From 5 to 8 October 2023, my husband (Rafal) and I (Aneta) attended our first-ever trade show with our Dreamy Wool yarn and kits. 

Below you can read how it all went but if you prefer you can also watch the video on Instagram here. 

Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace, London, 2023.

Our Story

Fuelled by the adrenaline of a fast-approaching event date, we’ve been working 12 to 15-hour days for about 2-3 weeks before the show.

On Tuesday, it took Rafal the whole day from about 10 am up until 10 pm to load the van with our stock and display furniture.

Just before we left Southport on Wednesday morning I was nervously waiting for the delivery of our printed products (pattern booklets, cards, banners, leaflets etc.) which were meant to be delivered a day before but were delayed. Finally, to my great relief, 21 boxes were delivered at 10:30 am just before we left.

After nearly 5 hours drive, we got to London and began unloading our stock and setting up the stand. We only had time till 8 pm and sadly didn’t finish setting up by that time.

When we got to the apartment, despite extreme tiredness we had to work till 1 am to set up the website and ordering process before the show.

On Thursday (the first day of the show), we got up at 6 am to finish admin tasks and then went to finish setting up the stand from 8 am. We barely finished by 9:30 am, when the event opened its door to the public. 

Our first sale came just 20 min from opening! Here is a photo of our first customer at the in-person event.

We had a good first day at the show and after the event closed at 5:30 pm all exhibitors met up for drinks.

Friday and Sunday were much busier than Thursday. Saturday was the busiest day of all. During each day of the show, we spent hours in the morning and evening to re-stock the products and do other admin tasks as we learned our mistakes during the show.

It was lovely to meet some of my Crochet Arcade customers at the show.

Throughout the whole show, our stand had so much interest, and loads of people stopped by to look at our yarn and kits, asked questions, and made loads of lovely compliments and purchases which we are very grateful for.

It took us over 3 hours after the show to pack up the stand and with just a breakfast the whole day it was one of the hardest tasks to do. We were back home at 1 am. Tired but very happy and proud.

We were so encouraged by the response we had, that we booked the show in Harrogate from 16 to 19 November. We hope to see you there!