a little tent

Sometimes a spark of inspiration hits you, and it lingers there for a long time, waiting for it's moment to come.
After a while the impetus emerges and you move into action.
You scour patterns, source materials, guesstimate quantities and make purchases in preparation.
Then you draw it up in CAD so that you won't screw it all up a the cutting stage (OK Amelia, maybe not everyone does this bit...).
You steal moments to work on it (because suddenly the deadline is getting very close), thinking through the steps of the making while you're attending to other demands in life, hijacking a friend's sewing tools so that you can get one step done while you're visiting them, and sewing way into the night, hoping and praying that it will work and be worth all the effort.
You realise at 11.30pm as you give the final seams a quick press that despite the CAD work and all the thinking about things there was something in there you didn't take into consideration, so it's going to need some cutting and re-working to make it work.
You of course PUT IT DOWN at this point so you can think it through when you're not dog tired, because you don't want to stuff it all up by not thinking clearly.
And then the next day, thinking a little bit clearer you quickly make the last little fixes.
You call in the Tool Man to deal with the last necessaries and then with a cheer from the ultimate recipient, you erect his new Tee Pee.
Within minutes he's set up camp, moving some of his favorite toys in there, climbing the walls, exploring it inside and out.
Thanks to all who offered inspiration, advice and assistance along the way.
A huge success and hugely satisfying project.

Exciting things you can't prepare for

1. Coming across (via Soule Mama) a beautiful pattern on a gorgeous new knitting site that demands to be knitted RIGHT NOW, with the yarn that you had just mentally allocated to another project (albeit with some reservations about whether you actually had enough yarn for it). I'm half way up the back already. Talk about a queue jumper.

2. Your brother announcing that he's getting married, particularly when he's been keeping the whole family in the dark about the fact that he had a girlfriend at all. I'm truly thrilled for him. And looking forward to meeting her.

just taking a walk

Apparently this beautiful black fabric is walking out the door at Tessuti (it looks quite interesting on the inside too).

Today I took my piece for a walk too, in the form of a perfectly simple A-line skirt.



I also listened to a ABC Radio National Design podcast today (an interview with Kevin McCloud, of Grand Designs fame) and had an insight into the old Process vs. Product creative debate- you know the one where people declare whether they're driven to make and create by the love of the process, or the love of the product. It's something I've always felt a bit uncertain about- which camp I fall into. But I had this moment of realisation, as I listened to Kevin talk about what he loves about filming Grand Designs, that I am really most interested in the product- the outcome- but that it's the process of making that makes the outcome so special.

A quick warm up

I was thinking about how I have so many knitting projects I want to do, but don't seem to be able to get around to doing, because of other projects that are underway.
But thinking about it I realised I could re-prioritise my knitting time.
I don't really need to push myself to finish off the moss stitch hoodie for C because it's cotton and he won't be wearing it until Spring.
What he needs now is a scarf.
He's been commenting on mine, and it's been so chilly here lately.
So I sat down last night and knitted him one.
Quick and easy- a strip of garter knitted with 2 strands of Pear Tree 4ply on 6mm needles, wiht a big buttonhole opening to pull the other end through.
It seemed to go down quite well when I wrapped him in it today (so easy to put on him, and the yarn is so soft and squishy).
He certanly didn't complain about being cold.
I must confess it was also kind of a bit of a swatching exercise for something to keep me warm.

Ravelrised
Flickr

Getting picky

I could be cutting up the fantastic new fabrics that I picked up at Tessuti today (after doing a fitting with the happy (but smaller handed than me) oven mitts recipient, and saying Hi to Nichola, and before lunching with Sooz, and strolling through the fantastically curated John Brack exhibition at the NGV)....
But instead I will be spending the evening with the seam ripper, unpicking the oven mitts binding (so I can shorten them), and unpicking the waistband on the pants that I've already sewn on three times (because surely I'll be able to get it right if I try just one more time, and since I know I'm not going to wear them as they are, so what have I got to loose?), and finishing unpicking the top that has been sitting on the craft table half unpicked since I got back from April craft weekend (being as I have the ripper out already, and it needs to be done some time).
I'm thinking of the new fabrics a carrot of motivation to get the other sewing done...

Things I love about Buttonmania

1. That they have an amazing range of buttons, sorted ever so carfeully into little bags, organised by size and colour, so that when you wander into their tiny little store, almost completed article in hand, it only takes a few seconds for Kate to whip out a few perfectly appropriate options for you to choose from (as I finally did last week, so that I could finish the green baby cardi).

