guardian angels

One of the things I love about craft bloggers is their generosity. There is so much time and thought put into a handmade item that it can't help but be personal. And whenever there is a cause or a need, I've noticed crafters can be counted on to be there to help.

Which is why I am so happy to pass on information about this drive by Guardian pharmacies for their Guardian Angels Knitting Program. They are aiming to collect knitted and crocheted items to donate to those in need this winter again. I hadn't heard of this inititiative before but in fact this year marks the 15th year of the program and over that time they have donated handmade garments to over two million children! I have donated before to Wrap with Love and this seems an equally wonderful cause.

This year the charity is partnering Save the Children Australia, the nation's leading independent and emergency relief and development organisation for children. Personally I'm a big fan of child focussed charity efforts and I love that this is such a personal one, where you can actually warm and comfort a child directly with your handiwork.

Guardian have produced a knit and crochet pattern pamphlet in association with their sponsor Spotlight which is available for download on their site. They have also given me some yarn to giveaway. I have two big 100 gram balls of Marvel acrylic 8 ply, one in red and one blue, and some size 4 Birch knitting needles for one person. I think these would make a good beginner's kit for an aspiring knitter. To enter just tell me in the comments your favourite knitting pattern for kids or if you are a newbie knitter your best project so far. My big achievement is a cardigan, knitted this time two years ago and my favourite kids project  is a cabled hat I made for a new little baby a few years ago. Both are on my ravelry page if you're interested.

You don't have to make something from the Guardian pamphlet patterns, but there are some really cute designs included as you can see from the pics above. To help inspire you I've also had a quick look through Ravelry too, for free and simple patterns for small people. Ravelry is such a wonderful site, its a great resource for advice and inspiration in the yarny arts so if you aren't part of it, think about joining now.

I just love that image of the little girl in the supermarket trolley, and even more because it reminds me of a tiny little person who arrived the other day at the Berkelouw Barn when we were having lunch. She had a similar elfy hatted cape in bright red, hand knitted with little matching socks, and all the girls at my table swooned when we saw her!

So go, be knitty and crochety, and donate your handmade project through your nearest Guardian pharmacy before August 31st. There is a store locator on their site. Oh and this week is World Wide Knit in Public Day, so you'll be in good company :-)

Ravelry links from above:
pembroke vest • little scallops hat
mossy knit • chubby cat hat
landree's hooded cape 
basic winter hat • baby sophisticate cardi

2012

I can't quite believe we've left 2012 behind already, can you?!

It was a good year, a busy year with lots of happy times and not too many sad.

Looking back, it was a creative year too. I often feel like I don't get everything I want done, so I love these end of year roundups and photo mosaics, where I get to see what I've actually achieved - it gives me a great sense of accomplishment!

There's nothing like collecting all your work together to remember the times through the year, what you were doing, what was happening, what you made.

For example looking here I see that this was the year I finally learnt to crochet and embarked on a bullseye quilt, which is still 'in progress'.

I made a quilt for little Poppy, my second, but definitely not my last, in fact I've started another starry quilt which I need to get back to...

This was a year for sewing and one where I actually made some clothes for myself. I grew in confidence and started to learn more about how patterns come together, how sleeves fit armholes, how linings fit within skirts. I have many new patterns in the stash and one of my dreams is to design and print some material and then make some clothes with it for me!

At the end of the year I celebrated five years blogging and was included in Pip's Ace Bloggers list around the same time. It feels like a wonderful milestone to have blogged regularly for five years, it has given me so much. My little Flower Press business which has also enriched my life marked its fifth anniversary too and that felt good.

I created tutorials - for foam and perspex printing, for my small baby quilt and for stencil screenprinting. It felt good to share what I'd learnt. In return I followed many tutorials, pinned many projects and became an instagram addict!

I did my first collaboration and made a wonderful marble starter kit with dear Alisa, something we're both very proud of.

I made soap, I made bread, I made yoghurt, ricotta and jam. I planted more vegies and reorganised the garden to make it more a mix of ornamental and productive. 

Our family worked hard, we played hard, we did our best. We ate healthier, we lived simpler, we cared for others around us, we looked at art, we were creative, we exercised, we lived. My heart is full watching my beautiful children grow a little more into the wonderful people they are.

I'm excited about 2013. Some ideas are slowly percolating in my mind. I've learnt not to be too specific about goals, to let life steer me through my year. But I do know that there will be more of all of this, another big mosaic next year with lots of creative life. 

