Last week I visited the Australasian Quilt Convention. Amazing quilts, lots of people, impressive stalls, fabric everywhere, chats with special crafty friends too! And what did I buy at the Quilt Convention?
That’s right – yarn. Not fabric. Not quilting paraphernalia. But yarn.
Oh well.
Looks like I need to be more careful when cutting open a satchel from Bendigo Woollen Mills in the future.
Bendigo Woollen Mills Murano, shade 23.
So here it is – week 12. I forgot to snap a photo yesterday, but can tell you that I wore a me-made Simplicity dress to work, with a me-made StyleArc Laura jacket to keep me warm in the morning at the train station.
We are having classic Autumnal weather now – beautiful days, but cold and crisp mornings. I cannot wait for daylight saving to finish this weekend. The only good thing about 7.10am at the train station in the morning at the moment is this:
the beautiful sunrise. Which would be much better taking place at 6.10am, in my opinion. It is so hard to get up to get ready for work when it is so terribly dark!
The school dance was on Monday evening. The kids had a blast, as did the parents. Stella decided to wear her New Look 6577 dress, despite it’s lack of a bow or rose on the front. It had the required twirlability factor!
And my latest dilemma? The destiny of these four skeins of Wollmeise…
Back in 2008 and 2009 I crocheted two squares each month thanks to the Ravelry block-a-month crochet-a-long (BAMCAL). At the end of the year all the squares were joined together, and I now have two crocheted blankets that are in fairly constant use. I had time out from BAMCAL-ing in 2010 and 2011, but in 2012 I’ll be back with a vengeance!
I have the yarn, now I just need the January block patterns to be posted! I suppose that I should wait until January for that. The yarn is all 8 ply Classic (machine washable wool) from Bendigo Woollen Mills. I’m mixing things up a bit this time around and rather than using just one colour of yarn per square, I’m planning on using at least four different colours in each one. Lots more ends to weave in, but quite a different effect to my previous two blankets. If you look closely at this photo you might be able to make out the names of each colour.
They are Chilli, Raffia, Feijoa, Guava, Lichen, Mid Green and Mulga. This yarn is readily available from BWM, so I won’t be doing what I unfortunately do far too often and playing yarn chicken and losing. If I run out of a colour that I need, I’ll easily be able to buy another ball.
You can join the Ravelry group for the 2012 BAMCAL here. Links to the free patterns for each month’s square are posted to the group at the beginning of each month, and you can ask questions, get clarification, and show off your finished squares. It’s a great way to learn new stitches and new techniques and end up with a very handy heirloom item.
Last night I went to a Halloween party at a friend’s house. It was a small function, but the host had gone to an enormous amount of trouble to decorate the house and to cook Halloween themed food. It was loads of fun – we ate bats wings, finger biscuits, spider cupcakes, and a flayed skull (don’t ask). I wish that I’d taken photos! Halloween isn’t a big deal here in Australia, but at the same time it was lots of fun to get into the spirit of an occasion. The girls dressed up a little to welcome any trick or treaters that knocked at our door.
And because I am fortunate enough to live in Melbourne, today is a public holiday for the running of the Melbourne Cup! As weird as I think it is that we do get a holiday for a horse race, it’s great to have a family day off in the middle of the week.
I forgot to report on my trip to Bendigo the weekend before last! Unsurprisingly, it did include yarn. I purchased a few balls from Bendigo Woollen Mills, including this Melody to make myself a 4-S vest.
While I was there I had the pleasure of meeting Calidore, who recognised my children from my blog and introduced herself! I think that my Mum and husband were a little surprised! I felt a little famous for a moment there. It was lovely to chat to her and to talk yarn. Mum, Clare and I particularly enjoyed the White Wedding Dress exhibition. Beautiful craftsmanship and lovely fabrics. Many of the dresses were so incredibly detailed! I was also amazed at how tiny the dresses were – women were all so slim back when high calorie food wasn’t so readily available. I loved watching Clare examine each of the dresses and read about how they were made. It wasn’t about weddings per se for us, it was all about the sewing and the fashion! I highly recommend it – but you’ll need to be quick if you haven’t been, as it ends this weekend.
I’ve also done some embroidery during the past week.
While nowhere near as impressive as Tania’s embroidery, it will hopefully reduce the number of times that we need to reinstall the screen door as people walk into it and pop it completely off it’s track.
