six and a half stitches

SPINACH

The camera broke. I have a lot of photos to take. And the camera broke. I did have a mild panic. We bought a new camera. And, well, it's going to take some getting used to because everything is just different and therefore wrong, and we have to adjust. And let's not even go to the place where the computer decided it needed some adjustment time, and ate my patiently created set of photos this evening, while an impatient annoyed husband looked on muttering under his breathe, so we're waiting to re-shoot them when there's sun, and no mutterings and I can teach my child swear words.

There has been manic knitting is this household. I'll explain all that in another post, because it's trully heartbreaking the story which follows with it, and the longer I leave it, the more positive the outcome is, and at some point it will turn into a very heartwarming story. I hope it's soon. Anyway, I have been finishing things. Namely Max's cable jumper. It was one of the photos my computer ate for dinner (was it nice dear, ahuh, good, glad you liked - burp - it) and besides which Max was screaming his head off so possibly that's ok to re-shoot another day when he looks like he actually likes the thing I have slaved over for the last few months. There was some other baby stuff, but it's in the heartbreaking post.

So tonight, we are bought to you by the colour green. And for the people on the bus this morning who didn't quite catch what Max shouted at the top of his voice - there was indeed a green truck next to us at one point. A brief point, but you would be forgiven for thinking it was for the entire journey. Max gets excited about trucks. And tractors. And buses. Back to green.

The slubby from Martas became a little neck warmer which despite it's simplicity is quite stunning, and very warm.

You can go see Di's version, here. There was another green 12 ply wool from Martas which became this interwoven scarf from Loop D Loop. It's sludgy. And long and heavy and drapey and a piece of fabric all in it's own right.

BACK-TACKED - THE FIRST INSTALLATION

It's that time where I look at peoples blogs and get excited to see their back-tack parcels arriving with all the raw materials for the sewing frenzy which will take place soon. I am inspired to see what people are sending out, and will be similarly inspired to see what people turn the materials into, what they add to it - remember you can add from your own stash to create something wonderful - please don't feel limited to only using what has been sent to you, as this should be seen as a building block for you to put your own stamp of creativity onto as well - and what they eventually fill it with. If you haven't sent your package off yet, there's still time to get it in before the end of May deadline.

Is this leading somewhere? Yes! My parcel arrived today, and I've been quite excited about what I would get. And I was showered with colour: A tropical haven of colour and floral art. It's bright, but very, very gorgeous at the same time, and there are so many ideas forming around this fabric for what I can do with it, and how I might add to it.

Along with the floral main fabric, is a pink coordinating fabric, some stripey 70's rollerskate (well, that's what it reminds me of anyway!) ribbon, a ribbon with the cutest women in straw skirts on it - and the skirts drop down and sway (I could tell you just how pathetic I am by letting you know that the skirts were a source of much food starved joy tonight), some mother of pearl buttons and some matching beads. Brilliant! Thankyou to the sender - sewing this up is going to be fun!

DIDN'T WE HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME

Ahhhh. My belly is full of good food, my eyes are full of joy from the people I have seen and old friends I have caught up with, my studio is full of fibre, and my body is nicely tired. And that about sums up very eloquently my fabulous weekend in Melbourne with my very dear friend Di. We ate, we shopped, and we sat and talked and knitted, and laughed, and all my worries disappeared. It was indeed, good therapy.

We went to Martas, who I could link to but really you have to go to her shop in person, because it's like being let loose in a sweet shop.

I got tempted by the murky, yet vibrant, greens of the boucle mohair, the slubby thick thin, and the 12 ply.

I got tempted by the subtle blue and purple of the 8 ply wool, the eggplant of the 2ply (small ball) and the incredibly subtle greens and greys and blues in the silk mohair - the subtelties of which my camera will never pick up on.

I got hungry for the ice-cream swirls of rasberry coulis in vanilla cream slubby.

 

And I sank deep into the depths of the greys and blacks and murky deep blues of another slubby. There were others too, but I have to save some suprises.

And then there was the little gift Di gave me which is extremely cute for it's, well, it's cuteness. The Klee Scarf Kit featuring yarn from Axelle - a selection of little samplers of the cashmere.

And material. Don't let me forget the material! Fabulous Liberty prints and other japanese fabrics along with some basics because I liked the patterns and colours. And last but not least, something I've wanted for a while, for a very close friend in the UK who has had a difficult pregnancy, a little bit of warmth in the form of a doll from AK Traditions, for which I need to knit some clothes. She sometimes reads the blog - so no pictures yet.

