Using up some of my wools!

 just to prove I am using up some of my new wools! we had five days without any internet after the last big storm so I kept my mind off the bad weather by crocheting like crazy :)

you can see more of my hats here in my etsy shop if you're interested... click here for hats! -- I'm always making new ones and I've tried to stock up as best as I can on the lovely Wendy Celtic chunky one as I've discovered that it's been discontinued (why do they do this to me?!)

and here are just some of my new cotton facial scrubbies! Made in soft, organic cotton they are just great for your skin. I started to make these for myself originally and then started selling them in my etsy shop as I'm such a convert and wanted to spread the word.

scrubbies - click on the link if you'd like to check out the ones I currently have available - there are a few more to come and I'm happy to make up a 'pick and mix' set or do larger orders, on request.

I still need to update my blog on my life outside of crochet but that can wait for another day :)

confessions of a wool addict....

 argh, I KNOW I just said in my last blog update that I wouldn't be buying any more wools...I am a weak person with zero will-power! This is what happens when I get an email from BlackSheepWools to say that they are having a sale...

 ...and this...

 ...and this too!sigh...it's all lovely stuff and I will use it up (if I live that long!) but I don't exactly need it.




...and then while we were over in England I bought all of this....

...I'd only gone in to the wee wool shop looking for some fine 4-ply cotton and came out with two balls of it and all of this (and more, I've taken out the multiples of the Wendy Celtic yarn)

Sigh...I really think that I can't help myself! This really and truly is it as regards wool purchases for a while (not saying how long a 'while' is but I am going to try!!). I know it's like a broken record with me and it generally lasts until I get distracted by the next lovely thing I see but I really am going to try now! I have so much wool in stock and I'm going to try and work my way through it!

I've already made several hats with the bits and pieces I bought and now am in the middle of trying to re-stock my 'bath and beauty' section in my Etsy shop - with 100% pure cotton facial scrubbies (most are made with organic cotton) and once I'm all stocked up on scrubbies I might start making the pure cotton shower/bath mitts again before I go back to hats, wrist warmers etc etc.

1st February

Happy St. Bridget's Day - today's the day where we traditionally bring in something green from the garden to symbolise the start of the coming Spring, but unfortunately we are in the middle of yet another storm so I won't be venturing forth into the garden in search of green buds.

So what's happened in the last month or so since I wrote a proper update (last night's one doesn't count)?

Things are going SO well in my Etsy shop -- January always has felt like the month where I start feeling ''I wonder why I am doing this?'' and I always try to be brave and think of the quiet spell as a chance to make new stock, but it's always a slump with very few sales. Last January I had the grand total of two sales all month but I'm very happy to say that this January I had 19 sales - with a total of 29 items sold!

Hopefully February will continue this trend but even if it doesn't I'm just thrilled that January wasn't such a bad month at all for me this time.

Last month I started to make boot cuffs/boot toppers- it's something I'd never even thought about but I got a request from someone on Etsy to make crocodile stitch boot cuffs and thought 'well why not?'

 The blue ones were the 'proto-type' ones that I made when I was working out the stitches and the pattern - I've since ripped them out but I think the colours work well for this yarn. 

 ....these purply ones were the first pair I made (for my customer on Etsy) - I'm really happy with how they turned out but I took such awful photos...she was very happy with them in real life though so that's what really matters.

...and these grey ones are the ones I've just finished in the last couple of days - they were a custom order too, for the lovely Jessie in Canada.  I really like how they turned out and I think I'm getting better at photographing them too.

I'm happy to make more of them but they are something I am only going to make as a custom order, as everyone's legs are different. I might look into some different patterns for them too....so watch this space...

Well since I last updated on here I ordered some more wools from Springwools - they were having a sale so I couldn't resist: and then a few others fell into my virtual basket while I was browsing (that happens a lot to me!) - but I don't seem to still have a photo of my order :( It's disappointing as I usually take photos - I'm not sure if I posted one on my facebook page or not.

But since then I have made myself a promise to TRY not to go mad with buying more and more wool - I need to save some of my 'takings' from my Selkie shop, and really I think six big boxes full of different wool is more than enough for anyone. It's so hard for me, I get so tempted by all the new shades/brands....sigh...

Other stuff to update on --- Chocolette's coffee/chocolate shop in town have decided that they are going to concentrate more on the cafe/chocolate side of the shop so they are stopping selling my crochet and my cards :( It's a shame but they have to do what's right for them; I'm not sure about approaching a shop about selling my stuff now - I do have a load of cards, so maybe I will try somewhere for them; we'll see.

The plus side of them stopping selling my stuff is that I got a whole load of stock to relist in my Etsy shop! There's always a lining to every cloud if you look for it. So now my Etsy shop is up to 132 listings :) I think this is the most stocked it's ever been. Definitely the more listings you have in your shop the more chance you have of people finding your shop and hopefully buying something!

Just a couple of days ago was the 23rd anniversary of Peter and I meeting for the first time :) To celebrate this I decided to run a sale in my shop - everything has a whopping 23% off til next Wednesday! It's been very successful so far; I think it's the biggest discount I've had to date in my shop but it's bringing in some much needed cash to my paypal account.

