conventandchapel

Road Trip

Published on February 5, 2015February 5, 2015 by conventandchapelLeave a comment

That's me on the grid - 1st position - at Mount Panorama, Bathurst. Don't think I'd win any races. — That’s me on the grid – 1st position – at Mount Panorama, Bathurst. Don’t think I’d win any races.

This week G and I took ourselves exploring, with a purpose. Our hand knits have been selling well in the shop. If anything, a little too well, and we are struggling to keep up with demand, particularly as we also try to finish off our items for the local Shows. One of our customers suggested we check out a rural sock factory – one that makes socks on original old machinery. Given they are local (rural NSW), use Australian wool and it is such an artisan craft, we decided it was worth a trip to see for ourselves. G is an accomplished sock knitter but socks take ages to knit if we were to try and knit them ourselves for the shop.

You're kidding, right? Traffic lights out here? — You’re kidding, right? Traffic lights out here?

So, off to Crookwell we set off early yesterday morning. From Kandos, there are no main roads and highways so it was always going to be a scenic drive and one not worth rushing. We joke about the lack of traffic lights in our lives now – Mudgee doesn’t even have a traffic light, but were amused to strike two for roadworks (saves on lollipop men). It was saddening to see how much new roadkill lay on the road but we also saw kangaroos, rabbits and even an emu along the way.

Tuena, an historic old gold mining town I hadn’t heard of before, provided a quick detour, and seemed like a great destination for an overnight stay to do a bit more exploration. But mainly we pushed towards Crookwell, making it there in heaps of time for us to relax over burgers with the works at the bistro attached to a local pub.

The trip to Lindner Socks was definitely worth it. Situated comfortably in the main street is a charming little sock shop which is also home in the back room to a sock factory that uses old fashioned equipment to machine knit. Andrew gave us a tour of the factory and explained how the socks were made, the fibres used and the types of socks available. His mother, Gisela, sorted out the business end of things and provided us with all we needed to place our first order, which will be very soon. If you’re interested in seeing more, a Sydney Weekender clip is on YouTube with Mike Whitney visiting the factory.

Crookwell is a lovely town and would be great for a weekend stay. We found it amusing that despite coming from Sydney, we already talk about towns like Crookwell as being “big” now that our comparison is Kandos and Rylstone.

We decided to take an even more scenic route home, which really meant taking a longer route, and instead of circling back via Bathurst went to Taralga, Oberon and then through Rydal to Wallerawang and Portland. It was a great day of discovering (alas not having time to explore) some great little towns and villages and seeing how many wonderful rural locations are still surviving and even thriving. The churches themselves are worthy of a special trip, with some being surprisingly grand and other charmingly austere. Many times we had to pinch ourselves to believe that we were now really living the dream out in the country and not just on a weekend excursion returning back to the city and jobs.

Anyway, after a long but rewarding day on the road and nearly 600k, we arrived back home to pets and gardens. Expect to see Lindner socks in our shop and on our feet very soon.

Here’s Gemma pictures of our trip on Facebook. The photos of the churches and windows are particularly beautiful.

The shop from the footpath. Loved the red socks on the sheep.

Getting the Word Out

Published on February 2, 2015February 2, 2015 by conventandchapel1 Comment

Our new brochures and bookmarks reflect our shop well. Hopefully we can get a wide distribution.

Our business has been open now for over two months and we’ve been really happy with the response to date. Locals seem to love having their own wool shop. Knitters are delighted and many others seem tempted to pick up their long abandoned knitting skills again and join in.

We’ve also had plenty of visitors – and now they’re not just the “We were driving through the area and decided to pop in” type, but those who have heard about us and make the special trip. All of this so far by word of mouth.

We’re now hitting our straps with advertising to get the word out far and wide – there’s no specialty knitting shop within coee of us and we also know our stock is very different to that found in other shops. So far we’ve joined Mudgee Regional Tourism which lists us on their website and allows us to place brochures in all the local Tourist Information Centres.

And we now have our brochures. Well, actually brochures, bookmarks and business cards, which we are so happy with. These are finding homes in lots of locations and shortly I’ll do a mail out to B&Bs and local motels.

Our first advertisement appears this month in the local Discover magazine and we are fortunate in having a major editorial accompany it. This is already bringing people into the shop within the first weekend.

Local coverage of the shop's opening — Local coverage of the shop’s opening

The local media are very supportive and we’ve had an opening article in the Mudgee Guardian as well as a radio interview on ABC Central West.

Ravelry, the knitter’s social media mecca, is a great help and we will be running ads there next. And, of course, we are doing what we can on Facebook and blogs to keep people engaged.

The combination of more traditional advertising as well as word of mouth, social media and public relations is working well for us – but we know we need to keep it up and not get complacent.

