Bits and Pieces

Summer is arriving, bringing with it all of the things that I love and also dislike about the season. Hot long days aren't a favourite of mine (don't get me wrong, I like the days being a little longer but they are a fair bit longer than I'm used to now I'm living in New South Wales). I'm a woolly kind of person at heart, and because of that autumn will always be my favourite season - the cups of tea, snuggly blankets, endless knitting and joy of baking things in the kitchen.

But, for the first time that I can recall, I'm actually happy to embrace summer this season. I think a colder, longer winter than I am accustomed to has a lot to do with that. I'm enjoying seeing the garden begin to really grow and thrive. In this last month of spring, everything has started to flower - the winter brassicas have gone to seed, along with the forgotten individuals from my early radish crop. The bees absolutely love these flowers, particularly the native bees. I love watching them flock to the flowers, as they are stingless I can get as close as I like. The balls of pollen on their legs make me think of pompoms.

The cucumbers and tomatoes are beginning to fruit, the cornflowers beginning to open (the whole plant will be covered in flowers very soon), my sweet peas might be late in the season but their pink and purple blossoms are so very fragrant. I've been harvesting a handful of sweet, juicy strawberries from the patch a few times a week, with at least one strawberry to be found and eaten on the days between. Bambi loves strawberries and tries to help herself to the fruit - luckily I've netted them to stop the birds and it also works against chocolate border collies!

Each day is busy here at the moment as aside from the daily running of my yarn shop, I'm busy putting the finishing touches on the

second issue of Yarnologie

. (

I wrote

about Yarnologie here

, but it's a quarterly digital magazine that I began earlier in the year, with the first issue published on September 1st.)

The response to the first issue has been really lovely, and I'm so excited about the second issue, in fact, I think I might be more excited than I was for Issue 01!

I'm also knitting my ornaments for the

Christmas swap

. The first was a little hat ornament made from

organic cotton

. My partner's theme is 'modern', so I chose a bright pink as the contrast for the hat. It's pictured blocking on an egg. I've just got to add the tassel and it's finished! Next up I think I might try my hand at brioche knitting on a star ornament.

Bits and pieces I've been enjoying/noticing:

Pip from Meet Me At Mikes is running a

Cosy Craft-Along

. If you'd like to knit or crochet a Tea Cosy, go and check it out! I was originally planning to join but decided I couldn't fit it in right now.

I really enjoyed this post from

Megan on creative communities

. Very thoughtful and interesting read.

And I came across this article from Woolly Wormhead on the

true cost of a knitting pattern

. If you purchase knitting/crochet/sewing patterns or maybe if you don't, it's worth a read.

What's been happening in your world at the moment?

Is it made up of busy bits and pieces? Have you been noticing or enjoying anything around the web lately that you'd like to share?