My 2014 in review and a giveaway
Happy New Year everyone! I hope that this upcoming year is a happy and properous one for you and yours with lots of yarny goodness in it.
2014 was another good year for Yvieknits Yarns. I exceeded my sales from the previous year again and I am especially happy that my biggest gain this year was in my retail sales (direct to my customers) at the various events that I attended or hosted throughout the year.
I added a new product to my line last January: handpainted silk hankies which has sold well for me throughout the year. My friend and vendor partner, Francine taught “Knitting with Silk Hankies” workshops at the Eastern Ontario Needlers’ Retreat last November and at Yarn Forward in Kanata, ON in the fall. I happily supplied the silk hankies for all her workshops. She has more workshops scheduled at both locations of Yarn Forward in the new year.
I held two successful open house in February and August again this year. Both were well attended and everyone seemed to be having a good time. My open house in February was my most successful event so far. I plan to hold open houses in February and August again this year (details available on the Events page).
I attended several events as a vendor this year usually sharing a table/booth with Francine of Fancy That including a few new ones. I was a vendor at the Chesterville Spin-In (new event), The Gathering in Port Hope, St. Distaff Day (new event), trunk show at The Loop in Halifax, NS, Twist Fibre Festival, Ottawa Knitting Guild vendors’ night and the Eastern Ontario Needlers’ Retreat vendors’ night (new event). 
There were 2 new patterns released this year that suggest using one of my yarns. Robin Hunter released her Martine Dubois Crescent Scarf using 1 skein of my Merino Single Ply Fingering yarn in the Raspberry Mocha colourway in September. Natalie Servant released her Cormier Grille Shawl using 1.5 skeins of my sock yarn in the Pewter colourway for the fingering weight option. This is the first pattern from her new Canadian Art Deco Knits e-book.
On the retailers front, I sent a shipment of my yarn to Ram Wools Co-op in Winnipeg, MB in September and Yarn Forward in Kanata, ON started carrying my silk hankies in August. I continue to send regular shipments of my yarn to The Loop in Halifax, NS.
I would like to start this new year off with another yarn giveaway like I have for the past two years. This year I’m giving away a skein of my Merino/Silk DK yarn in either the Pewter or Berry Twist colourway (winner’s choice).
These two skeins are still listed on the Merino/Silk DK page so you can see the details but I have temporarily removed the “add to cart” buttons.
Contest Details
For a chance to win your choice of the Merino/Silk DK skeins shown:
- add a comment to this blog post stating what you would make with this skein if you won
- one entry per person please
- contest closes at midnight on January 3th, 2015 EST
I will use a random generator to pick a winner on January 4th.
Note: Do not worry if your comment is not displayed immediately. I manually review all comments that my anti-spam filter flags as spam every day and I will restore your comment.