But the best bit by far was meeting some of the Melbourne girls - meeting Robyn, Jaqueline, Nichola, Suzette and Kylie face to face was quite amazing. To have been reading these blogs and been hearing about these people, some of which have really inspired me, and to finally meet these people was really fantastic. And Kylie, that scribble scarf, I still have visions of it's softness and silkiness and rather fine kimono work.

My head has been buzzing all weekend with the intense surge of energy which comes from buying new yarn and wanting to knit everything with it, right now. So much so that when I sat down tonight to start something, I went blank. I need to order it all, process it, stroke it a bit, perhaps, and then delve in. And soon, I'll show you what I'm doing with it all.

POUCHED

So in light of needing some pretty pictures to look at to make the dreary rain outside go away, I've collated some links - it's been a while since I linked away to things. And yes, there's a theme - bags and pouches. So maybe some of you will find these interesting for back-tack.

Beautiful woven baskets, little cloth pouches, the cutest little bird purses, as pictured above, and again some more, handmade zakka, fabric basket bags (my new obsession inspired by Wee Wonderful and others I have seen around but can't find the links to at the moment.), and clasp purses.

NO REST FOR THE WICKED

Despite having my week heartlessly ripped away from me, I have suprisingly got stuff done. Some of it manically as I rushed against my own deadlines. Some of it whenever I got a chance, sometimes only 15 minutes here or there.

About a year ago I bought a bag kit from In The Bag Handknits, and it's lain dormant under my desk under a pile of other yarn for all that time. The beauty of writing a long list of tasks for the week, is that you can completely disregard that list, and start another one which contains not very important stuff to do, but that you actually do want to get started on, especially if it means avoiding the real important stuff on the first list. So I delved in and whipped up the bag for want of anything meaningful to do.

Big needles, chunky wool basic rectangle. Quick. Easy. I reiterate my distaste for large needles. The kit supplies all the trim pieces, and some stripey lining, but that wasn't quite right. So I gave it my own lining - some linen with red and grey splodges on it from Cotton Bow Wow and another layer of calico in between that and the bag for extra safeness. The bag is intended to carry knitting around, so I want it to be reasonably needle and scissor proof.

But why stop there, she said, in amongst the chaos. Lets go one step further, and make a little pouch out of matching fabric scraps. And because it's better to go the whole hog instead of 'just make do', I Sashiko embroidered the linen part (which is a fine white linen napkin). Here's the piece of 'fabric' before the final sew together.

And the finished product - a pouch about 34cm long x 39cm circumference, with a handknitted cotton bottom and a drawstring body and a very happy maker.

PURPLE

I can always dye parts of my hair purple.

YES, YES THE JOKE IS EXCEEDINGLY FUNNY, THANKYOU GODS ABOVE

My 3 day holiday lasted approximately 1 day and 4 hours. The rest of my 'holiday' was devoted to a sick child. Being ever such a tactful one regarding bitterness, I hid my dissapointment exceedingly badly well. But somewhere up there, the gods thought the joke on me this last month had gone too far (err, yeah, it went too far about 2 weeks ago) and saw fit to deliver unto me a little ray of sunshine. 4 packages turned up at once.

A little light reading from Di, a handbound notebook from the very lovely Lovelydesign which I've been coveting for such a long time, and a wool and sock pattern package from Cari. And now I am smiling. The 4th package was shrinkydink plastic from Nicole for making pins and shrinking stuff like I was 11 all over again.

The little boy, but what happened to the little boy who was sick? Well he made a remarkable recovery today and bounced the entire day. He still has a bad cough which is quite awful at night, but he's on the mend.

POSTCARD SWAP REVEALED

I've now got 9 postcards from Myra's Postcard Swap. So many different cards, and such a great range of pictures and themes. It's been great to open my mail box and find new cards each day, and to see who they're from, and where. So here they are revelaed, in no particular order.

Pinkness from Kitty's Journal.

More pinkness.

Superheros with Bling Bling  from Jill (I love this one!)

Lana's experiment.

Beautiful illustration from Holly.

Amazing photograpgic print from The Queen.

A simply divine illustration from Charlotte.

A felted garden scene from Natascha (really, it is printed on felt).

