Feast

I think our most recent craft weekend was a feast.

A feast of food (of course);
ideas and inspiration (sock monkeys, here I come)
laughter and jokes;
little mountains of threads and scraps;
a broken toe (Thankfully not mine. At least she didn't spill the wine though);
a finished essay;
books finding new homes (Thanks Sue! and Red Door Books);
Handmade Help was delivered;
the Farmers Market was raided (such a contrast to the city markets. Live chooks!);
hearty renditions of ABBA and the Wiggles;
and more.

For my part, I sewed a top that doesn't fit, pants that need alterations, and a cardigan with holes in it. But nothing that a seam picker and a little more time and patience can't fix. It wasn't all bad on the craft front though- I also made some fantastic slack arse oven mits and quite a few sachets of fresh lavender (procured at the Farmer's Market) to protect my stash and woollies from moths. Now I need to clear the home studio decks so that I can finish off what I started and get on to some sock monkeys.

The great outdoors

We dug, we carted and we dug some more.
S and C set redgum sleepers in concrete and drilled and bolted.
Then we had more and more digging and carting to do before we carted fresh dirt back in the other direction, and tipped and raked and tipped some more.
Then S laid the lawn and Hey Presto, a neat little back yard.



It feels like we just gained an extra couple of rooms to our home. The Deck (which still needs some rearranging), The Lawn (which is growing beautifully already and will need a trim with a real mower before long), The Veggie Patch (in which I've already sown broad beans and sugar snap peas and snow peas, with plenty more winter crops to follow). And some bits around the edges that will be further defined with a screen wall and storage and plants of some kind.

The builder needs to come back and fix the rainwater tank, but in the meantime the grey water system that we've rigged(harvesting water from the shower and bath only) is providing more water than we need. With the benefit of hindsight we should have stuck the rainwater tank out the front, but it's not about to move now. Instead, we will sit and relax and watch the grass grow, and get to work on all the other jobs on the list (if I can tear myself away from cruising gardening sites and podcasts and the like, dreaming about all the food and herbs I want to start growing...)

(and in completely unrelated news I'm off on craft weekend this weekend. I've been too distracted by the gardening fun to figure out a sewing plan, so I'm just taking a heap of things and hopefully I'll manage to finish off something for me as well as having a blast with some creative friends)

one step forward, one step back.

I did mention knitting posts, didn't I?
Yes.
Ok.
I've been working on the Conwy Socks for Scott, but progress ground to a halt last week after a fitting. I had the first foot largely complete, but there were some issues. Too big here, to long there, to narrow there, and there. Arghk.

I threw it aside in frustration (I managed to scrounge up a secret project for my commute knitting) and this afternoon I sat down to assess the situation. I measured and noted and considered and recalculated before frogging it all.

Armed with a page of notes, a little bit wiser, I'm ready to start off (cast on) again.

Old MacDonald

As soon as I saw this tutorial from the Purl Bee, as with so many of their ideas, I was smitten. This time though the cuteness really got to me, along with an urge to make something special for C for Easter morning, so I spent a couple of evenings last week engrossed in easy (albeit fiddly), playful knitting and stitching.

These things are addictive though. They're so quick and fun to make, I don't know if I can stop here. I'm imaginging a cat, dog, mouse, duck, zebra, tiger, monkey, and who knows what else to join these critters (perhaps the limitations of my stash will dictate). Although C finds them amusing I'm sure they're more suited to older children. I hope he lets me play with them a little.

Chocolate with sparkles

Wishing you all a happy easter, with special wishes going out to Jo from Sparkly Green Knickers, whose comment C drew out of the hat this morning (before making merry with throwing all the others around).

I was secretly (perhaps not so now that I'm telling you here) quite pleased because Jo's blog is new to me, and she is a local. I was thinking of her comment this week as I swished though Carnegie myself, wearing my Blank canvas skirt yet again (It's quite embarrassing how many times I've worn it since I made it, but you'd be pleased to know I did actually take it off and wash it this weekend).

Thanks again to everyone for playing. I didn't actually say much about the book when I posted the skirt- it is a great book- the instructions are suitable for absolute beginners (the process of making the skirt is spelt out from the basics, although there are perhaps a few things that could do with some more detail), and it offers plenty of scope for interpretation and ideas that your imagination can play with and explore (Ahk! where did my courage go?). The basic skirt is without a doubt the simplest garmnet I have ever made- yes even easier than the elastic waisted straight skirts that everyone was forced to make in Home Ec when I was at highschool, and so much more flattering too!

And the photo? Bunny is the closest we got to chocolate this easter (by choice, as we try to avoid the excess calories and find our own, less consumerist, Easter traditions before C is old enough to want to share in the chocolate indulgences that his peers are enjoying). Bunny is handmade, although not by me. I picked it up at the the local Steiner pre-primary school's stall at a nearby craft market a couple of weeks ago (I loved their knitted bunnies too). In theory it's for C, but I have to admit to being nervous for it's safety whenever he decides to play with it.

