Craftapalooza

happy h**ker...

Yep, I've turned into a h**ker. Crochet h**ker that is. It started with the ripple and then this scarf and then progressed to softies. There are heaps of awesome patterns out there. Next up I want to teach myself to read Japanese crochet patterns. The dinosaur I made for a friend's birthday, pattern from Owlishly, did it matter that he was a 40 odd year old man? No, I didn't think so either.

Lovely Fran tagged me, just for you Miss F six random things about me:

1. I like to poke my tongue at small people just to see their reactions. They're mixed and generally hilarious for those of you that are interested, anything from dobbing you in to mum or dad to poking their own tongue back at you.

2. I'm left handed though I play any "bat" sports right handed.

3. I make a lot of noise at the cinema, not intentionally. Apparently I agree, clap my hands, gasp and laugh very loudly.

4. I'm freckly.

5. I never finished high school, left at year 11 and went to technical college and did a certificate in office studies. I've been working full time since I was 17.

6. Aaah, I have a thing for country music. In particular Lyle Lovett and recently....Reba McIntyre.

Tag, ok for once I'm gonna, here goes. You guys are it: Auntie Cookie, How About Orange, Molly Chicken, Buzzville, Red Felt Flower and Sodeste.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.


I couldn't leave you without a picture of at least ONE of my furkids. Here's the Spud for those of you that have missed him. He's doing very well, aside from some mysterious fur loss on his belly and legs and tolerating his older brother's boisterous love.

mojo rising

Howdy ya'll. So what's been happening? Any of you participate in Blog Action Day? I love Kelli's post on this subject. I also forgot to mention our front loader washing machine, uses less water than top loaders.

I finished my Wasp bag with some alterations to the handle treatment. A nice quick sew. Snuck in after work here and there and finished over a week and a bit. The birdie patch I bought from Lisa eons ago and it's been sitting in the stash waiting for the perfect project.

What else? Ummm job changes again, but that's for another time when it's not so fresh, everything's good just more change. I turned 36, had a really lovely birthday. The Son spoiled me rotten, we had breakfast with friends where I was also spoiled rotten by my lovelies, went to the movies and out for dinner, lots of fun!!

I also have a couple of new crafty equipment additions that I'm pretty excited about. You'll hear more about these in the next couple of weeks. I've started thinking and planning for Christmas. Looking forward to hosting in our home. By mid November the new kitchen will be in, very exciting. Expect more foodie posts.

Listening to the current ABC's "Like a Version" CD, loving The Magic Numbers take on Beyonce's "Crazy in Love".

Happy crafting!

everything's coming up apples

There's a little theme here at the moment. Apples. Apple fabric, apple ceramics, handknit apple dishcloths, apple photo holders. The mug and apple accessories were purchased in Melbourne recently with Di and Al on our shop-a-thon Saturday at Zakkaya.

Then there's the apple of Al's eye, little squishy Pia, who's actually not super squishy, but is super cuddly. This pic taken with my mobile on the steps of some fabric store I can't remember the name of. Pia and I went for a wander and then had a rest whilst we were waiting for mummy. She's a very observant little gal, quite happy to sit and watch the traffic with me.

If someone had said to me I see handknit dishcloths in your future I would have said take a flying leap! But that's the obsession at the moment. I bought a copy of Mason Dixon's book last year and although I'm not super enamoured with a lot of the patterns the dishcloth cotton patterns did it for me, including the little baby kimono. I also love the knitted log cabin patterns. Getting slightly sidetracked here, the book overall is a gem, it's probably the wittiest and most funny knitting book I've read, as well as charming. I've had laugh out loud moments with this book, definitely one for any knitters collection. So back to the dishcloths. I finished one last year which you didn't see, mainly as I was busy and OK I admit a little shy about sharing my handknit dishcloth.

The one you see picture here I found via Knitting Pattern Central. The apple was too cute to pass up, I've also just cast on for the squirrel. I like that I can put the cloth through the washing machine when it's getting tired (read, stinky) and have another on hand, I also love the idea of not buying dishcloths. I'm trying to think up some witty ending to this post but it's eluding me at the moment, I'll leave you to stew instead.... BOOM TISH!

hiya!

Well hello there! It's been about 14 days since my last post! Hope you're all well. Melbourne was fun. Though I admit to missing The S and being a bit of a girl about it. However catching up with old friends Al and Di and meeting new friends like Jo, Sooz and Suse was a blast. Getting to squish Pia was also lovely, she's a gorgeous little bebe, so squishy and sweet. Also meeting other crafty bloggers was fun, thanks to Justine and Nikki for organising a great afternoon. Though Justine was a blur most the afternoon running around after us ladies. Thanks Justine, Amitie and Lovely Liz from Broderie. Justine's pics....

