chain reaction

Winter is well and truly with us here in Daylesford. Lots of fine, misty rain,

drizzle, mist, cold and fog. The lake always looks amazing in winter.

Stark, icy, dramatic, imposing, soft, gentle, amazing.

 I love the creeping black branches, long spider legs reaching across the glassy water.
Not that I stayed outside too long today,  I couldn't wait to get inside where it was nice & warm.

It's perfect weather though for staying inside, snuggling and making things together.

Yesterday Charlotte was knitting her latest scarf and took some time out to show Lucy how to knit! 

Lucy picked it up quickly and is now knitting her own pink scarf. I can remember my Nan teaching me how to knit when I was seven. It's a beautiful tradition to pass on down the line.

Char is on scarf number three. She popped into Ballarat yesterday to pick up some more wool and some dye for my next re-purposed jumper skirt!

It's been SO much fun having her home, I'm loving it.  She is a fantastic big sister and has been helping me with picking up the kids, child minding and of course, being the best company ever.

Sweet Sunday found her old unfinished pom pom in the wool basket,

and quickly finished it this morning! She has used all kinds of purples, reds and pinks. She took it to school today for show and tell. All this wool activity started a chain reaction..

suddenly Rosie got into it. She has been desperate to learn finger knitting so after one quick lesson she was on her way!

She started off with pink but added purple, 'because Evie will likes purple'.

,

Rosie has named her finger knitting Geoffrey. 

She got up early and worked on Geoffrey in bed and then took him to school today to show her friends. 

Tomorrow for show & tell she is taking fifteen bits of coloured wool to share

so her friends can learn to finger knit too.

Bill continued on with his mega ball of finger knitting. It was a real wool fest!

He is attempting to make a rug for his room. Charlotte made one too when she was a similar age.

So, there you go! Lots of making going on around here.

What have you been up to this week? I'm going to have a snoop around here and find out.

I'll leave you with a photo of my me & my gorgeous friend Jack, 

who I interviewed this week for an oral history project I'm involved with.

See you soon lovelies!

Making

This week I've been working on some lovely new bunnies. This little one above is a birthday bunny for a special girl. I love the pink of her cardi, it's the prettiest pink, dusty, musk stick, sweetie pie pink.

And this is a bunny for a new baby girl.  I will have to change that button though,

buttons and babies just don't go together, do they?

This week I've had two kids home with colds. Mr Self Portrait built a log house with his new Lego, adding little extra's and even designed his own human sized log cabin.

While I dithered around, sorting through buttons, looking through a certain person's blog, looking for inspiration for the Brooch Swap.

After my original idea failed dismally I went back to scrawling page after page, getting to know this person quite well and having a lovely time, until I came across The Idea.

Which is shaping up quite nicely. Not really original, not particularly technically amazing, but sweet nevertheless, with personality & a fair degree of wonkiness. Phew, it's almost finished and ready for posting.

Today I found it hard to get out of  bed, these three pushed me out in the end and declared they'd be staying like this all day, snug as three bugs in a rug. It's so cold this week, we had a little snow yesterday. Fluttering flakes of white, scattered swirls overnight.

Today I was classroom helper in the Prep room, so fun to be with the children, all so full of big eyed innocence and fun. I love hearing their ideas, their take of the world. Watching them dance and sing to The Wonky Donkey was hilarious too, do you know that book?

Anyway, back to work now, much to do here at home. Besides all the usual housie stuff I hope to get a little more knitting down this afternoon. I've finished the back & arms of Rosie's cardi, now I'm onto the front. Feeling rather pleased with myself as so far it's looking good.  Hope you're having a fun one, have you had a look at all these other people's spaces yet? I might sneak a peek too. See you soon xo

Posting

How's your week going? Mine's been a bit up & down, I seem to be a bit of a tired old chook lately. I'm finding that I'm not so motivated to blog, maybe it's the time of year? I am weirdly enjoying the cold weather though, like I always do at the start of winter. Give me a few weeks and I'm sure I'll be complaining about it..! I was going through a bag of bits today and found this sweet butterfly brooch that Amanda made, I love it! Just the thing to brighten up a grey, wintery day.

And these gorgeous screen printed tops made by my beautiful friend, Kate. They are destined to be posted off in a parcel to...

some loved ones, who shall remain nameless.. in case they happen to be reading this post! 

