8 sleeps 'til Xmas

I can't believe it's been a month since I last wrote. Here at the home of Mongrel Socks it' been a big month. Lots of orders coming in and going out. It's that time of year. I mentioned inthe last pot that I had been having a stab at making beanies, I did try to post some pictures but I couldn't get them up online. Anyway, I sold the lot! Which I'm taking as a very positive sign for the future of Mongrel Tasmanis Headwear. I'm still fiddling with the designs, and have come up with a one that I'm hoping will be a stayer. It's very unusual, loose and comfortable, and suitable for people who have lot's of hair or dreadlocks and even no hair. It can also double as a neck warmer-yes, a very versatile thingy. The beanies will go on the back burner, while we get ready for Xmas and the New Year-but I'm am happy to say they are evolving, and even happier with the fact we are able to make use of what would be waste knit otherwise.
We've got a new lot of Possum/merino socks due to be finished around the end of January, which will replenish our depleted stocks, they have gone off in the last few months. Yay!
Busy working towards our new website, will take a while but will happen.
Our pure wool Mongrel Socks will still be our focus for the next month at least, then we'll start on this years Mongrel Tasmanis Arm/leg warmers. Looking forward to playing with the colour mixes again to see what we come up can come up with. Oh well, best get back to work.

Love it! Treasure it!

I was checking out our web site stats etc today and noticed a bit of traffic coming from a source I wasn’t expecting. Most of our traffic is via direct address or the most common search engines. Today’s little surprise made me smile. We are a family of readers, reading all genre’s, with a particular liking for Aussie authors. So when I noticed we had traffic coming from a website of a best selling Australian author, one whose books I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. I had to check out the how/why/where. I was so happy to read her blog and find she loves our pure wool socks and is giving our Possum Socks a go. It’s always’s nice to hear good things about what you do, especially from someone whose work you respect yourself.
She’s a local girl, turns out we live only a few hills apart. Not close by road but not far at all “as the crow flies”. What are the chances of us making one of our favourite authors, some of her favourite socks? It’s a small world. The authors name is Rachael Treasure, rachaeltreasure.com , a woman of many talents. Not only does she write great Aussie fiction and has particularly good taste in socks, she’s I also a wife, mum, farmer and busy writing a guide on dog training. Those mongrel socks she wears must sure get a work out. Anyway, if your in the market for a guide on how to get your mongrel to toe the line, keep an eye out for her next literary offering, and in the meantime check out her books, “Jillaroo” “The Roustabout” or “The Stockman”, they’re a good Aussie escape.

Possum Mayhem

Living on the edge of native bushland, as we do, we have wildlife aplenty. Generally, its a delight, and a special treat to have creatures both furry, feathered and scaled, close to us. An unexpected pleasure watching them go about their business. Not having any domestic pet's (since our dear old dog died), has seen the native population explode. Having lost our much loved and irreplaceable family mongrel, the gorgeous staffordshire bull terrier, Zac, we just couldn't take on another. He'd be a very hard act to follow. He was placid, obedient, and pretty tolerant around other animals, (even cats didn't get his attention), but would still play-up like a puppy well in to old age. All good except when it came to possums. Zac was a very effective deterrent. So we never really had the problems with possum damage we are now experiencing. As cute looking as possums are, we really do regard them as vermin, the rat's of the Aussie bush, around our house. Being a protected species here in Tasmania, there's not a lot we can do about them. They are voracious eater's, and not fussy either. Not only is our garden being knocked around, all the natives tree's we've planted on our acreage are taking a hit. Worse still, they some how are able to un-clip the lids off our garbage bins and rip, spread and scatter all our household rubbish. And just to add insult to injury they cover the lot (or so it seems), with urine and the other. Urgh!
Today, as I repacked our rubbish, again, totally pinged off with the rotten little buggers, a thought sprang to mind, making me laugh out loud. I'm still smiling :)
There I was up to my elbow's in yuck wearing the lovely, warm, possum fur/merino wool socks we produce. Ha! I'm gonna thumb my nose at those furry little possums from now on. I've known for along time what Possum's are good at, now I know what they're good for.
Keeping warm!
They say "Revenge is a dish best eaten cold" They're right.

Free Socks!

