Lavender, love it or loath it?

The workroom currently smells of lavender, and my husband hates it. I'm not too bothered either way, I find it quite relaxing but its not top on my favourite smell list (that would be Rose or Oud).

My nana and mum both asked me to make some lavender bags for them, realising it was not so much a request as a notification of demand I set to work.

I grow lavender here at the stone tent, so it was easy to pick a substantial amount, hang up in bunches, and dry. After two weeks, I pull the lavender off the stalk and away we go - dried lavender, full of a fresh strong lavender smell! It takes moments to sew little bags to fill with it.

I have lavender in amongst my welsh wool, its not only a relaxing smell used in herbal treatments for relaxation but it also repels moths from all of my gorgeous pure wool products, apparently the plants attract bees (I've seen that in the garden, positively buzzes with bees); the plant also repel rabbits, who don't like the smell - just like my husband!

As I was sewing some bags I made some for the etsy shop. I had panels I'd embroidered for a project I didn't complete so I made a sweet three piece set. Draw sachet, clothes hanger bag and a bag for the doorway.

Very pretty even if I do say so!

Sara and Heart Etsy Shop

The Wool Problem

The Wool Problem

There comes a point in every crafters life, if you're a serious crafter, when you just have to admit you have a "problem". I always thought once I quit the 9 to 5 and decided to make my money from things I make that the need to "craft as a past time" would be over. I thought that I would suddenly have spare time, that my need to create would be my work time and so suddenly making as a past time would be over. I was so wrong, on so many levels.

Firstly, anyone who is self employed would tell you that its very difficult to separate spare time from work time. You work twice as hard as when you worked for anyone else. Your life, work and all time mingles together until your "job" is just "who you are". However, when you become a self employed crafter that precious mythical "spare time" is suddenly needed for "your own projects". Hence, the wool problem. 

These few days in between Christmas Day and New Year, where you feel festively fat and strangely full of cheese. That special time when you're not 100% sure what the day is. When you're desperately trying to eat all the food in the fridge before starting the "New Year New You - diet to end all diets" and therefore best eat all the food rather then waste it. This time, this is special and precious crafting time, when I can make my own projects guilt free, whilst simultaneously eating cake......eating ALL THE CAKE. This is when the wool problem happens.

I skip to the yarn shop with some extra special Christmas money, intent on buying wool to make something for myself. I have wool in the Craftorium, I have industrial quantities of wool in the Craftorium, after all, its for work. Nevertheless, this is new wool, wool for me! So after drooling at the selection I settle on an extra thick cable wool acrylic mix in a beautiful shade of tangerine. I don't need this wool, for the snood I intend to make myself I have plenty of beautiful wool in the Craftorium, but I buy it anyway.

I bring my purchase home, settle in front of the telly, with all the Christmas lights on, this is my time! I have a coffee in my favourite Christmas mug, I'm making for me! yay! I then realise my largest crochet hook is 7.5mm. Not big enough for this cable wool. It's too late to go back to the shop, no worries, I'll knit. Not my first choice, but its ok, I can knit the snood. I need to make for me. I soon realise my largest needles to hand are 7.5mm too. They aren't big enough for this wool, but it ok, I'll start anyway. After all this is my project time.

So here I am, knitting for myself, with wool that's too thick for the needles, the "wool problem" truly kicking in. I have less chunky wool, but I cant use that, I need the new stuff for me. I am sat on the sofa kitting with wool under such tension on the needles that its squeaking. A tells me my knitting sounds like Nicolas Cage in leather trousers, it's squeaking with every stitch, but this isn't my fault. After all as any true sufferer of "The Wool Problem" will tell you, no real crafter ever says they have too much wool, its just not words we utter.

Back to the squeaking knitting and cake x