And in the same package I will pop this dear, sweet doll, made by Ms Ric Rac herself. She is  just the most gorgeous doll (Jodie is too), I love her little bag and I wish I had a coat like hers. 

I bought this little sweetie pie two Christmas's ago, stashed her, lost her, re-stashed her 

and found her again!

Wow. Do you ever do that? Hide something so well that you can't find it yourself?

So what else has been happening?  Lovely Sue, a new friend from school, is encouraging me to knit a cardigan for Rosie. I wonder if I'm brave enough, it's been a long while since I took on what for me is a BIG project. I'm a tiny bit excited..now I just need some wool!

And today I started posting a few things on Ebay to sell, 

one of which is this rather snazzy Boden coat that I bought a while ago. It's a delicious

velvety red/pink colour and so soft & warm but just a bit too big for me.

Anyway chooks, I better go. Dinner to make, kids to monitor, we have a house full this afteroon,

and Rosie & I need to check for eggs before it gets dark.

Our little Silkies are laying which is great!

Their little smooth eggs are amazing,

thanks girls!

Bye for now lovely friends,

see you soon xo

My Creative Space

I found a sweet apron recently and thought it would make a lovely skirt for Sunday.

So I sewed a panel of white into the back & kept the pretty bow.

It has a handy pocket

for egg, flower, or treasures collecting.

She loves the colour & flowers & I like the way it is unique, just like Sunday. I might try to make some more apron skirts, they are easy and fun.

Meanwhile Rosie has been helping me make Love Hearts,

she loves to push the rice & lavender through the funnel. It slows me down a bit but it's worth it to see her little face concentrating so hard & her sense of achievment.

The piles of Love Hearts are growing,

into colourful stacks & will soon be finished to take to Mary at Big Dreams.

My little scrap quilt is making slow progress. I think it's a bit wonky too.

I'm not that great,

at keeping the lines straight.

I was in the opshop the other day and found this funny knitting book. The dolls are fine but it was the other things I instantly fell in love with. The accessories, the extra's, the props!

Check out these little cakes & plates,

the scrubbing brush, broom & bucket,

and the doggie & tiny balls of wool in a basket. Now I'm not a knitter so if you fancy this cute pattern book just leave me a comment telling me your favourite item and I will pick out a name & send the book to you, asap! This is open to overseas friends as well, of course.

How is your day going? Are you on top of things or in a muddle? I had a crappy start to the day with four tired & cranky kids (school pool party last night) and so am feeling a bit weepy & drained. Sometimes it's hard to be a mum. The sun is shining though so I'm off to walk away the blues in a minute, the fresh air and blue sky is sure to make me feel better. Hope you have a happy & creative day, pop over here to see some more Creative Spaces xo

'

My Creative Space

My creative space this week is dedicated to my beautiful nan.

She taught me to sew & encouraged me when I made mistakes.

She patiently taught me how to knit and celebrated my first stiches.

Nan gave me alot of her time and gave me a real love for making and creating.

We made dolls, clothes, cut & pasted, made patterns, puppets & dressups.

We baked bread, found shells and played endless games of cards.

We experimented, sang, made up stories along the way.

Nan taught me to sing the alphabet backwards, a

handy thing to know.

She gave me this pink sewing box when I was about nine. I was so excited. It was filled with bits and bobs, elastic, buttons, ribbon, press studs, pins and her own mother's glasses case. Inside the case were a few old needles & a photo of Nan when she was a girl. Her mothers name was written on the inside in ink pen, 'Carrie Moore'.

Nan also taught me to swim in the sea, to love nature, to laugh and to love life.

She was funny, warm, caring, messy, and cuddly.

My nan was many other things of course, such as an inspiring & inspired teacher, a friend to all, the person who introduced playgroups into Victoria, a loving mother of three. She was an enthusiast, an asthmatic & a wearer of slacks. A lover of sweet things and cakes. She was a devoted partner to my grandfather, Hume and a great support to my hard working mum.

To me she was also the best grandmother ever. She is always in my thoughts &

I still miss her every day.

When I was twelve she made me this amazing embroidered present. Every piece or panel tells a part of my life.

I don't really know the rules of My Creative Space, or if there are any, but I hope it's ok to talk about my Nan who gave me such a lot. She will always be so much a part of who I am,

and what I make today.

More creative spaces here.