but you can call me Taph

I'm Taphophile. It's Greek for 'lover of cemeteries' and is not my real name. :)

This is a fairly typical scene - unwinding with knitting and a glass of wine at the end of an exhausting day frugalling (op-shops, garage sales and fetes). Out of shot is my fella, known in blogland as the Old Flame, and my mate The Shopping Sherpa (she took the photo). They love a bargain as much as I do and we make a formidable team. They may well pop up in future posts.

Knitting is my natural resting state.

I cannot remember a time when I did not knit and sew. My earliest memories are of "helping" Mum by organising and reorganising her button jar and knitting needles while she crafted our clothes. Nowadays I knit because I love it and sew because I have to.

The fabric stash used to exceed the yarn stash by a very large factor, but with a bigger disposable income and the greater availability of larger-sized clothes (and the follow-on effect for op-shopping) I haven't needed to sew as much. There is still a considerable amount of fabric lying around just itching to be garmented (totally a word), though. Lately circumstances have changed and I need to alter some old clothes and make some new ones. Rummage -Renovate - Refashion is my new motto.

My main blog is Unravelled (mostly knitting) and I contribute to the Canberra op-shopping blog I Op Therefore I Am. If you're on Ravelry, I'm Taphophile over there as well.