Honeycomb cowl

 This is my latest piece, a neck warmer, hot of the hook ;o)

For those 'in the know' about crochet it features FDPC and mostly shells and was truly enjoyable to make.It is a beautiful texture-its title is 'honeycomb' and I can really see it but I am not sure the photo here will give enough detail, I reduced it to sepia to try and show it better...

It's light weight, made in sock weight wool, which was lovely to use and results in a very supple and scrunchable end product..great for end of season wear but probably not warm enough for mid winter. Next time I think I'll make it in a thick natural chunky yarn to see how it looks-maybe a Fauve Fibre if I can get some this weekend at Village life.

I love it when Sally comes-her yarn is addictive, I think! What's your latest craft obsession?

xoHappy creating

Kate

blog with bunny

Before my special house guest Lucy heads off today I need to whip up a little parting gift for her...a scarf like this...but it won't take long...she's pretty little!

She came with me to lots of places...friends, markets, cafes, gallery openings(!), gardens, classes-I toted her along in my bag and she behaved beautifully!

She had to sample a organic hazlenut and apricot tart from Sol bread

And enjoyed viewing the Brisbane river from Kangaroo point cliffs.

She's setting a good example by travelling safely between destinations!

In Windsor she met the much loved chooks of the Northey street city farm and joined me and Luka wandering around the grounds seeing the lovely kids spaces on Sunday and meeting the Village life stall holders...

And to end on a high note she had a look at the giant kites flown by the Queensland kite club in Clontarf (on Moreton bay) We are going to miss her SOOOOO much, she was utterly adored by everyone who met her...(in fact she even did a side trip to another bloggers place which I will update about soon)...but in the meanwhile big thanks to Jenni from Baa me knits for making her and making this story happen, its been really fun!

She's off to Sunshine? Paradise? blog next so keep tuned!

xoKate

thrifty

Anyone who knows me, in person, will know how much I love op-shops and garage sales because of my appreciation of vintage wares...

One or two photos of selected areas of my house on a blog looks quite sophisticated and minimal, and readers who have never been to my house could be forgiven for thinking how sweet it it all must be.

But this passion has created a humungous storage problem; pretty things have over run my cupboards, indeed my whole home; I have pale coloured 50s crockery piled high in kitchen cupboards, loads of linen table cloths placed on any horizontal surface & the extras stacked up on top of wardrobes-alongside the boxes of vases and doilies and wall plates and anodised cups...

And these things are beautiful, so special and unique, much too lovely to not be in use, to be packed away. So I will be bringing a whole bunch of bits and pieces, cups and saucers, lovely bowls, etc along to Village life market this Sunday for sale.

I hope this goes well, wish me luck won't you, so it can become a regular thing, I really do cherish this hobby of mine, its fun to be a gatherer, a bit bower bird, and if I can share these items then this will become a way to nourish this interest, and also keep these treasures being treasured! So stop by my stall on Sunday for some of these

...plus some of this!

xKate

crochet kids

As we approach our cooler seasons I'm listing cozy accessories on made.it and etsy.

I have enlisted my youngest to model.

He loves to pull funny faces so to capture a natural expression I wait until he is absorbed in play...

which means he is always looking down!

I can't always interrupt his playtime to model for me though...

so meet one of my favourite props- 'old velvet'-an op shopped chair...

What are your favourite props? Who gets to be your model?

xKate

Inspiration

My fingers are 'itching to be stitching' lately...
I can't seem to stop making these tree brooches.
I have been looking at beautiful illustrations of trees and even been getting ever so slightly studious and looking through embroidery books to learn new stitches.

I even took my stitching along to the Northey street Village life market today!

I did tear my gaze from my embroidery when this gorgeous butterfly stopped briefly on one of my purses though...such fragile beauty.

The skies were overcast and rain predicted but it remained clear all morning, which for all us stall holders was great!
I value it so much when people approach me and give feedback, the generous suggestions and thoughtful comments inspire me and help me on my way-so big thanks to all who came out in spite of the weather forecast!

And, of course, anyone who buys anything is as always so appreciated, but gee it was extra nice to hear the words, 'really, thats a bargain!' (and you do photograph well, see ;o) !)

xKate

P.s-any stitchy crafters out there?
For the life of me I can not work out the french knot...it's embarrassing because it doesn't look at all complicated and I could wait 'til Thursday when I see my experienced crafty women friends... but that seems an eternity right now!! Please any suggestions for a good online tute would be very much appreciated!)

Yarn bombing fun!

I really enjoy listening to local abc radio so it was especially fun to be invited into the abc radio studio to yarn bomb it to promote close knit!
The lovely Anne O'Keefe, is the reporter for abc local radio 612, featured on Spencer Howsons' breakfast show...

She pre recorded an interview with me for the early morning show.

These snaps were taken as Sam, Getano and I decorated.

It was really easy to wrap my scarves and brooches all over the equipment and not so easy to hold back...so we didn't!

While Sam was in getting interviewed I kept adding more and more; placing things all over the walls, mike stands, monitor stands, chairs, etc, etc.

This lovely monitor stand flower was my favourite detail.

Happiness is a crochet covered studio!

my creative space

Regular readers might remember my up coming workshop induced knitting panic?
I was asked to work on a upcoming festival program teaching knitting-being a crochet/sewer this was a big exciting freaky challenge. So for a month or so I have been diligently and clumsily knitting most nights.

However in the first planning meeting I found out I can teach any kind of yarn work...I am glad for time of knitting though and found it much easier than remembered (maybe I just break rules with more confidence now??)

But anyway, since finding out the sticks have been "cast off"(pun! ark!)

here's my week long love affair with crochet...cue slow music and mood lighting...

custom dyed scarves drying over my curtain rod...

a mixed wool scarf stretched out on the hot pavers to dry...

such glorious weather for yarn dyeing this week...

Trip (short for Tripitaka) sneaks in everywhere so I may as well let him sneak into my blog...

Crochet scarf resting on a knitting book...irony? This book is amazing(the natural knitter)

large hat is made with Te Awa eco range and the small with woolganics.

Top of shot is another Te Awa eco yarn in a lovely pink colour and other shot is some hand dyed red yarn (lets call it "twilight red" ;o) it turned out much darker than planned...)


if interested in natural knitting the New Zealand Te Awa eco range is wonderful-
humanely farmed sheep, low or zero chemical residue in the wool then dyed with no heavy metal dyes...
also within Australia you can use woolganics organic yarns, which are incredibly soft and cozy.
happy creating everyone...
as always head along to...http://www.kootoyoo.com/ for more creative spaces
xkate

Hays Inlet festival

If you want to enjoy some fun in the winter sun, come along to the Hays Inlet Festival Family Fun day tomorrow. Its a wonderful local cooperatively organised festival.

There will be lots of fun activities for all ages-kite making workshops, art exhibitions, music by Dubmarine, an up cycled fashion show featuring pieces from a wide range of local Qld and Northern Nsw eco fashionistas & more.

Some of my accessories will be in the parade and I will also have a whole collection of goodies to purchase on the day too-lovely soft dash robin eco scarves and also some of my latest jewellery,

dash robin nest brooches featuring linen, beads and found objects including old metals, keys and driftwood.

Some of the talented people involved with the Hays Inlet festival upcycled fashion show include:
http://www.littlebrowndoggie.blogspot.com/
http://www.chrissyforemanc.com/
&
more.
So come along, have some fun and meet the locals...

xKate