And now for the news

It may not have escaped your notice that quite some time elapsed between the publication of my previous two blog posts. Almost five months, in fact, if we’re counting (and if we’re using our fingers to count, this fortunately leaves the other hand spare for a cuppa).

Now it’s easy to imagine I’ve spent that time gallivanting about the countryside, visiting all of the op shops while knitting and sewing with wild abandon. And to a certain degree, that’s pretty much what happened (although I was obliged to turn up for work on a regular basis, which puts somewhat of a crimp in the gallivanting).

However, given that I’ve attracted a whole bunch of lovely new followers thanks to an unexpected shout-out from Phil at The Twisted Yarn*, I’d like to avoid giving the impression that gallivanting comes first and blogging comes second. Except in the logical sense, where I can’t blog about gallivanting unless I have first gallivanted.

I may have gallivanted here, for example, where I took this photo and failed to notice the epic sunflare and the prominence given to the bin and the sign for the toilets.

I am a regular blogger. Really. And most of that five months of blogging inactivity was devoted to something that should improve my dedication to blogging. Namely, my own blog on my own domain.

Yes, it’s all true: a while back, I threw a bunch of money at a proper domain with the fiendish intention of fooling the world into believing that I am a Serious Writer with Serious Intentions. I had Plans! And Ideas! And many other things that required unnecessary capitalisation! However, as an experienced procrastinator, I soon put a stop to these Plans and Ideas in favour of patting cats and making a fresh cup of tea.

It was while drinking one of these (many, many) cups of tea that I thought I might like to start a website on a different, slightly less rambly topic, and wouldn’t it be handy if I could practise on a different website before I launched a new one? There’s a high likelihood that this was a particularly sophisticated form of procrastination, but as it resulted in productivity (possibly by accident), we’ll chalk that up as a win.

“How convenient that I have this blog right here!” I declared to some disinterested but adorable cats. “It will be ideal for the purposes of practising!”

I expect the cats would have left at this point, assuming (rightly) that I was about to become too preoccupied to feed them two hours before their dinner time.

As I whiled away the hours working through the blog, tweaking and streamlining and seeing what I could do, I realised that it was more than just a great place to practise and try some techniques: it actually had a lot of potential in itself. What I thought was just a fun blog where I was happy to write about anything was actually a blog that, with a modicum of effort (my favourite amount of effort), could become a cohesive blog with an overarching theme that tied the content together.

Which sounds really boring, now I think about it. Isn’t that what everyone’s looking for in a blog? I know I’ve been sitting there many a time, thinking, If only I could find a cohesive blog with an overarching theme that ties the content together…

So yes, this is a somewhat long-winded way of explaining that I’m in the process of moving my wordpress blog to its own domain. With any luck, you won’t need to do anything if you’d like to keep following me and my cohesive blog with its overarching theme – I should be able to pack you into convenient virtual suitcases (vintage, of course) and take you with me. Otherwise, please feel free to add the new url to another blog reader once I’ve made the switch. (I like The Old Reader, myself – it’s just like google reader used to be, back when it existed and was incredibly useful.)

However you choose to do it, I do hope you’ll join me on this slightly shinier adventure, especially those new readers who’ve barely had time to find a place to sit and get comfy. I’ve had a lot of fun setting everything up and arranging all the furniture at my blog’s new home and there will be scones and tea for all! Served on op shopped plates, of course.

You may be wondering what can you expect to find at the new home of Katie Writes Stuff (apart from the scones, of course).

Essentially, it will be the same blog in slightly different surroundings. I’ll still be writing about roadtrips, op shopping and vintage knitting and sewing, but I’m hoping to add in some useful guides and how-tos, particularly for photography and op shopping. I’ll be putting more of a polish on the blog posts themselves, too. (That’s not to say I neglect my current blog posts – I am more than capable of editing the most minor of typos in blog posts from last year in order to be able to sleep at night.)

My recent post on selfish knitting is an example of the style of blogging I’m embracing at the moment. I love writing and I do have a bachelor’s degree in it, after all, so I should start proving it a bit more.

Stay tuned for the big announcement of the move! It should be quite soon, barring any major cat-patting and tea-making emergencies.

* Did you notice how casually I mentioned that? Oh yes, people with witty, well-read blogs are always putting my modest little blog on their lists of recommended reading… In reality, I saw my blog on her list and squeed like a moron.