft fairs in its own right until Autumn 2014.

In the meantime, I'm still knitting! My work can be found in Janet & John, The Magpie's Eye Gallery in Govan and a limited range can be found in the gift shop at the New Lanark World Heritage Site. I hope to return to the Loch an Eilein Gallery on the Rothiemurchus Estate next year(Easter - Oct), but this has yet to be confirmed.

Thank you to all my customers who have supported me in 2013. If you're in Glasgow, come and see me in Janet & John.

New Location For The Magpie's Eye Gallery

The Magpie's Eye Gallery in Govan, Glasgow, has moved into much larger premises in the Govan Cross Shopping Centre next to Govan Subway Station.  As well as having a section for local artists and crafters to display their work, the shop also has lots of furniture at very reasonable prices and also specialises in vinyl records and books.

I will be restocking the gallery with Baljaffray Handknits later this week.

Loch an Eilein Gallery Closed for the Winter

The Loch an Eilein Gallery on the Rothiemurchus estate near Aviemore is now closed for the winter.

Janet & John Opens Tomorrow

So, as well as a hand knitter, as of tomorrow, I'm now a gallery/shop owner in Glasgow's West End. You can visit the Janet & John website to find out more and also the shop Facebook page.

My knitting forms only a small proportion of the arts and crafts available to buy in Janet & John.  Here are some pictures of Baljaffray Handknits items in the shop:

Price & Kensington teapots sold with cosies

ipod/mobile cases of various sizes

Antique towel rail 

My largest display is on an antique towel rail that we found in a shop near Aviemore a few weeks ago. It currently displays bags, stoles and baby blankets, but they will be replaced by scarves as Winter approaches.

Janet & John Opens On August 1st

Our little arts & crafts shop/gallery opens on August 1st, upstairs in De Courcy's Arcade, Cresswell Lane, Hillhead, Glasgow, G12 8AA.  You can find out more from our website or Facebook page.

Janet & John will stock a variety of arts and crafts, including Baljaffray Handknits.

Vintage Yarns

I've been using some amazing vintage yarns lately.  I got a massive bag for just £1 from The Magpie's Nest in Govan a few weeks ago.  The shop is next door to The Magpie's Eye, which is one of the shops that stocks my work.  Admittedly, some of it's contents were unusable, but there were also some real gems.

Among other things, I have been combining many of the DK, 3ply and 2ply yarns from the bag to make unusual colour combinations.  By using 6mm needles and a mixture of yarns that equate to super chunky when combined, I was able to produce a number of items including Kindle cases and purses.

I sourced a variety of vintage buttons to complement these.  These seem to have become scarce locally, so I ended up using a company on ebay.   For others, I used hand-made buttons from Laura Wilson Designs and Made By Aleks.

And then on Saturday, I went to the Oxfam DIY shop on Byres Road, close to where our new arts and crafts gallery is opening on August 1st.  There I found four 1oz balls of the most amazing yarn I think I've ever knitted with.  At first, I wasn't even sure it was vintage, as it's in such a good condition.  It's called "Moon Gold" and was made pre-1983 by Bernat Klein in Scotland.  I used just over half of it to make this rather special slouchy hat.

The yarn is a luxuriously soft mixture of cashmere, wool and rayon, with an amazing gold lustre.  Bernat Klien pioneered these kinds of natural/synthetic mixtures in at his factory in Galashiels between 1970 and 1983, at one time employing 250 local hand knitters to test his yarns and accompanying patterns.

I thought such special yarn needed a simple lace pattern to show it off to its best advantage.  This version of my slouchy hat has 3 rows of eyelets nestled between 4 rows of plain stocking stitch.