The Stone Soup Challenge

As the last twelve months have unfolded (or should that be unravelled....) I have found myself more aware about the provenance of my food. We shop locally, I am currently boycotting Tesco, I buy as much as possible from my farmer's market (sadly, it isn't that large, so the choice is quite limited, but Duck Pond Market should be better) and I buy Fairtrade and organic where that choice is available and within my budget. We cook 95% of our food from scratch (including fish goujons, curry and chicken nuggets) and I use my slow cooker at least twice a week in winter, allowing me to use cheap cuts of meat and make tasty, good value food for the family.

It makes sense for me to now commit to buying "luxuries" more ethically and to support other small businesses. I have therefore signed up to The Stone Soup Challenge and am pledging to spend at least 15% of my net profits from personal sales on Folksy, Etsy and craft fairs on buying from other artists. I don't think this will be too hard, though, as I've calculated this week alone I've spent around 250% of my net sales EVER!!! Darn Folksy with it's lovelies such as this bag that I've just bought from Oh Gosh!



I'm sitting at home at the moment waiting for the postman to ring the bell!

As a reader of this blog, I would urge you to sign up for the pledge, even if you aren't a craftsperson yourself. Perhaps set aside a budget for handmade, homecrafted items and treat yourself - you will be amazed at what's out there.

For more information read this blog: The Stone Soup Challenge

Happy spending!

Crafting with children..

should never be attmpted! But I never learn and end up cross and frustrated with balls of yarn tangled around my feet, snapped crochet hooks and chewed up knitting needles. You'd think I would take the hint and only persue my addiction when the children are in bed, but when Bea appears to have settled down to watch Shrek for the 100th time, it's just too tempting! In fairness, she usually only starts playing with my bits when I have to get up to deal with James and can't put my article away safely. This time last year, I wrote a post on Ravelry asking how other people dealt with their toddler pulling their knitting off their needles - I received several helpful posts (and have now switched to circular needles for most of my projects - genius!) but I also got told off by several posters. I was a neglectful mother who should take more care of my child, as knitting needles are dangerous items that could cause significant damage to my toddler. I should always move my knitting out of reach of my poor, neglected child so as not to hurt her. I shouldn't ever knit with a toddler around. To be honest, I would be quite sad if I didn't share my passion for yarn with Bea - she is so aware of yarn and my crafting she is constantly asking me "what are you knitting?" or making comments on my yarn "ooh, lovely beautfiul colours mummy". I've caught her with some of my big crochet hooks and scraps of yarn, and she sits there trying to "knit" - very cute! I want her to learn to use her hands, to feel the weight and warmth of yarn and fibre, to watch her create an item from a ball of wool, to anticpate the finished article. I think I need to nuture this interest because if it wasn't for people passing their knowledge down over the centuries I probably wouldn't be knitting and crocheting now. I always find it a bit upsetting that my own mother wasn't keen to teach me to knit, and I have vowed to do differently by my daughter.



I'm currently working on a selection of little bags - I have lots of ideas and can't wait to crochet and knit them up! I've got a couple of children's bags and an adult shoulder bag which I'll be listing this weekend if we can take pics. I really like them, the colours are bright and sunny and there's enough yarn left over for me to make some more scrunchies and headbands.



My most recent addition to Folksy is this gorgeous scarf, knitted in Mirasol Sulka - the yarn is the softest, warmest, snuggliest thing I've ever knitted with and I will be so happy to see this find a new home. It's a fairtrade yarn so perfect in the run up to Fairtrade Fortnight! The stitching is really lovely - textured and eye catching without being fussy. I really enjoyed knitting it and can't wait for next autumn when I'll make some more.