Right Royal Mongrels

Sir Christopher and Loz Esq. Both good blokes!

Prince Charles meeting the producers

Oh here we are, ready and waiting...

In the crush of the Paparazzi

Waiting in the rain for HRH at Salamanca Place, Hobart. Tas.

Team Mongrel Socks met with HRH The Prince of Wales yesterday. We were very chuffed to be invited to meet HRH on his whistle stop tour of Hobart, celebrating the The Queens Diamond Jubilee. Interested in promoting all things wool, in his role as the Ambassador for the Campaign for Wool, we we're invited to present our Tasmanian Merino Wool products to him.
Although we've always thought of ourselves as Republicans, without spending much time thinking about our Royal Family, it was an offer too good to refuse.
It was a surreal and far from the usual grind kind of day for the team. Starting with a lovely long lunch with family and friends, sharing some gorgeous local Pooley Pinot Grigio, and off to our date. Ushered past the crowds lined up to see the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, we and number of other local wool and natural fibre producers, The Lord and Lady Mayor, and a swarm of international media, all awaited the their arrival.
The appointed time came and went, HRH's were running late, the weather had turned foul, so we made small talk with those around us.
We chatted at length to lovely bloke, who introduced himself as Christopher, with a fine cultured English accent. Midst our chatting and high spirited and jovial banter, on being asked what his role was he said he was the Private Secretary to HRH Queen Elizabeth, representing her on the Royal Tour. Not until much later did one of the media pull us aside to ask if we knew who we were talking to? "Nup, not really, Chris....the Queens Secretary?". We were informed that Sir Christopher Geidt, is one of the most powerful Public Servants in the UK.
Of course we googled him later, I nearly fell off my chair. His bio is impressive, to say the least.
I wonder what he thought of our Aussie banter? I related to him that in the late 60's my sister was photographed with the Queen when she toured Tasmania, as a young girl giving HRH a small posy of flowers. How funny it was that today 40 years on we would be meeting Prince Charles for a photo opportunity too, and I thought I could mention to Prince Charles "my sister knows your Mum". A typical Tasmanian phrase where everyone knows everyone on our little island.
Then suddenly Prince Charles appeared, followed by the swarm lights, cameras, etc, there he was in front of us! He shook our hands, and I actually curtsied! We talked wool and socks, and then it was over. He was swallowed up by the crowd, and gone......but we have the photo's to prove it.

Dear Blog, it's been 6 months......

Dear Blog,
It's been 6 months since we last posted. In the cyber world our last 6 months have been a blank, but here in the real world it's all happening. TG. I suppose it's better than being larger than life socially, online and actually not really having one. I won't even try to fill in the last 6 months in any detail but will give you some things that have meant much to us and you can fill in the gaps.
Many socks made and sold.
Fantastic Customers.
Christmas.
Mullumbimby.
Freycinet
Friddy left. Happy for her but still missing her.
Loop Cowls and Neck warmers going off.
Wonderful Customers
Force Majeure - wool processor flooded,  1 tonne of gorgeous Merino lost.  Big delay in production for us but people lost their lives, so of course we "sucked it up".
Visited by Lindsay Fox (happy 75th birthday, by the way), Simon Crean MP, Bill Kelty ( my hero) David O'byrne MHA and assorted suits and chauffeurs on one fine Sunday arvo. Thanks for coming guys!
Salamanca Market turns 40.
Sri Lanka.
Big thanks to our much loved Kelsey who helped make a real holiday possible. When your kids step up and handle responsibility is a proud, proud day. Just like when a child first says "please" with out prompting only much better.
Big thanks to Kerrie too, for showing us we weren't irreplaceable, and looking after our
Lovely Customers.
Mullumbimby and Val's 80th.
Many socks made and sold.

and here's what my inbox has so kindly provided....

Just had to share, we are so lucky.
Will be back again very soon. In the meantime we'll just be socking.

Coming soon.

Having sourced the amazing Tasmanian grown, non-mulesed Pure Merino Wool - knowing there are only so many sock making hours in the day. We have turned our attention to developing a range of scarves. We’ve settled on two sorts the garden variety and a wide joined cowl. We have enlisted the help of a local Disability Enterprise. Prototypes have been knitted, experimenting is underway on the finish, and we’re excited. The scarves are incredibly soft, light weight and warm. We will be breaking our neck to get the first run completed and up for sale, to see what our customers think. Fingers Crossed.
In this age of disposable fashion it is such a good feeling to be producing a quality product that is so very all-round good.

Locally grown top quality Merino wool.
Locally knitted by a supported employment local company.
Certified Non-mulesed fleece
Supply chain tracability
Hand finished at the Mongrel Sock HQ.
Then straight to you.

It's here, it's here, it's here!!!

Imagine - wool from certified happy sheep!

Our new supply of certified Tasmanian Grown, Non-mulesed Pure Merino Wool has finally arrived. We are so very happy, and within minutes of it arriving, we had started knitting and haven't stopped! We need to really fill in all the colour gaps we accumulated as we ran down our last supply. Once thats done, the fun starts, as we play with new colour blends.

We also started to replenish our stocks  of our gorgeous Space Dye Mercerized Cotton Socks - We have two new colours Tomato and Charcoal. I guess we really should re-name them to more attractive or interesting sounding names like, I don't know, Watermelon or Pink Sky and Silver Ash or Grey Nomad. The knee high mercerised space dye will be re-stocked in the next couple of weeks.

Another day, another sock

After taking delivery of nearly a tonne of gorgeous pure merino wool on friday and today, we been busy experimenting with new colour mixes. Not as easy as it sounds. With a whole lot of new colours to choose from, and many of our long time staples missing, we have definately been scratching our heads. It really is a matter of trial and error, it still amazes me that one slight colour change in amongst 7 other threads can make such a differance to the overall look. Well keep on playing with the mongrel mixes, and see what develops. Then our customers can let us know if they like what they see.

Big Merino on the move!

One of our Mongrel Sock stockist's has had a hair-raising time lately. They have had to shift a 15 metre tall Merino Sheep replica. The logistics must have been a nightmare. A crew of hundreds coordinated the move, using an 85-tonne and 620 horsepower truck with 96 wheels to move the massive 97 tonne structure. We're so glad it went with out a hitch, and the BM is happy in it's new home.