it's been a while.......

Hello there! 

How are you all? Good I hope! 

I thought it was about time I blew the cobwebs off my poor neglected blog and stuck something up here.  It does feel like a long time since I last posted, life has been rather busy and each day has just run into the next and before you know it months are passing! 

So here's a little catch up post, and then hopefully I will get back into some form of regular posting. 

I have been doing lots of making; washers and flowers feature heavily, as well as finishing off my Sunburst granny square blanket, it deserves it's own post I think, it is pretty cute! 

My wool shop has been keeping me occupied with lots of lovely new stock arriving for the winter months ahead.  I still have lots of yarns on my wish list, but I'm slowly getting a great range of beautiful yarns in stock, so that is making me very happy.  I really need to spend more time on promotion and marketing, but I guess we all have our strengths and weaknesses when it comes to business.  Everything seems to take a lot more time than I anticipate! 

......recent heart washer on the hook, I like this colour combo, but then again I love so many of the colours in the Cascade Ultra Pima, it is hard to choose which combo to try next.........

.....the couch had become a bit of a yarny dumping spot, I really need to try and keep things tidier in here! ........

....I seem to have these little piles of colourful makings all over the shop, it does make me feel good catching glimpses of them all day long.......

This is a squishy pile of Misti Alpaca Handpainted Chunky, so many beautiful shades in there, And some new ones coming later in the month. I can't wait!  

So what have you lovely peeps been up to recently? 

I'm sure you've all been keeping busy, hopefully getting some creative time as well! 

I'll be back tomorrow with an Etsy Finds post, it's been ages since I did one of those and I have lots of new shops that I've spotted.  I'm trying to leap back into blogging after my unintentional absence, so if I write it here, I might actually achieve it ! 

Have a great day! 

Talk soon! 

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Back in the swing of things.....

Hello there!  

Well, 2015 is over a week old already and this is my first post for the year, my 'post more regularly' resolution is kind of out the door before we even begin the year! :)

It has been hard to get out of holiday mode if I am honest, I love the slow mornings and unplanned days of holidays, with no real routines and lots of chilling out at the beach or daytime crochet without the guilt trip.  January is often not a very productive month around here, February and the return to 'normal' life seems to arrive very quickly! 

This year I am trying to be productive and stay in that 'holiday feeling' zone.  I have a couple of markets in January and not much to sell, so really need to get cracking on some stock!!

And I have bitten the bullet and made a schedule for crochet classes, workshops and crafternoons for the first few months of the year, starting this weekend!  Eek!

(so if anyone is around the Crib Point/Mornington Peninsula area and would like to join us, feel free to get in touch!  More info in the last photo, sorry about the fuzzy quality of the image!)  

This is a new project I am starting, my Summer Hearts blanket, so far it is turning out how I imagined, so that is a win.  Hoping to finish this one quite quickly, I am going to try and make more blankets this year.  I was quite pleased with making 9 blankets last year, and then I saw a post by the fabulous Patchwork Heart showing the 43!!!! blankets she made last year, how is that for productive! Amazing amount of work, and she works full-time as well!  I think I will take a small step towards this level of productivity and aim for 12-15 blankets this year, I hope that is doable for me!  :)

( My problem is that I get side tracked, spending too much time at the beach and in the garden, who could resist when this lovely spot is 5 minutes away! ;)  )

Somers beach yesterday. Beautiful!

....this is the little schedule I made for my crochet classes, I'm hoping there will be someone local on the Mornington Peninsula interested in joining me! :)   

I am also doing something very exciting for my little yarn shop, I feel that I have out grown the room I have been using for my stock, it is far to crowded and I can't really expand my range until I address the space issue.  So we are creating a proper yarn studio and workshop space just for me!!  

We have a large garage attached to our house that has been place where all our junk ends up.  We are having a huge clean out and then I am turning most of it into a gorgeous studio for all my lovely yarn, and there will be plenty of space for more yarn and for classes too! Yay yay!!  

It should be a win win situation, as the house will be much tidier and easier to look after without all my crafty things spread throughout the place. 

So that has also been keeping me busy, I really want to have this finished in a month or so. 

Ok, I better stop there, starting to ramble a bit too much I think, I had so much to catch up! 

I hope you are enjoying your January and getting lots of hooky time too! 

Talk soon, I think I will be starting my Friday Finds for 2015 tomorrow, so I will be back with that. :)

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A bit of babble....

Hello!  How has your week been going?  Good, I hope.

