A dreaded sunny day so let's go where we're happy

A couple of months ago, I put in a pre-order for a book, as one tends to do for books that one thinks are going to be pretty darn special.



Yesterday it arrived.

I leafed through it quickly last night while at my stitching group, but I think I was just too tired (and probably too distracted chatting with the girls) to really notice what was in the book. But then I got home and took the book to bed with me to read a bit more, and that's when I knew that my expectations of the book had been realised. This was a special book; a bloody excellent book.



Because let's be really honest here - how could a book that recommends a cup of tea and an iced vovo as part of the project preparation NOT be an excellent craft book?

It's not often I want to make every single project in a book. I even want to make the baby projects, and last time I checked I didn't have any kids. But which project to make first?

Hmmm.



Or ...



(He he - anyone else remember Hobbytex?)

Ok. I've decided.



To be continued ...

Nothing but blue skies from now on

Today when I rode my bike to the local nursery I noticed that it was the same blue ...



...as the sky ...



They are such good blues - much better that those other blues that can completely shatter your week. So I kept riding to the bike shop nearby and bought this...



... with the hope it will banish the blues for a while longer.

Ding ding!

You knock me off of my feet now baby

So finally (finally!) I have an hour free to myself to post about my weekend away. I have been so frantically busy that it doesn't feel like only a week ago I was getting on the plane to come home to Canberra. It feels like years, but the memories I think will be with me for a long time.

I was having a particularly rotten week when the thought of going to Melbourne for the Stitches and Craft show first occurred to me. All the Melbourne craft bloggers were talking about it, and many had been invited to exhibit at their own stall. An email from Lara convinced me I should run away for the weekend so I booked my ticket, found a hotel, and broke the news to Mr Quiltingmick that I was going alone (he didn't mind in the slightest).


(a gift from Jodie. Thank you so much!)

It turned out that the show wasn't the only thing that was happening while I was in town. There was a crafters/bloggers dinner on the Friday night organised by the amazing Suzie, that Lara kindly put me on the list for. I foolishly left my camera at the hotel, and I was busy gas-bagging with people all night so there are some very, um, spirited photos of me around the interwebs looking drunk (I did not touch a drop all night, except for at the end maybe ...). But as I didn't bring a camera, you will have to read about the dinner here, and here, and here, and probably also here. Thanks Suzie. Thanks Lara for putting me on "the list". I had such a great time, surrounded by amazing and gorgeous and very crafty people, including people like the girls from Ink and Spindle who I think I have bought so much fabric from in the past, and who've inspired me, with their designs, to do nothing less that special things with their fabric. Their fabrics deserve nothing less.

The dinner on Friday night was just the shot in the arm (and the kick up the bum) I needed, with regards to my own crafting, Buttontree Lane, and even this blog. As if that wasn't inspiration enough, on Saturday I went to the show.

I attended two workshops on Saturday - the first by Jhoanna from One Red Robin, making a woodland brooch. Gah! Such cuteness! And very Blythe-like.



The second workshop was on how to make a selvedge purse with Jodie from Vintage Ric Rac. For those who commented about the dress on my last post , yes, it was THAT dress. And I met THAT Jodie. She's lovely, funny, gorgeous, generous and just a top sort ... and I still don't think I have enough words to describe Jodie. Her selvedge creations had pride of place at the show, with their own display.



Here's the purse I made in her workshop. Ah - my very own Selvedge Purse! Jodie reckons I won't send my selvedge to her now - I fear she may be right.



The Incubator at the show was incredible and such a great idea. It showed that the crafts don't just belong to the older generation anymore - the "young ones" are catching up, and inspiring and teaching other crafters as well. I don't have any photos of the Incubator, except for this one showing how well laid out the show was. The incubator was against the wall on the right. You can see other photos of the individual stalls at Miss Marzie's blog.

There were of course quilts to admire.



And fabric and patterns to buy.


Clockwise from top left - Green Olive, Thea & Sami, One Red Robin, Kelani Fabric, Kristen Doran and Ink and Spindle.



And I saw "Handmade Nation". If you haven't heard about this documentary, and you love craft, crafty people and markets and Etsy and the internet, go and see this if you can. I don't know where else it will be played, but I loved every second of it. It showcased different artists and crafters in the US, and when one of them talked about fashioning their own culture of craft, because the culture they were in didn't suit them, I actually cried. These people were speaking my language. They want to make the world a better place - through their creations, through sharing their excitement and their joy for life, and taking opportunities as they see them.

