Slipping to the dark side.

An impromptu invitation from nearby cousins, to play in their new pool, had the wee girl changed and out the door before I had time to contemplate how to best use my child-free time.  Overwhelmed by crafty possibilities, I flapped about in unfocused circles for a bit.  Decided to go for a swim.  Came back, looked at the thread-and fabric-strewn floor and got the vacuum cleaner out.  Decided life was too short (and child-free time is shorter still) so got out the new quilting book and a bunch of pre-cut fabric.

 I carefully followed instructions (which was made super-easy by putting the book under my extension table and overlaying the fabric bits.  Loving that!).

It all went well enough, experimenting with geometric shapes, the simple maths and construction of it all, but it didn't grab me.  The whole thing got far more interesting after I set the challenge of making the same size  blocks (12") until I'd used up ALL of the fabric scraps. 

 My puzzle-solving brain clicked into gear, and I finally got what it is that makes people want to sew lots of tiny scraps of fabric together.  (Until this point I was completely bemused by the whole notion, which was why I started to think I needed to try it.... I needed to understand it.)  When the little swimmer came back, I kept sewing, stopping only to toss a few noodles about in a wok for dinner and kiss her goodnight.

Then I put the quilting books away, pulled out the leftover bits from the cat quilt, chopped them up randomly and started stitching things together in an ad-hoc manner.... and stayed focused on the puzzle until the wee hours of the morning.  

At one point, I found myself saying to the man of the house "I think I'm a scrappy quilter" and then feeling like a complete fraud, knowing that I'm not really a quilter at all.  I have NO IDEA how this story will end.  Possibly not in a quilt.  The man of the house nodded and tried to look interested (but I think he was thinking about the cricket).



As I stitched together my riot of random colour scraps, my new pincushion smiled at me.  It made me smile back (especially that machine-stitched closing of the seam.  My girl is all about instant sewing gratification!).

 And what of the vacuuming.....? 

Well...life's a bit short, really.

This is RELAXING....

socks on the beach, a photo by amazing_podgirl on Flickr.

No - they are not my feet nor is it even my photo (I borrowed it from Flickr - and might I add that I was heartened by the breadth of choice I had when I searched for "knitting on the beach").

For me, it's less about the sand and sun and more about knitting the socks.  Or at least catching up on all the half-thought dreams and designs I have for various non-work-related crafting.  All year I look forward to this time of year, when I shut down and shut out the work-related world... and play.

I brought home a few books, in the hope of trying a few new things. 

 And now the small girl has a bunch of thoughtfully-gifted books that are hugely inspiring.

Santa brought in this one (below)  for the wee girl, but I have an inkling of an idea that it was meant for ME.  The girl and I have alrady made a version of a little puppy (in the background of the photo of my books, above) from this one.

The baby cardi I was knitting in bamboo sock yarn was deemed too small, ripped out and the yarn allocated to toe-up sock experiemnts.  A cap-sleeved top was quickly made in its place... but not quickly enough to meet the xmas deadline.  It is yet to be finished and have its co-ordinating garments sewn.  Grand designs in an unfeasible timeframe....

 I finally found a pattern (on Ravelry) for a single-bed knitting machine sock  that made sense to me.  I had a little play with scrap yarn last night and then bought new sock yarn today to try it out properly (ahem.... I wasn't going to use the good stuff from my stash, now was I?!)

There is also another knitted cat in the works.

 

Oh, and I've been playing around with quilt blocks (forgot to photograph).  And yes, my dining table really does look like that..... as does the kitchen table.

And I still have some FELTING books I'd like to sink my teeth into.

There are more Grand Designs at the bottom of the garden.  Behind the back shed, there is a cubby-house in construction.  I'm keeping out of it.  And I'm trying to keep the smallest architect in the house out of the way of the builder (not always succeeding with that one).

We're planning a bit of gardening, too.  The house and cars survived the xmas day hail-storm without damage, but the veggie patch came out the other side resembling a large coleslaw.

We gathered up the damaged vegetables and made a big soup with stock from the xmas turkey carcass.  Waste-not-want-not and all that.

I don't want to go to the beach.  I don't want to go anywhere, really.  I'm like the proverbial piggie in muck....   My biggest concern is whether to quilt or machine-knit tonight.

All manner of merry

Merry Christmas to all who celebrated it today.

Santa brought a new Elna mini sewing machine to the wee girl.  There was much excitement (and pre-breakfast sewing).  The machine goes at a pace that a 6-year-old can manage and has a small range of simple stitches, but is otherwise a normal sewing machine.  (It appears that Santa is in on the indoctrination campaign.)

 Before breakfast, she whipped up a teddybear (of her own design) for a toddler cousin....

...which gave me time to finish a baby hat (from my book) and a pair of shorts for a baby boy, who previously received non-gender-specific-verging-on-girly handmade gifts from me.  I thought his Dad might appreciate something screamingly "BOY".

 And then it was time for an extended family (in-laws) lunch.  Great to get the family together....

 Although, I must admit to being somewhat worried about the way that cousins play together these days.....

 My girl was the only one who didn't own an electronic gizmo, so was loaned one, which she tired of quickly and then went out to hold court at the garden table.  I took the opportunity to photograph the new dress.  (I'm working on some new pattern ideas along these lines.  This was the first toile).

 And then there was food.  LOTS of food.  And family and kids and presents and more food.  Lovely.

 And then Melbourne did what Melbourne does best..... turned on a complete change in the weather (with a super-cell hurricane storm and massive hailstones thrown in... or machine-gunned in, as it seemed).