And I know that as always my lovely blogging community will inspire and encourage me and help show me the way.

While making this I couldn't resist looking back at the last four years of mosaics, I think this one's the biggest! Here's the list of links for 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008 if you're interested. And for individual photo links for those images above, click the mosaic picture to be taken to flickr.

my creative space - spotty

I made a start on my Honey Cowl this week, using my lovely Classy Cashmere mix yarn from Zigo Zago. Its nice to have a simple project to pick up, I do love the meditation of knitting, so calming.

I also made this spur of the moment top (Built by Wendy Simplicity 3835). I whipped it up in a couple of hours using some bright polka dot fabric I'd actually bought for binding a quilt! The fabric wasn't big enough but I turned the sleeves sideways, made them shorter and it all sort of came together. Its bright ;-)

I picked up another pattern and more fabric at the Spotlight sale, I just went to buy cotton tape for Marble Bags, but you know how it is!

Sizing continues to be my biggest issue, I'd love a better idea of how size and ease and my shape are best calculated. Perhaps its only experience that will give me that though. I seem to cut too big, knowing I can go smaller but not larger. Add in the American and European sizes, and inches and centimetres and... aaagh. Its the bit I really dread about making clothes.

More creative spaces here.

Most importantly though I'd like to announce the two winners of the Zigo Zago giveaway, chosen by random.org:

Deep Seaflower and PomPom Quarterly magazine
Tania from Ivy Nest who said:
"Oooh look at all that yummy yarn. Quite liking the Sea Flower, being partial to all things blue. I must hop over to that site. Citronille patterns as well as all that yarn? Sounds like my kind of shop :)"

Cocoa Kiss
Jenni from Baa Me Knits who said:
"I'm an earthy girl so I would have to pick the Cocoa Kiss and I would make The Lonely Tree Shawl by Sylvia Bo Bilvia on Ravelry :-)"

Could you both please contact me with your address details.

I want to thank Alex again for such a wonderful giveaway. Don't forget that she has a 10% discount in her shop for flower press readers, just put the code Flowerpress in at checkout.

Oh and today I've been taking some photos for the Flower Press SALE which will finally start tomorrow. Promise!

my creative space - Zigo Zago Giveaway

I was delighted last week when Alex from online yarn and fabric shop Zigo Zago contacted me about a having a giveaway for Flower Press readers. Zigo Zago stocks the most beautiful collection of artisan yarns, sewing and knitting patterns, fabrics and knitting needles.

All the fabulous artisan yarn brands are here, including Swans Island organic hand dyed merinos, the famous Madeline Tosh and Malabrigo brands, Cascade with all its beautiful colours, Skein, the Fibre Company, Abuelita and Dream in Color. What a fantastic selection. And how wonderful to be able to buy all these greats in one place with local shipping.

Alex also has a carefully curated, well priced selection of fabrics, sewing and knitting patterns, and knitting needles. There are some lovely kid's knitting patterns that I haven't seen before from Coastal Kids and Never not Knitting, and the great French Citronille sewing patterns for children and adults as well as lots of Make it Perfect designs. She stocks needles from Addi, Knit Pro and cute Tasmanian wooden needles from ArtViva.

I'm so lucky - Alex sent me a skein of Classy with Cashmere to try, the wine coloured In Vino Veritas above. This hand dyed yarn made by small indie company Dream in Color is a mix of merino, with 20% cashmere and a touch of nylon. It is sooo soft against the skin, such luxury. I'd told her I'd been dying to make a cowl and this will be perfect for the project. (I'm thinking the Honey Cowl pattern by Madeline Tosh). There's nothing worse than spending ages knitting something that turns out to be too itchy to wear. I really think this is going to be a learning curve for me, a new stage in my knitting, working with a luxury yarn like this, I feel there might be no going back!

The really fabulous news is that Alex sent two extra skeins of this wonderful Classy with Cashmere yarn and a cute pattern mag called PomPom Quarterly to give away to you guys! Between us we've chosen two beautiful colours, Deap Sea Flower and Cocoa Kiss, you really need to see these in person to see the subtle hand dyed mix of colour and to feel the softness of the cashmere mix! These would be perfect to knit up a special Christmas gift for someone special.

