In the Press

Some months ago, an email arrived from a land far, far away, requesting I send a couple of my bonnets off for a potential photo shoot. They arrived just in the nick of time, and life rolled on, and I forgot about it. Then I heard word that the photos were going to make it into print. And today my copy of Papier Mache magazine arrived, within it a fantastic feature interview with one of my absolute favourites in this blog world, Flannery O'Kafka, alongside images from her incredible fashion shoot entitled 'When My Father Was At Sea'.* 

This is all very exciting for a country mama who spends most evenings on the couch knitting in her jimjams.

PS I'm going on holidays next week, so the shop will be closed for a couple of weeks from tomorrow. Stay tuned for some exciting new things when I return...

* Bonnets aside, this woman (and her ridiculously beautiful family) is very cool and very inspiring. You should seek her out and read about her.

Market Day

Behind the scenes of working and kid-chasing, enormous morning teas, and life in general, I've been busy knitting away to prepare for my first ever market, which was on Sunday in Canberra. I signed up for it months ago thinking having a date in the future to aim for would be motivating. And it was, even though many times in the lead-up I nearly pulled out. Hand-knitting isn't the most time-efficient business. I can knit a couple of dozen hats for my Etsy shop and trust that if someone wants something specific, they will custom order it. But for a market I needed stock, which pretty much just involves relentless knitting. By the night before, I reckoned I had about 50 hats to take to market. My final stocktake as I packed it all up revealed there were, in fact, 99. That's a lot of hats.

It was a quiet market. I've been to Mathilda's Markets in Sydney before and they are huge. I chose Canberra because of its proximity and I figured the climate is right for my product. It certainly was on Sunday - foggy and freezing! But on this day there were only a handful of other stallholders and a steady but small stream of customers.

When I made my first sale I was ecstatic. Off the mark! Several more followed. In the end it was definitely worth going, but I'll be putting off retirement for a while yet. The best part, though, was the feedback. I see my hats in photos customers send me, or on Instagram and Facebook, but to watch them in the flesh oohing and ahhing, stroking the wool, holding them up in pairs to decide between colours - that was fun.

It affirms for me that I have a lovely product here, one that people really like. And that is exciting!

I also got to catch up with lots of Canberra friends who popped in to say hi, including lovely Rachel who I met last year at The Nursery. She's managed to grow and produce another entire human in that time! And my little helper who tagged along for the day certainly enjoyed trying out the wares from the vegan cupcake stall and the face painter, as well as doing a spot of hat modelling when required.

All in all, a grand day (and one that I'm very glad is behind me).

With all that extra stock on my hands, I've restocked the shop with lots of new hats, including many more in the baby size. More will follow in the next few days. 

The Balancing Act

Last night, after I sent off another bunch of recipes and photos, I had a little pinch-me moment. I'm actually earning money doing something I love. I sat down on the couch to finish off a hat I'd begun earlier that day and it hit me again - I'm creating a business, albeit a tiny-incy-micro one, doing something I adore.

And this was all at the end of a week in which I returned to my day job after a nice little long-service sabbatical. (Oh, boy, didn't that fly!) And there it was again. I've long held a notion that I'd like to live my life with a variety of 'jobs', using different skills and surviving on a multiple stream of income, rather than throwing all my energies into climbing a single career ladder. These are early days, and nothing's in stone yet, but it's starting to come true.

But there's a side effect when something you love becomes something you do for work. For as much as I am loving cooking and knitting, taking photos, and knitting some more, a part of me has lost the love for it all. I can't remember when I last wandered into the kitchen to bake something just because. Now it's all, "Could this become a recipe? Should I write it down and photograph it just in case? How could I adapt this to make it more family friendly?" I walked past my cookbook collection the other day and it was like I had just noticed it was there. Oh, that's right, there are books!!!! That I can cook from!!! Just because!!!

As for knitting, this time last year I was whipping up hats and cardigans and jumpers and leg warmers for my babies and my friends and my friends' babies.  Good grief, I think I may have even knitted something for myself! There was a time not so long ago that if you knew me and you had recently given birth, a handknit would arrive wrapped and ready to wear. My Ravelry page was being updated on a fortnightly basis, it seemed, with new projects! This year that's just a fantasy - even my own girls are wearing Target hoodies, poor deprived little urchins, because every waking knitting moment is taken up with the hats. THE HATS!!!!!

