six and a half stitches

CRISP

First selection of fabrics for a sewn pouch set - for Nathalie whose artwork just takes my breathe away. I really love this light blue egg fabric, and the combination together with other fabrics looks fresh and clean. I'm hoping she likes it too (or if she doesn't she tells me quick!).

Second selection of fabrics - for Laurie. This is a little bit of a departure for me, because it's using sugary colours, but the fabrics are really sweet summery ones which have quite varied patterns and textures and I'm loving the combination anyway. So this will be a texture based bag. The wool is handspun from Pluckyfluff which I got over a year ago and have been waiting for the right inspiration to make something with. I think Laurie is a deserving recipient of the wool, and I'll divulge more about the materials when I get further into it.

I have approximately 1.5 hours before the boys return home, and having been in back to back meetings all day since 9, I'm enjoying some quiet sewing time at home. Oh the things I can get done in 1.5 hours...(cleaning the house, cooking dinner and buying more cat food are not part of the plan).

back-tack...

back-tack post. Check it out.

SPT - WHITE

Walking from the washing line with freshly sun dried clothes and linen to the kitchen and through the house, everything came out white.

I TAKE NO RESPONSABILITY

I blame this post entirely on Lee-anne. Every split second of every morsel of every word is Lee-anne's fault. And maybe a few trillion other bloggers who went to Rhinebeck. However, the Rhinebeck thing is coincidental, so I wont link to the glory which appears on transatlantic blogs this time of year. Lee Anne took up spinning and then exploded into some sort of micro-cosmic spinning universe all of her own in which perfectly formed laceweight singles spin easily off her many spindles. I am in awe of her productivity and spinning frenzy. Slightly scared, but definately in awe.

I'm also going to dedicate this post to Amy, because it was while rummaging through my boxes for the perfect silk to add to her back-tack package that I became a little guilt ridden that my spindle had lain dormant for so long. And there it lay, nestled in amongst some beautiful snippets of silk, and some cashmere and some other rovings from the now dead Crayonbrain who was my partner in spinning crime about this time last year. And I got to thinking how I miss Leila's blog and how fast this whole blog kingdom moves, and how amazing it is that so many new people are starting up, and how outdated my blogroll is too. And my fingers drafted down whispy tufts of tussah silk dyed to match the west australian landscape (the colour is terra rosa)and before you know it, I've a spindle full of silk singles attempting to be somewhere around the fingering thickness and am now wondering what I do with it once it's spun (100gms). I forgot how hypnotic it is to spin, and how perfect it is for warm afternoons sitting on the back steps. And did I make a decision about what I might do with it? I have options, and ideas, and when it's done, I'll let you all know...

SIMPLE

Listening to:: The Church's 'Invisible' acoustic version, over and over. Simple haunting lyrics which are calling to me right now. Paired back. Strength and emotion of bare voice. Simple.

Working on:: Too much real life work and not enough simple pleasure work.

Inspired by:: Catarina M, John's poetry, Nikki's blooming, Jess's book, The Littlest Flower's simple little owl.

Frogging:: Pretty much anything on needles of any description. Simple as that.

Starting:: Pretty much any ball of wool lying around that hasn't already been frogged (I'm running out of balls). Playing with simple fabric selections for more pouches.

Dreaming:: Paris. New York. A new jumper design for Max. Time simply for myself.

Eating:: Green and Blacks organic milk chocolate sent from Sarah and so completely well timed and needed this week. Her beautiful packaging is pictured above, and I thank you for your simple gesture, which made so much difference to my day.

S1, S2, B1, B2

Sock 1 (S1) now has a companion Sock 2 (S2) to keep my feet warm on my long lonely travels later this year. That made it sound like an age away. It's actually only 19 days away. Not that I'm counting. Back to the FO. I love Fleece Artist. I love this colour - Ruby. I want to knit in this wool, and this colour forever. Not really. But close. The pattern was the cable thing socks from Interweave Knits (IK) Fall 2005. I beat the 5cm ripping out curse.

But not for long.

In the whole sock excitement thing, I had been tossing up what got knit up next. The Lornas Gold Hill, the Mountain Color Obsidian, or the Fleece Artist autumny skein. They all look so lovely on the skeins. So I wound them all into nice neat balls.