We have been treated to a week of glorious weather here in Melbourne, it's been quite warm with clear watery blue skies and crisp nights, just lovely!  The sun has been streaming in our windows and onto my little work table, it's almost like Spring has arrived!  I am sure we will return to cold, wet days soon, but in the meantime I am making the most of the great days.  

The garden has been getting some attention, weeding and mulching has begun, and I am almost enthused enough to tackle the veggie patch.  Maybe next week.

I have decided to try and finish off a lot of 75% completed projects that I have squirrelled away in different places around the house.  I could probably stock 3 market stalls with all the unfinished things I have on the go! lol

.  

I rediscovered these stars that need sewing together. Tomorrow I am going to sew them up and hey presto I'll have 7 little stars to add to my flower tree on my stall! Yay! 

Next up will be edging for harlequin and cloud washcloths.  Hopefully I will have a nice pile of finished things to show you next week.

  

Tomorrow Gary is taking the boys to the snow for a day of skiing, so I will have the house to myself till late in the evening.  I wonder if it's a bad thing to stay in my pyjamas and crochet all day :)  I'm only joking, I'm sure I'll get dressed at some stage! lol. 

I probably should spend the day cleaning up our house, it seems I have completely lost control of the housework, we are living in a big mess and I just can't find the motivation to do a lot about it!  I think I'll try and wash the windows and floor.  One thing with all the sun at the moment is that I can see how dirty our windows are!  You never know, I could wake up full of purpose and achieve heaps tomorrow, yes that is what I'll do!  

But then again, it might be another beautiful day and I might just spend the day soaking up the sun!

On a complete tangent, I have discovered the joys of Instagram!  I know I'm late to the party, I opened an account ages ago then didn't do anything with it, but recently I have learnt how to 'do' Instagram and wow all the crochet over there!!  

Like I need another screen thing to spend my time on!!  :) lol   

I am littlewoollie over there if you want to say hello, I have to edit my profile and write something but I will do that soon, I have found a few names I recognise, I think I'll just mooch around the edges till I find my feet.  Still figuring out all the hashtags and commenting and what not.......

Anyway, what do you have planned for tomorrow?  

Have you had nice weather where you are?  

Are you a good housekeeper, or more sporadic like me?  

Are you into Instagram too?

Sorry for the rambling post, I'm sure I'll have something more interesting to chat about soon! :)

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The kindness of community

Hello,  This is a bit of a departure from my usual crafty posts, but I real want to get these thoughts down while they are fresh! Be warned it is a bit wordy!

Last night we attended a fundraiser for my brother in law at our local hall.  It was an amazing night for many reasons.  Around 150 family, friends, neighbours, workmates and local business people all came together to support Michael and Clare and their trip to Russia for Michael's MS treatment.  

This morning I have been thinking a lot about how great it is to be part of a community.

It is so easy these days to feel overwhelmed by terrible things happening to people all around the world.  I think that by acting on a local level, in our own little communities, spreading kindness and practically helping someone you know or are acquainted with, is a powerful way to spread goodwill and to counterbalance the helpless feeling you get when reading the daily news. 

Everybody that attended our function last night not only had a fun social time but also came with a purpose to help Michael and Clare, whether by practically doing things on the night, financially supporting the fundraiser, donating goods and services, or emotionally supporting them just by sending goodwill and love.  I have to tell you, there was a lot of love in the room!

It really gave me hope for the human race.  

Imagine if everyone could get together to help people in their local communities who need a hand, or even just say hello to each other.  The random act of kindness between people at a local level has never been such an important human interaction, to put a smile on someone's face makes both parties feel good.  There have been many times while organising Michael's functions that the kindness of strangers in our community has amazed us, people really are great.

I think by acting in our communities, at a local level that is real and tangible, our faith in each other can be strengthened and restored. It is so easy to lose faith in the human race when faced with violence and terrible news.   Yes, bad things are happening that are out of our control, but by focussing on the good, helpful, thoughtful, considerate, and kind things that are going on in our local worlds, we can counterpoint the despair.  The ripple effect of goodwill has to be a powerful thing, I think it gives us hope that we can make a positive difference in peoples' lives.

Last night was about more than just raising money, it was about kindness, generosity and the goodwill of a group of people from all walks of life, spreading love and supporting a common cause. It was about building connections and being part of a community.  And we all had a fun time doing it! 

It is a great feeling to contribute to an evening where everyone goes away feeling good.  There are still a lot of problems in the world but we were able to help our friend/relative/workmate to solve one of his.  It is empowering.  People really are ace.  I am an optimist and I am feeling good about our little part of the world today !

