So far I think I can do this.

It might be a bit obvious but I am not a naturally good at running a business.

Just thought I'd put that out there.

While I am a very able Technician, I can come up with fresh ideas for jewellery,pendants, tatting and knitting I have a really hard time selling.

My father, who's excellent at selling, did not hand it down to me when he gave me the hodge-podge of genetic material which included high-function Aspergers!

Thanks a lot Dad!

So to try and help myself I've bought some books (I love books! I've taught myself almost everything I've ever wanted to learn from books!) to help me with my etsy shop.

I think I'm learning...slowly.

I've put up some new listings and I will tweak it some more and hopefully increase my exposure!

The flower brooches are up but I'm still taking new shots of the pendants.

I guess you really do get the results you work for.

:)

Knitted Vintage Dress Experiment

I got brave and set about attacking a large project and knit a dress from a vintage pattern. I had just the pattern I wanted to try and it didn't look too complicated (don't you hate it when you tell yourself that on no other evidence than the picture??)

I had two cones of Gemini Acrylic 5ply which I thought would make an interesting contrast (besides realizing that the blue was going to run out long before I finished the whole dress. Ah well. Needs must.)  

And it was easy...too easy! 18 inches of stocking stitch which I chose to do in the round since the idea of having to do it separately twice  made me feel ill! But it seemed to go on FOREVER!! But finally I got to the end of that and started with the red for the bodice.

Now it started to look more like a dress and not an endless tube! It wasn't difficult doing the shaping for the v-neck and the armholes (had to go back to straight needles for that!) and quickly progressed through the sleeves. But that's where I finally hit some problems!

Do you see the ruffle here? It took me 5 tries to get the directions right! I'm the only one who can probably notice but the increases on one sleeve are much looser than the other sleeve. It took me a while to figure that out. And the lace just before the ruffle? That I fudged...a lot! I ended up getting a pattern from my Barbara Walkers stitch collections to find a pattern like the one I could barely see in the picture and used that. I simply couldn't get the pattern as written to make any sense at all!! But at last...I finished it!

...well, not quite...

As hard as I tried I couldn't understand the instructions for the crocheted edge that goes around the neck and ruffles. Crochet is SO not my thing and in the end I fudged this too. Or I might have been doing as I was supposed to but I just followed what the picture looked like. I also added it to the skirt because I thought it looked nicer that way.

So, huzzah!! I did it!

But there is something here you may have noticed and I didn't until I tried it on. The shoulders are hugely wide!! You'd have to be impossibly well built to be able to wear this or wearing killer shoulder pads! 

It hangs over my shoulders by about 5cms. I tried to convince myself that it wouldn't matter but it does, oh heck it does!! So it's been relegated to the naughty corner so I can cogitate on it and figure out what my best option is with it. It might have to wait till winter. It is truly horrendous trying this on in 30C heat!

But it has been a great experiment :)

Happy knitting :)

I'm a Business!!

I've just registered my very own business! Totally Unique by Danielle is registered and I have my own ABN. I don't know what that all means exactly but I know it means I have responsibilities to the tax office. Not quite so pleasant :/ 

But I finally had my first sale on my etsy shop!! Totally Unique by Danielle So happy!

This is, as we speak, winging its way to Florida!

It also helped me realize I had grossly under-estimated the cost of postage not just in Australia but around the world, especially since a simply beanie being posted to the USA cost around $7! Was a bit shocked. So I had to go over and change my postal charges.

So, everything is moving along, slowly it's true, but at least moving. I've sold a number of scarves, I have another beaded cuff to do once I've received the shirt it's supposed to match and I'm still compulsively knitting this and that. Also I need to buy more resin to make up some more tatted pendants. Starting to organize myself for the Carnamah Show which is held in September.

Ah...life's tough :)

This is the first completed cuff, all finished and sparkly :)

Happy Knitting :)

Still here!

I'm really slack at keeping this up. Maybe that's why I don't keep a diary!

But I have not been idle!!

I have been slowly restocking my etsy store  http://www.etsy.com/shop/danie17  and it's starting to look pretty good. Haven't sold a damn thing but a lot of people have had a look and favourited things so, can't complain.

I've been doing some commission work for a lady in Geraldton who wanted two of those thread-through scarves with the leaf-like ends for gifts and a beaded cuff like one of the ones I have but in a different colour. After we went through the frustration of trying to settle on colours for the scarves she kindly sent me the wool so all I had to do was knit it up. Easy!

I was so pleased when these were finished. But the yarn was lovely and soft!!

So now they're done and she's received them, all I have to do is the cuff. A little more tricky since I was entirely out of my beading and jewellery findings. So after ordering it all from etsy, I've finally got enough to start.

Still waiting on beads for fringe where loops are.

There are elements I'm not 100% happy with, like the loops at the bottom aren't as neat as I'd like but that's just me. I'm seriously thinking I need to buy a brass extender chain to use as a fastening for it but I think I'll try and find an Australian supplier. I'm waiting on the dangling beads for the fringe on the cuff so it's not finished yet! But at least started, finally!!!

