Craft Stalls are now a regular feature at RCMA’s Riverside and Roath Markets. We hope this will provide yet another reason for people to come to the markets, and also help support some of the many artisans and craft makers who live in and around Cardiff. As with the food stalls, people can only sell high quality items that they have made themselves.
Well I was very impressed with what I saw today.
The food on sale looked very fresh. I grow a lot of my own vegetables at home so recognise the telltale signs of fresh or wilted vegetables. A number of the stalls were selling ready meals that were organic and home made. All food items have to be grown or made by the stall-holders to qualify as market traders.
However what I was going to Roath for was not the food. I had heard about the Craft Bazaar held in the Mackintosh Sports Club on Keppoch Street. This is the venue that offers its car park as a home to the Farmers Market between 9:30am-1pm.
The first stall I saw belonged to Sue Thomas who trades as Whitchurch Pottery.
Sue is fairly new to potting but to look at her work you would think she has been doing it for years. Sue can be seen on her stall with Nigel in the first Photo.
All her work was on display. What caught my eye were her small glazed pots. Now some of you who read this Blog know I am a knitter who is keen on making socks from hand dyed yarns. These yarns are far too nice to be rolling round on the floor while I am knitting. The solution to this is a Yarn Bowl. In America Yarn Bowls are easy to find on the Internet. Here in the UK knitting is not so popular and we have fewer crafters supplying our equipment needs than our cousins over the pond.
Well having seen Sue's pots and bowls I asked her if she made Yarn bowls, only to see her face light up. quite by chance Sue had a prototype for a yarn bowl with her. She unwrapped it and let me hold it. It can be seen at the front of the table in the photo bellow. It's the white un-glazed one.
I politely made enquiries if she could make bigger ones. She imediatly asked what I thought of the size of her prototype and I was able to explain what a knitter with a 100gm ball of sock yarn would need from a potter. thankfully I had my camera on me so was able to show her how large a ball of yarn is.
I did buy one of her normal small bowls for my stitch markers. Here is a photo of my new pot I just love the metalic finish and the inside is so smooth. A larger one, cut with a channel for the yarn to follow, but with out the nipped in waist, in this colour would be smashing.
Sue was doing brisk business at 10am in the morning. She said she is more than willing to take orders. she struck me as the sort of person who was willing to have a go at anything if people could discribe what they needed.
I did tell her to raise her prices though. I do think that all crafters are worth paying well when their work is good. I look forward to seeing Sue and Nigel again the next time I go to the market in Roath.
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