I had the pleasure of having dinner with Fran and Emma, we had a great night. You know when you've made a blog friend and you're not sure if in the flesh you'll actually have anything to talk about. Well, we had no problems, both really delightful, fun, witty and intelligent women.

The day before I was due to fly out I decided that I HAD to have a new bag. Pattern adapted from this book and it came together pretty quickly. Fabric and handles from the stash. Photographed on the plane on the way to Melbourne.

Finished some socks, modelled here by S. Can you pic which pose is her's and which is the one I "made" her do?  Pattern from My Fashionable Life, but can't find the name of the pattern at the moment. Details, Lorna's Laces, think it's Bittersweet colourway, knit magic loop style on 80cm 2.5mm addi, toe up, short row toes and heels. What more could a sock knitter want? My first lace ever.

The next installment of back-tack will be happening soon peeps, soon. Al and I only had a short amount of time in Melbourne together so we didn't get to chat, but we have plans. So keep your eyes peeled at our blogs and at the back-tack blog.

Now if you'll excuse me I have about 1400 posts to read in my RSS feed. EEEP!

snapshots and flesh casserole

Above, snapshot of the work in progress for the blogger meetup next month in Melbourne. Finally made a decision and it's full steam ahead. It'll be great to meet up with bloggers I've met before and  all the other crafty bloggers, it'll be a crazy crafty fest. Yes, yes in the top left corner that is the yoyo WIP for the belated 40th, Gillian....it's nearly there! I know, don't hold your breath.

I'm looking forward to going back to Melbourne, though not looking forward to leaving S behind, she has to work, though it's lucky for Spud no vaccination or cattery for him. Visiting old haunts like Babka (french toast to DIE for), Brunetti, Flinders Lane, Degraves, Brunswick Street, Fed Square and Borders. Also going to give Amitie a visit (it's where the meetup's being held) and also Patchwork, Zakkaya, the button store (flinders lane?) and MagNation. Anyone got other crafty, foody, interesting ideas/places for me to visit? Last visit to Melbourne was over 2 years ago and it's over 6 years since I lived there.

The NEK as she's know around these parts was AWESOME. Her voice is stunning live, the band are tight and Kelly Hogan, backup vocals, is hilarious and obviously can sing. The only downer? It was about 39°C (about 102F) and the Fly isn't air conditioned. Nice....not, not when you're standing and you can feel sweat running down your legs. At one point Kelly Hogan commented we looked like a flesh casserole. Aside from the heat Neko and the band were troupers and I'm so glad I finally got to see her play live.

Lastly, "just for you Liana" are the words I emailed when she kindly tagged me, "just this once" :P .

Six things not yet mentioned here.....

1. Ummm I was a very shy, chubby child. Possibly from spending quite a lot of time from the age of birth until I was about 12 in and out of hospital with asthma.  I preferred books to people, you couldn't get my head out of a book.
   
2. I left high school at age 16, directionless, so I went to "secretary" school. I've been working fulltime since I was 18. For the past 10 year's I've worked as a production manager in various graphic design businesses, self taught.
3. I'm allergic to capsicum it gives me chronic indigestion.
4. This is hard. Aaaah. I'm left handed but when I play sports involving a bat, I bat right handed.
5. I played netball from the age of 12 until 20. Managed to play at competition level from the age 17 to 20. I'm no sporty woman, but I was a mean goal shooter.
6. I laugh easily, too easily sometimes. I have one of those laughs that people comment on. I also laugh when I'm nervous or in awkward situations, often at inappropriate times.

Tagging....noone - go for it if you wanna play.

harp 'n craft

This Saturday I went to the first Harp 'n Craft at the Art Gallery of WA on Saturday, organised by Clementine. It was excellent. Fantastic venue and a great group of women. Kate came along to decompress after a particularly busy week in a new job and she and I went to the Art Gallery shop for a squizz.  Chai, cake and lots of laughs, a great way to spend a few hours on a Saturday morning.

All in all a great weekend. Visiting Gayle's new pad, breakfast with Gillian and Paul, a little baking on Saturday afternoon in the new gas oven, dinner at Al and Wez's on Saturday night, more laughs, playing a PS2 game and watching a flick. Sunday was snoozy and slow and just perfect. Hope you all had great weekend's.

More pics here.

Meathead

Hey! Thanks so much for the comments re the footrest! The only reason I did a class is because the store wouldn't sell the pattern possibly because they had adapted the idea from a kaffe fasset book, see my previous post....so if you guys are keen for a pattern, maybe start emailing them! Might be able to persuade them! It's surprisingly easy to put together gives a wow effect doesn't it.