But my biggest achievement to date is finally finishing the light cardigan I was going to wear when I thought I'd have to wear formal attire at my pseudo-son-in-law's  graduation. Soon found I didn't but now I have this lovely crochet cotton thread cardi that goes so well with the dress and spares everyone from having to view my flabby arms since I think I'm a bit old to be able to wear spaghetti straps in public. 

I wish the light had been a bit better but no one here in the wheatbelt is going to complain about rain!

The little buttons were a spur of the moment purchase that has turned out to just suit this project.

I may not get to wear it with this dress but I'll be taking it to Canberra when I go in a couple of days and see if it goes with the dress Dear Daughter will be wearing because she does need to go to the formal ball. I think that would more than make up for me not wearing it.

So there I am so far. No doubt I'll update when I come back from Canberra.

Happy Knitting :)

Okay, and the list of completed works...

This is what happens when you don't keep up with this stuff. I've got a heap of projects I've completed since moving to Carnamah. But should I put them all on the one post? It's not like I don't have enough wip to keep me busy!

Ah well, let's see...

I finished the Shetland Shorty almost as soon as I'd finished unpacking my wool room...

Then I started to go through some of my stash, trying to use up those bits that were too much  not to use but not enough to make anything substantial.

So I made a waterfall scarf...

And a ripple scarf out of the same cotton-ribbon yarn.

 I used up a small ball of really pretty blue-teal flecked acrylic I'd been promising to make a pair of mitts with since there wasn't enough to do anything else with it. 

Turned out really nicely :)

I used some ice green yarn I had, from Bendigo Mills, beautifully soft and made up a very simple shawl.

Tess of the D'urbervilles Shawl

 Using some nice earthy coloured acrylic yarn I'd bought at Spotlight in Geraldton and marked another project off my Ravelry Queue with this simple scarflette with flower. Took only a couple of days to knock up!

Used an old penny turned into a button for the flower's centre!

Oh yes! My proudest project though was the Hex Mesh Socks that I finally finished after what seemed like forever! I used up all the yarn I'd reserved for them and was forced to use some white baby yarn that I had on hand to finish them. But it looks really good, almost like I meant to do it that way! So proud!

They look so PRETTY!!

So there we are. I've been in Carnamah, what, two maybe three months? I reckon that's a pretty good haul! And that doesn't even include the 4 or 5 projects I have on the go at the moment! I have all this stash and so many ideas!! I love it!!!!!

Okay, I'll calm down now. 

Happy Knitting :)

Have been SOOOooo slack!

I have pics. I have been knitting. I have NOT been keeping my blog up to date.I am so no good at this!

But the move here has been smooth. We are quite at home now. All the medical and dental facilities available here (well, not exactly here in Carnamah. In Three Springs, the town 23kms away.) are excellent and I'm probably getting better diabetic care here than I ever did in Albany!

The landscape around here is quite different to Walpole. I've been trying to get a good shot of how open the paddocks for wheat are but I'm not really a great photographer. It's not yet seeding season so everything is very brown!

Carnamah Main Drag

Road to Carnamah from Geralton Direction

Huge empty wheat paddocks

 But I have had visitors, my favourite kind! Family!! 

Easter Weekend my Mum and Dad came up with their winnebago and brought Jordan down with them since he had a break at Uni and Ben was going to Easter camp and he'd have been home alone for 4-5 days! Had a lovely time! Great conversation and time with parents. My Dad could withdraw to his van when all the interaction got too much for him (no real difficulty finguring out the genetic line for the Aspergers syndrome!) and my Mum and I enjoyed nights knitting together. Jordan played with our dogs and found pics of the most recent Avengers movie. Was especially great because Hubbie was doing Easter Cop Stuff at Cevantes and I'd have been by myself for 5 days. This was much better :)

Mum, Dad and Jordan

And at the moment I have my darling daughter for a visit! All the way from Canberra! Ben and Jordan came as well since Ben was the one driving and Aaron (Daughter's Army Partner) had to return to Duntroon. So we had to get a photo of this rare event when all of the children were in one spot at any one time :)

The whole family!

I miss them all, but by gosh! Is it noisy when they're all in the house at once!

So that's that. Haven't included any craft news because, well, surely this is long enough! Will soon have an empty house again when we've taken Brianna back to the airport so she can return home and look after poor Aaron who's just has three wisdom teeth extracted...a a bit of his gums...oh, and a small portion of jaw. But he's fine! Then I'll be able to write up what I've started (far too much!) and what I've finished (not nearly enough!)

I am very blessed, Thank the Lord!

Have fun :)

The things we do...

So, we've moved again and I have not one picture to show since I am separated from my internet connection until the 16th March. We arrived here in the sunny (oh, so sunny!!) little town of Carnamah on the 28th February. Good going communication hot-line! So subsequently I am not up and running as it were and am depended on lovely friends here in town allowing me to borrow their connection. But as soon as I get ours back I have photos and funny stories. Just you wait!
Keep on Knitting!