And that's where the problems started. I fell in love with young deep Obsidian (top right), it's softness and deep blues and slashes of red. And I wanted to cast on with that for another pair of socks. But the inner head said - No, use it for a lovely little project while you are travelling. Put it away, do not think about it. Young Lornas, sitting at the bottom of the photo, and not looking at all like the colour it actually is, kind of said cast me on, so I did, to an Anne Budd Broken Cable sock pattern. 4cm in, and (have you been paying attention recently) I frogged. It looked kind of, well, blueuuuugh. The Lornas was doing what I have been led to believe Lornas does very well, and that was to pool colour and started flaming colour sections, which is something I really don't like in variegated yarns. The Obsidian looked at me again. But I turned away. And then there's that autumny colour which I can't remember the exact name or code of. Looked brilliant on the skein, and looks kind of harsh and very brown and yellow wound up, and now I'm actually afraid to use it. So tonights dilemna - hey, if that's my only dilemna in life right now I consider myself to be doing OK - is which desecrated (thank Max for that) ball of wool will I knit what project with. In some bizarre life that I lead, I started making a mathematical formulae for this earlier through the day. Then gave up, took the child to the playground, and got a very large coffee. And a chocolate biscuit. And felt much better.

And apparently Bananas In Pyjamas are taking over the world. If you wear blue, or yellow, in any degree of combination, you are officially a Banana In Pyjama. This follows Max's first childhood 'concert' performance extravaganza to see B1 and B2 live along with about 60 other rampaging toddlers. He thought it was too loud. He covered his ears. He looked slightly stunned the entire way through. He didn't get the songs (as far as I'm aware, he's never been exposed). He got upset when B1 and B2 left the stage. And happy again when they returned. But thought the green balloon mummy bought him at the end was fabulous. Mummy thought she was quite good at motherhood until she had to sing silly songs and clap and dance and then she realised there was a whole other side to motherhood she had yet to part take in, and that one cannot look cool doing this even if you are wearing Scanlan and Theodore. She would have preferred the side of motherhood in which the child participates as well and doesn't look at mother like she's an idiot. But he must have taken something in, because bananas are everywhere now and he can spot them a mile away in the smallest of teensiest of lapel badges.....

LIFE CAN BE GOOD

Click to enlarge each photo. I know how small photos annoy you all.

1. Wonderful sweet biscuit assortments and beautiful wrapping holding biscuits from Recurrant for Afternoon Tea - a little bloggy baking thing I organised with Nicole. I was going to email Kath for the recipes, but I see she's already thought ahead. (There are none left, and Max taste tested at least half of them). Kath - I know what this week is about for you, and I'm doing it too, so these were perfectly timed, and I am doubly amazed you got the time and energy to make them!

2. Material and ribbon shopping at Tessuti (no web link)

3. Dinner set for Max from Jackie Shapiro for Frenchbull. I couldn't find Max's set here, his has a bongo playing Monkey on it, but the entire range is gorgeous.

4. Ruby Red socks nearly done.

5. The lovely Mona who steered me in the right direction for the wool Veronik Avery sent me. It's AmiAmi AHS Slub Kasuri. While you're there, have a little look at all the other yarns they have too.

6. The new Knitscene magazine by Interweave Press - particularly the Knit Spotting link. Page 50 of the paper magazine - that's me and Cari being world photographers, and loving it. So very amazed and flattered to have been asked by Veronik to take photographs, and to see the results.

7. Inspiring me:: Ping's wawaya (they are even more gorgeous in real life):: Nebo Peklo's artwork :: Architectural discourse :: I'm going through an art and architecture splurge at the moment.

Need new batteries for the camera. Need to take rechargeable battery pack out of the packaging and actually plug it in. Need a snooze. Need my husband back (to make me coffee in the morning....I miss that. Oh, and I miss him terribly too). Need to now go and do somethign for me while child is off with grandparents. Somewhere, there's a half eaten biscuit left....

BT2 Inspiration

Check out the back-tack site for some inspiration for your BT creations. Remember it's preferred that your parcel ARRIVES with your partner by 30 October. Please don't post it the day before if you can help it. It's also considerate to email your partner and let them know the day you post it so they know to keep an eye out. Looking forward to seeing all your creations!!