One of the first ever knit-a-long's I did was for Larissa's Meathead installation. I think it was also around the time that Al and I had met in blogland and we both signed up.

Larissa's at it again. This time for a book. Here's my version, wish me luck for inclusion in the book! If I don't make it then I'll be giving the hat away here on the blog, it's too small for me and too hot for the weather here in Perth.

The details:
Smaller size knit double on size 15 (10mm) Brittany straights
Lambs Pride Bulky - Brown Heather
Embellishment - red leather, felt and fabric doodad
Pattern notes - well for some reason I made a decision to knit my K2tog through the back loop. Don't know why, just did. I'm not sure if I like the effect or not. But I'm not reknitting! Nice pattern, quick knit.

Here's the flickr group.

wash that date right outta my hair...

Well hello ya'll, hope you all had fabulous weekends. Mine, was a mix of great and just plain odd! Don't think I'll share the odd here, but let's just say, dating can be interesting and need to get better photo's of my dates before meeting them!

The great? Well I finally cleaned my house, dusted, washed, vacuumed and tidied. Feels sooo good. Should do it more often :)  I also had a crafting feast. Finished my ornaments for the Holiday Ornament Swap. Now I just need to work out packaging and post them this week. I'm pretty happy with the results. Link to the flickr group and more pics of mine here.

I'm doing a course at a local fabric and yarn store, Calico and Ivy. A magical Moroccan footrest (that's for you Gayle ;) , NOT a foot stool). They've adapted a pattern from Kaffe Fassett's "Passionate Patchwork". Man I had a crash course in foundation piecing. Funny being in a class environment again, those old anxieties about performing creep up on you. So I've made one wedge and have another 7 to do by Saturday, eeep. Not happy with the colour mix in my first wedge. Think I need more dense colours and less white. So we'll see how the other 7 work out and I might resew this one.

Also made a couple of ornaments for an overdue gift to a blogging buddy, it's a surprise so you'll have to just wait and see who its for. I think these are my favourites. I've had this piece of red velvet for about 7 years and finally found the perfect use for it. I made the felt and silk beads, they're rustic, a nice contrast to the velvet. I'm a yoyo wh*re at the moment. More to come on the clover yoyo maker soon. More pics.

More? Yep. I made this bag about a week ago. Based on something in my memory from a Japanese craft book. Made on the fly, so it has its quirks. I needed a bag I could wear out in the evening and dance and not have to have my hands full. Fully lined and has a wadding sandwich to make it squishy. Thought it's probably a little too thick, the Echino fabric from Al is lovely but it's quite a heavy weight so I didn't need the wadding. Seems I like to make stuff bulletproof.

Some more good. I doggie sat/visited my friend's miniature Daschunds this weekend. I couldn't get any pics of Jemima, she wouldn't stand still long enough. But here's Mabel. She is just too cute.

There are a bucketload of films I want to see at the moment and just haven't had the time to get to. I'm listening to the new Magic Numbers, "Those the Brokes", it's growing on me and I've hammered the new Scissor Sisters, "Ta-Dah", damn fine album.

Hey, any of you Aussie readers get the new Donna Hay? Who's gonna give the caramels a go? Tempting. Also love the relish recipes this time as well.

Ok, have a great week. Not sure if you'll here from me again, I'm gonna be up to my eyeballs in strips of fabric and foundation piecing.

warts 'n all

Warning....navel gazing post...

Hello! Seems my posting here is a bit shabby at the moment. But I'm finally at the point with the blog that I don't mind. I used to feel the pressure (self imposed) to post frequently, to be witty, creative, original, posting regularly about my fabulously crafty life! Not that it wasn't true, I do have a pretty great crafty life. Saying all that, now that the blog and I have been together over 2 years we're starting to get comfortable with each other. You know that feeling with friends, that no matter what you won't be judged, they accept you for all your quirks and you don't have to explain yourself to them. I'm extremely fortunate in having friends (flesh friends and blog friends) like this. I don't need to mention names you know who you are!

I'm at the point with the blog where I feel comfortable with just putting out here what I want and be damned with people's opinion of me. It's interesting, sort of like a peeling back layers. It's like making friends, you meet them and there's the honeymoon phase, then you slowly get to really know each other, you might go through some bumpy spots and then over time you can't imagine them not being in your life. There's no bullshit, just upfront great stuff. So that's how the blog is for me now. I still don't show all my warts, of course you're going to see most of my flattering parts here :) and a grrls gotta keep some secrets!

