Sunday, November 14, 2010

November Newsletter

We're trying a new style newsletter this month. It can be downloaded here

Monday, November 01, 2010

Fibre Flurry


2010 has been a year of taking Atomic Knitting on the road.  Fibre Flurry was to be our 4th show this year and 7th show since we started.
Last weekend we went to Fibre Flurry in Birmingham, organised by the lovely Mikayla and her wonderful team. We set our stand up in the historic setting of a tudor wool merchant’s house. With oak beams and medieval floors this venue was like no other.  A great atmosphere in the building with so many indie dyers present and most definitely one of the highlights of our year.  We met some of you there and thank you to those that stopped by the stand. 

We’ve travelled to London, Stirling, Birmingham, Builth Wells and on the 13th November we’ll be in Exeter at the Corn Exchange for our last show of 2010.  We’re really looking forward to our trip to Exeter and hope that you’ll be able to join us there. Entry is just £3 on the door and there’s more information here: http://www.knitexpo.co.uk 
Our latest products include our very popular pattern tamers,  new row counters including our Freddy Head counter,  and available only at shows are our cute sheep and ram stitch markers. 

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Halloween Collection Launches!

The Halloween Collection - cat not included ;-)

My lovely black cat posed for the picture to add that extra dimension of Halloween. Actually, I think she had her eyes on those creepy crawlies and was happy to do anything to be near them.

The collection includes a variety of notions, halloween related with extremely limited stock. Includes pumpkin crochet markers, skull stitch markers, skull row counters, evil eye mystery set markers, bobbing apple tape measure, pumpkin jewel markers and needles. All are available to purchase on the website.








Upcoming Events:



The Big KNIT Show '10 Winter
 Venue: The Corn Exchange, Exeter
Date: November 13th (Saturday) 2010
Time: 10am-4pm 

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Bohobeads Boutique Closes

It's been a tough year for Bohobeads and despite selling a fair amount of the Bohobeads jewellery at various knitting events this year, the decision to close stand alone website has been a difficult one. Bohobeads Boutique website closed on 5th October 2010.

Bohobeads jewellery will be still be available through both Atomic Knitting and Starlight Beads websites, with a new collection launching very soon.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Iknit Weekend 10th September

Following a very last minute decision on Thursday at 5.30pm, I decided to jump on a train on Friday morning and head to the Big Smoke. Alone.

So the plan was to take a train to Paddington, get a Circle line train to Victoria, then walk to IKnit venue using printed directions. Easy Peasy.


If only...

So the train to Paddington is OK, apart from a debate with fellow passengers regarding booked seats, but that got sorted. I even managed to update the website on the train, so that was cool.

London Underground - not cool. In fact very humid and hot, and Circle Line & District Line cancelled due to signalling problems. Very not cool. I don't think I've been on the Tube before on my own either.

So after much confusion I picked the Bakerloo line and made my way down to the platforms. As I looked to my right I could see a Bakerloo Line train about to leave. What the hell...if's it's going the wrong way I'll just get off and come back down the line. No one will know or notice.

Yeah...that was until I ran onto the train, jumped through the doorway just as the beeping for the doors to close started, only to forget that I had a backpack on that was currently stopping the doors from closing. I was pinned against the door, with the London tourists and business people either ignoring me or simply Not Noticing. I couldn't move my arms and taking off the back pack I figured was a bad idea as it would likely drop on the platform and the train would leave with my bag stranded. So I'm still pinned there, now crying 'help!'. A kind businessman opened the doors and released me from my predicament. Oh the embarrassment. I was thinking, 'This train better be the right one, or maybe I should just get off at the next stop in any case'.

It was the right train and I decided that I had provided some entertainment for the passengers and I couldn't be bothered to get off until I got to Victoria.

