Shop update

I've been busy rephotographing yarn and jewellery, and making more of course! Yarn updates will be a little slow for a while as I'm almost out of base yarn. Anyway, a taster of what I've put in my shop:

Lots of jewellery to be added, but since sunshine forms an integral part of my photographic 'studio' that won't happen until the weather gets better.

Hoping to get my MISI shop set up this weekend, but don't hold me to that!

I'm feeling bad because I haven't had time to play with my sewing machine. :(

New shop

Some months ago, I decided to make stuff I could sell online. This was partly borne out of job-hunting frustration - nobody seems to want to employ a slightly neurotic but conscientious woman with three degrees. The low point was being interviewed for a job where it becams eobvious that the panel was not responsible for shortlisting; they were just there to read from a script and transcribe my answers. I may as well have been shut in a room with a list of questions and a tape recorder.

Anyway, after months of making, and almost as much time procrastinating I have started loading the shelves of Abstract Cat, my Folksy shop. I will open a shop on MISI soon too. I currently stock hand-dyed yarn and handmade jewellery, but will be stocking a wider raneg of products in the future. I ahven't set up international shipping yet, but unfortunately I can't sell to the USA or Canada due to insurance restrictions.

Here's a taster of items for sale, and things to come:

My logo got a little chopped up in the mosaic. Hmmm.

New toy

A few weeks ago I bought a sewing machine. I hadn't used a sewing machine for 17 years, since Home Economics at school - an experience that totally put me off. Until now. I'm less than five feet tall, and sick of only being able to buy trousers that fit exactly (which is hard as I'm too short even for most 'petite' ranges), and too mean to pay someone to take trousers up for me. As ever I have a head full of crafty ideas and no way to execute them. After a lot of humming and hawing I bought this:

A Janome 419s. It's great. I'm still rubbish at sewing and it's going to take a lot of practice before I make any of my grand plans but I did manage to make this, a wee bag for storing buttons:

The seams are squint, and the best that can be said for it is that the fabric is pretty, and it's useable, certainly more useable than the pastel pink cushions we had to make at school.

Mooncup update
Female squickiness coming up!


I'm currently giving my Mooncup a trial for real. Maybe it's beginner's luck but it's going perfectly. I'm using additional protection while I get used to it but so far no leaks, no discomfort (other than usual period ickiness and mild cramping) and I actually feel cleaner. Emptying the Mooncup is frankly gross, but the yuckiness is over in a minute or two, and that two or three times a day is a vast improvement on five days of feeling disgusting continuously. It's not a procedure I'd like to perform in a public toilet though - I don't have the confidence to do that yet. The additional protection I'm using is the washable sanitary pads I bought before. I still think it's a shame to deliberately bleed on the pretty fabric, but that's what they're for.