To top off the day, my little sewing girl went straight back to the sewing machine when we got home early this evening. 

Having finished her second cushion for the day, she began making "a library bag" for me.  As bedtime loomed, I allowed her 15 minutes extra to finish... and THEN remembered that we hadn't eaten dinner.  When I suggested she choose from the leftovers, she enthusiastically started looking through the fridge.  I then added that the time it takes to eat something would mean that there'd be no time to finish sewing.  She was sitting back in front of the machine (fridge door left swinging) before I could finish my sentence.  "Then I'll just do more sewing!"

That's my girl.

'Twas the week before Christmas

I've been snapping photos randomly this week, in case they come together in some sort of coherent, thematically-linked manner to inspire a well-mulled-over, thought-provoking blog post. 

But all I have to say about this photo is that I made a HOBO bag to send up to Addicted To Fabric in Canberra....  and it has a zip....

And I quite like the lining.

I also like the look of our new patterns.  That Tania knows how to tart things up, doesn't she?

..And the studio is a mess.   (Nothing to do with Tania.)

I found this photo of my 12th birthday cake - a free-standing sewing machine.  My mother was a fantastic sculptor when it came to birthday cakes. 

(The other cakes on the table were for my Mum and sister - our birthdays fall in the same week.  I think my sister made the caterpillar cake, or perhaps I did).

The cake pic prompted me think about this sewing obsession of mine... but I didn't come up with anything profound to say about it.  It just IS what it is.

Then today I had to supply a magazine with a mugshot.  Very weird to have to look at high-res images of my face.

For a while there, I wished I was either vain enough to have my teeth whitened and my wrinkles filled, or not vain enough to care about the wrinkles and the discoloured teeth.  I ended up thinking that I should just go back to not looking at high-res images of my face.  I is what I is.

So.... no deep thoughts at all this week - just photos and behind-the-scenes-last-minute-xmas panic (I started making gifts TODAY.... yikes!).  No time to mull things over.

I hope that your Christmas/holiday plans are coming together, and I wish you all the best!

Itchin' for Stitchin'

Great shop name.  And a very lovely shop.

On a trip out west to see family today, I dropped in some patterns and samples to Itchin' for Stitchin at 11 Grant St, Bacchus Marsh (just up the road from where I finished High School). 

While I was talking patterns and snapping photos, I set the wee girl a task to find her favourite fabric....

In her own words, "There are too many that I really, really love!"

 There really is a fabulous range of fabrics, ribbons, embroidery threads and all sorts of everything.  There are Phaff sewing machines.... and now, You SEW Girl patterns!

 And yes - we found an absolute favourite fabric.....

PS. The girl is wearing an A-line shift dress, adapted from THIS book, in Martha Negley fabric.

Well, it HAS to be last-minute, really...

So I've no idea why I started a little girl's cardigan in sock yarn.  (It might have had something to do with the lovely bamboo sock yarn... I can't stop fondling it). 

 There's every chance the cardigan will be put aside for a birthday and a quick Fairytale Skirt from my book will be whipped up in its place, in time for Christmas.  (But I'm giving the cardi my best shot.)

Other likely lads around the tree this year are toiletry bags....

 And belts..... super easy and effective.  Highly wearable... and quick. (And right now, I'm liking the idea of quick.)

 Speaking of Le Book.... (was that a subtle enough segue..?)

If you're in the USA and would like to see my book over there, I might need your help.  It appears that I accidentally deleted all my Google Analytics stats for my blog, just in time for my agent's pitch to US distributors*. Oops. 

I need to show the distributors that you're interested.  I hate to sound like I'm desperate for support, but I need new statistics!  If you know any crafty people who might be interested, please feel free to spread the bloggy and Facebook love.  The more US visitors, followers and "likers" I have, the more chance of US distribution.

*It appears that my publishers have no US distributor, but the book should be distributed in the UK next year, all going well.

And do you think it's alright to take knitting to the bloke's work xmas do tonight...?

So.... another week whizzed by.

Fancy that.
I took some photos, but haven't had much time to write.

Last week I taught a few workshops at the Design And Technology Teacher's Association conference.  One of the workshops was in simple, effective embellishments.  My preparation for the class reminded me how much I enjoy scribbling with stitches.  These photos are both of details on A-Line Skirts, but I now also have lots of scribbly bag bits in progress, which I hope to turn into bags.

I also taught another couple of Bag in a Day classes.  We had lots of proud pocket moments on Saturday.  And pannetone and mince tarts. 

 We also saw some of the new-and-improved pattern instructions in action.  I must say, I think that the hellish job that the recent overhaul has proved to be, is absolutely worth it. 

 And I finished my winter woolly socks.....

...just in time for summer.  (Although, this is Melbourne I'm talking about - you never know what the weather might do.  I may just need them mid-January.)

The blueberry bush (thanks, Tanya) on the back porch is teasing me with the promise of fruit.  Each morning, as I water it with the remnants of the coffee pot, I WILL those berries to ripen.  So far, we still have green berries (and coffee grounds all over the leaves).

I'm afraid I don't have many words to share lately, and little time for blog reading or writing.  Real life stuff stuff keeps getting in the way.

I hope that by the end of the week, there will be a bit more order about the place, and some dust will settle after all the upheaval.   The new patterns are starting to go out to shops and fill our shelves. 

This time next week, family will begin to gather from around the country and the globe and we'll celebrate the time we have left as a complete family.  I hope to be reporting about trite small moments of Chrismas preparation happiness.  Until then, it's back to the patterns, for me.