It’s always a bit of Halloween here !

Another week has flown by and it now has come to a point that there are so many things that have to be done and no matter how much I do, there’s always more. So much fluff, so little time ! Instead of doing what I used to do, which was, stress myself out and stay up late, I reassure myself that there will always be more to do and I can only do so much and I go to bed at a reasonable time....which may still turn out to be 3am..because I just needed to finish spinning and fill that bobbin.... or like this week, have to deal with lots of stressful administrative and supplier stuff. I won’t bother you with that last bit bu I can assure you that trying to survive running a small fibre farm and a small craft business, is not all “playing with fibre, paints, dyes and spinning”. You have to deal with sooooooooo much more. No matter how much I try to get everything right, especially dealing with getting my hands on rare breeds or  on getting suppliers to live up to their promises, it’s not always easy. Sometimes it is very complicated and hard and super stressful. This has been a couple of hard weeks in that regard. 
Leave me to figure out something to do with yarn or fibre or spinning or dyeing: I am right there, enthusiastically. On the other hand, me having to deal with people who do not do their jobs as they are contracted to leaves me in a cold sweat and stressed out of my brain. I guess it’s one of the reasons I did not go ahead practicing Law: I’m a total non confrontationalist by nature…lol

Anyway, that’s enough about me…lol

As it comes to fibre and dyeing though,  my mind never stops to come up with new and exciting ideas and blends and well, special fun fluffy stuff to create and because it is almost Halloween I thought it would be super nice to offer you a Super Special "Halloween Fibre Treats Bundle" filled with Spectacular, Spooky themed, Luxurious themed tops and lots and lots of treats! More about that later in this blog ! AND also offer you two fab halloween needle felting projects: six different Halloween ornaments and a magical owl! Pre orders for the needle felting kits that have everything you need in them plus step by step instructions, are open til midnight AEST September 24th and they will be shipped first week of October! You can find these needle felting kits right here: https://ixchel.com.au/collections/whats-new

I have also added more glow in the dark yarns to the shop this week, because it is a fabulous way to knit or crochet a little cute ghost or even a beanie that glows in the dark! 
You can find the glow in the dark yarn right here: https://ixchel.com.au/products/glow-in-the-dark-yarn

This glow in the dark beanie pattern is available on Ravelry right here: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/spooky-bat-beanie

is that all for this update this week? No! Of course not! I made some gorgeous enamel sugar skull stitch marker sets as well. They are amazing to use in either your knitting or crochet, or you can use them as progress keepers. You can find them here: 

https://ixchel.com.au/products/sugar-skulls-stitch-marker-sets

I was just telling you, before I went off in a totally different direction, that I was busy. Yes! Although there are no fibre or yarn markets that I am doing at this time (health issues are putting a lot of restrictions on me atm), to produce the fibres and yarns to go on these weekly blogs AND do the monthly clubs AND custom orders…well, it takes a lot of time. 

I absolutely love doing what I do . I feel now more than anytime before: Art and Craft is what saves me. I can focus on creating, colours, softness of fibres, blending sumptuous new fluffy combinations together and paint. It is a life saver....even when everything else around me seems to crumble, doesn't make any sense at all, or, there are people who are knowingly or unknowingly subjecting so many people to so much harm, I always have my Art and I always have my Craft. 

"Art Matters, because your imagination can change the world" - Neil Gaiman.

I am stubborn. I also believe in Art. Art and business however can be very dark and terrible partners. When we create something it feels like an adventure and fun! When you create something to survive on, that boundary is not only blurred but totally distorted: is it an adventure and fun OR is it work?  

Also, we all know that when you create something, whether you weave or spin or make yarn or paint: it is not always perfect at the first go. 

There is lots of experimenting, frogging, starting again, maybe even frustration because our imagination envisaged it totally different to what it looks like in real life. 

I love the little titbits of inspirational wisdom from Neil Gaiman (yes him again...lol...):

"When you start off, you have to deal with the problems of failure. you need to be thick skinned...to learn that not every project will survive.  A freelance life, a life in the Arts , is sometimes like putting messages in bottles, on a desert island, and hoping that someone will find one of your bottles and open it and read it and put something in a bottle that will wash its way back to you".

This blog and what I create is exactly that:  I will keep on swimming, creating and thinking up new exciting fluffy stuff. So keep tuned ! I so appreciate your support! Which brings me to the very exciting offer of tonight: A super special Halloween Fibre treat parcel offer ! Great to spin always, because let's face it, Halloween can be celebrated every day if you like 😉

You will receive 3 x 100g IxCHeL hand dyed tops, special Halloween stitch markers, some extra fun fibre surprises and a nice yummy treats as well ! I mean, who can possibly resist??!

Pre-orders close Thursday, September 28th.
All Halloween treat parcels will be shipped Friday October 6th, 2023. 

Have lots of fun exploring the shop this week and if you have any questions or requests: let me know ! You know I always love to enable ♥️

Big hugs

Charly