Ok that's the end of my little happy rant.  :) 

I hope you have had an inspiring/ fun/interesting weekend too! 

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Friday things....

Hello.

How has your week been?

It's been one of those weeks where you think was there really a Wednesday and Thursday, Friday has come around so quickly, I am sure it was Tuesday yesterday!  Another month has started too!

I have sent off quite a lot of orders this week, being the last week of my little sale, and have been surprised how I almost feel like a proper shopkeeper! :)  Thanks to all my lovely customers, both the new ones and returning ones, I am really having fun trying to build a little community around

 Little Woollie Makes, and every one has been so gorgeous to deal with! xxxx

Anyway, I have taken couple of days off my skinny stripe blanket and have been hooking up  little circles to make colour swatches for the shop.  One of the aforementioned lovely customers, 

Kathy, ( hi Kathy!) suggested that swatches might be good to offer so people can see the colours in the flesh.  I am such a slow worker that I am only just getting onto this!  But better late than never, and I'm hoping to put these on offer in the shop very soon.

I am having fun making them up too.

Anyway, I'm going to go and start some more circles and make a fire so the house can cosy up for the chilly evening predicted, Winter is certainly on it's way!

What are you doing this weekend? 

Something fun, relaxing, adventurous, delicious?

This weekend I am planning a big clean up.  How exciting. Yawn.  

We are selling our pool table, so have to clean up the lounge rooms so we can move it, I think I will invite a few friends around tomorrow night for a few drinks and a last night of pool, I think we will give the table a little send off, we have had lots of fun nights revolving around pool and drinks!  

Ok, that's all the drivel I can think of at the moment!  Not the most riveting info today, but life is like that sometimes......

Bye!

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Skinny stripes and a winner!

Hello everyone!

I have a bit of a colour overload here, but it has been very dreary and cold here today, so I was in need of a little brightening. :) 

This is the thing I am working on at the moment, I call it the Skinny Stripe Blanket, just rows of sc in a lovely random patterning of colours.  So simple, but I love the effect.

I am trying to do 10-20 rows a day, but I am falling behind a bit this week. :(  Must keep plugging away, the rows are very soothing, just sc over and over again! ( they are soothing until they are boring, then I stop and do something else!)

Anyway, what else has been happening around here...hmmm, well I received a new yarn delivery for the shop today, something lovely and chunky and warm and wintery and interesting.  It was too dull to photograph it, but I can't wait to get it in the shop and show you all.  I've never made anything in chunky or super chunky yarn, I'll have to go and immerse myself in Ravelry for a while and find some new projects!  Hopefully I will be able to show you tomorrow!

Oh, and I have a winner for the April giveaway! Yay! 

Max chose a number between 1 and 189, and I counted down to that comment, and guess what?

Kate Eastwood the 5 balls of cotton are all yours! 

Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter, I wish I could send a prize to you all!

(......and yes, I do have to deal with all these ends!  I know I should have crocheted over them as I went, but I started doing that and I didn't like how one end of the stripe was thicker than the other! So I will weave them in at the end, surely it won't take that long..... :)  )

Well, that's about all for now, not much too report really, hopefully I'll have more interesting posts for you all soon, I think I've been lacking a bit of posting inspiration recently, so I apologise for the slightly boring sameness to my posting, I guess that can happen when life follows a gentle rhythm, and patterns and routines repeat themselves over the months.  I think it is called contentment, or something similar, just a happy life really. :)

How is life treating you at the moment?

Have a great day!

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A little 'taking stock' exercise....

So, as part of the Blog with Pip course I am doing, ( fantastic course, btw), we have been given a little blog assignment to complete, a 'taking stock' list, a snap shot of where we are and what we are thinking at the moment.

So here is mine! Pip has an empty list that you can copy and fill in on your own blog if you'd like to join in too.

Making : an editorial calendar

Cooking : roast chicken

Drinking : fresh orange juice

Reading: Frankie

Wanting: an icy pole

Looking: At a huge mess in my house

Playing: With the kitten, aww, so cute!

Deciding: Which way to take this blog

Wishing: Family violence didn't exist

Enjoying: being with all my boys

Waiting: for our tomatoes to ripen

Liking: Having my eldest son home at the moment, some good one on one chats. 

Wondering: How you would move on from a tragedy

Loving: Being part of an ace family.