I have a bucketload of crafty projects on the go at the moment, a zillion ideas in my head. Living singularly makes my time allocation interesting. My time is spent juggling (ignoring!) housekeeping, keeping in touch with friends, crafting, blogging and dating. This is no whoa is me post. Just that I've noticed being single yet again that my time is more precious. I can't rely on anyone but me to tidy, feed the cat, feed myself etc. Sometimes I wish for a partner to share stuff with and miss intimacy, but the flipside, I also enjoy being able to completely suit myself and not consider anyone else. I don't think either situation is better or worse, both have their merits!

So sorry, no craft to show you here today. Just some shoes I bought recently. Aren't they pretty. They go well with my tan ;) I do have craft in progress but haven't had the time to photograph it. The photo above was taken as I walked out of the door this morning rushing to work.

Have any of you seen Children of Men? Wowzers, knocked my socks off. Wasn't expecting it to be so great. Thoroughly enjoyable. Kate's more eloquent than I am and read the comments.

A new friend introduced me to a remix of Queen of Japan singing the Kiss classic "I was made for loving you"...takes on a whole other meaning and I love it!

I ♥ my new bracelet by Liana Kabel! Check out her gorgeous tape measure pins and other yummy recycled plastic goodies.

Lastly, Amy Butler responds to recent copyright questions about her designs that have popped up in blogland. Excellent response.

Hmm I think I must have been channelling the Hormonal Menstral Goddess with this post! LOL.

Stuff meme

OK, I'm not a meme person, but lacking content for the blog at the moment, this sort of fodder will do. So, thanks Sooz...hope you learn something interesting ;)

1. Flip to page 18, paragraph 4 in the book closest to you right now, what does it say?

Wood is made up on long tubular cells like a bundle of drinking staws glued together. This structure makes wood much stronger in one direction than the other and it's much easier to cut along the cells or grain (ie to rip) than it is to cut across them (ie to cross-cut).

WTF! I was doing some research on resin making for Miss Dot and had left out my copy of "The Golden Hands Encyclopedia of Crafts", Volume 1, published mid 1970's.

2. If you stretch out your left arm - as far as possible, what are you touching?
The cat's manky computer bed. Ewww. Needs a clean.

3. What's the last program you watched on tv?
Jamie Oliver's latest show, can't remember the name. It was a distraction whilst I was reading and thinking.

4. Without looking, guess what time it is.
9pm.....CLOSE, 9.12pm

5. Except the computer, what can you hear right now?
Anthony whopping it up singing "Fistful of Love", man he can sing. Kate, SHUT UP, he's lovely.

6. When was the last time you were outside and what did you do?
Umm I got out of my car and walked indoors :)

7. What are you wearing?
My favourite bonds grey tracksuit pants, they're getting little holes in them, but I love them. A short sleeve pale blue tee...Bare feet and notice, no mention of underwear. Damn, can you tell it's been a year? LOL

8. Did you dream last night? If you did, what about?
Umm I don't think I did dream, but I did have a lovely lullaby of sorts.

9. When was the last time you laughed?
Tonight, reading something, can't remember what.

10. What's on the walls, in the room you're in right now?
Not a lot. I rent, umm my pinboard.

11. Have you seen anything strange lately?
Aaah. Define strange?

12. What do you think about this meme?
LOL I like Sooz idea of doing it in pictures. Umm it's ok.

13. What's the last film you saw?
AAAH that would be last night, "God on my Side", by Andrew Denton, with Q&A with said man after. Thoroughly enjoyable if a little terrifying.

14. If you became a multimillionaire, what would you do with the money?
Pay off friends and immediate family's mortgages. Grab my passport and travel, travel, travel. That's my first knee jerk answer.

15. Tell us something about yourself that most people don't know.
Umm depends who we're talking about. My real world friends or my bloggie friends ;) Since a teenager I've often had crushes on girls but until recently didn't really think anything of it. Penny took a while to drop.

16. If you could change ONE THING in this world, without regarding politics or bad guilt - what would it be?
Damn, ummmm. Well after seeing "An Inconvenient Truth", probably people's attitudes in general to environmental issues, looking after this place for future generations.

17. Do you like dancing?
HELL Yes.

18. George Bush?
Why'd you do it George?

19. What do you want your children’s names to be, girl/boy?
Not having any. Haven't given it a lot of thought.

20. Would you ever consider living abroad?
Done it :P would love to do it again.

21. What do you want God to tell you, when you come to heaven?
That's assuming...

22. Who should do this meme?
LOL should. Umm not going to tag, you wanna do it, go for it :)