Decisions, decisions

Some important decision making has been occuring over here. After a few days being ill I really couldn't face big food shopping. The cupboards are getting a bit bare to be honest, instead we just bought what we needed for tonight and that included a huge box of chocs in the reduced pile.

Eldest Bun was straight on the case trying to match the pictures to her favourite choccies.

The other important decision so far this week was to get on with some finishing up jobs. While Little Bun and I recovered together on Tuesday I gritted my teeth and got on with sewing in the threads of all 40+flowers on my Japanese Flowers scarf. I finished it in the summer and reckoned if I stood a gnats chance of wearing it this winter I'd better get on with the horrible job.

Little Bun ended up wearing it as an afternoon cosy once all the ends were tidy and stitched out of sight. It would be fair to say she loves it and so do I.

I worked it all in a mix of Amy Butler's Cotton and Aran mix for Rowan. The yarn is so soft around my neck and very very cosy. It's a dream to hook with too, just in case you're tempted to get some.

It looks especially right against my blue velvet coat and made me feel just the right side of upbeat today when I wore it. 

Illness finally over and Little Bun back at school so it meant I could keep my date for cake and chat with Gabriella of Moobaacluck and Penny at Planet Penny. It was a lovely way to spend the morning in the company of two very talented ladies. They'll both be joining me and setting up their mobile shops at the Christmas Pick 'n' Mix Makers Market in Holt on Saturday 26th November. I can't wait to see their work all laid out and ready to tempt.

I gave in to early temptations today, rather than waiting another month. Who could blame me when I spied this Sasse and Belle toadstool whatnot. Toadie pincushion, sticks for putting threads on and a mini toadstool for needles. I just love it.

I'd gone to the lovely things shop to find yarn to make an early start on the first christmas present. Little Bun loved my flower scarf so much and asked for her own colourful one. I normally avoid manmade yarns, but loved the colours of the Sirdar Snuggly range too much to resist.

I've started playing around with shapes and joining them up this evening. I don't want to make another Japanese Flower Scarf, so I'm doing something different which I hope will show up the colours perfectly. Once I've done a bit more I'll show you how it's going.

I did give in to one other wee bit of desire when I went in the discount shop. This gorgeous cardi was £20 instead of £75 and as there's no way I'd ever have paid that much (even if I could) and I have a cardigan obsession,  so it had to come home with me.

Last decision of the day is to post this and say goodnight I think. See you soon.

I've Found It.

Lately I keep forgetting to take my camera with me. Lovely things happen in front of us and then I realise I don't have a camera to record it. This does mean I actually pay attention to what's going on though rather than worrying about taking a half decent picture. Tonight after school we walked up to the village pond to see the new baby ducks and to feed them all. Their mother let all eight of them jump on the bank in front of the Buns. Both of them crouched down and quietly watched them. I wish I had remembered my camera.

At the weekend, squashed between two parties (kids not adults), I managed to have a quick dash around the Norwich Bead & Textile Fair with little Bun. One lady was sitting with two amazing vintage bears to advertise a Vintage Fashion and Textiles Fair. The theme is Children's Hour and so she had added her elderly, muich loved bear to the stand. I wished I had my camera then as well. She spoke so fondly about her bear and showed me his new suit that she had made for him as his other had worn out. Moving on I bought a metre of this fabulous Kaffe Fassett fabric and now I wish I'd bought more. I didn't know what I wanted to do with it at the time, just that I wanted it, now I want to make a skirt out of it. Might have to go up to their shop and search out some more.

I also added to my huge felt stash and got some felted wool too. Before leaving we made sure we had one of the delicious brownies on sale before going to help Mr Bun with an exhibition he was taking down.

Yesterday I made up this pincushion with the new felt and have started cutting out hearts from some of the other felt to make some more brooches with.

Since my last post about trying to find where inspiration is hiding, I've decided to go and track it down myself. So I've taken action. I got out my sketchbooks and notebooks and started drawing and writing down some patterns. I'll definately have to embroider this little bird with her brolly. She just happened and I'm glad she did as I like her a lot.

Then I worked on some ideas for more children's bags.

After that a bit of general doodling that might become something or it might just be something happy to look at.

This is from an older sketch book when I was working on designs for my business cards. In the end Mr Bun, who is much better at drawing than me, did them. They are a lovely 1930's green with a small Bobo bunny holding a ladybirds hand. I must scan them in to show you.

Finally some of my writing books. I used to teach knitting and crochet at home, but now I want to branch out and approach a few cafe's and the like to see if I could hold classes there. So I've been working on a few designs to show as samples of styles. I've designed a crochet pattern for a cushion using almond stitch as I love the picture of one on the back of Vintage Crochet. Got to design some posters and flyers too before I can get going.

I've also signed up for two one day courses. One How to Design Your Own Website and the other about Selling Online. That's me had a full shake up - told myself to stop faffing and to make the leap. In the background I've been trying to set up a folksy and etsy shop for a while now, but I just can't get my banner to be larger than a pinprick. As I'm a perfectionist this irritates me as I want it to look exactly how it is in my head. If anyone knows how to sort this stuff out I'd be really grateful for any help.

Oh and back to the beginning of this post. While I was out signing up for this course I felt compelled to buy this gorgeous toadstool. I've decided carboot funds can go in there and it's nicely full for tommorow already. Fingers crossed for a dry morning and lots of splendid booty finds.

Hope you're all having a good week so far.