Where I'm at...

My I ❤ Tikki Knits giveaway is going super well. And not just because people are coming out of the woodwork to enter, but also because people are telling their knitting stories in their comments and I am just loving reading them. I have been finding them so interesting and emotional. I have laughed and even cried a few times.

Knitting and craft in general is so wonderfully important to us womenfolk. Busying our hands making clothes to warm our loved ones warms our hearts. And the connections and memories we feel to those who taught us are priceless.

And I feel so heartened by those of you that are going to give knitting a go, or another go. You'll get there. Just this weekend I cast on and knit 37 rows of the cardigan above only to pull it all out on Monday. The learning process seems to be part of the knitting journey. Two stitches forward - one stitch ripped back. But a completed and worn project makes it all worth while and then some.

My gorgeous friend Manda sent me some of her newly printed fabric late last week. It's sitting here next to my computer so I can gaze at it adoringly and often. I think it's destined to become a dress one day when I have a minute.

Manda has more of this fabric as well as colouring-in books and lots of other fun babushka things in her shop. Check them out, they are the cutest.

My littlest sister is back from San Fran for a while. Yay!!!!!!!

Last night I calculated that every week I plait fifteen meters of hair. FIFTEEN METERS!!!!!!!!! That means that every month I plait 60 meters of hair and every year 720 meters. Holy hair!!!!!

Do you know about the Daylesford Craft Experience? Check out the details here. I think it's going to be load of fun and guess what??? I'll be coming along on the Saturday afternoon to give a little crochet lesson. I'm thinking I might teach a granny square cushion pattern. And Jodie will be there on both days too.

Farmer Bren has been experimenting with fast bread. Soda bread. This particular loaf took twenty minutes from measuring out the flour to hitting the table. That is a BIG difference to the 20 hour sour dough he's been making over the last few weeks. And it's delicious too.

The recipe is in The River Cottage Bread Book.

And lastly, but super excitingly, my gorgeous friend Abbe has opened a craft retreat in Woodend. It looks totally gorgeous, check it out here. And the best part of this exciting news is that you have the chance to win a weekend at the retreat for you and nine of your crafty friends. How great is that!!! Check out the deets on Abbe's blog here.

And I'm adoring the golden wattle, wondering what to do with some overripe mandarines, diligently keeping the home fires burning, stressed about a kiddie friendship issue, wondering how I can convince my family to move right up North and grow coffee or mangoes, thrilled to have found the Maremma rescue people, sadly pulling up the very last of the rainbow carrots, making stir fry and rice for dinner, relieved to have spotted jonquils this afternoon in town, adoring having Indi home from the snow, freezing my bum off, amazed at the practically life sized car being built from cardboard boxes in the other room, thrilled with our decision to put an Esse radiator next to the toilet, looking forward to plonking down on the couch this evening and knitting a few rows of the fan stitch cardi and hoping for a few dry, sunny days so we can plant out our roses.

So that's me this afternoon. In between the school pick-up, the ballet, the hip-hop, and the harvesting and cooking dinner. A sentence here, a photo loading there, you know how it is.

So how are you?
What's going on in your world?
What are you making/baking/growing/reading/thinking?
Do tell.
I hope you are having such a wonderful week so far.

Bye! xx