The walk from Victoria to the venue was fine. A part of London that I haven't been to before. I knew I was in the right place when I saw this:


I spent the afternoon volunteering on the p/hop stand with Clare and Alex before another Clare arrived :-)

All About P/HOP

P/hop is charity knitting project that raises funds for the emergency medical aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders.
And it goes a little something like this…..
Incredibly generous designers donate their time and knitting patterns to p/hop. These patterns are then available for you to download here. The idea is you donate based on how many hours of pleasure you’ll get from knitting your p/hop pattern. There is no set price for a pattern; you can donate 50p or £50. It’s entirely up to you – P/HOP = PENNIES PER HOUR OF PLEASURE!
You can donate in pounds here or in dollars here.


It's a brilliant idea and I will certainly be downloading patterns for my next knitting project.

I really enjoyed the experience and it was a bit unnerving to start with to try to remember everything that I needed to say about p/hop and Medicin Sans Frontieres, but by the end of the afternoon, I think I had improved.


Atomic Knitting donated some knitting gift bags to the raffle and here's Clare and Clare drawing and announcing the raffle.


I also got a chance to meet a number of vendors and customers including Anne from Artisan Yarns, Ruth and Belinda from Knit Expo, Jon from Easyknits, Suzie Johnson and Marianne from Picperfic's Fluff n Stuff....phew and so many other customers that I met on the stand! Thanks for stopping by for a chat!

I purchased some yarn too, and am in the middle of knitting it up right now, so pics to follow.

I should mention too that I've set up a Ravelry group here, for those interested in keeping in touch with Atomic Knitting updates and also the Bridgend Knitting group

Friday, August 20, 2010

Edinburgh Fringe 2010

As part of our Scotland tour, we included a day in Edinburgh, mainly for the Fringe, although we did manage a little bit of sight seeing too.

We took the train from Stirling to Edinburgh and arrived mid morning, in time to pick up our pre booked Fringe tickets and also visit Fran and her McAnaraks buttons in the West End Fair.


After visiting the fair we headed over to the first of four Fringe shows. To get around quickly and save our legs, we used a city sightseeing bus tour.


First stop was to see Helen Keen - It's Rocket Science at the Gilded Balloon. The show was great - loved the puppetry, however being in a small dark venue with no windows or air conditioning, with 20 other strangers, I did discover that I suffer from claustrophobia. So a lot of calming thoughts and tic tacs (they seem to help?!) and I managed to get through the 60mins of being in a confined space, in the dark, being too hot and feeling panicky. Perhaps having beer beforehand was a bad idea too.

Then it was off to Edinburgh's finest drum shop for some retail therapy, followed by venue number two....Pleasance Courtyard. On the way to this venue, while waiting to cross a road, I heard a male Welsh voice say that he 'was going to pop into the watch shop to get his watch fixed'. On turning around, I found the voice belonged to Rhod Gilbert. THEEE RHOD GILBERT. Of course at this point I get all fangirl and can't speak, let alone cross the road....but I managed to cross and proceeded to try to hide behind a few branches in the hope I can snap a picture or two when he comes out. So this next bit it a bit like, Where's Rhod...


Really...are you sure....??



 Not that convincing huh...yeah I was disappointed too. Ah well, I thought.

So moving on up to Pleasance, we found a lot of peeps in the Courtyard. Having located the Cellar for Jessica Ransom's - Millions show, we duly waited outside. At this point, I'm thinking the 'Cellar' is probably not going to be great for the claustrophobia. Let's face it, nothing says claustrophobia like a small dark windowless space. Great.

So whilst contemplating this and ensuring tic tac supplies are to hand, I glance up to someone (Liverpudlian) asking me if this was the queue for the cellar. 'Yeah, it is' I murmur back, looking up slowly. Then realise that I am addressing John Bishop. He's got sunglasses on and whilst I am busy doing a double take he's grinning at me. Fab! So, what do I say now that doesn't sound completely dumb. That will be nothing then. He was a great sport though and let me take a picture.