To enter all you need to do is tell me which of the skeins you would like to win, the Sea Flower or Cocoa Kiss, and what you think you might make with it. There will be two winners of a skein each. Easy! The Giveaway is open for a week, closing Wednesday night with the winners announced on Thursday. The first entry chosen will also win the copy of PomPom Quarterly, produced by two ladies who work at the famed LOOP in London. It has some great new patterns, don't you love this cardie.

One more thing, Alex has also generously given Flower Press readers a discount code of 10% to use on purchases - the code is Flowerpress and just needs to be entered at checkout to redeem.

For lucky locals, Alex is opening a bricks and mortar shop in Castlemaine next month. I'm jealous of all of you who will be close enough to check it out. I think she has such a great selection and I would love to be closer to support a small indie yarn and fabric seller!

So my creative space for the next little while will be filled with beautiful wool and meditative knitting.

show & tell - suzy small

I have a bunch of clever online friends who are sweet enough to help me out when I'm faced with tricky sewing or knitting questions, Suzy Small, for her sins, has been one of that crafty brains trust for a few years now. She is unfailingly generous with this advice, and luckily, because she's a Sydneysider, an Inner Westie in fact, its even location specific. Case in point I'd never made apricot jam until Suzy blogged about making jam from apricots on sale at the local greengrocer. A week later when I found myself walking past the display I had to stop and buy a bag.

Suzy was also one of the main inspirations for me finally trying clothes sewing for myself. I was always inspired by the beautiful outfits she blogged, she has a great eye for a good pattern and interesting, elegant fabric to match. The same goes for knitting, she has a knack of finding the best patterns and knitting them up in the perfect yarn and colour. It was because of this I read with great surprise her rocky path to knitting success in today's interview!

Suzy started writing the lovely Floating World blog way back in 2004 when she was living and working in Japan, so she is really one of the pioneers of Australian craft blogging. For interest's sake I went back and read her very first post, which describes finding a wonderful craft shop in Tokyo during her time living there. What a great achievement to still be blogging about making eight years later.

When Suzy and I finally met up in person she was as lovely as I imagined and so were her sweet kids. I was lucky enough to see that beautiful recovered chair in person and after five minutes we'd found some funny connections, I'm friends with her cousin and our kids went to the same preschool, we have the same sunglasses... we like jam ;-)

So I'm delighted to feature Suzy today, not only is her blog always interesting and one I never miss, but I always learn great stuff from her. I think if you've never visited you too will be inspired like me and become a fan as well. Thanks again Suzy for being part of Show & Tell today.

Name
Suzy Small
Location
Sydney, Australia
Blog
www.floatingworldviews.com
Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/floatingworld/
Ravelry
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/floatingworld
Pinterest
http://pinterest.com/floating_world/

1. Can you give us a short description of your blog/style/work
I just like to create things, it makes me happy. I sew and knit, and I like to make things out of paper and print things sometimes too. My style is fairly minimal, with pops of colour. My blog has changed over time, but at the moment it mostly documents the things I make.

2. Why blog? How did you start?
I started a blog in 2004. I was living in Japan, teaching English, and had quite a bit of free time. I absolutely loved living in Tokyo, and the quirks and details of the city, and wanted a place to document them. I didn't really know about craft blogs, but I stumbled on a blog called Pinku (which sadly is no more) that another Australian ex-pat in Tokyo kept, and she was a keen knitter, and through the links there I found all these other craft blogs like Wee Wonderfuls and Angry Chicken and Soulemama.

I'd recently bought myself a crabby old Toyota sewing machine (with no foot pedal!) from a flea market, and had re-taught myself to knit,  so it was so exciting to find other people who also liked to make things and had a similar aesthetic. And I felt so lucky, because at the time Japanese craft books and fabrics were really popular with crafters in other countries, and I had all this on my doorstep.

Gradually it turned more from a "Life in Japan" blog into a craft blog, and then when I moved back to Australia in 2007 I kept it up as a way to keep track of the things I was making. When I first started my blog I didn't really know anyone else my age who sewed or knitted, so a wonderful bonus of the blog has been meeting a group of talented, stylish and wonderful women who are interested in the same things.

3. Family taught/Self-taught/Trained?
When I was 13 I did a dressmaking class at Grace Brothers, back in the days when department stores had fabric departments, and I studied "Textiles and Design" (fancy name for sewing) in years 9 and 10 at school. I don't think I ever wore anything I made in either class, but it taught me to read a commercial pattern. The most useful thing I learned in the textiles class at school was about different fibres, how they're made and how to wash them.