Pondering: why some men lose the plot and do terrible things

Considering: Adding some more pages to this blog

Watching: The walking dead. Love a bit of zombie apocalypse horror, go Rick!

Hoping: for some rain.

Marvelling: at the amazing feat of Samuel Johnson, unicycling around Australia for his sister. Fab!

Needing: a diet coke.

Smelling: sweaty, time for a shower!

Wearing: trackies and a singlet, bogan chic.

Following: lots of new blogs thanks to Blog with Pip.

Noticing: how filthy my car is.

Knowing: life is short, make the most of every day.

Thinking: about what I am going to crochet next.

Feeling: so sad for the Batty family.

Admiring: some very profession looking blog set ups!

Sorting: a humungous pile of washing, (well I should be.)

Buying: new magazines.

Getting: organised for more regular blogging.

Bookmarking: some healthy recipes to try out.

Disliking: how many pesky flies are in my house at the moment, I which cats could shut doors!

Opening: a new bottle of soda water, a poor substitute for DC but I am trying to kick the habit.

Giggling: at a very floppy kitten.

Feeling: very unsettled today.

Snacking: on Savoury Shapes, guilty pleasure.

Coveting: some MadelineTosh sock wool, Molly Ringwald please!

Wishing: bad stuff didn't happen to good people.

Helping: convince my youngest son school camp will be fun.

Hearing: Controller by British India, great album.

 Wanna join in too?

How has your week been so far?

Busy? Cruisey? A bit of both like me?

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weekly stills....

1. Sneaky bit of crochet.

2. New blanket on the go, back to a favourite colour combo.

3+4+5. Last week was all about keeping cool and the beach featured heavily on our agenda, we are lucky and have several lovely spots to choose from, all close to home.

6+7. There was also quite a bit of pool time at my parents place, followed by food and drinks and more swimming.

Joining in with Emily at The Beetle Shack and the other weekly stillers.

small making days.....

There hasn't been a whole lot of making around here lately, just a few rows here and there when I get a chance.  I have gathered a bit of a crafty collection on the arm of the couch, so I can catch a nice burst of colour every time I glance over there, and I can pick it up and put it down again without cleaning up properly!   I think I will be able to make a few more washers, but then I will be out of colourful cottons, so I might try and source some good coloured cottons for my shop and me!  I am also determined to get that big mixed stitch stripey blanket for the CAL finished this coming week, I need to finish it off so I can move onto other things with a clear mind.  

It has been pretty busy here, Jesse has had his last day of high school today, and now has a few weeks of studying and his final exams to complete his Year 12 studies (VCE).  So there has been quite a bit of celebrating and milestones being passed.  Making me feel quite sentimental too!  My first baby is almost grown up now and it feels too soon, but it is exciting too and I just love the young man he is growing into, I'm looking forward to the next stage of his life,  I'm sure he will be off doing his own thing but we will be cheering from the side lines.

I have also embarked on yet another self improvement plan.  Hopefully the last one I will need. 

 I read this post by Frugal Queen and found it really resonated with me.   ( Thanks Froogs! :)  )  

So a lot of time this week has been spent on exercising. I have to say I am feeling better, 

I had forgotten how good it feels to sweat and work my muscles.  

( I am feeling sooooo sore though!) :)   I had been feeling a bit down and in a rut so this is really helping to lift my mood too, all those endorphins and all that....

I have no excuses now, I just have to get on with it and stick with it until it is just a part of my life.

( I have cut out Diet Coke too, it has been hard, one week down, so far so good! I had a big DC habit!)

Anyway, that's a couple of snippets of my week, it feels like I haven't been reading blogs for a while so I have a bit of catching up to do and see what you guys have been up to as well.

How has your week been? 

Getting any crafty action going?

Done any exercise, do you feel better when you do?

Joining in with Christina's Made By Hand today.

The other day.

I feel like I haven't been around blogland for quite a while, my boys over used the downloads over the holidays, so we were put back to a super slow speed for a week or so and being quite impatient with techy stuff, I decided not to bother with the computer at all!  But we are back to a speedy speed, so I can catch up on bloggy things now. Good. 

A few random things from my week: 

* We had some weird winter weather the other day, and the light outside went all green, the garden looked very surreal and everything had this strange tinge to it, hard to capture on camera, but I tried.

Then in the evening we had an amazing sunset and the whole sky turned beautiful shades of peach and pink, really spectacular.  I love a good sunset!