Jessica Ransom had an awesome show. I did feel for her when she saw John Bishop in the front row of her gig and did a double take. Seeing as there was about 35 people in the room cellar, I'm sure she could not believe it...neither could we!

Before going into the cellar, after seeing John, I turned round to see the Radio 1 recording studio, just above the cellar..and look who is here.


 

I think maybe Rhod was on Radio 1 that afternoon with Scott Mills, but I can't be sure. Right after I took this picture Sarah Millican came over to talk to Rhod. The remaining pictures did not come out very well, so you'll have to take my word for it!


The third show was with Hardeep Singh Koli called Chat Masala. Hardeep cooked pork and carrot curry for the audience and had four guests on stage whilst he did this, including Arthur Miller and Storm Large. Another great show, touching on some serious topics at times, but also was very amusing at others.



The final show was Chris Addison. More to follow.....

Monday, August 16, 2010

Atomic Knitting on Ravelry

Atomic Knitting now have their very own group on Ravelry!

Join now to hear about our latest news.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

UK Knit Camp!

We're all set for UK Knit Camp at Stirling University this Friday and Saturday 13th/14th August!

Our popular stitch marker sets have been restocked and are available to purchase from us this weekend on the stand. We've got some new products too that we launched at Knit Nation and are taking to UK Knit Camp. They'll be on the website in the next week or so too. Two special products at the show are Nicsknots project bags and DPN rolls and Tricotplume snag free stitch markers. We've also got many beads and pendants at some great show prices.

So if you are in Scotland this Friday and Saturday, we'd love to see you at the Marketplace at Stirling University. Open from 10.30pm til 6pm on Friday and Saturday 9am til 5.30pm with an admission charge. Mention this email and there's a free Atomic Knitting stitch marker for you! (while stocks last!)

Best Wishes
Emma

Sunday, May 02, 2010

Wonderwool Wales 2010


Over the last month we've had a very busy time, preparing for and attending Wonderwool 2010 in Builth Wells. Wonderwool was a complete success, and we enjoyed meeting all our customers and fellow traders. Many Thanks to the organisers for putting on an amazing show, yet again.


If you missed out on the show, there's a few pictures on the Atomic Knitting website and we've put some of our new products on the website this weekend. Our new products include McAnaraks handmade resin buttons. These beautiful vibrant buttons are very unusual and unique and complement any project. There's still a few let, so buy early to avoid disappointment.




Just Arrived - handmade buttons by McAnaraks. 
Beautiful, vibrant, colourful buttons handmade in the Highlands of Scotland.


There are also new crochet markers added and a new size of stitch marker, 5mm, which has the added benefit of being on snag free rings. These designs are limited in number!


Wholesale - we have some new wholesale deals in our online wholesale shop, including purchasing just dangle free markers and snag free markers.






      
  Stitch Markers         Crochet Markers    Snag Free Lace Markers

The snag free marker 
These are perfect for large projects where you need quite a few markers and are especially good for lace yarns. As you can see, there's absolutely nothing to catch on the yarn. The markers are available in three sizes at the moment and a few different colours that you can mix and match.



 Our yarn and craft website with all original stitch markers and accessories is celebrating it's 6th Birthday this month and we'll have something very special for all our valued customers :-) More details in the next week.


Many Thanks for your continued support!
Best Wishes
Emma :-)
http://www.atomicknitting.co.uk

Monday, April 05, 2010

Wonderwool Wales, Sneaky Peek!

There's a limited number of single stitch markers ribbon tied onto a gift tag. You can even select your marker size! The gift tags are hand made and the markers are adorable! Choose from sheep, ram, duck, a flying pig, cute cow, a cheeky monster, killer whale, cat and dog.



Don't forget, Wonderwool Wales is being held on the weekend of 24th/25th April in Builth Wells, Powys. It's a feast of fibre, yarn, sheep and knitting goodies with workshops, demonstrations and more!