Oh, my goodness, my own children don't even have hats for this winter...

The eternal balancing act. I'm not talking about the work/life juggle - I gave up on that one a long time ago. I'm talking about the serious/fun balance. The because-I-have-to/just-because balance. 

So tell me, when a hobby becomes work, admittedly wonderful, delightful, oh-so-grateful-for work, how do you keep the love alive? And where do you squeeze in time for the just-because?

Tiny Pixie

The first in the Typically Red Tiny range for newborns, the Tiny Pixie, is available by custom order in the shop now. One size, seven colours, unquantifiable cute.

Tiny

With the most profound respect for newborn photographers everywhere, I offer you a sneak peek of my Tiny range of hats. Seven colours. Two more styles to come. Available to purchase oh, so very soon...

(With enormous thanks to gorgeous Indigo and her mumma for such beautiful modelling).

Box Ticker

I finished The Snow Child and, wow, did it tick some boxes. A really good novel - tick! A not-too-challenging read - tick! Tolerant of my flighty commitment - tick! A ripping tale - tick! Beautifully written - tick! (Oh, my, such beautiful writing - tickticktick!) Did it call out to me all day long? Why, yes. It still does.

What's more, the book compelled me to sneak pages in the car at school pick-up, and sit in unwieldy postures (think one knee and one elbow holding it open) so I could grab a chapter while knitting, snaffling moments throughout my week to read a handful of words here and there.

It came highly recommended by so many - thank you, thank you! And now I will pass that recommendation, with the greatest enthusiasm, to anyone who cares to listen.

This week, with the haunting chill still lingering, I embark on another recommendation - this one from Little Macaroon (have you visited her place? She always makes me chuckle.) I've only just started The Most Beautiful Thing. I'm promised an unputdownable second half.

And knitting? Alas, no beautiful cardigans for myself, or school cardigans for my kid (it's on the list!). Just a lovely stack of squishy soft hats for the much promised Typically Red Knits newborn range. They'll be in the shop just as soon as I can grab some photos of them on a tiny head.

Joining in with the Yarn Along here.

A Very Boring Blog Post...

..to let you know that, after much consideration, I've decided I need to increases prices to bring them more into line with the amount of time and quantity of materials involved. 

It won't happen till March 1st. You can buy hats at current prices until then.

A Very Woolly Giveaway

Rumour has it it's still summer. I've been waiting for the cooler months to tempt you with a bonnet giveaway. But what the heck - there's enough of a chill in the air in my neck of the woods this evening to warrant some wintry fun.

I've had such wonderful feedback since opening my shop late last year. A gentle, steady start to the sales, but an overwhelming number of clicks. Every day, it seems, a hat of mine features in at least one Etsy treasury. (Don't know what a Treasury is? Here's a beautiful one.) It seems people like to see colourful wool atop cute little heads.

So thrilled am I with how it's all going, I'm currently waiting on a very large yarn order. Very, very large. There will be a few new colours, as well as the lovely wool/alpaca blend I need to finally launch the range of newborn hats I keep talking about.

But in the meantime, let's give away a couple of hats. Two winners will each choose the style, size and colour of their prize. They are available in baby, toddler and kid size, and currently two styles - the Chubby Pixie and the Bumpy Bonnet. I will happily post anywhere in the world.

So if a little head you know needs warming this winter, all you have to do is be a follower of this blog (over there on the right with Google Friend Connect), check out the shop, then come back here and leave me a comment to let me know what colour you would choose if you won, or what colour you think is missing (yes, I know there is no pinky pink there.)

For extra chances to win:

1) Like Typically Red on Facebook

2) Share this giveaway on your blog, Facebook page or even Twitter, I guess, though I still don't know what that is...

Leave a separate comment for each entry, please. I'll draw the winner by random number thingo at the end of next week.

Good luck! 

Entries have closed. Thanks to all who entered. The winners are number 44, Little Wild Moose, and number 8, Bettina Rae.

Tiny

Knitting: A tiny hat for a tiny head. Short of stalking the exit to the maternity ward, I'm not sure how to find out for sure if it's newborn size. For the first time in a long time, I have no very tiny people to call on.

Reading: A book about a precocious 5-year-old to a precocious 5-year-old (and loving every page).

Yarn Along here.