At the moment though, it’s lots of fun and very exciting.

Our editorial and advertisement in the Discover Magazine.

Discovering Small Treasures

Published on February 2, 2015 by conventandchapel2 Comments

Beautiful buttons being packaged up for the shop.

I enjoy participating in the antique and collectibles auctions. It was fun furnishing the Convent with quality and distinctive furniture and items of interest as well as finding lovely fittings for the shop which suited the heritage building.

A handwritten note accompanying some of our acquired beads. Possibly written in the 70s.

Now G and I are searching out interesting items for the shop. We particularly love finding vintage buttons and other trims which also go hand-in-hand with personally knitted items.

The stunning red glass bugle beads - heavy and you can hear the glass clink! — The stunning red glass bugle beads – heavy and you can hear the glass clink!

This week I was pouring through a mixed box of buttons I had picked up at a recent auction and was delighted to find a hand-written note in a plastic bag mixed with a few different beads. It was exciting to discover that the bag appeared to contain, amongst other things, a note explaining that the red bugle beads had been used in the 1800s to decorate the bodice of gowns and belonged to the note-writer’s husband’s great grandmother’s dress. The great grandmother would have been 150 at the time the note was written and the note was written on a page from a 1976 diary. I’m pretty sure these beads will never make it into the shop for sale and we’re already planning something special in lace to do justice to them.

The amber crystals accompanying the bugle beads.

Additionally the writer pointed out that the amber crystals in the bag appeared to be part of a necklace. Anyway, the little bag contained delightful treasures, but none so much as the handwritten note itself.

Other pretties in this treasure trove plastic bag.

In the meantime, we are having a great time packaging up the various buttons for the shop and imagining some of the garments that might suit these individual buttons and do them justice.

The Last Week

Published on January 25, 2015 by conventandchapelLeave a comment

Beanies galore. We don't get to enjoy them for long. — Beanies galore. We don’t get to enjoy them for long.

This is more of a random post on doings over the last week, given they have been so varied.

The shop has seen a constant raid on hand knits since we opened, so I’ve been updating the spiral beanie stock (which also means working through patterns and sizings for the different yarns we have in the shop). Over half a dozen new beanies briefly went on display. Unfortunately this meant interrupting the Show knitting which is a Shetland lace sampler shawl.

Last Monday saw me on ABC Central West radio doing a shop interview on their Craft Corner. This was an unanticipated bonus and lots of fun.

Just starting to populate our new oak Wernike bookcase. — Just starting to populate our new

Over the weekend we added to our collectibles in the shop culminating with a trip to Sydney to collect our bounty from participating in online auctions from some of the major Sydney auction houses. We now have quite a selection of antiques and collectibles, including silver ornaments and lovely vintage jewellery.

We know we need to market the shop fairly broadly – including via traditional means to attract tourists. Our brochures and bookmarks (which make great pattern and chart trackers) arrived this week and we think they look great. Next step is to distribute them through central areas such as the local Tourist Information Centres, motels and B&Bs. Our first ad should also appear in the Discover Central NSW magazine next month.

Nothing flash but very fast and lots of fresh garden produce.

The garden is growing rampantly – with warm, humid weather and plenty of rain, it’s moving faster than I can keep up with. I try to do and hour or two on shop days and much more on other days, but sometimes I barely make an impact and I’m not sure why I bother to mow the grass. It seems just as long three days later! Anyway, things are also growing in the veg garden, although looking at local Facebook posts, everyone seems inundated with veg. I made a slight dent with a zucchini slice and salad of lettuce, mixed cherry tomatoes and cucumber – all home grown.

But for now it’s a battle between garden, Show knitting and topping up the shop knitted items which are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Show knitting - struggling to get priority at the moment. — Show knitting – struggling to get priority at the moment.

Pretties for The Shop

Published on January 23, 2015 by conventandchapelLeave a comment

Vintage crystal necklaces to sparkle up the shop.

One of our unanticipated successes in the shop so far has been our small range of antiques and collectibles – we started with a few favourite things from the auctions on a shelf and have now expanded into two small cabinets.

Jewellery which includes a vintage cocktail bracelet that would have looked in place on the Duchess of Windsor's wrist. — Jewellery which includes a vintage cocktail bracelet that would have looked in place on the Duchess of Windsor’s wrist.

This weekend we’ve been shopping online at one of the major auction houses in Sydney and come back with some lovely items – we’re often sad not to keep them ourselves and sometimes hope they’ll stay on the shelves with us for a while.

Probably my favourites this time around were the gorgeous crystal necklaces although some of the brooches are just beautiful, with such craftsmanship and attention to detail.

Gorgeous silver things including coin purse and a beautiful Scottish agate brooch.