Come along and meet me at Wonderwool Wales where Atomic Knitting will have a stand with lots of stitch markers, needles, yarn and knitting gifts. If you can't make it this year then, why not indulge on the website.

Best Wishes
Emma :-)

Saturday, April 03, 2010

Stock take

The end of year stock take loomed and following a morning of procrastination, I finally settled down to do it. Secretly, I did quite enjoy it once I got going. What's not to like, poring over yummy stock!

So it's done for another year. Just the tax return to do in a couple of months. I secretly like doing that too.

Well, that's the admin side done for now, so I can get back to getting ready for the shows this year and the new collection I promised this weekend.

More on that soon...

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

If only it was simply imitation.

To my disgust, I discovered yesterday that someone had not just imitated, but copied the majority of my website, selling mainly the same products. I am extremely disappointed that someone felt it necessary to do this and then cut their prices by 50% compared to mine.

Don't get me wrong, I know that there are plenty of talented, creative stitch marker jewellery designers out there and I enjoy looking at their work. There's a place for everyone and a niche in the originality of the designs. Until you copy someone else that is.

Most folk that love yarn and craft would understand that you can't simply copy someone else's ideas, down the text on their website - come on, at least be original with that, I mean, you've obviously created some handmade products, yet you have no imagination to present them in a different way to me. A coincide? I really don't think so. I know how long I spent finding the right words to describe my products and business, yet someone thinks it's OK to copy that and use it to sell their products. Did they think I would never know. Well I do. I know who they are and so do they.

Still I've been doing this for years and am well established in the knitting world, so should I be worried? Part of me is not worried, as I know from experience that her products are undervalued and the business model will not succeed for long at those prices. I will be more concerned when she realises this and increases the prices, which at least would reach my standard.

As with all businesses, evolution is inevitable and the way I feel right now, is that this is time to move on and reinvent the business, in part because someone has copied my work and also because I have found new words to describe my products and business. I realise too that it's nearly 6 years with much the same words and the world has moved on, and so inevitably I will too.

I've worked too damn hard at my business to let something like this put a spanner in the works.

So onwards and upwards....and to the copycat, what goes around comes around. That I do know.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Pendant Sale



PENDANT & BEAD SALE NOW ON!!

20% off selected beads and pendants including, Starfish Pendants, Heart Pendants and more! 


We've already got the latest fashion beads for this season in stock, with more coming very soon.




 Get your hands on our 12mm (£1.59 for 10) and 20mm (30p each) hearts as at these fabulous prices we expect them to sell out fast! We've a few limited edition colours too.
Silver tiger tail is back in stock - only £1.60 per reel (70 metres)

We've also reduced a selection of pendants to just £2.

Millefiori 8mm hearts are back and are one of the best buys on the website. Just £4.50 per strand of 50 hearts - that's a sizzling 9p per bead!

Don't miss out, once they're gone, they're gone!

Best Wishes 
Emma
Starlight Beads UK

Monday, March 22, 2010

DPN Rolls and Snag Free Markers!

News & Website Update

It's been a bit of a tricky week website wise! 
The shopping cart system 'broke', which meant that the orders were not being stored for a few days and this meant a bit of a delay for some customers. I'm really sorry about that and unfortunately this was outside of my control. I'm happy to say though that these issues have been resolved and the shopping cart is working again. Please continue to let me know of any issues that you have with the cart.

Orders over £40 now ship free to the UK (except Wholesale orders)

*********

This week sees the arrival of two very popular products.

Firstly the snag free marker 
These are perfect for large projects where you need quite a few markers and are especially good for lace yarns. As you can see, there's absolutely nothing to catch on the yarn. The markers are available in three sizes at the moment and a few different colours that you can mix and match.

Our turquoise snag free markers are suitable for needles up to 2.5mm

Other colours and sizes are available here

Secondly, we have a few more limited designs in stock of NicsKnots DPN and Crochet rolls
Choose from funky red fish, retro flowers or cute sheep. Designs are limited and are strictly, first come first served.