UP DOWN AND SPOTTED

I finished the quilt for a friends little (unborn)baby - to go with the little knitted jacket I did. The bobble piece of knitted/felted shibori is in the centre top of the quilt - a perfect little head rest! I almost didn't put it on, having ummed and ahhed for weeks about whether it was right, but it's kind of ok on there, and the colour goes really well with the rest of the quilt. I machine quilted lines going in both horizontal and vertical directions over the entire piece, and the back is a very soft charcoal grey fleece - perfect for babies and extra padding on a hard floor if used as a play mat. I love it, and it will be sad to see it leave the house, but I hope that the recipient gets as much use and joy out of it as I had making it.

I am so grateful to everyone who wrote a comment on my last post - it means so much to me to see what people like, and to get feedback for these things. I'm really pleased with the way the set turned out for my back-tack person, and I really hope they like it all as well. Thankyou also to those people who have contacted me about buying any further sets I make - I've already started cutting...! A lot of you asked where the Apple fabric is from, and I feel I need to make a couple of explanations here because I'm getting asked this a lot, not just from the last post but from other posts as well.

The Apple fabric is from Cotton Bow Wow in Japan. I feel incredibly fortunate that someone offered to help purchase fabric from this amazing shop, and was prepared to go out of her way and spend a great deal of her time and effort completing the order. Ordering from Cotton Bow Wow isn't easy, and yes, it took time and effort and patience. And money. I will not pretend this was an easy transaction, although for next time it would be easier because we'd know what to do and what to expect. Additional charges cropped up, and most people would be amazed at how much the final order cost - without the fabric included. However, we bought a lot of fabric between us, and so it was worthwhile. But for the odd half metre - forget it. This fabric, as well as any others from the collection I got, are sacred to me, and I use them sparingly or for special projects.

I've also been asked a number of times where I get the Florence Broadhurst fabric from. I've said in previous posts that I wont link to the site for this: google it and you'll get it up pretty quickly anyway, but it's a trade only password protected site, and you'd need to proof you're trade and a serious buyer to get a password. No I will not give my password out. I'm sorry, but this fabric is printed exclusively by Signature Prints, and they deserve to know the people registering with them are serious about the use of their fabrics, and I will respect that. I'm not trying to be difficult, but I also know how much this stuff is, and it's not cheap, and for that reason as well, I don't want to mess people around, and certainly not Signature Prints. Finally, this is commercial grade fabric. It's mainly printed on suedette fabrics, or heavy duty canvas, making it difficult to use for small projects. Most of the prints - in fact pretty much all of the prints, are large scale and really meant for large scale use, so their application can be limited.

When I can I will always link to sites where I know fabrics can be purchased from, and if I haven't linked, it's because there isn't a decent web site, or I've linked numerous times before. Phew. This seems like a mammoth post full of hard lined information!! It wasn't meant to be, but I just don't have the time to answer everyones questions individually at the moment, so I'm trying to sift through backlogs quickly by answering questions here. Sorry if that's impersonal, and it's not the way I usually do things - I will always try and answer peoples questions directly when I can. But right now....I'm time strapped and deadlined out :)

BACK-TACKING ALONG TO THE SOUND OF A COORDINATED DRUM

Click to enlarge.

I've finished my back-tack sewn pieces, and got everything else neatly packaged together ready for sending off. Having spent most of this week trying to get even one photo in focus and of decent quality, tonight I got quite a few, and because I couldn't decide, I've put them all up.

So the finished ensemble is, from left to right, top to bottom:

Drawribboned (new word. One of my clients is Macquarie Dictionary. I have high hopes) linen and cotton and hand knitted pouch with inner drawstringed (yes, another new word) bottom sack with matching drawribboned accessory pouch, tape measure and pincushion; all 3 accessories use scraps of fabric from the main bag - literally all the little offcuts; the knitted bottom is a Jaeger wool (I lost the label ages ago - some 4 ply soft wool) sewn onto the body by machine; the linen part of the pouch is a napkin, and I sashiko embroidered a pattern onto one side of it but I ditched the little wooden buttons from the post earlier in the week; everything coordinates; I love this apple fabric; the tape measure is made from wool felt, and has organic circles of fabric and velvet ribbon sewn onto the felt via a wooden button; the underside of the pincushion - I'm loving these little hidden details made from left over pieces, and it was a great chance to use one of my gocco'd labels (there's another one on the front of the bag); the drawribboned bag uses left over napkin, the two cottons, and the base is a wide olive green velvet ribbon. I am so enamoured with this colourway and textures, that I think I might make myself a set. Or start selling them.

How are everyone elses back-tack projects going? Have you started? Have you made contact? Know what you're doing? We want to see.....!!!