My Nanna, my maternal grandmother, was a fantastic knitter and taught me to knit as a child. I was terrible at it though, and not very patient, so it never really stuck. When I was in Tokyo I found a copy of the original Debbie Stoller Stitch and Bitch book on sale in an English Language bookshop, and I bought a pair of needles and some yarn and knitted myself a scarf. Even though I hadn't knitted for so long it felt like my hands remembered what to do, like some kind of muscle memory. I wanted to try other things, but none of the yarns specified in the book were available in Japan and I was worried about substituting different ones, so I didn't really go any futher with it.

But then in 2007 when I moved back to Australia and was pregnant with my first child I had the burning urge to make baby things, and my sewing machine and all my fabric were in storage so I decided to give knitting another try. And by then Ravelry had come along and it made it so much easier to find patterns and work out what yarn to use. So I started making things for my son, and just kept going from there.

Being mostly self-taught has its hazards - after I made a few things I realised that I was knitting all my stitches through the back loop, which actually looked quite nice but gave the knitting a different texture. And so I learned how to do the knit stitches properly, and kept knitting away but I could never work out why when I made something that had some sections in the round and some knitted back and forth they always looked really different. Anyway, eventually (and this is after I'd been knitting for a few years and had made HEAPS of things) I realised I was doing the purl stitch completely wrong, wrapping the yarn around the needle the wrong way. So I am finally knitting "properly", although it took me quite a while to get used to it, after doing it the wrong way for so long.

My mum sews a bit and was always very encouraging and let me use her machine (a gorgeous Elna Lotus that she got for her 21st that still runs beautifully), but I think she has been more of an influence with her approach to cooking. She's a very good cook but doesn't get too hung up on following recipes to the letter, and is always happy to improvise, and that's kind of how I sew.

4. Workspace - studio or kitchen table?
We've just moved house. In the old house I used to have a little dedicated study, but at the moment I'm working on the kitchen table. I hope that I'll eventually be able to carve out a corner of the spare room, but at the moment it's full of boxes.

5. Blog/Shop name, where does it come from?
I registered the domain name floatingworldviews.com on a whim before I moved to Japan, thinking I might use it for some kind of life-in-Japan blog. I had no idea how long I'd be using it for.

6. Favourite media to work in?
Fabric, in all different ways. I love making things for the house, and quilts, and I'm getting more and more interested in making clothes for myself and the children. And I like to print and dye it, too. Natural fibres are my favourites, cotton and wool.

7. Ambitions/future directions/future projects/medium you'd like to try?
I have a habit of bringing home stray and orphaned chairs, so I'd really like to learn more about furniture restoration and upholstery. And I want to do more fabric dyeing and printing.

8. Are you neat and organised or, ahem, creatively messy?
I like to be able to spread out what I'm working on so it may LOOK messy, but as I explain to my husband, it is actually very organized.

9. Favourite handmade, handcrafted item you own not made by you.
There's a beautiful chair that used to belong to my grandmother. I had upholstered in handprinted fabric from Ink & Spindle, and I love the combination of old chair and new, hand printed fabric.

10. Favourite food/recipe?
Chocolate.

11. Favourite colour?
Red

13. Favourite place, landscape (not necessarily Australian)?
I really love Tokyo. The city has so much energy and I love the Japanese design aesthetic.

14. Any tricks for juggling life/work/family with creative pursuits?
I try to keep what I'm working on handy, use small blocks of time, and try not to worry about having an immaculate house. Knitting has been great for me since having children, because it's easy to keep nearby in a bag and take along to swimming lessons etc., and I can knit for five minutes and then put it away again. When I sew or print I like to spread everything out and get on with it, so it's better to have a big chunk of time and lots of space for that, and not so compatible with small children.

15. Favourite artists, artisans, crafters etc?
This is hard - I have so many favourites. I tend to be drawn to work that uses colour and texture, and often textiles. Some of my favourites are Yayoi Kusama, Yoshitomo Nara, Paul Smith, Louise Weaver, Eley Kishimoto. I've met a wonderful group of local crafters in Sydney and they are a constant source of inspiration.

16. Your favourite thing you've made.
I made a quilt for my nephew at the start of this year, and I was really happy with how that turned out. I'm still at the stage with quilting where I learn something every quilt I make.

And the quilts I made for each of my children before they were born are so special to me, because they remind me of that time when I was pregnant and getting ready for them to arrive, and because I remember them lying on the quilts when they were tiny.