And finally, grilled shrinp salad card from Hannah.

Thanks everyone!

WHEN MESS IS LEGITIMATE

Naive Knitter has a special little 'thing' going on over at her place involving people's workspaces and artists studios. She's interested in the things that people have around them, which keep them company and watch over them while they work. How could I resist the temptation to show you my mess?

Everything to do with my creative life over the last few weeks is piled like crap at the side of the desk, and everything is overflowing. A couple of hours of cleaning today, brings these results.

A clean desk, but perhaps without some of it's personality? I'm intrigued by Naive's idea to photograph studio spaces, because I am intrigued by what the viewer picks up on in a space they know nothing of. What strikes you as you look at these? Does what you see change what you think you know of me?

Let's look a little closer, and I'll let you into my world a little. These are my boxes. I love boxes. I love putting things in boxes. I like the idea of having boxes to put things into. Boxes equate to orderliness for me. Under the desk, there are quite a large number of boxes with material and a very large wool stash in them. The big dark box has art materials in it - pens, paints, paper, and inks (it's one of many). The translucent box beneath it has sewing paraphenalia and various knitting needles in it. The blue box next to these 2 has paper stuff in it and little things I've made that don't have a real home. On top of that box are other boxes of stationery by Lotta Jansdotter. Yes, I have the entire set. Also on top of this box is a fantastic notebook.

Because my other unconscious obsession is notebooks and sketch books. I have a lot. Too many. Love them. I love the crisp white pages, the as-yet-to-happen experiences which will fill them, the sketches which will fill the blankness. And I love the morbid fear I have of filling them with anything. I like the blankness of them, the stark emptiness, and the silent promise they hold. I could explain the psychological meaning behind all that - I did actually sit down and think why I never write in any of them or sketch in them, and I do know why, but that's too much to reveal.

So next to the blue box are more notebooks, more empty blankness, and a stack of japanese craft books, some knitting books (only a few, the rest are elsewhere), and some of my newer book purchases which I am in love with and which are inspiring me.

And here is my little Temple of Inspiration - this is my El Santo, although it's really a little collection of things, and none of them are permanent. The only permanent thing, is the antique japanese calligraphy box. I bought this for my husband for his birthday when we first started living together. It's now become my sewing box, or rather, my trim box (I can already imagine the google searches which will dissapoint with that last bit. I'll add those visitors to the very dissapointed people looking for pornagraphic socks), and I keep my hoard of ribbons and buttons and beads in here.

There's something fitting to have fine silk and velvet ribbons sharing space with something beautiful and serene and slightly rough like a calligraphy box. I love it's colour, its smell and its texture, and it's oldness. I like the fact it goes with everything in my house, and stands alone by itself as well. I use it as a podium, and objects I find beautiful at this moment in time get to be on it. Right now, it's an antique japanese vase, and a tiny chinese shard box. Watching over them, and me, are my little kitty's - they'll stay for a wee while, then move on to new homes, and be replaced by something else.

HERE KITTY KITTY

Just before everything went slightly balls up a few weeks ago, I had the foresight to book some leave - just for me, just a few days, just for rest. Offically my leave started last week when I left the office, but today is the first child free day. And I've been able to finish up some little kitty's for various people - can't say who, it's a suprise.

Bellagattorosa on the left is made from wool blanket felt, with contrast Amy Butler ears. She wears a pink spotted retro fabric dress with contrast rose floral lining. Orange ribbon straps hold it together, and it is accessorised with sail boat ribbon. She likes strawberry jam, fresh clotted cream and scones while making sand castles along the beaches of Devon. She likes to sing along to Robbie Williams songs.

Florapora on the right is made from the same wool blanket felt, but has floral contrast ears, and stitched nose features. She wears an Amy Butler summer dress with contrast green Amy Butler lining and lime green ribbon straps. She has been overeating recently, enjoying her Pad Thai's at the local Thai restuarant. She also likes mango and plain yoghurt, and prefers to wear socks in winter rather than turn the electric blanket on.

And then there is Mabel. She's my favourite. She has unfortunately been packaged tightly and been sent off to her new home. I could link to her new home, but you'll have to go lurking to find her in about 2 weeks time. Mabel is a wool blanket felt kitty, with contrast green ears, a Liberty print dress with contrast stripey lining and ribbon straps. She likes to play Snakes and Ladders and she would like to have a pet lamb one day.