Yes. I cried during a craft documentary.



The weekend was rounded off nicely by dinner on Saturday night (during a wild thunderstorm) with a good friend who moved to Melbourne a couple of years ago, and breakfast on Sunday morning (during a wild drizzly windstorm) with my union-ex-ABS-singing-Fiji friend Helen. I had a nice walk down Brunswick St to Mike's (sadly not open) and then a stroll through DeGraves St, and then it was home. A much needed break, friendship and inspiration all rolled into one weekend. Perfect.

You laugh until you cry, you cry until you laugh

So how was the weekend, you ask? How was it?



It was bloody spectacular, actually, but I can't talk right now. Big job application due. Bigger work deadlines due. Battles with self-esteem to overcome. I'll be back in a few days.

But jeebers, I'm a lucky chook. I thought I already knew the loveliest people ... and now I know even more of them.

Autumn

I love autumn.



There is something about it's freshness and the changes that have yet to come. Coming from the tropics, I'd never experienced autumn until I moved to Canberra, and it's one of the many reasons why I love Canberra so much.

It's also a time when the daytime temperatures are a little less fierce, but when the sun dips below the horizon the temperature can suddenly drop. And I think autumn, more than spring or summer, inspires me to do stuff. Especially stuff around the home which has needed doing for quite some time. Painting, planting, cleaning, sorting, starting, finishing. Doing something about this wall, for instance.



But not this weekend. After the last few weeks of nine and ten hour days at work, I've been granted a few hours off tomorrow afternoon. I'm going away for the weekend by myself, but I'll be surrounded by friends both new and old.

Which I reckon will be pretty nice, don't you?

Sweetness follows

If there's one thing I absolutely love, it's a long weekend. A long weekend spent at home with no obligations and no plans is even better.

Although I did have a plan for this long weekend - to do nothing but relax - and so far I think I've succeeded.

This morning I sat in my sewing room and ironed some blank coloured handkerchiefs I bought a while ago. Then I went through my shelves (yes, shelves) of Sublime Stitching patterns, selected some suitable embroidery floss, and spent the next hour stitching. It was mindless, it kept my hands busy and it was a fun thing to do while I listened to the radio.



The daddy-hankies are ones I stitched years ago. I'm not too sure today's effort turned out looking much like an owl - Mr Quiltingmick reckons it looks more like a ghost from PacMan - but I think it's tarted up a plain hanky quite nicely and that was my goal.

I think this counts as project one towards my challenge. I've already started on another stitching project, which is perfect as our next Brown Owls meet is a stitching tea party!



Last night was an eating pizza, eating ice cream, and watching recorded crime shows kind of night. A perfect night for starting a new crochet project. I haven't touched any crochet, apart from joining blocks for bushfire blankets since I finished off my show projects, and I thought it was time for something a little more challenging than crocheted socks. I picked up Interweave Crochet Winter 2008, flicked to the Alpine Frosted Scarf pattern, and tried to decide between the Sealing Wax (red) and Verdes (green) colours in Malabrigo Lace. I have a couple of reddish scarves already, so went for the Verdes.

But in this pattern, I very quickly became a non-fan of the Verdes, although in the light of day it looked marginally better. The shade differences are just too dramatic when crocheted with tall post stitches, and it came out looking like camouflage. So I changed yarn and went with the Sealing Wax. It's plainer and seems to be a little finer for some reason. It certainly shows the pattern up a lot better. I'm really glad I tried both though, and thank heavens for a stash that enabled me to try both!



Speaking of stashes, I have bought nothing this year except for some very special Wollmeise (as opposed to all that un-special Wollmeise!) and some yarn for bushfire blankets. Neither of these purchases count, especially the Wollmeise. I've used up about 17 x 50g balls this year. I'm pretty pleased with my stash reduction efforts so far. Now, if only I could stop buying books to add to my book stash!

It makes me smile

Twelve months ago I was supposed to be at Cobargo for the folk festival, but I was too ill to go away so I went to the Canberra Show instead. It was a quick, early morning visit and I think I went home and slept for the rest of the day. At that point I was moving into the second half of a year-long stint of chronic illness, endless blood tests and insurmountable anxiety levels.

