Let's get knitting giveaway! x

It's probably not very cool to admit this, but I have a little bit of an addiction to craft books. I love looking at their gorgeously styled pictures of crafty projects knowing that the instructions for the making are there should I feel the need.

And possibly even uncooler than that addiction, is the hope I've always had that someone sometime would send me craft books to read and review on my blog.

Uncool-er-ama right!?

But then one day it happened.

Open Road Media released a whole lot of craft books as ebooks and thought we (you and I) might be interested in this new way of reading and following patterns.

Their press release says this; At Open Road Media, we’re working around the movement that increasing numbers of knitters want to be able to read patterns and instructions on their ereaders, tablets, and smartphones—especially those who knit during their commutes or who carry their knitting projects with them, and don’t want to have to use knitting needles to hold their page in a print book while they’re knitting on the go.  For those just learning to knit, having knitting ebooks on their gadget of choice helps them use their idle time to learn more about knitting!

Personally I love the idea of having a book on my phone, in my basket. In the past I've always shlepped bits of paper with scribbled pattern details on them. Or I've taken photos of my patterns out of books so that I'll have the details with me where ever I am. Carting a big pattern book around in my basket just does not work for me. Too bulky. So an ebook is the perfect solution. Yay!

Anyway, as I was saying, my crafty book dreams came true and Open Road Media sent me three knitting ebooks to read, be inspired by and knit from. Thanks ORM. And they are offering two of you guys one each too. Cool hey.

Choose from;

Knitting 24/7 by Veronik Avery.
A book of stylish knits with uncomplicated patterns designed for knitters on-the-go who have five minutes here or ten minutes there to knit.
(So many cute patterns I don't know where to start).

Knitted Socks East and West by Judy Sumner
Glorious knitted sock patterns.
(I am in love with this book and inspired to knit socks like never before).

Viva Poncho by Christina Stork and Leslie Barbazette
A book of versatile, comfortable, stylish patterns for ponchos for all seasons 
(You know I am all about bringing the poncho back).

Knitting For Baby by Kristin Nicholis
Tapping into our innate desire to knit for babies, with the first patterns in the book teaching simple stitches and the fundamentals of knitting, and patterns that increase in complexity as knitters work through the book.
(Knitting teeny, tiny, quick things is such a great way to learn I think).

Knits Men Want by Bruce Weinstein
Far too many women spend their time, energy, and resources knitting things for men that men don’t want to wear.  Author Bruce Weinstein offers humorous rules to create knits men want
(I so should have chosen this one because my farmer boy is HASSLING me to knit for him).

Knit 2 Together by Tracey Ullman and Mel Clark
HBO comedian Tracey Ullman teamed up with a Los Angeles yarn store owner to write this lively knitting book
(No relation).

OK, so let's have ourselves a little giveaway.
Let me know in the comments which of the Ebooks you would like to win and why.
Make sure you include a way for me to contact you.
And let's get click clacking!

See ya later knitting potata.
xx

The best medicine.

This morning we went a wandering, my smallest and I.

We grabbed our treasure basket and we walked up through the forest and then down through the top orchard.

It had been a while since she'd been well enough to explore outside and we both felt that it would be the best medicine

We wandered along slowly. We stopped and examined and admired and noticed everything.

We stomped in squishy mud, we sliced off bits of furry moss, we looked at shapes in the clouds, we listened to the wind rustling through the trees, we cut flowers of every shape and size and colour and we admired the prettiest fungi we had ever seen. We saw cockatoos and bees and ducks and a ladybug. We climbed trees and orchard ladders and walked along logs pretending we were circus performers. She fell over a few times and thought she was lucky not to land in the prickles.

And she astounded me with her knowledge of which blossoming tree would grow which type of fruit come summer time. Pears and quinces and apples and plums. Yum!

And as we went we filled our treasure basket.

In the beginning there were just bits of gum nuts and twigs and leaves in the bottom of the basket. But as we went we gathered and gathered and slowly it filled until it was over flowing. And carrying an over flowing basket of blooms made us feel like brides. And talking about brides became a conversation about babies. And then she told me that one day she would grow up and have two babies and I would be a granny. And her babies would be a girl called Isabella and a boy called Sam. 