For the months of Oct-Nov '07 we are offering all our online customers a chance to try either our Mongrel Tasmanis Possum Socks or cotton rich Dr Socks for free with online purchases over $50 (for a free pair of Dr Socks) or with orders over $100 you'll receive a free pair of Possum Socks to try. Both are a completely different product to our ever popular Pure Wool Mongrel Socks and our Tuff Mongrel Socks, both are a fine sock rather than the thick and woolly nature of our Mongrels. The Dr Socks are a healthy fine cotton rich(95% Cotton/5% Elastine) featuring a loose non-restrictive top with no toe seam to irritate sensitive toes. These socks are great worn in warm weather, when bare feet is not an option. They are light weight and very comfortable. We have sizes from Ladies right thru to XL men's size, with a good range of colours.
Our Possum Socks are also a lighter weight sock, good worn in shoes that won't allow a thick sock comfortably. These socks are incredibly warm for their weight, featuring a top that is generous, so won't grab tight on your ankles. They are made of Possum Fur blended with Merino Superwash Wool (33% of each) with stretch nylon(33%) to give the user decent usability. These socks are machine washable unlike many of our competitors offerings.
All you need to do to take advantage of this offer is type in special notes area of our online order form "free socks" with your size when ordering and you'll received your free gift.

Yay!

We are jumping for joy, our new range of Possum Socks are finally finished! It seems to have taken forever to get these babies knitted. The wait was worth it. We have added a plain black sock in both ladies and men's sizes, and continued with oatmeal, blood red and blue. We had the yarn processed to our specifications, mixing possum fur with a 19 micron superwash(worsted) wool, making our Possum Wool socks machine washable,(unlike many of our competitors). Who wants to hand wash their socks? Not us! We've come up with a light weight, but incredibly warm sock. One that can be worn with the snuggest of dress shoes, which you can't fit your thick & warm woolly socks in to, not compromising your warmth and comfort. We love them!

The wait is almost over!

Finally the Possum Wool Sock drought is over (nearly). Our great range of Possum Wool Socks is soon to be replenished. The possum’s plucked, the sheep’s shorn, yarn's spun and landed at the factory door, are being knitted and finished as I write. The yarn we commisioned is 30% Possum Fur and 70% 19 micron superwash Merino Wool. We are very happy to be adding another colour to the range too. These socks are a fine, incredibly warm dress sock. These babies are so good, our Salamanca outlet customers will purchase and put them straight on!

Ecological Possum Socks

Did you know that buying a pair of possum wool socks not only makes you a happy owner of the finest naturally made wool socks, but also makes you an active contributor to preserving New Zealand’s forests? But what has buying a pair of possum wool socks got to do with preserving the forests of New Zealand? Read on to know everything about it.

The brush tail possum is destroying New Zealand’s forests - its native plants, trees and bird life.

Introduced from Australia to New Zealand about 150 years ago, Possums have multiplied alarmingly in New Zealand, partly because of the lack of any natural predator that would arrest their population growth. These nocturnal animals devour the new leaf growth of trees; destroying whole trees and depriving birds of their natural habitat. They also feed on berries, insects and bird's eggs. Unlike the trees in Australia, the native trees of New Zealand do not have protective spines, prickles and poisonous leaves which work as natural defenses against possums.

According to statistical estimates, the total possum population in New Zealand is a whopping 70 million. This means possums are eating their way through roughly 20,000 tons of vegetation, no, not in a year’s time…but all in one night! If this doesn’t give you an idea of how the possums are devastating New Zealand, try to imagine 20 possums attacking the plants and trees of your garden – devouring a quantity that would fill up 2 plastic shopping bags per night. Every year, the possums devour approximately 8 million tons of vegetation – a major threat to the forests and wildlife of New Zealand.

With millions of dollars being spent on trying to eradicate possums, commercial initiatives utilising possum fur are an economic and ecological necessity. The commercial use of possum fur in possum wool socks and other possum products contributes greatly to the preservation of New Zealand’s forests and wildlife.

Possum wool socks and other products thereby serve as an eco friendly way of controlling the possum population. And as luck would have it, not only is possum fur an ecological option for socks, it is luxurious, good for insulating and wicks moisture away from your feet. In fact, our possum fur and merino wool blend makes the perfect sock. They are also machine washable.

So the next time you buy a pair of possum socks you know you are supporting the fight against possums and are helping to preserve the ecological system of New Zealand.