Ooh, a blog?

I guess I'm way overdue having started this blog, and have such a backlog of projects to talk about I could be here until...umm, August 2010?

I've been a stay at home Mum since Edward, my youngest, was born in July '06. It's kinda funny to think back to when Jake, my eldest, was very young and being a stay at home mum was regarded to be somewhat of a cop out. A decade on it's regarded as a luxury, so many homes now rely on 2 full time incomes to pay the bills that more mothers reluctantly return to work at the end of paid maternity leave. It hasn't been easy, I had 6 months of not knowing if I could stay at home beyond SMP, all the time desperately wanting to continue nurturing my boy. I'm eternally grateful for being in a position to just be a mother, to build bricks and do fingerpainting, to kick leaves on the way home from fetching Oz, my middle one, from school everyday, for being able to spend time cooking hearty meals, and being able to sit and eat them together.

I'd love to be able to continue full time mothering of my boys, and my work at home business is one way of enabling me to do so.

I started Tempestuous Poppet in January this year, not entirely convinced I would ever sell anything, but with enough enthusiasm to give it my best shot regardless. I'd been knitting cloth nappy covers for Edward since discovering the magic of them many months prior. They were our solution to the issues with PUL wraps, largely the binding rubbing on thighs and causing soreness. I can't deny the cuteness of seeing longies on my toddler, or anyone else's for that matter.

Zebra-tail pants


I was encouraged to become a work at home mum (WaHM) by my friend Bethy, also a WaHM, so I advertised for testers and was inundated with offers. 3 months of endless knitting commenced, followed by hours and hours analysing the customer feedback, tweaking my patterns, sourcing yarn reliable suppliers, and considering a pricing structure ready to launch my store.



I really didn't expect to get many, if any, orders in the first few months, so it came as something of a shock to have orders rolling in on a weekly basis. Thrilling, and very exciting, but a little nervewracking all the same.

Tiger Skirty


I learnt hard and fast how much work I could take on and stay sane, and when to say no to just one more custom order...

Buzzzzzzzzz

Watch this space over the next few days, I'm going to add lots of photo's of the custom work I've done and a few of my works in progress....

Summer dress in faery fabric

I'm constantly developing idea's and aquiring new crafty skills. Ravellry is a fabulous place for enabling!

Jules