Home again

I arrived home from holiday on Friday, and in a fuzzy jet-lagged state loaded my holiday photos onto my computer. On Saturday morning I switched on my computer and realised something was badly wrong - no internet detected, and half the stuff in my Start menu missing... my hard disk had bitten the dust. My partner has acquired a new HD and pulled stuff off the old one for me (so far it seems I haven't lost anything vital, and I did back up most of my photos a few weeks ago), but I'm using the EeePC until he has time to set up the new hard disk. I'll be trying out Linux (Ubuntu), as it's three weeks until Windows 7 comes out (no point in buying XP or Vista in the meantime, especially as it's supposed to be much better), and my partner has three weeks to convert me to Linux permanently (it hasn't worked in the past). So shop updates have been delayed - it takes me twice as long to type on the Eee due to the tiny keyboard, have little image editing software and the weather's rubbish for taking photos.

The holiday was fantastic, apart from my partner getting heatstroke and fainting on the plane home. We will be complaining to the airline concerned. He recovered quickly but it should never have happened.

Since I visited my aunt when I was 10 years old I've wanted to make a patchwork quilt. Now I have a sewing machine I decided to take advantage of the fact that in the US fabric is between a quarter and half the price it is in the UK... so a marathon expedition to Joann was done, with a follow-up visit. I'm still annoyed I didn't get two of my favourite fabrics from there - at the time I rejected them as 'too expensive' but now I've been scouring the internet for a source of those exact fabrics that will ship to the UK.I feel bad about asking my aunt after she and her husband driving us around all over the place... I now have a fat-quarter obsession, and have found an eBay shop (in the US) selling reproduction 19th century prints. Even with shipping it works out as a good deal for me (provided I don't go over an amount that might attract a customs charge.

My aunt gave me a wonderful crafty thing - a cork with about 18 crochet hooks stuck in it. They're mostly very small hooks for lace making (with tiny hooks that are quite sharp, hence being stuck in a cork).Apparently an old lady of 90-odd died and my aunt was invited to pick something from her belongings. She thought the crochet hook cork was interesting and chose it, though she doesn't crochet and no longer knits so she thought I'd like it.

Actual non-shop-related content inside (as well as shop content, of course)

I finally got round to doing some more sewing. I'm still rubbish, but I managed to take up the legs on a pair of pyjamas - I usually put up with too-long pyjama legs, but I've hardly worn these one because they're so so so long, and a pale colour - and I wanted a pair of 'cropped' PJs. Anyway, the legs are the same length even if the sewing is extremely squint. And with the bits I cut off I made a wee drawstring project bag, big enough for sock crochet or similar:

The yarn in the photo was dyed last year and was the inspiration for my 'Retro' colourway, currently for sale on Folksy - it's not identical but very similar. This ball of yarn will become socks, starting sometime in the next week. I realised after I'd finished the bag that I'd used the fabric upside down and had more upside-down cats than right-way-up cats. Oops. In the interests of recycling, the inside is lined with the fabric from a shopping bag that had a broken strap (and yes I could have fixed the bag but upcycling it was a far more appealing idea).

Shop content. Updates and such
My copper leaf necklace is in the MISI Autumn Gift Guide
Small steps, but I'm very happy about that.

It finally stopped raining so I got photos done and will do a small update hopefully over the weekend. I'm really being drawn to autumnal colours so here's a taster of a small but seasonal update (Folksy and MISI all mixed up together so you'll need to check what's where):


Holiday
On Saturday 12th September I'm heading off on holiday to visit family in the United States. I haven't been over for nine years, and haven't had a 'proper' holiday for seven years, so I'm feeling excited but apprehensive. Anyway, my shops will be closed from about 2pm on Thursday 10th until Sunday 27th September - by which time I'll hopefully have recovered from jet-lag.

New shop

As of yesterday afternoon, my MISI shop is live. A small sample of what's available: