HOW TIME FLIES

Once again I have been caught out by how quickly time goes by. I thought that once I finished my job I would have more time at home to do the things I loved - knitting, crocheting, blogging, I have found this not to be the case. But for the life of me I don't know what I am doing. I get up in the morning and get my daughter ready for school. After dropping her off at school, I return home and take the dog out for his walk. I love this part of the day. I take my time and if I am on my own with him I can go over things in my head, think of new designs to knit and crochet and if I have any problems going on I try to straighten them out. When I get home I have breakfast and whilst eating my bowl of porridge I go on the internet and check emails, send replies, check if I have any sales on Etsy and take a look at my Facebook page. Now I know that this is one of my problems, once I get on the internet I seem to spend ages on there. I click on links I am sent and end up on some gorgeous blogs that I just have to read. And then there are those games on Facebook. I have had to give up on Cafe World because it was starting to cut into my time too much when I had dishes that were ready to be served. I am trying to keep away from Farmville now because I always seem to have crops that need harvesting and now there is Frontierville which is another kind of farm game which requires crops planting and harvesting and trees and grass to be cut. The day is just not long enough. Anyway if I am not careful I can end up on the computer for most of the morning and before I know it, it is lunchtime and I haven't got anything done.

I have been able to fit some crocheting into my busy routine. I have been trying something new to me, something I have always wanted to have a go at. I have been crocheting granny squares and the first ones I made are waiting to be sewn together to make a small baby blanket for a pram or crib.

I love crocheting these but hate the fiddly bits, weaving in the ends and sewing the squares together so next time I am going to weave the ends in as I change the colours. I have already finished crocheting another baby afghan, this one is blue and I again I am having to sew the pieces together. I haven't taken any pictures of this one yet but will do once it is all finished. The next one I make I am going to try and crochet the pieces together as I make them.

BABY BEANIES

My granddaugters have been asking me to make them crocheted beanies for some time but I have been that busy with orders that I have had to put them off (naughty nanna). Anyway I have finally got to make them and they turned out really cute, although my first attempt was too small.


Which then gave me the idea of adding baby beanies to my shop. Here's my 'mistake' hat, what do you think?

BIG BUTTON PHONE CASES

Here are some more of my big button phone cases/cozies. They do stretch and will fit a number of gadgets.


I have already sold quite a few of these off Etsy, now I am hoping they will become as popular on Etsy! As an introductory offer I have reduced the price of them.

STITCH MARKERS

I have been making stitch markers for quite some time but it is only recently that I have listed some in my Etsy shop. The ones I use are made with some odd beads I had, but the ones I make now for my shop are so much prettier. I have also made them for presents for my knitting and crochet friends.

I have recently made these 2 sets and they are now for sale in my Etsy shop. All sets come in an organza bag for safe keeping.

NEW ITEMS

These are the latest 2 phone cozies I have added to my shop. I got the new buttons I had ordered and I have put one on the brown cozy. I think it makes it look really good. I haven't sold any in my shop yet, I seem to be having more luck selling off Etsy at the moment.

Speaking of which, my daughter came round this weekend and she bought one of my hats. I wanted to let her have it a bit cheaper but she insisted on paying the full amount. So now she has ordered one for her daughter, Chloe who is 8. I have never made beanie hats for young ones so I am trying to adapt my pattern to a smaller head. This has given me the idea of maybe making more of the children sizes for my Etsy shop.

I am hopefully going to a wool shop this week and I am going to look at yarns that will be suitable for summer and winter wear. We don't have a good wool shop near us, well what we consider near us in the UK. I usually rely on the internet for most of my yarn, but nothing beats going to a lovely wool shop where they stock a beautiful selection of yarns and being able to feel them.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

December was a good month, sales wise, on Etsy so I have spent most of January re-stocking my shop and thinking of new ideas. I have added coffee cuffs and phone cases/cozies to my shop.

I love these coffee cuffs. I have knitted them in a stitch which gives them a padded feel. They are so much better than the paper ones and they are eco-friendly as they can be used over and over. I am a coffee addict so I keep one in my pocket. I am always getting asked where I got it from, I have sold quite alot of these by keeping some with me when I am out!


I have made phone cozies before, but this time I have changed the design. I have knit these in a basketweave pattern and finished them off with a button. I have ordered some new buttons and I am hoping they are going to come today. They are big and bright and I think they will look great on my phone cozies. I had an enquiry about this one. I was asked if I made these cozies for Iphones. Unfortunately I don't own an Iphone so I asked my daughter if she knew anyone who did. Luckily she did and she took it to Uni with her yesterday so that she could try it on one. Anyway this one fits Iphones and my daughter's friend loved it that much she placed an order for one, the same colour as this but with a yellow button.

DECEMBER ALREADY

Watching surfers on a beach near Newcastle, NSW

Where has this year gone? I can't believe we are getting close to the end of 2009. We had hoped to be living in Australia by now, but we haven't been able to sell our house. It has been on the market since February this year, unfortunately we have picked the worse time of all to sell due to the credit crunch. And to make matters worse the value of the pound has dropped dramatically against the Australian dollar which of course reduces greatly the amount of money we would have once we get there. It just seems that at the moment nothing is going our way and it is very disappointing. We are keeping our fingers crossed that things start to pick up next year and we can start our new life in Oz.