up until now, i’ve based my postage costs on the actual price (including a few pence to help cover packaging costs) of sending one skein of yarn – that’s meant that if you order more than one skein of yarn, particularly if you’re outwith the UK, i’ve been absorbing the extra postage charges (and you’ve been getting a bit of a bargain!).  unfortunately, the costs of international postage over 250g has really jumped this year; and Royal Mail, in their infinite wisdom, has decided to completely revamp their UK parcel system and introduce new sizing restrictions.

the additional costs for larger parcels have gone up so much this year that i simply can’t afford to absorb the extra costs.  and unfortunately (i’m sure you can see where this is going!) that means i’ll need to pass on some of the extra costs to you, my lovely customers.

so, as of 1st may 2013, i’ll be increasing my postage prices, and will also be creating staggered flat rate costs based on the weight/size of your parcel, using the number of skeins you’ve ordered to set the postage cost.  this means that as of the 1st may, postage costs will be as follows:

UK: 1-5 skeins = £3.50; 6-8 skeins = £6.00; 9+ skeins = £9.50

Europe (including non-EU countries): 1-2 skeins = £4.00; 3-4 skeins = £5.00; 5-7 skeins = £6.50; 8+ skeins = £8.50

International (non-UK/Europe): 1-2 skeins = £5.00; 3-4 skeins = £7.50; 5-7 skeins = £10.00; 8+ skeins = £12.00.

non-UK parcel charges are all weight-based, so for some parcels, i’ll probably still be absorbing some of the actual postage costs for you.  for UK parcels, the major problem is parcel size (unless you order a LOT of yarn!), but some skeins can be packed flatter than others – depending on the base yarn, i might be able to send a UK parcel at a cheaper rate (flatter parcels mean cheaper prices!).  in both cases, if i’m able to send a parcel at a cheaper rate than the one i’ve actually charged you, i’ll refund you the difference straightaway; if i’m sending the parcel at a higher rate than the one i’ve actually charged you, you win!!  ;)

i hope you can understand why i need to make these changes – i try my best to keep things as fair as i can, but unfortunately i just can’t afford to absorb the big price increases this year without losing an awful lot of money.  (you can see the details of Royal Mail’s 2013 price structure here.)

unfortunately, it’s also meant that my sales have dropped considerably compared to previous years – i know we all have a lot less money at the moment, and that an extra 20% can make a huge difference.  as a result, my turnover this year has dropped to such an extent that i’m now no longer legally required to be VAT registered – and frankly, i’ve come to the conclusion that unless i can hugely increase my productivity (which would probably mean hiring other people do to all my admin & web work, and most likely some of the dyeing as well), i may never make enough sales to make up the gap between what i earned before VAT and what i’ve earned this year.

i really don’t want to change the way i do business – i love doing everything myself, and keeping in touch with all my customers, and wouldn’t want to have it any other way.  so i’ve decided that i will be much better off financially – and much happier! – if i de-register for VAT, and simply produce/sell enough yarn so that my yearly turnover stays below the VAT threshold for the foreseeable future.  i submitted all the necessary paperwork, and have just had it confirmed by HMRC that as of 31st march 2013, Old Maiden Aunt Yarns will no longer be VAT registered.

here’s what this will mean for you, my lovely customers!!  the studio will be closed, and the web shop will be empty, from 1st-6th april – this will give me enough time to do an end-of-year stocktake, finalise my 2012-2013 VAT accounts, pay the taxman any VAT that i still owe, and remove the VAT prices from the website.  once i’ve removed the VAT from everything, i’ll be re-working my price structure slightly.  most of my yarns will simply go back to the price they were last year, before this whole VAT debacle started; there are a few that will be a little cheaper, and a couple that will be a little more expensive, but all of them will be VAT-free (hurrah!).  i won’t be restocking any yarns while this is happening, but i am still dyeing various things, so when the shop re-opens there should be a good number of yarns back in stock.  throughout the year, i will also be limiting my production levels very slightly, to ensure that i stay below the VAT threshold, and don’t have to go through this awfulness ever again.  based on sales from this year & previous years, this shouldn’t mean that anything becomes harder to get hold of – i’ll certainly continue to do my best to make sure that you can all still get your regular yarn fix!!

i hope you can all understand why things have gone the way they have this past year, and aren’t too annoyed at the changes.  i’m doing this job because i love it – i love dyeing yarn, i love seeing what you all make with it, and i love the knitting community & my wonderful customers.  but i also love being able to pay my mortgage, and buy groceries, and put petrol in the car, which means performing a constant balancing act between what’s fair & kind for my customers, and what will help my business & my profitability.  for obvious reasons, i can’t go into every financial detail on the web, but if you have any questions or concerns, please ask here in the comments or over on the discussion thread in the Old Maiden Aunt group on Ravelry, and i’ll do my best to answer.  and as always, thank you all so much for another year of being able to do what i love – i wouldn’t be here without you.

i still don’t love hills, but i’m getting a little better at them, so i might be starting to hate them less. & i can’t do a pull-up yet, but i’m still hanging in there.  i definitely feel a lot fitter – and although i did slip up & weigh myself a couple of times, i managed to avoid the scales for the most part, and felt a lot better about myself as a result.


in knitting, i’ve managed to finish a really fab top (which hopefully i’ll get some photos of soon!).  it fits my non-resolution requirements exactly – a classic, clean, simple design with a few great details that i know i’ll wear until it falls apart.  i’ve also tried to introduce more colour into my daily wardrobe, with varying results – it’s so easy sometimes to just to pull out the standby dark & drab old clothes when you’re tired & busy, and sometimes “planning” an outfit can be a bit of a chore.  so i might need to try harder on this one – and in a first step, i’ve been scouring ebay to try & find some bargain-price, colourful & good-quality new clothes, with the view to replacing some of my trusty black tops with something a little more interesting.


but the one suggestion that i’ve managed to stick to without fail is, of all things, nail varnish!  i re-manicure every weekend, & i’m finding it really fun – there’s a truly dangerous amount of nail varnish colours on the market, and i could easily see this becoming a bit of a problem (SO MANY COLOURS!!!).  if you follow me on twitter, you’ll have seen me posting my “nail varnish of the week” every week since new years.  i’m not the most glamourous person in the world, but i’m having a lot of fun with this one – even though my job is a little hard on my hands, and my manicure is a complete mess by the end of the week, that’s fine – it just means i can look forward to next week’s colour!  so far i’ve learned what should have probably been obvious – that good quality nail varnish goes on a lot more smoothly than the cheap stuff, so i don’t make nearly as much mess if i invest in something nice.  and, that some colours look really good in the bottle, but once they’re on – not so much.


but so far, it seems to be going well – how about you?

i hope your holidays are filled with warmth & light!!!

(you can also bid on a single membership – as well as other cool stuff – in the fundraising auction for Judith Mackenzie! a single memmerbship to the preview club will be added to the auction site soon!)