18. What do you like to do besides creating?
I like to cook, play with my children, walk around the city and read. I drink a lot of coffee.

my creative space - stars

My brother and family made a flying visit to Sydney last week. With him was artist Gulumbu Yunipingu whose work is represented in a wonderful survey show in the Museum of Contemporary Art's new wing. Its part of the Marking Time exhibition and if you have a chance to see this work go. The curator has done a wonderful job of bringing together some of the best pieces of Gulumbu's amazing work from galleries and collectors around Australia. Its truly breathtaking.

I'm not a fan of the outside of the gallery extension, I love the old building and I think this detracts from it, but the inside I loved. I can't wait to take the family back to explore, hopefully over Easter. I think modern art is really accessible and interesting for kids (and adults too!) and there are lots of interesting pieces and spaces for them to explore.

A bit of creative stuff is happening in between the other. My Norie is getting there now I've finally got through the lace bands. I don't think I'm made to knit lace, those stitches still keep getting lost and confused. In fairness though that might be a symptom of my busy week and divided attention!

I'm hoping to do more knitting and cooking over Easter too. I want to make some homemade lemonade from the recipe used for our school fete on the weekend. I helped out on the lemonade and lollipop stall and I know from the feedback that this one is a winner! I'm also looking forward to time to play with my new toy. After researching and longing for a new food processor for ages I finally tracked down a bargain Magimix on Ebay last week. I plan to try out all the attachments in the next few days. Last night we used it to cut onions for our home made pizzas, amazing! And if I ever need julienned carrots, I'm set.

The real discovery of the night was this pizza dough recipe which I've been meaning to try. One cup self raising flour and half a cup of yoghurt (I used greek). Mix together, roll out and add toppings. That's it! And it was so delicious. We usually buy tortillas or pita bread or turkish bread to make our homemade pizzas but from now on I'm going to do it this way. Add our usual toppings - kalamata olives, ham, salami, thinly sliced and cooked onion or zucchini, feta, baby tomatoes, mozzarella, smoked oysters, anchovies, bocconcini and home made tomato paste (two cans of italian chopped tomatoes in a pan, add about a tablespoon of sugar, half a can of water and cook it for half and hour or till thick.) Delicious!

my creative space - norie

Here's the little autumn knit project I spoke about. Its the Norie slouchy beanie I came across wandering on Ravelry the other day (dangerous place that!).

A spur of the moment project I started it with a ball of Cleckheaton Alpaca/wool mix from the stash knowing I only had one ball and would have to find more. (I often buy a ball if it takes my fancy without any project in mind but I think I might need to start buying two at a time when I get this urge!) Luckily I tracked down the band which had come detached and found the wool online at blacksheep wool. Look what arrived in today's post!

I'm a bit haphazard with some things but I have a system that I'm pretty good at maintaining when it comes to wool labels - when I take the band off I tie a small length of the wool around the band and so I have a record of what ply, colour, dye batch, manufacturer it is. Do you do this? I often wonder how other people keep track.

This is my first time knitting from a lace chart and I've had to undo and reknit it again and again it seems. The first time I knit the lace band I didn't do my research and knitted from the top left corner of the chart down. I couldn't work out why it didn't have the nice lines in it like the pictures on Ravelry until I researched and found it turns out you knit from the bottom right up! But I bet you knew that!

Its much better the second time round, though I still made little mistakes and had to go back and forth which is frustrating. I have two more lace bands to go and I'm going to try to concentrate a bit closer for those!

Today's links for my creative space doesn't seem to be up just yet, but there's always lots to look at at ourcreativespaces.blogspot.com.

my creative space - rainbow

When I saw this simple knitted softie pattern in Lamina's creative space last week I couldn't resist casting on (pattern here). I thought it looked simple enough that it would be a good easy project for the new knitters in the family too and they were all really keen. We spent lovely time knitting and chatting happily over the weekend and finished them in a couple of days. Both the boys picked up purl for the first time and I was close at hand for dropped stitches and glitches.
I was in charge of legs and ears but the design and bodies are all theirs (except for bunny, she's mine).
My boys have been making cranes at school this week too, and have learnt the story of Sadako and the 1000 cranes. Such a sweet sad story, its nice that it has come to symbolise peace and that her legacy lives on.
We made some more at home from coloured office paper with this tutorial and somehow ended up with a rainbow! I love the way it looks on my new dining room cupboard.
More projects at the clubhouse here.