I had no idea back in February last year that I would take a redundancy from my job only three months later and spend several months trying to make my life better. And it was so worth it, although it was also one of the hardest things I've ever done. But I got my health and life back, and I worked out that what I wanted to be when I grew up - HAPPY.

And I am! Life is good, and I feel blessed every day.

On Sunday I went to the show again - in great health, and very happy. I left my outer 39 year old at the front gate and allowed the inner eight year old to shake free. We had so much fun. Visions of vegetable growing glory were dreamt of, and scone recipes planned so we could enter next year. In the crochet section, where I had entered three items, I was lucky enough to get a first, a second and a highly commended.



(Yes, the blanket really was pinned to the board like that. And the cardigan has had it's neck pulled completely out of shape, and the yarn has also caught and pulled with the pinning. I don't know whether I can fix it. So while I am very, very happy I am also fairly livid at the way my possessions were treated.)

After allowing my inner eight year old to jump around and squeal like, well, an eight year old over all the prizes other people I knew had won as well, it was time to check out the cattle and the champion's parade!



And play with the clowns, of course. No losers! Every child wins a prize!



And in "other things that make me happy" news, last August I wrote an article for Mixtape zine. It got bumped to the next issue, and tonight I finally got to see the latest Mixtape for myself!

Ooh! There I am! Do you subscribe? You should! It's a fabulous zine and I'm not just saying that because I have an article in it. I've been a huge fan since the beginning! And the front cover this month is amazing. I would love to have this hanging on my wall at home.

And with that little brag, I'm off to bed with my zine. 'Night!

I can’t sleep for all the bright lights of this cheap hotel

Carnival Clowns, originally uploaded by marty_pinker.

I finally made it to Friday evening. I can hardly believe it. Work has been so unbelievably busy and stressful. This afternoon I managed to leave early for a massage appointment, and my therapist, for the second time in a month, looked like she was about to write my resignation letter for me. And then she spent the next hour kneading out the stress lumps and knots in my back and jaw.

Even though work is over for another week I'm already thinking about what time I'll start on Monday morning.

This is nuts.

In order to relax after my massage, I tried sitting on the couch and doing nothing. It's hard doing nothing when your brain is tick-tick-ticking constantly. Three loads of washing and a cooked dinner later, I'm now flicking through my craft books to work out which project will be first in my challenge (already a week late). I want to start so much, but I'm stuck. I don't know what I want to make. I don't know what I want to finish.

Breathe.

The Royal Canberra Show is on this weekend. I wasn't going to go, but then someone made me an offer I couldn't refuse. And I think together we are going to have an absolute blast. I want to look at the crochet and quilting sections in the craft pavilion, at the food and flowers and fruit and vegetable displays, and at the sheep and alpacas. And I want to challenge my friend to a game of clowns. And then maybe we'll have a dagwood dog and try not to throw up on the walk home!

But before all that happens I have 64 laps to swim and dinner to cook for our usual Party of Six on Saturday night. One of the party is only five days away from her due date, and we've been warned to have towels and boiling water on hand.

(I hope the homemade raspberry icecream I made doesn't send her into labour.)

Breathe.

I'm really going to enjoy my weekend - I can already feel it. I'm going to have fun with my friends and swim my stress away and forget about nasty stuff and horrid people and the economic crisis for two whole days...

Yep! Forgotten! Bring on the fun times!

To a land where joy shall never end

Last weekend I went to Melbourne to eat cupcakes and macaroons.





And play with dolls.





A wonderful day was had in Spotswood with all my Blythe friends. We played and laughed and ate and ate (and ate) and became friends in real life, even though I had only met one of them before. Putting faces to forum names, and therefore faces to the owners of much-photographed and admired dolls was rather special. Accidentally meeting the gorgeous Liz from Lino Forest was just as fabulous!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Given that crochet content (any content, for that matter) has been seriously lacking on the blog this year, I'm going to make up for it by showing you two finished objects, both entered into the Canberra Show this year, and both products of this year's stash reduction exercise.



Pattern: Chevron Lace Cardigan (Ravelry link) by Milobo

Yarn: Naturally Me DK (80% merino 20% cashmere) in what I called "Catholic Schoolgirl Green". It's exactly the colour of the uniform of St Joseph's in Mundingburra, Townsville, circa 1975. (I went to Mundingburra State School right next door.)

Hook: 6.5 mm bamboo

Timeframe: January 12 - February 14. There was a good two week period where I couldn't touch it due to it being too hot to crochet.