This means that we have something for the non-knitting (hard to imagine) visitors to our shop.

An exquisite cameo brooch makes an appearance with other interesting accessories.

Knitting… and lots more knitting!

Published on January 19, 2015 by conventandchapelLeave a comment

Yep, just a cast on row. Getting the first pattern row right took hours and lots of tinking (knitter's speak for undoing). — Yep, just a cast on row. Getting the first pattern row right took hours and lots of tinking (knitter’s speak for undoing).

What with the shop and the impending Shows, it seems like the knitting needles are never out of G and my hands.

It’s great that people like to buy the hand knits, but they all take time to knit and at present we are focussing on our Show entries. To make best use of our efforts, we are endeavouring to use shop yarn and our own patterns (or at least patterns that are easily accessible to others), so the finished entries can then become shop displays or the basis for our classes – it’s called “leveraging”!

Looks a bit of a mess at present. Not sure how many knitters have a Chapel floor on which to block. Don't think it will help with judges scoring at the end, though! — Looks a bit of a mess at present. Not sure how many knitters have a Chapel floor on which to block. Don’t think it will help with judges scoring at the end, though!

So far I’ve managed a shawl in a very vibrant Zauberball Lace – different from my usual classic and subdued style and have just cast on the beginnings of a sampler lace shawl using Jamieson & Smith 2 ply Shetland Lace. I’m hoping this can be used in a future lace workshop for customers. But I’ll be knitting into the wee hours each night to have a fighting chance of getting this into the Rylstone/Kandos Show in late February.

I’m hoping to have a few items finished by the time Show season kicks off, with a few more entries completed shortly after for the later Shows. We’re also encouraging our customers to enter so others can see the possibilities with knitting and that the craft has evolved considerably from people’s previous expectations.

In the meantime, there’s still some shop knitting happening. The past week it was focussing on Noro and Zauberball Spiral Beanies – one of our best sellers.

Noro beanies - very popular. Now adding Zauberballs to the mix. — Noro beanies – very popular. Now adding Zauberballs to the mix.

2015 Plans

Published on January 2, 2015 by conventandchapel2 Comments

So now it’s time to set some targets for the next year. Given 2014 was nothing like planned – hadn’t planned on selling up and living here permanently, getting involved in the Museum, CWA not on the radar – let alone President, what shop? … Plans now just seem incongruous after years of managing Strategic and Operating Plans.

So why have some personal goals? OK, just a concept and let’s see how close we get.

Shop – I actually have a Business Plan and hope to pull this off. It’s important on a number of levels and I think achievable.
Convent – well, I should update the old toilets – and original kitchen and put in new kitchen, and update lighting, but they’re not high on priorities at present – although was a originally – how things change!
Garden – finish side colourbond fence bed, build bed in front of the sunroom.
Side block – well, good intentions here for the orchard/parkland block but at best may just clear it and manage a few plantings.
Knitting – at least winning something at one of the Shows I’m planning on entering.
Convent Chapel – fix lighting for workshops
Umm – do a psychic reading – not really my style but as I’m feeling so settled, it’s really tempting
Chopper ride – yes! Kids have bought tickets – so excited to go on a helicopter tour of the area
Go Fishing! Have had a licence for a wasted year. I love fishing and have rods. Can’t believe I’m not doing this regularly given I’m so close to Dunn’s Swamp. I don’t need to catch anything. It’s about dropping a line in the water and just chilling.
Keeping in touch with old friends and making some new ones – I now appreciate just how important this is. It’s easy to be isolated or isolate yourself, but friends – either local, old but visit, or even those you keep up with mainly online – are all so important and add a greater dimension and connection to your life.

I’m sure there’s lots more I’ll think of but these are fine for now. After all, life’s supposed to be enjoyed. John Lennon was so right when he said, “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans”.

A retrospective of 2014…

Published on January 1, 2015 by conventandchapelLeave a comment

The old girl is coming together nicely and enjoying the attention.

It’s been just over a year since I moved to Kandos permanently. And over two years since I discovered the Convent and Kandos. What was a fortuitous realestate.com search certainly changed my life dramatically. I had never intended to make such a substantial permanent move, well, at least not straight away. The plan had been to live the “balanced lifestyle” and maintain my Sydney property and corporate life in the CBD for a few days a week and then chill at the Convent for the other days.

To this - the verandah outside my bedroom. And now is Popcorn's favourite place. — To this – the verandah outside my bedroom. And now is Popcorn’s favourite place.

The dogs were the first to decide that there was only one life for them and within the first six months of purchasing the Convent, it was pretty clear that Kandos was going to be my permanent home. The first year saw a lengthy settlement before the property was mine, but thanks to the generosity of the Church (who still owned the Convent), I camped on an air bed until all the legals were finalised. Then came, painting, floors, curtains and furnishings and I moved in permanently last November – on my 55th birthday to be precise.

