It's been so tough for small businesses for so long, with no sign of things picking up that we're having to make some changes to the way we work.
Until four or five years ago meadowyarn supported our family of five. It was a frugal 'no frills' kind of support and it was a full time job, and pretty hard work but it paid the rent, fed us and even allowed for the occasional treat. Over the past three or four years that has changed with sales dropping dramatically year on year. It's a combination of Brexit, post-Covid lifestyle changes, the changing craft/knitting market, US tariffs, and the never-ending cost of living crisis (is it even technically still a 'crisis' if it's just the new normal?) and we've tried to ride it out, hoping things would pick up but they just haven't.
The bottom line is that meadowyarn no longer supports our family and, if I'm honest, recently it barely supports itself. That is not sustainable and I now have to find an alternative income/salary. We've talked a lot about it over the past year and closing meadowyarn has sadly always been the most realistic option but I don't want that to happen - at least not yet! So, I'm changing the way I dye to make space for other work to happen alongside the yarn. I'll no longer be offering dyed-to-order, or 'leaving pre-orders open'. Instead I'll dye micro-collections and they'll appear in the shop when they're ready and once they're gone that's it. I'll still be dyeing the regular limited-run shades like macro~meadow, swatching the detectives, and currently reading but they won't be left open for pre-orders or extra batches.
This will allow me to focus solid chunks of time on either a part time job, or a new venture and I won't have to hold stock of every yarn base, which will free up cashflow in the short term. If you're still reading, (thank you!) over the coming weeks I'll be working my way through the un-dyed yarn that is in the studio, having fun dyeing random sweater quantities, the odd quirky fade, and impromptu OOAK shades. They will appear in the shop as soon as they are ready through the next couple of months and once they're gone, they're gone!
To say thank you for supporting us through this transition, and (hopefully!) enabling meadowyarn to continue, you can use the code JustKeepDyeing to get 10% off your orders until July 31st. You can use the code as often as you like and it'll be applied to everything except gift vouchers and P&P.
I envisage that all the stock that is on the shelf in the dye studio will be dyed and in the shop by end July, and I'll then switch my focus to some lovely seasonal micro-collections so that I can properly 'launch' our new way of working!