weekly stills....

1. It's freesia time in my garden, Yay!! I say bring it on! 

If there's a better smelling flower out there I'd love to know, freesia scent is divine! :)

2. A blurry shot of part of my stall on the weekend, (I remembered to take my good camera, but forgot to put the sim card in it!  Doh!  So this is from my phone that is showing it's age now.)

I had a lovely day and it was so nice to  meet more readers of this blog!  I'll be doing this market again in November, I am looking forward to it already.

3. Last week seemed to be dominated by granny square bunting!  

Happy to be making something else for awhile.

4 +5. Some hits of colour from my Spring garden, the roses are in bloom, and it looks like a good year for roses around here, and the bearded iris are full of flower spikes that are beginning to open.  I think this purple and white one is very hardy, I divided up a few big clumps last year and it seems they were all this colour, I now have shots of purple popping up all around my garden, lovely! 

I am hoping for a few other colours to flower soon too.

6. I am noticing little piles of yarn ends all around my house.  I hadn't really noticed how messy I am when I am working, but I do tend to spread through out the whole house if these yarny droppings are anything to go by! :) ( I started looking around for more and found 8 more little piles at strategic places throughout the house! Must be a bit tidier!!)

7. Making little bottle vase covers at the moment, more to come on these later. :)

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So, I feel like I have been neglecting this little blog over the last few weeks, I haven't spent much time on the computer, and when I have been on it I have just been dropping in quickly and buzzing off again, no time to interact properly.  Hopefully life will slow down a bit and I will be able to get a few posts up on here this week, that is the plan anyway!

A few of the blogs I like to check in on every now and again are stopping blogging, it is a shame as these are lovely  places to visit on the internet, but I do understand how they feel! Sometimes I feel like there is nothing more to say on here, and that Little Woollie has run it's course and is getting quite predictable and a bit boring.  Maybe it is time for a break, there don't seem to be enough hours in the day for all the stuff I'd like to do anyway!   

Do you lovely readers have any tips for getting out of a rut and reinvigorating yourselves?

If you blog, how do you keep up your interest and come up with things to blog about?

Do you think editorial calendars work, does it make 

you a more disciplined blogger (as in frequency)? 

I could use a few new ideas :)

My creative space...pretty things..

Today in my creative space, I have finally found a use for some lovely bright cotton I bought while we were on holiday.

These little doily things are pretty and cute and are in one of my Japanese crochet books, I have been meaning to give them a go for while, and got around to it last night.

I have no idea what the book is called, I haver seen it in Blogland quite a lot, but you can see the cover, I bought it from etsy, so if you google  Japanese Crochet books you will probably find it pretty easily.

I'm thinking that lots of these in different colour combos sewn together would make a pretty funky tablecloth for summer...hmmm, I'll see how many I make before I get sick of them.

Joining in over here today, at Our Creative Spaces, lots of other creative stuff happening there!

I also wanted to chat about something else that I am thinking about, and ask a couple of questions.

Feel free not to read on here, but I would love to hear your opinions.

Recently I have been thinking a lot about the direction of my life, my children are getting older, although they are not grown up yet, and I feel that things are changing, they are more involved in their own lives and plans, and don't need me hovering around them all the time like they did when they were little . This is good. This is a natural progression, and is one that I feel is the result of the strong, secure family environment that we still have, they are making (some) decisions about their lives without too much input from us, and seem to be making good ones. 

All this leads me to the point where I feel I have time to do something else with my own life.  My family is still my first priority, but they are happy for me to do something that will make me happy, and they are even interested in what I'm planning!

Plus there is the practical side that we have been predominately a one income family, and our budget could do with some extra income.

With all this in mind I have been thinking about combining things I love, crafting, yarns, colour, and setting up a shop.  An empty shop has come up for lease in our town, and I am seriously trying to work out how I can open a wool and haberdashery, crafty supplies type shop.  There used to be one in town when I first moved here, but the woman retired and it shut. 

It is in a bit of a quiet part of town though, so I am wondering if people will make the effort to seek me out, or if the LYS is a thing of the past? Should I sell online as well?

Also I hope to offer classes and spread the yarny love with lots of inspiring gorgeous yarns and examples of what you can do with crochet and knitting.  I am not trying to make a fortune, (but a little income would be nice), I really think that being creative is so good for your soul and mental health, and I want to try and create somewhere people can indulge their creative passions.  There are so many gorgeous materials out there, and our closest yarn shop is 30 minutes away, so I think (hope) it could be viable.

One reason I thought this could work is the amazing community of crafters that I have found since starting this blog, I never thought there would be so much interest in yarny type things until I started blogging, I thought I was a bit weird with my creative endeavours, but then I found i was not alone!!

So, a couple of questions

Do you buy yarn from your LYS or mostly online?

Do you buy luxury yarns for a special treat?

