by Grace E.

Our guest speaker for March was Carmen Craig-Martin of MelonHead KnitWear and she gave a presentation regarding herself and her business. She also brought some wonderful samples of her work.

Carmen finds it fun to talk to knitters and welcomes them where she works. (Granville Island, Farmer’s Markets, Filberg, Whistler market)

She describes herself as a fibreholic. She said that it is a slow process to become a fibreholic but one of the symptoms to be aware of - is not being able to shut the closet door because the closet is too full of yarn. A fibreholic needs a support group, a ten-step program and professional help. A sale is an excuse to buy yarn.

Carmen has been knitting for years; ten years for a living. She loves knitting. Originally, she worked for an insurance company and found it very stressful. She had a three-hour commute on the TTC line when she was working for the company and would knit during that time. She said that people on the bus would avoid sitting with knitters, especially herself, as she had a self-taught technique which required a lot of arm movement. The benefit of the commute was that she could knit a hat during that time and she was able to make Christmas gifts and birthday presents. Then the company sold out to a bank – she lost her job – the severance pay bought yarn. She found that losing her job was the best thing that happened to her….. it was the beginning of starting her own business.

She said that craft shows pay for the yarn but don’t bring fame. She related her experiences in the business world. A business advisor helped her with a business plan. One of her adventures into business was a four-day trade show at which she received orders from 30 stores and had to fill orders for 1000 hats in three months. She had to hire five people help her knit. Wholesale was not the best way to go, she said, but it was great to see her work in stores. The down side was that she wasn’t knitting anymore and she enjoyed doing the knitting herself. This led her to another venture, knitting her own designs and selling them. She explained that in business, sole proprietorship, is misleading because you need help with setting up, having drivers to transport items and people to help cover emergencies. It takes a year for her to knit her stock and she is a fast knitter who knits 14 hours a day. She wears out bamboo needles causing them to splinter. Selling wholesale in small amounts works but she really enjoys selling her designs herself because she gets feedback.

She moved to Vancouver four years ago and her current designs are inspired by nature (mountains, water, and flowers), blown glass, and jewelry. Her tall and pointy hats were inspired by the mountains. The curves in her work come from crocheted surface embellishments. But, she said that just because she thinks a design is great doesn’t mean that everybody wants to buy it. There was the story about the Ugly Hat Contest and the Bok Choy hat.

Carmen was an interesting, fun speaker and her stories were humorous. It was a very enjoyable presentation.

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