Unrelated to Etsyland but something big in my life has been my beachcombing - it's my other big passion. We quite often find bits and pieces on the beach that have obviously come in from America/Canada etc but the other day I had a brainwave and thought to post on the 'Maine Lobster Boats' facebook page with a link to my beachcombing page - it's kind of skyrocketed since then and the up-shot is that we've been able to trace back several of the buoys and tags right back to the fishermen and boats that they have come from originally.

I'm waiting for a few more photos and more info on a couple of them but once I get it all I think I'll do a post on here as well as my beachcombing page :)

January - oops

Argh, this isn't the best of starts to the New Year -- it's already the very end of the month and it's only now that I'm settling down to write my update on life and crochet :) Actually I'm just getting ready for bed so this is really just a token update so that I can properly update on it all (hopefully tomorrow)

In the meantime, feast your eyes on this! Isn't this wonderful? I've chosen it as my avatar on Etsy - it's a pair of my crocodile wrist warmers (that have since sold) but I just love the stitch and the colours :)

500!!!

oh my ears and whiskers, I did it! 500 Etsy sales as of this afternoon!! big big thanks to everyone who has bought items from me, shared my photos/listings/pages etc and for just everything!

 Some more photos of Christmas at our house - I LOVE candles, and especially at this time of year when it just seems to be perpetually dark and dull.

The big heart shaped tea-light holder is in our sitting room window - it's so pretty!

 Christmas Day was actually a calm, sunny day - lovely and crisp, with snow on the far mountains. It was so nice out that Peter, Henry and I went for a walk along the golf links beach in the early afternoon - after breakfast (brioche and bucks fizz) and presents down at my Mum and Dads' house and before we had our dinner :)

I can finally post a photo on here of a very special present I made for the lovely Carrie <3 p="">

I made it using a pattern that I found in Simply Crochet magazine (though they used the squares for a blanket or scarf I think) - I really like the pattern - they are still 'granny squares' but with a bit of a twist!)

The yarn is lovely 100% baby alpaca from King Cole (via the lovely Springwools!) - you really need to be able to touch it to appreciate how luxurious it is!

Merry Christmas Everybody!

I thought I'd start off with a couple of festive photos! I'm busy today with a looong list of jobs to get done while Peter's out at work and the house is quiet, but I'm taking a break and have made myself a coffee so I can sit down and write what will probably be my last blog-update of 2013!

Big big news is that I am now only three sales away from having had 500 Etsy sales - I still can't quite get my head around that figure...I doubt that I'll reach that goal before the end of the year, but to be honest I'm not really that bothered about WHEN it actually happens, it's just a huge achievement whenever it comes around!

I just had a look at my 'shop statistics' the other day and I have actually done better on Etsy this year compared to the last twelve months. I need to remind myself of this kind of thing every so often, as I can get so bogged down in comparing myself to other people and shops on there, when really I should try to just focus on myself and making my own shop bigger and better {easier said than done, but one day I might just get there!}

I treated myself to a big order from BlackSheepWools last month - it was so big that it had to come in two packages :)

I've used up some of it already - making hats with the Rico Galaxy, King Cole Moorland and both lots of Wendy Celtic.

I also ordered some bits and pieces from PurpleLindaCrafts but had them delivered to Peter's Mum (in England) as I was meant to be going over there earlier this month, but I got sick so Peter had to go instead. I really have zero will-power!

I've kind of been on a spending spree recently but this is the time of year when I have more selkie-money so it makes sense to buy stock/supplies now rather than in the middle of the summer or whenever.

So in this spirit, I've bought 100 greetings cards from Moo :) I've included some new photos rather than keeping getting the same old ones over and over again - I thought I'd try selling ones with close-up photos of my crochet and I just love this photo from Valentia.

I'm selling the 'crochet' cards individually or as a set of four (in the photo above) - hopefully they will sell for me :) People are always saying how neat my work is, and I loved the colours so I chose those four as a 'test' to see how they sell.

I also bought 100 more business cards from Moo - they were having a sale and it always makes sense to stock up on that kind of thing when you can get a bargain.

I've used up yet more of my lovely wools from our Italian holiday -- the hat is a 60/40 blend of wool and silk. Oh I wish I had bought more of this instead of just one skein...

...and this is the second of the mohair blend with sequins which I bought there too...happy sigh... I still have lots left in my 'Italian' bag so keep watching for updates and photos!

Right, that's nearly the end of my second coffee so I'm going to finish up on the computer for now and wish you all a wonderful Christmas and all the best for 2014.

Italian Wool :)

I thought it might be a good idea to show how I've used some of the wools I bought on our travels in Italy...

These are all made with 100% wool and are so soft -- they've all sold apart from the black/grey fleck hat and I sold one of the cream wool headbands but have made another one to replace it.

And then I made these....

It was my first time using a wool with tiny (soft!) sequins in it and I just love how they turned out. I've started to make a pair in the cream too but have put them on the back burner while I concentrate on things in my order book. The creamy white version has little gold sequins and looks equally yummy (though I do prefer the blue version personally)

I've still got some more stuff in my 'Italian Stash' so watch this space in the New Year for other bits and pieces