Of course if you are saving your pennies for WonderWool Wales 2010, you can visit Atomic Knitting and NicsKnots at the show! More information here http://www.wonderwoolwales.co.uk

Many Thanks for your continued support!

Best Wishes

Emma :-)

http://www.atomicknitting.co.uk


Saturday, February 27, 2010

Makin' Cupcakes

Double chocolate chip cupcakes with posh drinking chocolate, Chocolat Charbonnel and choc chips :-)







The proof is in the eating, right! Very light and chocolatey!

Also found this website which is just amazing
http://www.cutestfood.com/category/cupcakes

Friday, February 26, 2010

Nicsknots Bags back in stock!

New sock project bag designs from Nicsknots!

Retro sweetie style love hearts bag, individually handmade by Nic.
Sock project bag, £10


We're pleased to announce that we will be exhibiting at the following shows this year:

Firstly, Wonderwool Wales in April 2010 in Builth Wells on the weekend of 24th & 25th April 2010 at Royal Welsh Showground, Llanelwedd, Builth Wells, Powys, Wales

http://www.wonderwoolwales.co.uk for more information


Then in July we'll be at Knit Nation Expo 2010 at Imperial College, South Kensington, London.

This will be the biggest Knitting event in the UK this year!

For more information visit http://www.knitnation.co.uk


To keep up to date with our current marker sets, knitting gifts and collections, why not follow us on Twitter or Facebook?
Follow us on Twitter

Keep in touch on Facebook - search for Atomic Knitting

Find out the latest news on our blog


Saturday, February 06, 2010

New Blog for Atomic Knitting

Atomic Knitting will have it's own blog after today

http://atomicknitting.wordpress.com

So come on over and follow the blog there!

Friday, February 05, 2010

David Christensen Beaded Stitch Markers

New Stitch Marker Collections released this week at Atomic Knitting.

Funky Punky Collection.
Spiky looking, but soft rubber with rubber rings that won't catch on delicate yarn.
From £5.25


Snag Free Collection
21 Snag free plastic rings in bright colours, perfect for complex projects and lace including clapotis and entrelac.

£1.45 for 21 rings


Colourful acrylic buttons available in packs of 10 for £1


New! David Christensen furnace beads with Swarovski crystals in a variety of designs, all limited edition.
From £8.


All collections available at http://www.atomicknitting.co.uk

Plus new Nicsknots sock project bags from £10

Friday, January 15, 2010

New Arrivals!

Just Arrived!

12 Aluminium Crochet Hook set £14.00

Single crochets hooks £1.19

Row Counters £1.20

Orange DPN Needle Case Roll, Silk, £6.50

Flexible Bamboo Afghan/Tunisian Crochet hook/needle £3.00

Circular Knitting Needles 100cm, all sizes £3.25

Cable Stitch Knitting Needles £1.50

Needle Point Protectors from £1.20


Shop today at http://www.atomicknitting.co.uk


Our stitch markers are available to buy in the following stores:


Meadow Yarn

Multi-ply Wool, Scarborough

Great British Yarns

Artisan Yarns, Hereford

Smalls Crafts

Yarn Gathering, Coventry

Saturday, January 09, 2010

Happy New Year!

We wish all our customers a Happy New Year!

To celebrate we've released the 7mm Stitch Markers into our January 2010 Collection. There's new designs to choose from and as always our handmade markers are in limited supply.

We've also added three new colours to our popular Russian Doll stitch markers, Gold, Fuschia and Red.

The snag free markers are growing in colours and popularity! Choose from bright neons, candy colours, vibrant purple and warm orange. More colours to follow soon.

There are lots of new ideas planned this year and we will be at WonderWool Wales 2010 in April, so don't miss that. More details here. We also hope to venture further afield and will let you know in due course of our plans.

Visit today at http://www.atomicknitting.co.uk

Best Wishes
Emma :-)


Tuesday, January 05, 2010