wash day wednesday

I've had so many excuses not to sew this year what with my sewing room in a mess and stacks of mending and other boring 'must do' type projects piling up everywhere. It was all just getting me down until I picked up Scandinavian Stitches last month at my local Spotlight store.

 

This book, written by Kajsa Wikman includes lots of fun projects mostly using raw edge applique and free motion stitching, techniques made popular by designer Poppy Treffry. This 'wash day' picture to hang up in my laundry is my third project from the book. I've found the applique so enjoyable, it's quick, effective and great for a self confessed perfectionist like me, you really learn to let go as the more imperfect your stitching, the better it looks!



The frame I used has been lying around in my shed waiting for it's moment of glory. Just a few coats of turquoise paint and voila, a cheap and cheerful artwork for my bare walled laundry! I'm hoping it will make me smile every time I put a load of washing on.



 

tourista

the big red car is continuing North, passing by huge farms, tiny towns and beautiful coastlines. i've been delighted by the cute mid-west town of Northampton, famous for it's annual airing of the quilts from the old buildings lining the highway. i found a well stocked general store with a better range of yarn than in my home town and an old shop being used as a communal sewing room. i almost missed my ride as i rummaged through the doilies in the op-shop, but safely stashed my treasures in the caravan!

Northampton church

heading further north, the scenery changed to scrubby dunes and dark red dirt as we made our way towards Denham. i was inspired by the colours of the bush and scribbled furiously in my journal as we went; eucalypt, spinifex, rust, taupe and steel. we camped that night at Eagle Bay, a beach side stopover without any facilities and no phone signal but utterly peaceful.

Eagle Bay

today it's back to civilisation and continuing in the tourist theme, we will be going to Monkey Mia tomorrow to see the dolphin feeding. a benefit of the long distances between towns means lots of knitting gets done and i've finished my fallen leaves shawl and started a new project. what i should be doing is studying my accounting books, but it's difficult when the view from the window looks so inviting...

looking out my back door

on another planet

after an overnight stay in the beautiful fishing village of Cervantes, we chugged off in the big red car towards Geraldton. i convinced Dad that i simply had to see the Pinnacles, groups of strange looking limestone pillars created by years of strong sea winds.

at first i thought it might be a bit over-rated, but the closer we got, the weirder it looked! just walking through the desert area made me feel like an extra on Star Trek (the old series of course). Dad and I chose our favourite pillars to have a photo in front of.

Dad being a tourist

after inspecting the impressive Discovery centre we made our way back towards the coast, where Cheddar kindly kept my back warm while the cold sea wind almost took a layer off my skin; first hand experience in how the Pinnacles were formed!

hot dog

going through a yellow patch!

i'm getting ready, i'm packing for an unexpected journey!
my teenage son had to laugh up his sleeve when he saw me packing my knitting bag for a two week trip, and i admit it was the first thing i packed. forget suitable clothes, toiletries and blankets, it's the knitting that i can't live without. at the moment i'm knitting a shawl from a beautiful mustard 5 ply wool and the colour just glows.  it will be sure to brighten up the grays and blacks i usually wear in winter.

fallen leaves shawl in progress

it's been noted that i am a fan of yellow. i have a yellow bag, yellow shoes and lovely yellow roses in my backyard. i was pleased to see that after the scorching summer when they didn't flower at all, the autumn rain has brought out a flush of blooms. these were whipped off the bush and into a vase seconds after i took these photos!

i'll be sharing some more information about my journey in future posts and i'm sure there will be some funny stories to tell...

saturday crafternoon

what do you do when you have an only daughter who declares that she will never grow up to "sew and knit all the time like you do"? when you wish you had someone little to share all the fun of crafting with?
well, lucky me, i have some creative nieces who jump at the chance to have a crafternoon.

busy stitching

last weekend, Clarice joined me to make a softie from happy stitch, a cute book with projects for any skill level; in other words perfect for us. she chose to make the felt owl, and because i loved it too, i made one as well. can you have too many owls? i don't think so!

a proud little crafter

this project was easily achievable in an afternoon, and Clarice got to take it home to show her Mum who was as surprised as i was at her beautiful stitching and sophisticated colour choices.

my owl tried to escape

 a surprising outcome of our crafting was that my daughter actually put her iPod down for once to admit that she would like to make something with me next time. amazing what jealousy can achieve! as for me, i was energised enough to finish knitting my cowl. check out the pattern on Ravelry.

ta dah!

wet weekend

slow as a wet weekend? i hope so...

i am loving the Knit Pro circular set - thanks Di!

it's that delicious time of the year again

aah, Autumn... i've said it before and i'll say it again, it's by far my favourite season of the year.

it's the time for exploring and rummaging

it's the time for running through lovely fallen leaves

it's the time for cosy handmade mitts

it's the time to create an inspiring new knitting bag from recycled and felted scraps

it's the time to fairly stuff that knitting bag full to bursting with last years UFO's, ambitious new projects and yummy, scrummy new yarn. mmmm delicious!