Modifications: This is a top-down cardigan, so I added only one extra row to the sleeves, five rows of single crochet on the lapels, and four (perfectly matched) green vintage buttons. I'll probably only wear three done up.

Notes: This cardigan used about 7 1/2 balls of yarn, a miracle for any big-girl crocheted item, in my opinion. The Naturally Me yarn is the softest and most luxurious yarn I've ever used, and the fact that this cardigan only cost me $16 due to a Cassidy's sale over a year ago is an added bonus. I think this cardigan will get a lot of wear. I can't wait to get it back from the show on Monday morning - I'll be wearing it to work that day, for sure.





Pattern: Around the Rosy baby blanket by Woodhill Design

Yarn: Patons Totem 8 ply in a guacamole colour. I think I used 9 or 10 balls. I forgot to count.

Hook: I think it was a 5 mm bamboo. Again with the forgetting.

Timeframe: December 26 - January 11. I crocheted and ripped the outer popcorn stitch about 3 times, as I kept coming across mistakes than I just couldn't live with. Otherwise I probably could have finished it on January 1st.

Modifications: Significantly less rows than the pattern stated - as the blanket was being made in wool, and it's for a real baby, it was getting too heavy to make any bigger.

Notes: I made this blanket for our friends who are having their first baby in a couple of weeks. The father was Mr QM's ex housemate and one of the witnesses at our marriage, and they are both fantastic friends to us - kind, loving and very, very giving. They don't know what the sex of the baby is, and I had 17 balls of this colour in the stash and figured it was a nice unisex colour to make a blanket in. Once I retrieve it from the show, I'll wash it, reblock it and present it to them.

We tried to find some words to aid in the decay

Well, my break was a lot longer than I expected. I was very sure I wasn't going to come back, if I'm to tell you the truth. But I'm here now (and I'm still wondering why) and I'm ready to start sprinkling positive crafty love back over the blogosphere (isn't blogosphere the coolest word?).

As I'm struggling to get my head together these days, here's a brief list of goings-on.

* Last week I bought some craft books from Book Depository. And then in Sydney on the weekend I bought a lot more craft (and non-craft) books. And oh boy. I already have A LOT of craft books. My addiction to pretty craft books is an illness.



(This is only part of it)

Sometimes I think it would be easier if I could keep to one craft. Like quilting. So not only is my fabric/yarn/thread/dressmaking patterns stash enormous, but my book collection is too.

So I've issued a challenge to myself. I want to make one thing from a different book each fortnight.

* After listening to a Craft Sanity podcast with Daniel Vosovic, I am now addicted to Project Runway. I watch it on YouTube any chance I get. If you sew clothes or are interested in fashion design and you haven't already discovered this show, you really must take a look.

* My house is currently half painted, the laundry has a waterfall appear everytime it rains heavily, but I am still a house-proud woman who loves to read about how others have designed, decorated and furnished their homes. So when Patricia and I were in the Kinokuniya interior design section on the weekend, looking for inspiration for her apartment, we came across an Apartment Therapy book. I love Apartment Therapy, even though they write 65,000 posts a day, (and I'm still very cross with them for using one of my photos without asking me permission or giving correct attribution), but this book is fantastic. I think it is going to become very well thumbed and I can see years of inspiration coming out of it. And *pssst* it was under $40.

* Let's hear it for Pip from Meet Me At Mike's! A couple of years ago I read about her stitching nights at her store in Melbourne, and I was so jealous that I didn't live close enough to go. And then last year Pip changed the format to Brown Owls, with an emphasis on the crafty and the nice. I signed up as a Faraway member, but the lack of job and income conspired against me visiting Melbourne for a meeting. But I loved reading about all their activities in Melbourne friends' blogs and it almost felt like I was there too.

Well blow me down if Pip didn't change the format again, with less formal Melbourne meets, and new interstate meets! I signed up again for another year immediately, and now there are a few of us here in Canberra and we are meeting very soon for some crafty action! I am so excited, even at my age, to have the opportunity to learn new things from other people, and most importantly to make new friends. Gosh, I sound like I'm 5 years old, don't I? But excited! I am! Hooray for Pip!

*(oh, and Pip has a book out soon, don't you know?)

* The vegetable garden is going great, I'm getting tired of salads, I'm making strawberry icecream every week with my own strawberries and I'm up to swimming 32 laps at the pool. I need to swim 32 laps - I'm eating way too much icecream.