So, sow

So, I'm a bit distracted from more sewing at the moment. Not just by the fun of reading through comments on the blank skirt (destined to remain blank becuase I really do love it just as it is) and visiting some new blogs. We're spending the Easter weekend trying to do a heap of things around our home. While we do involve C in some of the things we're doing, there are still some things to do that just seem to linger, undone, when you have an ankle biter in the house. This weekend we're trying to take advantage of the bonus days off work, and the grandparents' glee at more time with C.

Last weekend C and I sowed some seeds (which we have been watching emerge on the kitchen window sill) and I've been pondering other things to plant. Tomorrow 2.5 cubic meters of lovely rich organic dirt mix is arriving, ready to be carted (by hand bucket. Fun. Not.) through the house to the new veggie patch, and more sowing will follow.

We also have lots of little bits of painting to finish off (a patch here, a second coat there, etc) and a myriad of little (and not so little) handiman jobs. The man of the house is also working on the next round of home IT reorganisation (out with the old laptop, in with the new). Add to that some social outings and the usual day to day happenings of our lives, and things are busy (in a good way) around here at the moment.

It certainly leaves me in need of some restorative knitting at the end of the day, which is my way of saying stay tuned for some knitting posts next week.

Blank Canvas [with bonus giveaway!]

I made myself a new skirt.
I'm in love with it.

I've been wearing it alot.

I'd been thinking about it for a long time, since winning a Whip Up giveaway a year ago, but for some reason it kept on getting pushed to the bottom of the project pile. I finally got around to making it mostly because I had a girlie celebratory brunch to attend, and I really wanted something new to wear. Something new and simple and elegant and quick to make. So the night before brunch, after C was tucked up in bed, I traced off the pattern and started cutting.

What I made fitted my requirements perfectly (and pleasingly, fits me perfectly too), although it is, in reality, little more than a simple blank canvas, the basic skirt from this amazing and inspiring book by Alison Willoughby.

Despite the wealth of inspiration in the book the skirt remains blank, unembellished and unlined. I was short on time and short on decision making ability. Accessorising, adding embellishments and interest, is not my forte. When faced with design decisions, I find it easier to strip back to the essentials. Focus on form, the essence of the material, clear and sharp delineation.

There is one seam, slightly off grain and off centre (because I needed a bit more circumference to get around me- 5 of the pattern segments instead of the 4 in the instructions). With the weight of the denim it didn't need lining. I pressed the hems and top stitched. The waist edge has a grosgrain ribbon facing and two big snaps to secure.

So easy to make and flattering and easy to wear. I like the extra flare and fullness compared to the basic A-line skirt I've been making over and over and wearing for years and years and years now. Time for a change perhaps? In my "I have plenty of time to refashion my wardrobe" daydreams I will make many more in a wonderful array of fabrics- the deep green wool that my grandmother wove (with a lining though); the almost-mustard old curtain fabric with cute circle print that Fii gifted my way a while back; the flecked grey heavy stretch cotton that I bought from Tessuti (Hey- they're opening up a Melbourne shop!). In my daydreams I also summon up the courage to embellish one or two of them too.

To share the inspiration and delight around, I have a spare copy of the book to give away. There's a long story of winning a give-away, and slow mail, and a bonus second edition that arrived a few days after (or before) the replacement parcel. So if you would like to make yourself a blank or embellished canvas too, please leave a comment before Good Friday and C will draw a name from a hat.

*Update: The giveaway is now closed, but I want to thank you all for delurking to comment and join in. It's been fun to read all your comments and find some new blogs too! C's already gone to bed but all the names will be going in a hat for him to draw and I'll announce the winner over the weekend. Wishing you all a Happy Easter*

Panting

I've been sewing pants.
Toddler pants.
Working my way through my deepest, darkest, denim stash (so dark I think it must be black, but then I catch it in the light and wistfully imagine that it really is the darkest of indigos).

Firstly some shorts. I had to cut into the denim to stretch out the car fabric that Sooz gifted me- leftovers from her own pant making efforts. I didn't have quite enough width so I added some denim roads down the sides. We're trying to get some wear out of them on sunny Autumn days before he grows out of them. Brrmmmmm.

Next up some racer pants. I'd been thinking about asymmetrical details for little boy pants, and under the influence of my husband (not that he's a rev head at all, just that I never would have had the idea on my own) decided to try out some classic racing stripes. Apparently I got the proportion all wrong, but I'm blaming that on the woeful ribbon availability at our local (seemingly well stocked until you know what it is you're looking for) Scragfight. I also had a little play with an elasticated pocket. Not quite perfect, but hopefully C will have fun stuffing stuff in there. He hasn't tried this pair on yet.

Also yet to be worn and possibly too long for a little while yet are some Ottobre pants. Much more detailing and care involved in making these. Elasticated pockets (much better detailed than the other pair) and hems, some darts and top stitching, although I left off the rear patch and drawstring. Very cute though. I do like these.
Don't worry, I kept enough of the denim to make something for myself too...