SPECIAL EASTER OFFER

Get organised for Easter and knit these adorable Bunny Egg Cosies, usual price £12.95 but now £10 till the end of April 2010 (p&p £2.00)

There is enough wool to knit four cosies, either two red and two blue or two red and two pink.

click HERE to buy!

Unraveling at the seams...

I have been contacted by Ravelry to take part in the UK Ravelry fair at Stirling Uni next year. Not knowing much about them I had a look at their web site and to cut a long story short I am now selling some knitting patterns through them

I've only been on their web site since Friday but it seems to be a mecca for knitters, well worth having a look and registering as they have loads of useful info. You can list all your own knitting projects, things you'd like to make etc, creating your own on-line knitting community, a sort of Facebook for knitters.

The benefit of selling my patterns on their site is you can download them directly once you have paid. Nice and easy.

I would say their site does come across as a little complicated to begin with but it has only taken me a couple of days to get to grips with it, and the Ravelry staff do seem to be very helpful (as you would expect knitters to be!). You do have to register before you can access any of the information but that can be done in a few simple steps.

Have a look here and let me know what you think. To find my patterns for sale simply search for 'Lynne Seaton' or 'My Baboo' under the designer or pattern tabs.

Happy knitting!

Bunny Boiler

I often get asked if I boil all my knitting to felt it. I don't as I find that its the agitation of the items in the washing machine that cause it to felt and not the temperature. It has been trial and error, and some colours of yarn seem to felt more severely than others. I don't use any detergent either as I have found that it makes no difference other than give my products a more pleasing smell (and it also makes me slightly more environmentally responsible)

When I was designing my knitting kits a friend was the guinea pig for knitting up the patterns and felting the items she had made. I quickly realised that there is no real exact science on felting your work and I decided to alter the patterns so that they are not felted. I would hate for somebody to waste all of their good work by putting it in the machine resulting in a gnarled little knot of wool that is supposed to be a bunny, heart or bag.

I will keep on felting my bunnies as I know exactly how long to wash them for to get the finish I want. They look comical when they come out of the machine as their little arms are raised in horror after being spun at 2000rpm! A quick stretch and they soon take shape, just a bit of trimming to do and the faces to sew on and they will be finished.

If only they would breed like rabbits to save me some time!

What's in a word?

No pictures today, just some words.

I've had a productive couple of days knitting mostly tea and coffee pot cosies. Although I finally had to admit defeat and phone the shop where I bought my knitting machine and explain that the tension control had broken - Superglue just ain't what it used to be.

So it was packed and sent off to Edinburgh today and hopefully a replacement will be winging its way to me in the next week or so. David Drummond on Haymarket Terrace was the retailer, and he even offered to refund my postage, what a good service.

So today was spent sewing some of the items I have been frantically knitting. I get a real sense of satisfaction when I see things begin to take shape.

Yesterday I visited the school nursery to meet with one of the primary teachers to discuss the nursery 'values'. Myself, another parent and the nursery staff were to list five values that were important to us. Thinking of five words doesn't seem too difficult but when put on the spot the pressure of saying the right thing can mean the difference of sounding a good or a bad mother.

In the end I felt it was a bit of a 'tick box' exercise to keep the dreaded Inspectors happy, as we ended up using the 'values' of the primary school and simplified them so a three year old could grasp their meaning:-

Sharing
Kindness
Working together
Looking after each other
Listening to each other

Although the way my darling boy was behaving today I don't think he has a grasp on any of the above!

The joys of parenting.

Muddy boots and Photographs

The past few days have been really productive. I've changed my way of making things - rather than making 10 of this or that to completion I am going to get as much stock knitted as possible over the next three weeks, then I'll do all the sewing and finishing in October which leaves me November to get organised for the CL Fair.

It means I will quickly have a better idea of how much stock I will have for Christmas, and although it can be repetitive at times (69 sheep in 2 days!) at least I know the main part of the production is done.


I also finally managed to get some photos of new bags modeled by my friend Kirsty. We got some funny looks this morning as we climbed over the fence to go into the field (just outside Killearn), especially as I had a huge blue bag with all my stock in it. It's been a miserable rainy week, this morning wasn't particularly bright but at least it was dry. We also had to share our location with a few nosy bovines.


I think they turned out fine - if a little dark, but it certainly gives you a better idea of the size of the bags. I also like how they contrast with the landscape.


This weekend will be spent knitting as we are off to Oxford next week to visit relatives and to take our boy to Legoland - plenty of sewing in the car for me!

What will the neighbours say....

My 1/4 ton of yarn was delivered this week. Not knowing what a 1/4 ton would look like, I was expecting a huge delivery fork lifted into my driveway whilst the neighbours twitched their curtains in curiosity at the unusual activity at No. 12. A new sofa perhaps, or dining room table?

I was slightly disappointed to see the sprightly driver comfortably lift two average sized boxes from his van and place them in my garage without the need for mechanical assistance. The wool is on cones, wound tightly and bursting with possibilities.

I have said on a previous post that I feel more relaxed now than ever since I started to work for myself, only now I find myself lying awake at night thinking of new designs and patterns and with all that wool at my fingertips it feels like Christmas Morning every day. (maybe a slight exaggeration)

I met with the IT chaps at Business Gateway in Stirling yesterday to have a constructive look at my web site. Lots of good advice and tips. Blogs are a great way to get noticed and I was delighted when a neighbour (who wishes to remain nameless - she knows who she is) mentioned this evening that one of her friends had found my blog - she never said if she found it interesting though which has given me a bit of blogpanic - what if I'm as dull as dishwater?

Anyway insecurities aside, the IT boys mentioned a good way to get traffic to your web site is to have plenty of links to other sites - but importantly for them to link back to your site. So I will update today with a link to a talented young film director who lives a stones throw from my house - www.bbeggtv.co.uk - not much to do with knitting but maybe he could use some of my designs as props when he is directing multi-million dollar blockbusters. I can just see Angelina Jolie-Pitt with one of my bags....

So as the song goes - everybody needs good neighbours...