A shout-out to Kathryn over at Crochet Concupiscence is also well overdue! If you love crochet and don’t know her blog and website already, do pop over and have a look. She is a dedicated crochet blogger and provides a marvellous resource for all crocheters. She has three big crochet projects underway at the moment that you might be interested in. In her words:
These are all wonderful projects – I’ve just contributed to Swaddle. I’m especially impressed because Kathryn does all of this purely because she is passionate and positive about crochet.
I’ve been on a bit of a cutting-out frenzy again lately. These patterns arrived from StyleARC last week. I’m looking forward to making both of them. There is also some voile just waiting to be turned into pyjamas and nighties (for me me me) and numerous items have been cut out for the girls. It will be a busy time for me at Sewjourn in a fortnight!
I love school holidays. Once we’ve sorted out the issue of child care for the two days I work, it’s such a lovely change of routine. Sleeping in (the kids anyway – I’ve been getting up early and going for a walk or to the gym) and not having the constant rush, rush, rush to get to the next appointment. It does slow down my crafting potential though – I am doing things with the kids instead! So there’s not much to show you. Other than some Wollmeise that arrived in the mail this week.
This is going to become a Birch Vest (Ravelry link) – for me, of course! Clare and I went to the movies this morning then wandered around the shopping centre a little. I couldn’t believe it – there was so much crochet around! Loads of vests, tops, crocheted bodices, crocheted trim, lots of crochet combined with fabric in garments. I’d better keep at it with the hook and then my girls will be right with the trends!
And a HUGE thank you to all the lovely people that commented on Clare’s Patchie toy. She is so thrilled by your comments and proud of her own efforts. She may make one for Stella for Christmas.
Now that my husband will be starting his new job in a couple of weeks, everything is changing. There is a new sense of urgency in the house. Urgency to do the household repairs that haven’t been done. Urgency to organise a cleaner, to service the car, to update technology, to figure out childcare. Urgency to get the tax done, to come up with meal plans, to work out how our lives are going to be conducted for the next while. I won’t be able to drop back to two days for another six weeks, so we are going to have some weeks where my husband is working full-time and I am working four days per week and how will we get the kids to school and still get to work in time and how will we get to collect them from care on time, yada yada yada. But I know that we’ll figure it all out. The planets have aligned so far, and fingers crossed that they continue to do so. This will be a huge change for us. My husband has worked from home since before we had Clare, so he’s always been around for school drop-off etc while I leave super early for work, and he’s always been around in the office upstairs for me to pop in and say hello during the day when I’m not at work. There will be a great deal of adjustment for all of us. Thanks so much for your congratulatory messages!
Clare and I had a ball at the Quilt and Craft Fair on Saturday! Sadly, my mum couldn’t come along this year, but we were thinking of her. Clare especially requested that I didn’t spend too long talking to people I knew – and of course within a few minutes of arriving I had run into and was busy chatting to Anna, then Bec, then Nikki, then Rachel, then Cathy…… the day continued on in that vein! But I did take her wishes into account. We went to an arm-knitting demonstration by Teresa Dair of Dairing (wow, fantastic yarns and fibres and yes I did make a purchase or two) and Clare got to have a go. She was a natural!
Then it was on to have a look at the incredible quilts that were on display. We wandered over just as sewing classes for kids were starting. So of course, Clare wanted to take part.
Kate from Kate’s Sewing Centre had pre-cut pieces of fabric and wadding, and taught the kids to make their own patchwork placemat. Clare did an excellent job, if I do say so myself.
She did such a great job that combined with the excitement of my husband’s new job, I bought her a sewing machine – one of the little Bernettes that she used in the class!
We collect it on Thursday, and she’ll have another lesson on how to use it at the same time. Looks as though I’ll be sharing my sewing room and having to make some space in the stash.
My focus this year really was more on the yarn than on quilts, I must confess. I did enjoy the display, but barely glanced at the fabric that was on offer at the many stands! I managed to say hello to Nikki in a rare quiet moment between customers – she was deluged with business and her A-line Skirt pattern sold out. Another seminar that we attended was on the Sitam patternmaking method. I was very impressed and will definitely do this course in order to draft blocks that will fit me properly. I know that my sewing techniques aren’t an issue, but getting fit right is a whole other story. If I can start with pattern blocks that are drafted to my measurements, then surely it will take my sewing to another level.
Check out this yarn – it’s fabric strips! I bought a kit to crochet a bag with it. It’s really just the same principle as the old-fashioned rag rugs. Nothing is new under the sun, there’s just different ways to tweak it!