Of course there are many more plans for the Convent – one day …. bathrooms, kitchen, but I’m just enjoying it as it is. The garden has had a major makeover and has been a joy to put such effort into. I’m now waiting to see if I manage to get some cucumbers this year. There are lots of zucchinis, my berry bed is going crazy and I could live off the lettuces and carrots at present. Oh, of course cherry tomatoes are also kicking in. My family and friends are making the Convent a regular getaway, which fortunately lessens the wrench of leaving them. And I was so lucky that one of my best friends decided to join me here and has also moved to the town and lives around the corner.

Re Kandos itself and its community, I’ve been made so welcome. We spent New Year’s Eve at the local club and I was pleased to recognise so many familiar faces and be included as one of the crowd. I’m endeavouring to help with community activities (which also helps in meeting people) and have really enjoyed being part of the Kandos Museum through its renaissance as well as the local CWA.

Popcorn - such a beautiful boy. — Popcorn – such a beautiful boy.

Other highlights through the year have been including the wonderful Popcorn in the Convent family – he is a joy, holding the Best Knitting at Show for the second year at the Kandos Rylstone Show (which is adding to the excitement of this year’s Show), being part of the Kandos Centenary celebrations and opening the Convent doors to somewhere between 400 – 600 people and learning the ins and outs of online auctions which have furnished my home and now finding their way into the shop collectibles.

Whilst I had thought I had retired, it hasn’t taken long to find myself running my own wool shop which combines a longtime passion with the skills I’ve acquired through many years of corporate life.

That's us at the new shop. — That’s us at the new shop.

It’s been a good – no great – year. And 2015 looks as though it will also bring its share of surprises and pleasures, with no doubt also some sobering moments. However life is good, It takes work, decisions and actions to make it happen, with also some risks. But it’s worth it. If you’re thinking of making a change, don’t just think about it, also plan and do it, but be prepared for lots of surprises along the way.

Kayaking at Dunn’s Swamp

Published on December 30, 2014 by conventandchapelLeave a comment

Yep, that's us paddling away! — Yep, that’s us paddling away!

We’ve been promising ourselves this for a while but this time we booked ourselves in and took along some of our kids to go kayaking at Dunn’s Swamp.

Beautiful views in every direction from our kayaks.

The buoys mark the area where the kayaks can't pass as the weir is behind them. — The buoys mark the area where the kayaks can’t pass as the weir is behind them.

The name doesn’t do the area justice as it’s the most beautiful place and home to a wide variety of bird and animal life. The area was made into a large lake in the 1930s to provide a water source for the cement works but has since evolved into an area of great natural beauty. It was fascinating to hear the story of how it was built as well as the original history and its connection to the Wiradjuri people.

The weir/dam is impressive and also home to wild life. We watched tortoises sun baking in the water.

We hired kayaks from Southern Cross Kayaking and paddled along with Cindy who showed us around and filled in many missing parts of the local history. It was amazing to think that the weir was built by around a dozen men living in the bush for a few years.

The area is a popular camping spot and also attracts locals who fish there. G and I are sorely tempted to look at buying our own kayaks or a runabout to take more advantage of this fantastic escape – which is about 20 minutes from our doorsteps.

Anyway, we had a great morning with the kids, although I’m not sure they were as impressed as they should have been with our kayaking abilities.

Show Preparations

Published on December 29, 2014December 29, 2014 by conventandchapelLeave a comment

I love entering the local Agricultural Shows – I’ve only attempted the last few years and mainly with knitting. Whilst it’s a thrill to win a prize at one of the bigger shows like the Royal Easter Show, it’s more of a buzz to participate in the local ones.

I’ve had some reasonable successes with my knitting but have been an abject failure in other categories such as tomatoes, dahlias and roses, but am determined to persist with my efforts. And I’m way past the Showgirl section!

The knitting categories however are now the core focus for G and me, particularly now we have Convent & Chapel Wool Shop up and running. Somehow the stakes seem much higher this year. Anyway, we have our projects underway – using shop yarn, of course. To date I’ve focussed on lace shawls but will be spreading myself a little more this year, planning on also entering accessories – I’m thinking mitts, scarf and maybe a beanie – as well as possibly a baby garment.

The Shows start with a flurry in mid February, kicking off with Gulgong, followed by our own Kandos Rylstone Show, then Mudgee, Lithgow and Bathurst all jammed in closely. Other shows are a little more spaced with Sydney Royal Easter Show in late March. Not sure how many we will manage, but we will definitely be supporting our local shows.

At this stage the projects are under wraps – we’re keen that they will be surprises. no doubt you’ll hear about our results – good or otherwise.