Wow!

Thanks to the Bored Panda website my Etsy shop has been very busy just lately -- they ran a piece about 'dragon scale' wrist warmers featuring someone else's shop but her shop sold out very quickly so there were lots of people searching for similar items.

In just a few days I had over 2000 views: which is way way busier than I would normally have at this (or any!) time of the year and I sold over 15 pairs of my crocodile stitch wrist warmers!

I'm now up to 955 Etsy sales so I'm inching closer and closer to the big 1000...

It was a really great boost in my sales and finances - I've used some of the money to pay for our new Ikea tv uni which is now in situ in the conservatory. We had actually bought two of them but they only had one in stock in the right colour so the Ikea man will try again when he's up in Dublin next time.

I spent most of the rest of the money on some new business cards (and stickers!) from Moo and all this lovely wool.

I never will be a business person as as soon as I get money from my Selkie sales, it just goes on more and more wool....

I bought these from Love Knitting, who are based in the UK - I went with them for this order as I was looking for some bright self-striping cotton (which will be coming in a separate delivery as they didn't have it in stock) and then I thought I'd try a couple of new colours of King Cole's 'riot'.

I was thrilled to see that they sell German wools there too - I bought these Schoppel ones when we were in Germany on holiday the year before last but was delighted that I could get them again now.

Days off and a new purchase

 I'd been planning on going beach combing this afternoon but it turned out to be a showery day so I stayed inside instead...I love sitting in the sunroom and watching the rain on the roof! I am so impatient to get the proper furniture in there still but we don't have electricity in there yet so I'm having to make do with sitting on a deckchair in the meantime.

The photo below just about sums up my afternoon - nice snacks (choccie biccies and some grapes that were grown locally by a family friend) and a hot chocolate on the side and then my crochet to keep me occupied.

 I'd rediscovered this yarn which I'd bought in Iceland - I LOVE the colour combination!

I've also just started on the navy blue 'artists' hat for Jaye (my Etsy customer who wants to place a big order this/next month) - you can see the wool in the photo above. It's lovely Rowan, 100% pure wool double knitting. Dark wool just about makes me cross-eyed in the evening though so I'm making the wrist warmers at the same time for a bit of variation.

 This is just about the best thing I've ever bought! I've wanted to get a 'cat tower' for ages but we never had any room for one - now that we have a great big conservatory I decided that the time was right :)

 I think it's safe to say that the cats like it - well Dinah and Oscar do at least. Pearl hasn't sussed it out yet but I think she will like it too -- I'll be surprised if all three of our 'indoor' cats go on it at the same time.

Conservatory Update

 We have a floor! The man from Corcorans did a great job in fitting our lino - because of the shape of the room there's a join in the lino down the one side of the room but he's matched it up so well that you wouldn't notice it at all.

We have finished the painting now too so it's feeling like a proper room and part of the house rather than a building site. We still are waiting for the builders to come back and do the skirting boards (and to create a new patio outside) - also the electrician and the plumber - but right now it's a really comfortable room to sit in during daylight.

The light there is so good that I often sit in one of the deckchairs there during the day with my crochet and can spend an hour or two quite happily :)

 I can't wait til we have 'proper' furniture in there - the sofa etc. We've bought two of these tv stands/cupboards from Ikea -- there's a man nearby who travels up to Dublin once a month or so and will buy and deliver your choices from Ikea. These will look great under the long wall of windows - they have drawers for all our DVDs and whatever else we want to store away.

He went up on his trip to Dublin today so we hopefully will have our purchases soon - of course we'll have to assemble them but I quite like doing that.

My friend Julia has given me the most amazing gift - it will have pride of place in our sunroom; I am so impatient to hang it up already but I will wait until we have decided on the layout of the room first with the furniture etc.

Wrist Warmers for Vegans!

I've been working with the Boho Spirit yarn that I bought from my friend Sonya in Wales - I really love the colours in this yarn! It's 100% acrylic (but not scratchy) so is perfect for my vegan friends -- I had a repeat customer on Etsy looking for some that would be suitable for a non-wool wearing friend so I'm hoping that she will like these colours too.

Jaye (my Etsy customer) also asked for a pair of wrist warmers made in 'Neon' Riot by King Cole, but with a specific colour placement - I had to use two balls of wool to get these to match up just right but I like how they turned out and the colour placement is just what she is looking for. 

...and this is what I'm working on now. Deep purple wrist warmers in a merino wool/acrylic blend which I bought in Italy nearly two years ago. I tend to work mostly with self-striping yarns so it's kind of strange to be using a solid colour (but it's my favourite colour at least!) 

I love buying yarns when we're away on holidays - I still have wool in my cupboard/boxes from our holidays in Germany, Italy and now Iceland! Of course every time we go over to England to visit Peter's daughter I somehow manage to find a wool shop too ;) I am trying to work my way through it all but it will take forever...

September

Well it REALLY feels like Autumn now - the ferry is finishing at 8.30 in the evening (compared to 10pm all through July and August) - and I only have 22 more working days left. We are finishing on the 6th October this year, so less than five weeks today and I will be unemployed again.

Peter and I had a couple of hours on Valentia last Sunday and went for a walk along the marina - I can understand why so many people go walking along there now; it's really pleasant to walk along and to look at all the boats and then watch the ferry going to and fro.

 I've been picking blackberries from the bramble at the bottom of our garden but it definitely isn't such a good year for them :( I have been freezing the ones that I pick so that we will still have enough for a few crumbles once our cooking apples are ripe too. 

Barbara the artist has asked me to make seven pairs of wrist warmers to match the hats for her artists on the retreat later this month so I've had to order another 2kg cone of the turquoise wool!

 I only needed enough wool for two more pairs of wrist warmers but thought it would be so much better value to buy the cone again rather than individual 50g balls - so now I have to find somewhere to store this...

I also took the opportunity to order some blue Rowan wool for a hat for Jaye's order and the 'neon' Riot dk for the wrist warmers she wanted too, but my wool cupboard is heaving now.

I am kind of back-logged with orders at the moment - I've just finished Barbara's order for the hats and the wrist warmers but I still have Jaye's order (I must make a flower hat in navy wool, a pair of 'neon' wristwarmers and another couple of pairs) and also a pair of wrist warmers in the fluffy grey yarn I bought in Iceland earlier this year (for Mary Ruth - I haven't forgotten!). Then I've also had enquiries about a pair of scarves (for Keisha and her little daughter) and a woolly hat for a man (for Luke, who I know through work on the ferry)

It's kind of over whelming but in a good way!

 Look at how fab the conservatory is looking now :) I made a start on the painting today: giving the low walls under the new windows two coats and then cleaning the old walls with sugar soap and getting one coat on one of the walls. I've now run out of paint so I'm at a standstill - I'm not sure if we have more in the shed (this is Peter's department) but it's progress at least.

The man is coming to fit the flooring on Monday so that will be a bit step forward.

I've started working with some of the 'Boho Spirit' yarn that I bought from my friend Sonya - it's 100% acrylic but is a good quality and is nice to work with - aren't these colours amazing??!