Toppers

Bumpy Bonnet in Red, toddler size

Chubby Pixie in Straw, kid size

Bumpy Bonnet in Plum, toddler size

Bumpy Bonnet in new colour Moss, kid size

Bumpy Bonnet in Straw, toddler size

In amidst school holidays and heat waves and trips to Sydney and visitors and long days at home, I've been knitting. Always knitting.

I've restocked the shop with some of the sold-out items, and added a few new colours and sizes. There's much more to come.

Stay tuned for a nice little giveaway in the next couple of weeks to celebrate my birthday. And launching soon - a teeny-tiny range for teeny-tiny newborns. I just need to get my hands on one to play model. Awww! 

I'd love you to join me on Facebook too!

A Little

"Or make an omelet but leave it unfilled and unfolded. Flat, round omelets are quiet, and a little serious."

I think I might be a little in love with this book, and this writer. Tamar Adler speaks of food in a way that sings to me, with poetry and humour and great common sense. I am not yet halfway through, but already I am saving my broccoli stalks and taking pause before cracking an egg to consider my intentions.

I might also be a little in love with this yarn, soft and calm and coloured this time. I am knitting a special order of hat and boots for a baby boy in New Jersey. One boot to go and it'll be on its way, in time for the February chill.

Joining in with the Yarn Along.

Shop Update

Just popping in to let you know I've updated the shop with lots of new hats. The Chubby Pixie is there now in baby and kid sizes. And there are a few new colours as well. I'd love to hear what you think. My Facebook page is here if you need to stay updated - I'm expecting an order of lovely new yarn in the next few days.

Also, it's the 12th and last day of Christina's Christmas giveaway, and guess who's featured today! Pop over there quickly and enter to win a Typically Red hat custom made in your choice of style, size and colour. It's open internationally, and you can enter till early tomorrow morning.

And if you're visiting from Christina's blog for the first time, welcome! Grab a seat, I'll pop on the kettle and see if there are some of those gingerbread trees left in the cookie jar. Though I suspect the monkey in the red hat might have polished them all off yesterday...

For Kids

The Bumpy Bonnet for kids is available in the shop now.

Toddler and baby sizes are there too.

Wednesday

A big stack of magazines waiting for a big stack of spare minutes on a lazy afternoon, coffee in hand, children otherwise occupied. I looked at the calendar today. I think they'll be waiting awhile.

And at risk of sounding repetitive, the only thing happening in knitting news is hats. Hats, hats, hats. I have a special order for some newborn pixies, and I'm waiting for the yarn to arrive. So in the meantime, I've been making sure boys are fairly represented in the shop, tricky when all my days revolve around three girls. My funny little nephew Oscar modelled the chocolate Chubby Pixie when I visited on the weekend. He stood very still and followed direction beautifully - we'll have him back any day.

Yarn Along here.

More photos from the shoot here.

Buy the hat, or order something similar, here.

Ambition versus Reality

I have a dear friend who had a birthday just before I went on holidays. Having long wanted to knit something for her, I quickly set about choosing a pattern and yarn for my suitcase, expecting completely and without question that it would be a finished gift upon my return to Australia. I even packed two other holiday knitting projects to fill all those anticipated empty days after I finished the first. 

Sigh. There are never enough hours, even on holidays, to knit everything that needs to be knitted. I would estimate my progress on the shawl, after two weeks, to be about 5%. Oh, dear. I'm sure all the wool and patterns enjoyed their time away, even if they didn't see the outside of the suitcase.

I did finish a book on my holiday, and make hefty progress on a second. This Anita Shreve novel fit the bill perfectly for poolside reading. My attempts at poolside knitting were less successful, but at least I tried...

It's left me wondering about those tropical climates, as I sit here at home in chilly, ridiculous-for-November temperatures. Could I live in a place where knitting seems, well, crazy? Would the dumplings and noodles make up for the lack of fireside clickety-clack? I just don't know.

Joining in with the Yarn Along here.

And thanks again for your fabulous and supportive comments, both here and at my new Facebook page, for the launch of Typically Red Knits. I'm looking forward to a couple of fun giveaways in the next few weeks, so stay tuned.

Open For Business

Kid says come have a look. Here it is!

Monkeys

Now, if I could just get this pair to stop monkeying around long enough for me to get some useable pics, I might be able to finally open my shop. Hoping for early next week. Stay tuned!