* I didn't end up getting to the Wool Show in Bendigo, but I am going to the Stitches and Craft show tomorrow in Melbourne, so we will see what that is like.  I have been one other year and it was very quilt/sewing/fabric focussed, but I think yarny things are gaining in popularity so hopefully there will be a bit more wooly goodness this year.

* I have just received a new order of wool for my shop, lovely new things :Zara extra fine merino, sooooo gorgeous to use and rich jewel shades, and Loyal DK which has a beautiful rainbow of colours.  Can't wait to get the photos taken so I can pop them in the shop! Very exciting, I am having a lot of fun extending my range little by little!

So what have you been doing lately?  

Seen any great sunsets?

Have a lovely day wherever you are in the world!

xxxxx

Holiday ramble

Hello, how are you all today?  We are onto the last day of the school holidays here, the time with the boys at home always seems to fly, even when we are doing nothing much.

It has been lovely and sunny and clear the past week ( but very cold!) so my friend and I took our boys for a bit of a walk at the Cape Schanck National Park.  There are lots of different walks you can do from the carpark, but the kids wanted to do the Pebbley beach one which takes you down a long boardwalk of stairs and ends up down on the beach at the point.  We have done this walk before and it is fun and not too long.

........this is looking to the right of the point and starting down the stairs.....

....then the path turns and and you head down the left side of the ridge.......

....and you end up on this stoney beach.......

....the boys had fun doing a bit of rock climbing, and we went for a bit of a clamber around the cliff bases checking out the rock pools and jumping from boulder to boulder, it is a great area to explore.....

....more rock climbing......

.....I don't know how they managed to get up there!  Adventurous boys!  It made me realise how safe our everyday lives have become, I was having a quiet freak out seeing them so high up on the rocks, but I tried to let them have their fun without too much interference from me, I think it is good for boys to learn how to take risks within reason, ( although I couldn't help myself telling them the consequences of slipping would not be good!  I got the ' Don't worry mum we'll be careful' line in return)

 It was a really pleasant way to spend a couple of hours, and the boys enjoyed the bit of extra freedom, even if I had to bribe them to come with fish and chips for lunch!  This area is really spectacular and rugged, you can see right around the coast line, it was good to visit mud week, as the weekends can get very crowded and there is not the same sense of peace and islotaion.  I think we might do a longer walk next time and visit some of the other secluded beaches along the coast.

.....in other news, we had a new little character join our family last week end, this is Attila the Kitten! 

(Andre named him)  We promised Andre that he could get a kitten for his birthday, so it was time to make good the promise.  I have to say, I didn't think I was a cat person, (they used to give me hay fever so I'd steer clear of cats), but this little guy is very cute!  He has a real personality, and does lots of funny things that keep us amused, I think I might be converting!  The boys love him already, Andre especially.

We got him from the RSPCA centre in Pearcedale, so it feels good that we can give him a home, otherwise his future might not have been so clear.  He seems to really like people and likes sitting with the boys on the couch and fighting with my scrap box of wool, many hours of entertainment to be found with a box of wool!

So what have you been up to this week? 

Getting any crafty action?  I've been doing a bit of crochet, but I haven't taken pictures yet, so I'll show you all next time.

Have a great day!

xxxxxxx

Little snippets.....

Hello, I haven't been on the computer much this week, the boys are home and they kind of dominate, and by the time I get a chance I can't be bothered thinking of something to post!  So slack of me.

But anyway, I thought I'd show you how the 'wheels within wheels' blanket is progressing, I have made quite a few 'wheels' now, and I am loving seeing how colourful they are looking all together.

  

I think this will turn out to be my most grown up blanket once all these colours are set into their grey squares, I think it will a lot more subtle than it's looking now!

It does give me a happy feeling looking at these rounds, the pattern does 4 rounds of colours, but I decided to add another one to make them a bit bigger, I'm loving the 5 round look.

So anyway, I have gone a bit overboard with the colourful photos here but I think I needed a bit of cheering up, and this hits the spot today!

.......The other day I picked up a new order of wool for my shop, lots of lovely colour and some new things too, now I have to just get around to updating and adding the new yarns to the shop, today's job!

....And I just had to show you my lucky oppy score, a friend of mine mentioned that she thought I'd like the canisters she'd seen in the oppy window the other day, so I checked it out, and yes please!

Very cute 60s/70s willow tins, they just need a bit of a clean up and I'll be able to fill them with all sorts of crap treasures!

So that's a little catch up around here, I'will try and post more often, but sometimes life seems a bit mundane with nothing interesting happening to chat about, but we'll see I guess.

Have a lovely day!

xxxxxx