I have been 'offline' for a few weeks now embracing maternity leave vibes and knitting for my yet-to-arrive daughter. It has been lovely and I am enjoying the downtime, prepping for her arrival and spending time with my husband in our new apartment - did I mention we moved too? We are still in Amsterdam but moved into our own place nearly a month ago now which means my studio moved too! Yes, it has been a busy few months...
Inevitably though this time to relax has made me reflect on the year, which for me has already essentially ended in terms of business. My stockists are all stocked, my website has my maternity leave announcement and ready to ship available stock updated and I am ready to focus on a different quarter than I could have possibly imagined this time last year.
Normally this time of year is crazy busy for me, getting Christmas designs ready (done already), making stock for what can feel like an endless round of Christmas markets and of course making orders for customers all over the world. I love it but I have to say having the opportunity to make my world smaller and more 'me and bump' focused has been and continues to feel quite luxurious!
But before I completely disappear into the world of newborns and motherhood I want to THANK all of you who made my 2018 so special.
I started the year by launching the beautiful Wool & Water wrapping paper, illustrated by Amsterdam based artist Hannah McDonald, revealed the Pet Bow Tie range as my new sister label, Wool & Whiskers, participated in loads of lovely markets, launched an exclusive collection with Dutch Dandy, made all sorts of designs for new and returning customers, got some amazing press coverage, received lovely customer reviews, had lots of much appreciated social media comments and follows, taught loads of new Knitting Students, acquired new Stockists, made pieces for so many Weddings all around the world - it has been awesome and a year I am already excited to build on once I am back in my new studio next year.
So til then, have a wonderful Christmas, Sinterklaas, New Year and I hope very much you will not forget about me in the interim - I have a very exciting new collection already planned to return with in 2019. Until then you can find a range of my designs available directly from my stockists and some pre-made limited pieces ready to ship out, along with Gift Vouchers right here on the website.
Thank you for your continued support, for your encouragement and I look forward to tuning back into the 'consciously different' world next year and knitting all your unexpected knitwear pieces albeit with a bit less sleep...
Stay Curious!
Alice x
P.S. For those of you who asked (repeatedly) there are now a limited range of Kid's Bow Ties available from The Maker Store, De Hallen, Amsterdam. A trial range from ages 1-10 to see if they are worth adding to the collection...let me know what you think!
I am Alice and I run Wool & Water and Wool & Whiskers, a unique Bow Tie label from my garden studio in Amsterdam, fuelled by copious amounts of green tea.
