why i've been so absent!

hello!

oh dear, this poor neglected blog and poor neglected fledgling business.

i have been rather busy...submitting my PhD thesis and juggling that with an incredibly busy, but fun, day job helping to buy and sell luxury jets for a swiss consultancy!

it will be a while before i have any news regarding figs and roses since i am now taking some time to recover, soak up lake life in the summer and travel to ischia and corsica. some well deserved holidays!!

if you read my other blog, you will know all the news but, if you don't, here are some photos to sum up the final day:

 

more stories to follow on the other blog regarding submitting, celebrating and wonderful swiss life.

i would so love to have an alpaca

 

source

it's been a while...

gosh, i realised i haven't posted for almost three months! life has been busy and wonderful and i am knitting more than ever but the official launch of figs and roses will have to wait a while as i am tied up with other things at the moment - mainly my PhD!

but i have been knitting every day and love it more than ever. i am very pleased to share the latest three cowls i have been working on. the first one is currently winging its way to an excited customer (the first in fact)!

 

each of the cowls are designed by madeline tosh and i aslo use madeline tosh yarn. the colours are antler, french grey and winter wheat (mustard). madeline tosh has very kindly giveb me permission to sell cowls knitted using her design so i am thrilled.

i will be sure to update you with more knitting news before the next three months is up!

a belated happy new year to you all from figs and roses HQ x

inspiration

i have been finding pinterest and flickr increasingly useful in organising my virtual mood boards of inspiration for figs and roses products.

this is my favourite 'pin' of the week. yarn in colours which remind me of figs. from the fabulous quince and co. image via this stunning blog.

figs

one of the reasons i chose to use figs in the company name is because i love everything about figs. their beautiful colour, their shape and their taste - especially with a good chunk of goat's cheese. this was a perfect saturday lunch.

famous knitters

 

 

 

 

i think these images are simply wonderful!

in order of appearance (in case you don't know): marilyn monroe, audrey hepburn, sophia loren, katherine hepburn, english showgirls knitting backstage for service men during WWII, queen victoria crocheting!

images found on stitch diva studios facebook page.

you can see oodles more famous knitters over here which is where i spotted this one of sufjan stevens. another reason to love this brilliant man.

knit club

so, here i am blogging on a friday night. but my lastest chapter for my PhD is finally taking shape so i'm harnessing this spell of clarity and will work on into the night. but first, i wanted to tell you about knit club. this one is on a tuesday not friday - in case the photo is misleading. i started this book on holiday and have barely read any of it but i liked all the knitting references.

the inaugural knit club was so lovely. i really wasn't sure if i'd get anything done other than chat but i managed to seam up a baby dress and most others knitted quite a bit so that was pleasing. see for yourselves - 

 

we met two weeks ago at the folk house cafe at the bottom of park street. i'm really looking forward to the next one which will be at papaji's this coming tuesday from 5.30-7.30pm. if you are bristol based and knit or would like to learn, do come along! the lovely bianca organised the club and i was disappointed to discover she's leaving soon to go and live in melbourne for a year. we'll have to have some virtual blog link up with her so we can keep sharing our crafty antics. to find out more about the club, see the hash tag #knitclub on twitter for updates or follow @bian_cek on twitter.

photos - bianca teaching jo how to do a slip knot and reminding her how to cast on, fritha and her first ever project (a scarf), becky starting a hat, fritha and finally abigail's *gorgeous* boy theo.

click on people's names to visit their blogs. there are quite a few more joining us next tuesday and it's definitely a nice way to make some progress on figs and roses stock in a sociable atmosphere.

have a lovely weekend.

nancy x

nonna

if you follow my other blog, you will see that i had the most magical time in ischia and i think the photos do it justice. i had such a nice time using a new lens i'd been given for my birthday so, if you want to read all about it and see the photos, click on the link to the top right of this which says 'nancy knits'.

i didn't end up doing any knitting after all since i had to choose between wool and a snorkel in my suitcase and the snorkelling gear won out. i also didn't find any yarn shops but i didn't look for them either. next time... for there will be many more visits!

raffaele's nonna (brigita) was a real inspiration. she works (as do raffaele's aunts) as a seamstresses but she is 92 and still very busy with it! i have dreams of living in ischia for a while knitting products for figs and roses alongside brigita sewing while we drink our coffee and chat (so i can learn italian). this dream is not that far fetched actually...

figs and roses on tour

 
if you follow my other blog nancy knits you will know i'm off to italy. i'll take some knitting with me but am looking forward to seeing if there are any nice yarn shops to be found. see you in a few weeks!

image via

introducing...

my new business

thanks to the wonderful veronica who designed the logo in return for this cowl.

i think it was a perfect trading of talents. if you're on ravelry and you want more information about the cowl, you can find me (nancyknitsuk) and my projects there.

i was going to wait until i had a decent amount of stock before officially launching but i thought it might be nice to document the process here and, as people are often urging me to sell me stuff, i decided to go ahead and announce it now. yesterday i registered the name with companies house so it feels good to have it all  official and to be a director of my own company :)

i will be selling predominantly hand-knitted baby clothes along with some vintage baby wear and, at a later date, some hand-sewn items.

i'm not yet sure when i will launch as i have the small matter of a thesis to complete but follow this blog to keep up to date with any developments.

all items will be available to buy at big cartel (or possibly etsy) and i will post more information on this once things are up for sale.

another way to keep up to date and be the first to bag any unique knitted items is to follow me on twitter @figsandroses or see my facebook page. even better, 'like' my page to show your support. i have lots still to do in terms of making this blog prettier and getting the shop front organised but i don't want to rush things as it's important to get it right.

over the past year i've been contacting knitwear designers to get their permission to sell knitted items made from their designs and many of them have been very enthusiastic and supportive. i have also started designing my own stuff (so fun) and two shops in bristol have even said they want to stock my products!! i will also possibly have a stall every so often for example at love baby fest in bristol as the organiser thought this was a good idea when i spoke to her in the spring.

but for now, i'll be busy knitting and finishing my PhD. if you have a question, get in touch at figsandrosesinfo@gmail.com or comment below!

ps - if you're a new follower, you can see my other blog - nancy knits - to see the kind of things i make and what else i get up to when i'm not knitting. but i will be posting sneak peeks of items here too of course.