Done.............only hours to spare

Just thought I'd let you know I did finish this pairs of socks in the nick of time. It's our 17th wedding anniversary tomorrow and I wanted to give Dear Husband something hand made by me. Notice I even made the card with a scrap of the sock wool in the bobbin of my sewing machine, not very creative but it was quick. He will be home very soon so they have been quickly stashed ready for the morning. I promise I will post a photo of Dear Husband wearing them.

Can't help myself

Whenever I travel away from home I have to check to see if I can find any fabric or wool stores. Well I have to say the Melbourne cbd isn't great. I knew Lincraft was in the city but this didn't excite me at all but I headed that way to see if I could find anything else. I ran into a lady while I was crossing the street in the rain and she looked like she might be a knitter so I asked her if there were any specialty wool shops around and she said well not really a 'specialty' shop but they do sell wool and I'm on my way there now...........amazing, so she said "follow me". How could I not. We ended up at Clegs in Elizabeth Street and they are mostly an evening fabric store but they really do have some wool. I bought the large hank of J&J's hand painted pure wool from New Zealand there, should make a great felted bag. Also found some bag handles which will come in handy for a new design. The best thing I found were the Clover bamboo knitting needles, I bought 2 sets of double points and one pair of straights. They are so light and smooth to work with, I can recommend them to you all. I also bought the Dawn silk/wool yarn and began knitting a lacy scarf back at the backpackers as the weather was perfect for knitting...........wet and cold! After leaving this shop I meandered my way around and followed the steps down to Dymocks bookstore and found Nicki Eptein's lovely book all about felting, something which I am more than a little passionate about.............it is a great adventure, really inspiring. The other find was the Interweave Favourite Socks book, this one I had always coveted and now it's mine!

Now since I had tried the Clover straights I had to test the double point needles don't I? As this Saturday is a special day for Dear Husband and I the time had come to knit him a pair of socks, he has hinted so often I thought I could do this small thing for him and test the needles at the same time. So I set to work on some Sirdar Town and Country colour 100 Harlequin (discontinued I believe) from my stash and finished the first sock in one day and have a few days to get the second one done now I know you can knit a nice long pair of size 12 socks from one 50g ball with a little yarn to spare! I thought this spare piece would allow me to match the stripes in the socks but it just won't work this time, the repeat of stripes is too large. Anyway I'm sure he won't care it's just the 'neat freak' in me coming out. Must go, many stitches to knit. Oh, also bought a Clover row counter that hangs around your neck, this makes a huge difference when knitting socks, so much less row counting by eye, another great find.

Braidwood Quilt Event

On our way home yesterday we stopped over in the historic township of Braidwood and visited St Andrews Anglican Church to view their exhibition of hand work that is all part of the Braidwood Quilt Event held every November. The church itself was built in the 1890's and has so many fabulous features, I especially loved the gargoyles used as water spouts for the roof drainage. The windows were just gorgeous and the light was shining through wonderfully. It was a lovely exhibition of work by country women and many different crafts were represented; quilts, tapestry, hardanger, cloth dolls, knitting, felting, dyeing, candlewicking are just a few. I met the ministers wife a few weeks back and she requested two of my quilts for the exhibition and it was so good to see them displayed in such a beautiful setting. There were also some completed bags from the knitting and felting workshop I taught up that way recently, they looked great and I will post some before and after photos soon. If I had been in town on Saturday I would have seen quilts airing from veranda rails in the main street which I believe is a fantastic spectacle that I haven't ever been able to see first hand.

Melbourne through my eyes

Flinders Street Station is a standout landmark of this wonderful city.

Roof top gardening at it's quirky best near the Queen Victoria Markets

Melbourne is definitely the style and fashion capital of Australia, hands down.

Melbourne's own 'Diagon Alley'

The Leafy Sea Dragon lives just off the coast of Australia, what a beauty!

It's tiring living in an exhibit!

Nemo resides in Melbourne Aquarium too

A tough job but someone has to do it!

The tapestries at the Museum Victoria say so much about Australian culture and history


A very dry continent it is, except Melbourne when you holiday there!

Our Ned

Old Melbourne Gaol

The State Library is bursting up through the footpath

A Christmas Tradition, the Myers windows, you have to see this years which is the story of Uno's Garden by Melbourne author Graeme Base

A night at the Princess Theatre, highly recommend!