2. That they have an annual sale, which is due to take place Monday 15 June until Saturday 21 June (They're open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm and Sat 10am-3pm, Located at level 2 of the Nicholas Building, corner of Swanston Street and Flinders Lane in Melbourne)

3. That they have a website and you can buy on line through the catalogue, although it isn't quite the same as wandering in there, garment in hand, to find The Perfect Button.

Mittens

Knitted for C.

I made three because I had (just) enough yarn, and you never know when one is going to get lost. They do have a seam, but so quick and fun to make. (on Ravelry). He seems to quite enjoy wearing them, especially with the chilly, foggy, foggy (forest) mornings we've been having in the last week.



Sewn for R.

Hopefully she won't check my blog this week, because they're for her birthday. Her kitchen has just been renovated and she didn't have any potholders when I last visited, so I hope these will look pretty and come in handy. A bit more miss-matchy than my usual style, but R's style embraces much more exciting colour and pattern combinations than I'm prone to. That said, I really like them. Hope she does too.
(If you want to make your own slack arse oven mitts there's a link over there in the How To section of the side bar)

Easily distracted

I find my mind yet again stumbling over itself with things it wants to do, instead of settling down on one thing at once, starting and finishing it, before drifting off onto the next idea. There's just way too much inspiration out there, far more than I can handle with internet bookmarks and a Ravelry queue.... My mental want-to-do pile currently includes:

Make a teepee for C's birthday, originally inspired by Martha's, and then there's these instructions, or these instructions.

Knit myself a shadow box. And a Paper Crane. And a seamless cabled sweater.

Enhance the fabric stash in a beautiful shop with beautiful fabrics (and then ideally sew and sew and sew)

Learn more about pattern making. About fit, and ease and all the millions of little rules of thumb that people who really know what they're doing know (without having to re-do the waistband 3 times). Like, have you heard of the seam method? (more fitting articles here on the incredibly informative Threads website) Or maybe a new book would fill me with confidence (Actually I don't have any pattern drafting books. Someone once asked me for a recommnedation and I couldn't give one. Can anyone give me one?)

Drink in inspiration for my wardrobe from here and there.

Search for inspiration for C's wardrobe in on-line kids style mags like Small and LMNOP (watch out for the music on that one- always gives me a start when websites have automatic music), and on-line shops like Tiny People, or Baobab, or Ele-ahbaant, or Makie, or Mini Boden, or Ferd. (Although sometimes I wonder why I do this, because boys clothes have such a limited palette compared to girls)

Try making another sock monkey, with stuffing beads this time.

Be inspired by other people's (unpretentious) gardens.

Playing in the dirt

The sewing machine and I aren't getting along right now. I'm up to my third attempt on the waistband of the pants I started on craft weekend, and had to get the seam picker out while making a simple pillowcase.

So this weekend I opted to spend my creative/making time in the garden, tempting my black thumb to show itself. The seedlings have been struggling to produce leaves (poor chaps). They're now planted the old dirt garden bed, which is really low on organic matter to the point of almost being water repellent, but offers them the best spot for sunlight as winter progresses. I watered and dug (several times) and added worm compost, and planted the seedlings in a little trench- fingers crossed. I should have started some broccoli seedlings months ago, but being as I hadn't I thought I'd just directly sow some just and we'll see what happens.

I interspersed the broccoli and cabbage with garlic, on account of having had some success back in 2004 (pre blog) when I did the same- the garlic seemed to scare off most of the cabbage moths, and bonus garlic crop to go with it. To finish off I spread out a bale of pea straw mulch (kind of like tucking them all in with a nice quilt. Only messier). The remaining seedlings (lettuce and spring onions) were stuck in pots so I can stick them in the sun amongst the front yard (aka the weedery).

On a positive note, at least the broad beans, sugar snap and snow peas seem to be coming along well, so we should get something to eat at some stage (dirty fingers crossed)

Mental note: when on better terms with sewing machine make a pair of Quick Gardening Gloves.

The Library

I know we're not alone in this, but boy, home making can sure take some time to achieve.



This week we finally hung our lounge shelves and moved the books that were piled up on the floor in our bedroom into the lounge. Now they're accessible and, as a bonus, make our living space feel so much more lived in- so much more like a home we have settled into. We still need to hang pictures, but that can take a while too...

The shelves, in case you are wondering, were an exceptionally cheap and neat solution to our shelving needs. We wanted something wall hung, with a bit of flexibility and good shelf depth, at low cost. After considering many options, we ended up buying a fairly heavy duty strip and bracket system from Bunnings, which we cut to the lenghts we needed. Scott had a mate with the necessary workshop (and a few favours to pay back) who cut and folded the metal shelves to our specs. Just over $100 worth of satin black powdercoating later and we are pretty pleased with the results.