A New Life

So I mentioned that there was a baby on the way a couple of posts ago and how I was knitting a few little things for him. I am delighted to introduce to you our beautiful boy, Ryan. He came into this world on the 1st of January. Needless to say, over the last couple of months I have been busier and lacking sleep more than usual. All well worth it though!

Life with a newborn - I am once again reminded of how quickly time goes by and how fast they grow. Those early days with them are so precious, so fleeting. Now I know why so many older women whose children have grown up gush over every newborn they come across. It is such a short and wonderful stage. Yes they are usually seen through tired and blurry eyes but to be able to cradle a small new life in your arms, there's nothing else like it. I do not look forward to the day I have my last child, knowing that he/she will be my last newborn. I guess, although I didn't always know it, I was made to be a mum.

As for knitting, I have not done any since Ryan was born and am proud to say so. Life is so precious and should be cherished. I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment with my special boy since he was born. He is growing everyday but my wool and needles will still be there unchanged until the next time I am ready to pick them up again.

Hence my new tag line for my blog "A blog about life with knitting on the side". While knitting is a great hobby to have, the rest of life also needs to be lived so I plan to blog more about the reality of life over this next year but will of course continue to update you on yarn and knitting too. And if you are in need of any knitting supplies, you know where to head! :)

Thanks for reading!

Joan xo

What's In A Name

As you might have noticed, my blog now has a new look, and of course, my new logo! For my branding I was wanting to achieve a soft, delicate look.  I have always liked the look of brands such as Crabtree & Evelyn and Jurlique's packaging.  When a friend of mine saw my logo, she said it looked strangely familiar.  She then went on to say that it reminded her of Crabtree & Evelyn.  I was very excited at that comment because it meant that I have achieved what I had set out to do. Although the process was a quick one, I paid great attention to the detail that went into my logo, right down to the baby leaves and petals.  Being the stickler for detail that I am, they had to be JUST RIGHT!

Anyway, I thought I'd take the opportunity to share with you about how I came up with the name for my store.  The journey began back in November 2011, when I stumbled upon a "For Sale" sign in the window of a wool store in Sassafrass. Owning a wool store had become a sort of dream of mine since I started my knitting adventures.  I would frequent my favourite wool shop, Sunspun, buy up wool for projects which to this day I still have not yet started, and basically find any excuse I could come up with just to be able to step in there so I could spend hours around the lovely yarn and all things knitting. I would say to Dave, "If they ever sold the shop I'd buy it." So, when an existing wool store was up for sale, I saw it as my chance to create my own shop atmosphere, a place where others would also love to come and spend their time, and to be able to create a community around something that I love doing.

For a few months Dave and I explored the possibilities of buying the wool store business but nothing eventuated. A big reason being I have been a stay at home mum since Amber was born and taking on the business would have meant that I was no longer able to look after them for the majority of each week.  This was not something we really wanted to sacrifice. During that time there was also an online wool store business for sale.  We explored this avenue also but basically could not see the worth in buying over such a business when it actually seemed easier and cheaper to start up our own!

Through this whole time, we trusted God to guide us and lead us and one night, I was reminded about a scripture in the Bible, Proverbs 31 - A wife of noble character, and how it talked about her doing business of some sort, so I turned to it and this is what I found... 

¹⁰ A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. ¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. ¹² She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. ¹³ She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. ¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. ¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants. ¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. ¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. ¹⁸ She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night. ¹⁹ In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers. ²⁰ She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. ²¹ When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet. ²² She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple. ²³ Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. ²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. ²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. ²⁶ She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. ²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. ²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ²⁹ “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” ³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. ³¹ Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate. 

Now I had read this scripture many times before but I never related to it from a business point of view.  And the fact that I was considering a business which involved wool and fabrics, it seemed so apt! (For those of you who don't know what flax is, it is a plant which linen is made from.) So, when I reached the point in my journey of starting my own wool store and thinking of a name for it, it seemed only appropriate.

The picture in my logo is of a flowering flax plant with some yarn trailing down from its stem and it simply represents "Wool & Flax". I hope you like it!

Joan xo

And So It Begins...

At the start of Feb this year I started entertaining the idea of starting my own online wool store. One and a half months later I find myself working on a logo, website and much more. As part of this little venture, I also wanted to have a blog, so here it is!

Before I continue I should probably mention that my online store isn't quite up and running just yet but do watch this space to find out more about that in the next few months!

So, it is here that you will get to find out a little more about me, the owner of Wool & Flax. I hope that this blog will add to your life in more ways than one, that it will entertain you, make you smile, maybe make you cry, give you hope and inspire you to do what you love and be who you were created to be. Needless to say, we will definitely have some knitting fun along the way!

An introduction...
I have been a stay-at-home mum since my first daughter was born back in 2008. Life got busier with the arrival of my second daughter who joined us in 2010. I have a loving and supportive husband who has encouraged me through this whole process and is probably the reason why I now have this little business I can call my own.

My husband and I first attempted knitting about 3 years ago. We went to Spotlight, bought ourselves some wool and needles, and found ourselves sitting up in bed on a Saturday night trying our best to knit. Riveting lives we lead, I know!! Our first project was just a simple knit stitch scarf. I think my husband ended up unpicking his about 5 times before eventually giving up. I managed to get through about 1/3 of mine but soon lost interest too. I tried going back to it a few times but just couldn't get into the groove. A year later, I went over to a friend's place and she was knitting a scarf. I thought to myself, maybe I should pick up that scarf again. I went home, dug out my needles and wool and did just that and...'kaboom!' I was hooked!

I knitted about 20 things in my first year of knitting. Scarves, booties, toys, fingerless gloves, a baby blanket, a baby cocoon, a cushion cover and even a vest! I Google'd anything I didn't understand, looked on YouTube for 'How to' videos and enjoyed learning new techniques and trying new yarns with every project I put my needles to.

I soon realized that it was actually my love for yarn which kept my interest in knitting. I found myself drooling over all the amazing fibers, textures and colours of yarns and wanted to use them so much that I just had to find relevant patterns to do so. This love and passion has led me here...starting my own online store, Wool & Flax. It is an expression of myself, a showcase of yarns and knitting accessories that I love. I am delighted to be able to share this experience with you and I hope that you will fall in love and gain a passion too.

Joan xo