Earlier I mentioned that Shaun Tan had won an academy award for his animated feature, "The lost thing". What I didn't say was that the narration was done by Tim Minchim. Now Tim is a serious talent, a bit off the wall, but that is part of the edge that he has. I love this lullaby, I think all parents have felt like this but only say these thing in private.
And I have to add this clip.
Oh boy, I was right about my new pattern being a challenge. I have only got to row 5, but I have knitted these 5 rows 6 times now. Hope I have got it right this time.
My grand daughter has a play pen full of toys. (And the little quilt I made her is getting well used as in it.)
But you know she gets just as much pleasure from examining her finger and a piece of cellophane.
I will have to get on with her knitting, the cardigan in the photo is the only one that fits her now.
The weather has turned chilly today which isn't surprising as it is snowing down south. But we have had the most wonderful run of beautiful days. I got up early the other morning to take Charlie for a short walk, just as the sun was kissing the morning clouds.
The roof seemed to be sharper in this light.
And by the time I reached the river the runners were pounding the pavement.
I don't know if it was the morning light but all the colours of the plants and flowers were sharp and bright.
The Camilla trees had all put on these wonderful skirts of the brightest pink.
By this time I realised that I wouldn't make it home so had to call for someone to come and get me. So, today I thought I would go into the Guild as we are preparing for the Children's Classes in July. I don't think that I was very much help and I was ready to be picked up and taken home about 2pm. But I did get another "Owlet Jumper" finished and ready for blocking. Gee, I love those owls.
Now it is time to push the learning along again. I have bought another pattern from Ravelry and this will challenge the grey matter. The pattern is called Korrigan
by Solenn Couix-Loarer
I have some lovely hand dyed wool in 4ply that I bought in NZ from Touch Yarns that will just sing in this little cardigan. I was so tired by the time I left the Guild that I left my pattern folder behind, good thing I store all these on the computer as well.
So now I am sitting doing some embroidery with the light streaming in over my left shoulder. Nothing better.
I am now up and walking, but slowly. Everything is in slow motion. I just wish it would get quicker, I have so much I want to do.
My husband took me for a drive up to Mount Glorious which is in the hills just behind Brisbane. My first day out since returning home. We stopped at Maiala Rainforest Teahouse.
This place has been here forever and is a favourite stop for the bikers. On the weekend it is hard to get a parking spot because of the bikes.
We found that there were new owners and the once rather grotty place was as neat as a pin. Still with the 1950's decor but great coffee, food and service.
What was new was the ceiling and lighting and a wood burning heater. It gets chilly up here in the winter.
The outdoor areas are great in summer as they sit in the rainforest and the deep shade keeps them cool.
You can also sit on the road side and have a coffee with your dog, or your bikie mates.
Charlie came for the ride and had a short walk. She just couldn't get over all the new smells. I have never had a dog who loves going out in the car so much. She sits up and watches the traffic, looks at the other drivers and the scenery.
We then drove over the mountain and down through the rainforest. The shadows of the trees was dense and dark and the midday sun shone down onto the road.
Last time we were here there was little water in the creeks and now they run fast and clear but back in January these were the creeks that fed the floods and they were raging rivers.
At this point all of that sitting and looking became too much and I went to sleep and didn't wake up until we got home again.
I found both of these videos fascinating for totally different reasons. The first is an animation about a mail plane and it is all knitted. I wasn't sure if this was a cat or a dog, then I heard the meow at the beginning when I ran it again.
The second is about developing roads that are made of solar panels. The technology is there it just has to be adapted. This opens up the door to all kinds of other application.
I plan to go to see my sister in Sydney this month and have timed my visit to coincide with the Sydney Quilt Show. I was just looking at who some of exhibitors are going to be and my heart did a flutter.
A number of years ago I bought some fabric from a shop in Amsterdam, at that time hoping that my son would marry his Dutch girl friend, which he did, and I would make her a traditional Dutch Quilt.
The problem has been that I didn't buy enough metreage and I didn't want to add other fabrics other than Dutch ones. I thought these were 1 metre pieces but they are only half metres.
I do have a lovely centre tree of life panel, but, this is still not enough fabric. So it sits in my stash waiting until I go over-seas again, when every that may be.
Now I read they are going to be at the Sydney Quilt Show, oh joy oh rapture. I am going to get this quilt made for Inge, all in the traditional Dutch fabrics.
There has been so much knitting going on here for the last couple of weeks that I decided to invest in a new set of needles that can be screwed onto different length connectors, thus eliminating the mess of needles that I now use.
They are by Knit Pro which is a Swiss/ German company, and are just beautiful to work with. The only complaint I have is I wish they would make a short connector cable for making baby sweaters. The shortest at the moment is 16".
I started with these needles when I wanted to knit up this boucle yarn, from Touch Yarns, as a wrap.
I needed a big needle to get the effect I was after. I usually hate big needles but these are different. Smooth and with points, that are really points and didn't catch in the yarn. They are made of coloured birch wood and are beautiful to look at as well as work with.
I also finished a hat to go with the owl sweater for my granddaughter. (The tassels need to be trimmed to length.) She had been very busy when I arrived, helping hang the washing on the line.
She got her first high chair yesterday and just loves being up there as part of the family. She also discovered the fun of throwing your toys on the floor to hear them go bang. I thought I was making the owl sweater a bit big for growth but it fits her just fine.
The other thing I finished was the quilt top for my son and daughter-in-law. I added a couple of borders to tie it together but I don't think I have the energy to quilt this. It is 80 inches square, just a bit big, so I will send it out to be quilted.
Which brings me to the unpicking. My quilter likes the backing to be 4" bigger all around. When I added the extra fabric it just wasn't straight so I will have to do this again. But overall I am pleased with this quilt.
There is an old house at the end of my street that has been falling into disrepair for years. Now some one has decided to renovate it. As the additions are stripped away some of the layers of living have been exposed.
The past owners had closed in the verandah and tried to keep out the draughts with layers of newspaper.
Then as they had access to more cash this was wall papered over.
I first walked by to photograph the old roof which has that wonderful patina of rusted corrugated iron.
As the layers come off the old house starts to shine through. I hope they don't smother it again with a yuppy renovation.
When I was teaching full time my students put me onto a great magazine called Frankie. Since then I have been a follower although I don't subscribe. But, in my hairdressers they always have back copies so I can catch up on current and back issues. Last time I was there I saw an illustration of doilies and it was only when I looked closely that I realised they were paintings.
The artists name is Josephine Mead and all her paintings of doilies are for sale at her blog site where she says,
"I would love to make paintings for anyone who has a doily, or a similar object, that they love. All I need is to be sent a photograph of said item."
What a wonderful tribute to her Nan and another great way for rescuing old embroidery.