Fitzroy Gardens, peaceful city oasis

Preserving the old Coop's Shot Tower

I guess you get the picture now, I love Melbourne, always have and I think I always will. We took our kids on a surprise trip to Melbourne last week. After dinner on Monday evening we told them they wouldn't be going to school for the rest of the week and to pack their bags for a 6 day getaway to an unknown destination and be ready to leave at 6.30 am Tuesday, great excitement followed. Off we went over the mountains by car to an airport then we flew into 37 degree heat and settled ourselves into our hotel, Nomad Industry around the corner from the Queen Victoria Markets and one block from the Melbourne City Circle free tram service. We spent our time in the cbd basically exploring all things cultural, historical, educational and fun we could find. The weather was crappy, but that is Melbourne for you, 4 seasons in one day literally! The food was fantastic especially the salted chili calamari I had in China Town. Kids loved the Little Italy area which is Lygon Street in Carlton, great gelato. I loved the shop windows, so much to take in and too much to consider, didn't do much shopping at all. If you get the chance go to Melbourne you will have a great time and it is a very friendly city that is so easy to get around. Just do it!

Click on any of my photos for a closer view.

Family

This little Bareroots design says it all!

Mimosa Tote

This bag called Mimosa Tote recently finished by the girls at the shop really caught my eye. I have always loved Sue Spargo's designs and this one is no different, they are always primitive in styling with great strong colours. The applique is a combination of needle turned applique and wool felt that is applied with the most interesting hand embroider stitches. This bag has been kitted in the exact same fabrics and you can buy whatever sort of pre made handles you desire if you are keen I can put you in contact with the shop (very soon there will be a website). The 3 samll photos are taken from Sue's website just to show how talented she is. Have a look for yourselves.

Stitching at the Bay

What a day I had on Saturday. Once again two friends hosted a wonderful day of stitching and friendship in the Bay. It is the most fabulous fully catered day and it is all Christmas related. The ladies who booked in all receive a bag full of goodies which includes their kits and notes for 6 different stitching project any of which they can work on during the day while chatting with friends around their table. The food is great, morning tea, hot lunch and then yummy cakes for afternoon tea. They also run a lucky door raffle throughout the day. Now I have attended this day a number of times but never as a stitcher, always with the shop that I work in, we take up a small stall full of fabric and goodies that the ladies might need through out their day. This year there was also a lovely Christmas stall selling lovely country styled Christmas decorating goods, the cutest mini trees caught my eye but if you have ever visited my house at Christmas time you will know I don't need anymore Christmas stuff ever!! I didn't manage to take many photos is was very hot and the hall was a bit too dark for good photos, sorry! I thoroughly enjoyed myself and it was great catching up with friends once again.

Needle felting prep

Ahhh, almost done, kits just need taping up and the notes are almost ready for printing. Preparing for classes sure does take longer than you anticipate. I have a class tomorrow and of course it would not be me if I wasn't leaving it all to the last minute, not really by choice it's just my life is very full most of the time.

Bluey has taken up residence

This little friendly guy has moved into the retaining wall of our raised garden bed out the back. Now I don't have to worry about putting snail bait out, he will do a much better job. He is a bit timid at the moment and darts back into his hole which takes him inside the wall which would be a lovely warm place for him to reside. One day I will capture a shot of his very blue tongue. Click on his photo for a closer look at his details.

Another day at Jerrabatgulla

How lucky am I? This week I made my return trip to the most wonderful property over the mountains to teach felted bag knitting with a very enthusiastic friendly group of country women. Captain Peacock must have been exhausted after a day of showing off his tails feathers, he was the perfect catwalk model this visit, pivoting and prancing perfectly for the lens. I took so many photos of this bird it was very difficult to choose just one to show you, he was in peak condition and so proud of his lady friend who is sitting on their eggs at the moment.

Now did I mention how well country women can cook.................morning tea in the courtyard when I arrived was just delicious and then lunch, I felt thoroughly spoiled. There is nothing that compares with country hospitality and I have to say thank you to all the women who made me feel so welcome and part of their fabulous group. Kitty's garden is a magical place it was filled with lots of different friendly creatures that make a house a home. One day I hope I find a little shack in this beautiful part of Australia that I can retreat to when I need a sanity break, it brings back very fond memories of my childhood in a similar area in the North East of Victoria.

I spent the afternoon in the laundry felting the wonderful collection of bags that were knit over the two lessons and will do a further post including some before and after photos once I get to the 'Airing of the Quilts' exhibition that is on over the weekend 24th ad 25th of November in Braidwood. The completed bags will be on show at the St. Andrews Anglican Church, also a couple of my quilts will be on show there also at the request of the ministers wife. Braidwood is a very historic town and when you see quilts hanging from all the verandas in the main street on Saturday you are in for a real treat. Make a day of it, take a car load of girlfriends and enjoy all Braidwood has to offer. There will be stalls filled with Christmas baked goodies that I can highly recommend because I have met some of the wonderful cooks and heard whispers of the recipes they are using. You must also buy some tickets in the raffle for a Christmas Quilt made by the Gundillion Women's Craft Group, it is a superb group quilt project. The money's raised are used for the upkeep of their beloved hall which is a great example of traditional Aussie architecture.