2008

Some of my favourite photos from the year. Seems I have been productive after all.....



Two days left - what will you be doing?

A Break...

I have been away.


(knitting at the train station.....waiting)

I have been traveling, by car, plane, bus, train, tram and feet - to my family and back again.

There has been food, naps on the couch, excited kiddies with new toys, the re-establishing of connections and the realisation of old ones coming to an end.

I'm going to take a wee break, just for now - to clean out the studio, see in the new year, re fold the fabric collection, and prepare to start again.



( a secret wip)

*-*

Before I go, I want to send out a massive thank you. To every commenter, every visitor. To every other person who keeps a blog and stops in to say hello. For all the inspiration and motivation and big belly laughs and sympathetic tears.

For every gift in the mail, for every 'I thought you might like this' email, for every link shared, every magazine article, every swap, every opportunity, every Nong bought or sold on my behalf.

Thanks so much.

I'm gearing up for a big year in 2009. I hope to see all of you there.

In the meantime - have a wonderful break, whatever you may be doing.

Cheers,

Leah xxxx

Bits

and pieces around the house...... I've had a chilled out, crafty, biscuit-eating and tea-drinking day......

A bit of tea in a handmade cup - isn't it gorgeous?



We have a ceramics and glass sale at the pub every year with local artists - there's always a teacup after my heart in there somewhere.....

A bit of last minute Christmas crafting for a special little person:



And three little beauties:

kokeshi:



mini teacup:



and folk tin toy:



All from the Big Box of Staggering Genius.

I've been spoilt today.....

xxx

Finally......

Some crafting to show.....

I posted a sneak peek of this on Flickr last week:



it's a tea towel for a swap I organised a little while ago:



Basically I had this pile of gorgeous plain linen tea towels that I bought ages ago - intending to screen print them. *ahem*



After about twenty gazillion years of NOT screen printing them, I sent them off to a whole lot of crafty ladies to decorate. The recipients are a secret, so we can post about them without spoiling the surprise. So here's my big reveal:



It's gocco printed, with an embroidered speech bubble, and patchwork bias binding. In the beginning, I had a different idea, but once I drew my recipient, I knew this would be perfect....



But honestly, I had So Much Drama making this bloody thing. The Gocco print didn't work as well as I wanted it to, which I then decided was cool - you know, in a distressed, Arty kind of way.... then the disappearing pen didn't entirely disappear when I washed it. Then I scorched it with the iron. Washed it again. Then when I hung it out to dry some colour ran onto it from something else. So I washed it again. Bloody hell.

But it's survived. I hope she likes it!

You can see some other works in progress here:

Alison at 6.5 Stitches

Nanette at Rummage, and here, and here, and here

and Fliss from Udder here.....

I'm so looking forward to seeing them all come together.....

Otherwise, there has been some unseasonal crafting going on around here - quilting and knitting in Summer? weird. It has been strangely cool here though, which is a nice contrast to last year!

This is the first white quilt square for my One Quilt. I'm trying to mirror the quilting patterns used in the coloured squares - we'll see. I'm not convinced.




And some very simple handwarmers for a friend who rides a bike - cashmerino sock yarn - yum. I'm going to dye them once finished in food colouring. Noice.





That's about it for me today - I hope you're all surviving the silly season okay - not too far to go now, and we can all have a bit of a holiday..... thank god!

See you soon....

xxxxx

The Big Box of Staggering Genius.

This week, the most astounding thing arrived in the mail.

For those of you who may be unaware, Shula is moving house. As a result, a purge of gargantuan proportions is taking place. Shushu is having a destash. 'oh, I'm throwing together a box for you', she says......'The box is in the mail', she says......



This does not even describe it.

SIXTEEN KILOGRAMS.


Sixteen kilograms of the most generous, wonderful, amazing things. The kind of things crafters dream about. And all just because. I hear on the grapevine there were uteloads more that made it out to other crafters, too.

wow.

I can't even begin to know where to start cataloguing this box of brilliance, so I'm taking it a step at a time......

First up: the most terrifying job in the world:



Hand washing quilt blocks that are older than you are. Nay, Older than Any Person You Even Know.

But my, they held up well:



I only lost one to colour bleed, and one other to fraying....




And now they are on their way:



Finally, to completion....




I am still in awe of this gift. Thank you. xxx

There's a girl who made me bitter / want to pay some other girl / to just walk up to her and hit her.......

Today's post title courtesy of Of Montreal.... that line always makes me laugh....

I've been quiet lately, and it's probably going to continue, as I get things done behind the scenes, prepare to visit my family over Christmas, and wind things up for the end of the year.... I have a couple of things to share tomorrow, after I've spent a stitchy night on the couch tonight - it's raining outside in that early summer way, perfect for a bit of trashy tv and some lap-friendly projects....

In the meantime, here's some photographs from my camera, uploaded today - just random stuff, textures and bits around the house, but perfect for the mood of this gloomy, reflective day.....



And for those of you who are stockpiling for Winter on the other side of the world:

Whip Up's guide to the best free knitting patterns on the web...... enjoy....

xxxx

Favourites 5/12/08

1. new favorite, 2. tree, 3. new print - they smoke so beautiful on film, 4. Very Special Scarves, 5. she is cosmos = awesome fabric, 6. Untitled, 7. Untitled, 8. entrelac scarf, 9. Untitled, 10. A Grey Buck