New Website and Shop!

So if you used to read this blog you'd notice that I haven't updated Pretty Porcini for some time... That's for a lot of mostly pretty boring reasons and so I apologise! The good news is, that I've started up my business again, but under a new name....

I'm still Porcini, but now I've joined up with my little sister, Button!

Here are some contact details for the new business, we still sell some golden oldies, but also a new range of products. Check out the new blog, Facebook, website, Etsy and Folksy shops to see what we're up to and receive news of special offers.

We're featured in a growing number of brick and mortar shops around Edinburgh (UK) and appear in more and more craft fairs, so maybe you could come and meet us in person!

Porcini

x

Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so...

For the past few weeks I haven't had a minute to myself. Every spare moment has been filled with lesson planning, report writing, sorting out playground tiffs and trying (or rather failing) to keep the flat in an acceptable state. Despite having no time to do any cooking, or even to grab a sandwich for lunch most days, there are a lot of dishes around... 

...Worse still, in the most severe of times when all I can fit in is a cup of tea, I will invariably discover that all the mugs and teaspoons are gone...

The last week in particular I've felt more like a mother than a girlfriend. I wont dare to admit to how many loads of laundry I had to do the other day I could almost hear the polar bears crying out in despair...  

I've been so busy taking care of everyone else and the flat that yesterday, I managed to wash, dry and pack a 4 day rucksack for a certain someone else (who had more or less forgotten about their trip), before realising that I had no clean clothes for myself!

So now, with no formal lessons tomorrow to plan for, only myself to take care of, and a tremendous 5 day weekend on it's way (thank you Victoria Day!) I can finally relax...

What will you do with yourself?? I hear you say... Why, knit of course! I did a few more twists on my Begonia DNA scarf (only 11 more to go, and 6 weeks to do it in) before deciding to treat myself to some lovely yarn that looks like this:

from which I want to make a set of crocheted cushion covers. The picture is from the wonderfully cheap website that I bought it from so it isn't the best... But the yarn is Louisa Harding Kashmir DK in (clockwise from top left) Olive, Burgundy, Plum and Rosebud. I already have some cushions in these colours so it should fit in nicely on my sofa.

=)

Next Thursday I have my observed lesson which is fairly nail biting stuff, luckily I have those immortal words in large, friendly letters to keep me company.

X

Porcini Designs

It's my birthday today, so I am starting a blog for the first time ever, to go with my current life plan of having no life plan for the first time ever!

I'll hopefully use this as a log of random creative, crafty adventures but I can be a bit of a butterbrain so I might forget sometimes. 

The name Porcini was inspired by my Oh-so-adorable cousin Ruby Rose (Isn't her name perfect for a craftster? But I couldn't use it, it would be theft!) she loves mushrooms and everytime I see her she wants me to draw thousands of mushrooms which is where my little mushroom came from. Porcini (or Porcine) was just my favourite mushroom name.

To set the scene a little, I intended to study Chinese language and culture at university and to go on to be a teacher (because I love teaching and I love China!), but honestly, there are enough native Chinese speakers out there willing to teach Chinese that it seems kind of silly. Plus, I was getting serious withdrawal symptoms from not being within 30m of a sewing machine, with knitting being my only remaining link with the craft world.

So I quit. Applied for transfer to a Design Technology teaching course (because I still want to teach, I always have, I just want to teach something more creative) and bought myself my first ever sewing machine. 

I had always used my Grandma's or Mum's sewing machines before, but after having made several roman blinds for the new flat I'm living in, I couldn't bare the sight of those machines. I spent most of my time unpicking stitching and correcting it by hand as the machines would just jam and plough through my material with no consistent tension or quality. Those days are behind me now and as I type this, I can look at my beautiful Janome DC3050 glinting proudly in the sun and smile!

I'm renting a reasonably big room in Edinburgh at the minute, which I have now packed with 2 desks (one for working, one for sewing), my clothes (mostly in a chest of drawers but pretty much all over the place in boxes), several shelving units piled on top of each other brimming with my craft supplies and books, my trusty (only slightly temperamental) iron and ironing board, and a disproportionately large amount of chairs that I don't really want but that seem to migrate back to my room every time I remove them.

I have no idea what I'll end up doing design wise (or indeed in real life) and I don't get my decision about my teaching course until sometime in March. Nevermind, who needs a plan these days anyway?