Do you think there is still a place for a traditional haberdashery and yarn shop in todays world?

Do you think people have time/want to learn new skills like crochet nowadays?

Sorry to bombard you, and for rambling, if you stopped reading ages ago, I can understand!

So, I am off to my ponderings, and I hope you have a great creative day!

Plans......

Sooo.....what's been happening?

I have been in a bit of a limbo recently, I have some exciting plans that might actually become a reality, and it is a bit daunting.

I was telling my 11 year old about what's going on and he said

"so is this one dream Mum that you are actually going to do and not just talk about?"

Hmmmmm....... I think I have a reputation as a dreamer and a bit of a gunna.

I do have lots of ideas and schemes for things I could do, and different paths my life could take, I tend to talk them up for a few days and then they just slip back into the background of life, while everyday stuff is the actual life I lead.

So yes, I can understand when the boys look at me sceptically, I am sure they are thinking, there she goes again, off on another tangent.

But anyway, this is different.  Exciting, a bit risky (not dangerous, but it might not work), and something I think will be really good for me and all my family. Something I have been toying with in various guises for quite a while.

My mum thinks I might be having a mid life thingy, maybe she's right. I think I have been avoiding making decisions about what to do with the next bit of my life, using the boys as an excuse to put off doing things.  hmmmmm....... we will see what happens next!

Sorry to be so criptic, but I will write about what's going on soon if it all pans out .

Have a great day!

Blogtober 17th...

Sooooo....... Haven't got much to say tonight. We had Gary's extended family over for a big reunion lunch today, which was a fun day, so I haven't gotten around to taking any photos of anything for the blog. We are all cleaned up again and just about to sit down for a bit of hooky time I think. My sister in law bought her knitting with her today, and was making hats, something I haven't made before. It looked pretty easy so I might have a go on some little baby or kids hats and then decorate them with some crochet edging or flowers, I have a few colour schemes in mind already.

Thanks for the feedback regarding setting up a little shop on Madeit or Etsy, I am busy making some things and hope to have enough to open a shop in the not too distant future! It is a bit daunting getting out there and putting your stuff up there for sale, what if no one is interested in what I make? It could be a very short lived venture! Also how do you decide on a price for your creations, I find this really hard, a lot of stuff on Madeit and Etsy seems really cheap for the work and time that has gone into it, how do you balance this and still try and be competitive?
There is a lot to think about!

Hope you had a great weekend! Back to the normal routines tomorrow, the weekends just fly by! My last day of working at the bakery tomorrow, and then a few weeks break (Yay!) before I start a new part time job, so lots of time to go into a hooky frenzy and produce lots of gorgeous things!

ho hum......

Blogtober 15th

Not much to report today... completely miserable outside, I let my 2 younger ones stay home from school today as they both had minor complaints, usually would have sent them anyway, but today I thought a nice day snuggled up at home wouldn't hurt.
Trying to tidy up for a weekend family catch up with Gary's relly's who we haven't seen for many years. Lunch for 20 on Sunday, so need to get organised!
I also realised how much yarn I have in my stash! Trying to find a home for it all so I can start using it up! Time to get organised in that department too.
I'm wondering how many items you need ideally to start a little shop on Etsy or Madeit, what do you think would be a minimum?

Have a great day!

Thanks!

Yesterday I was very surprised and happy to see I had been given this award by the lovely Victoria from Yarn Round Hook. Thanks Victoria!!

Apparently I have to tell 7 things about myself, so here goes

1. I love to cook. And to eat. (I think I'm a bit of a glutton)

2. I love bookshops and books, I have no problem justifying book purchases for anyone in our family.

3. I have to admit I have been totally sucked in by the 'Twilight' series. I read all 5 books in 1 week, I was so hooked! Stephanie Meyer knows how to write a mean story! There is nothing like a bit of escapism to brighten your day.

4.I learnt how to crochet about 6 weeks ago, and now my mind is full of things I want to make!

5.I have a Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design (although I have never worked in the industry; I went and had babies instead), and love being 'a creative type'.

6.I try to be semi- self -sufficient and grow a lot of our vegies all year and also fruit in summer.
I am involved with our local community garden as well, so what I don't grow at home I can generally find down there.

7. My family are fantastic! I am really close to my mum and dad and sisters and their families and my in-laws, and I am trying to create a similar 'atmosphere' for our boys to grow up in so they can experience the strength of a strong connected family. (You know what I mean?)


There are my 7 facts, and now I am supposed to pass the award onto 15 other blogs I've come across, however since I haven't been blogging for long I will give it to 4 other blogs -

1. Knicky Knacks
2.Pink Fluffy Warrior
3.plus 3 crochet
4.Just-Do

Most of these I found through i-crochet, so check it out if you like crochet!
I'm off to leave a comment for these guys and then bed is calling I think!
Have a great day. Jules