So there goes another Quilt and Craft Fair. We had a very enjoyable day and it was dark by the time we caught the train home. Poor Clare was exhausted (and so was I).
The yarns in this post are from Dairing, Prudence Mapstone and Zpagetti. There were many lovely yarns on offer at a number of stalls this year….
Take one skein of white yarn bought from an op shop. Fibre type and composition unknown.
Add an excellent tutorial and bottles of food colouring.
Find some gloves and enthusiastic children.
Then zap the yarn in the microwave.
Rinse it all out once it has cooled and drape it somewhere to dry.
Admire all the bright colours.
Then wind it into a skein, wonder what you’ll crochet with it, and feel mighty clever!
Hop on to Ravelry and share it with the what a Kool way to dye group. Then admire the skein some more.
The yarn must have been wool after all! It’s rather bright and garish, and a great first step into the world of dyeing.
There are plenty of creative spaces to be found over here with Kirsty. What is happening in yours?
I’m surprised that it’s been so long since I last posted! It’s been a busy few days. Cathy’s Exhibition opening was wonderful – her work is just gorgeous and I am saving for my favourite piece, Reef. There was lovely food and drink, terrific company, and Cathy was just glowing! A superb evening.
Then what else have I been up to? A busy Friday doing general house/kids sorts of things (and a drink with other mums after school) then my parents came to visit.
Mum, Clare and I went to the Craft and Quilt Fair at Jeff’s Shed on Saturday morning. We started off by looking through the Quilt Exhibition. It was brilliant. So many talented quilters! We were particularly interested in the Art Quilts that were on display, moreso than the traditional styles. It shows how our tastes change – I never used to have any interest in art quilts whatsoever and now I am really drawn to them. Once I’ve made enough quilts to go on beds I might start producing artwork! Our day was punctuated with plenty of stops for coffee and snacks. Clare had her face painted and bought herself a doll with some birthday money she’d saved up. She has named her doll “Julia”.
The lovely people at Dairing gave Clare some knitted tubing (just because she was looking cute, I suspect) and I bought her some felt beads from another stall to go inside it. We’re planning on a couple of necklaces – one for her and hopefully one for me! Great idea, don’t you think? Light, easy to make, easy to wear. We’ll knot between each bead.
I picked up a couple of cones of 2 ply Alpaca while I was at Dairing as well.
Mum bought some fine cotton and silk/stainless steel blend to knit a light scarf. Dairing stock many of the Japanese Habu Textiles yarns, and they’re not all that far away. I’m planning on visiting their showroom some time soon.
We stopped to hear a panel discussion from Rosemary Whittaker, Julie Wallace and Prudence Mapstone. Much interesting comment and information. Then it was off to look at more yarn. We really didn’t look at (or buy) any fabric – it was all about the yarn for us this time! Mum particularly admired the jackets and vests at Signatur Handknits and we both indulged our yarny sides at Prudence Mapstone.
These will make a soft, light, fluffy scarf each. Just to decide on the perfect pattern!
We heard a very educational talk about colour from Reece Scannell and admired many other things as we wandered around. We didn’t leave until around 4.00pm! Surprisingly, I didn’t run into many people I knew – but they must have been there somewhere! I waved at the Kelani Fabric ladies, who were absolutely swamped with customers every time I passed by, and drooled at Kellie’s latest quilt patterns, especially the Worry Dolls quilt. Clare is certain that she can see herelf and Stella in it.
So, a busy day! Then a busy Sunday doing everything that wasn’t done on Saturday, and back to work yesterday. Now we’re off the pool for Stella’s swimming lesson – the pace really doesn’t let up! I have finished off some crochet projects that I’ll show you soon, and the bathers are half done.
The front and back are sewn together and the leg bands are on. Now to do the bra inset panel, then the straps and edges. It’s coming together quite nicely but the big question is – will I be game enough to model it for you once it’s finished so you can actually see how it fits?
Other than the ironing pile and the mending pile and the cut-out-but-needs-assembling pile, my creative space contains piles of fabric, yarn, and patterns. Fabric to make a Feliz dress for Clare:
Yarn bought for no particular reason than it looks great in the ball (and it was half price). I suspect that it is going to be difficult to choose an appropriate pattern for this yarn.
Fabric to make bags – I’m doing a little more pattern testing and haven’t quite decided which ones to use.
What is in your creative space this week? Visit Kirsty to see what others are up to.