And my breath caught in my throat. Its so silly. But next week my baby will be five and then one day my baby will have babies. Its a long way off but its big. 

And then we took a break and sat up against a big tree for a while. Her breath was still rattly and her skin was still scratchy. I probably should have taken a drink with us.

But we sat there and watched the ants and bugs and we wondered where they were going. And we dug holes with the knife and I showed her how to open and close it. And she practised for a while.

And then we went home.

We had talked about laying all our treasures out so we could look at them, but she was too tired by then. She came in and had a quiet afternoon on the couch instead. Hopefully they'll last til tomorrow.

Hopefully our wanderings were as good for her as they were for me. All that fresh air. All that spring time. The best medicine.

I hope you've had a lovely day.
I hope there was colour and blossom and some treasure too.

And I hope you know that lace charts in knitting read from the right to the left.
And don't have to learn that fact on row 38 like I just did.

Did you learn anything new today?
Did you treat yourself to some good medicine?
Do you have a favourite song?
Are you worried for me about the prospect of brushing that not brushed for a sick week hair?

Later lovelies. xx

Love Kate x

Dear chickens,

Thank you for fertilising our soil, for eating the bugs, for scratching and weeding and for giving us eggs to eat and to sell. We are so grateful.

Dear Melbourne farmer's marketers,

Thank you for a wonderful market day.
Thank you for coming out and supporting us farmers, for buying our produce, for choosing quality over cheap and nasty, for asking questions about our farming methods and for caring.

Thank you for introducing yourselves and for telling me you read my blog. It was wonderful to meet you and to prove to farmer Bren that you are real and not at all my imaginary friends.

Dear Indi, Jazzy and Pepper,

Thank you for sharing our organic farming dream. Thank you for letting us get you out of bed at 5.30am on a Saturday morning to drive down to Melbourne and thank you for being such wonderful farmer's marketers. We love your guts.

And dear everyone who stood behind our stall and helped us and hung out with us. You are all super stars. Thank you. xx

Dear doctors, nurses, homeopaths, friends and family,

THANK YOU for reassuring us and comforting us and checking in on us and looking after us since Miss Pepper has been sick. We are so super grateful to you all.

Dear knitting, thank you for giving me something to do with my hands, for the therapy and meditation. I cannot imagine how I would have survived this stressful situation without you.

Today it looks like Miss Pepper has finally turned a corner and we can finally exhale. Phew.

xxxxx

Dear kitchen garden,

We are constantly in awe and grateful for the bounty you supply us with. Those teeny seeds that we plant, water and weed that then grow up to be delicious leaves and roots. Driving back from the city yesterday, we all agreed (even the pre-teen) that we would much rather have a kitchen garden out the front of the house, than a supermarket up the street. YUM!

And dearest, darling farmer boy of mine,

Thank you for knowing what I need better than I do.
Thank you for inspiring me and encouraging me to be me.
Thank you for reminding me to exhale.

Love, love, love, love, love, love, love...

And lovely readers,

Thank you for being awesome.
For writing gorgeous comments, for sharing your stories, for sharing our story, for caring.
You(se) are ace and I hope your week is wonderful.

Would you like to write a little dear.... message?
I'd so love to read it.

Bye!

xxxxx

Eight is enough.

 Hello! How are you? I have a few things to tell you. Eight I think...

The first is that after counting down the months and weeks and days and sleeps, the peonies blossomed and my Jazzy bear turned nine.

NINE!!!!! How does that happen?

We celebrated with pancakes and prezzies and a tea party dinner. The real party is coming soon tho, the new countdown is on.

The second is that I finally worked out how to knit an attached icord and then I cast off this baby.

Do you think wanting to have another baby just so I can cover it in hand knits is a legitimate reason?? The farmer boy doesn't. I think I'm going to have to take a break from new born knits for a while....

This bonnet is for the Chooky soon-to-be baby and is ravelled here.

The third is how grateful I am for all of your kind apple wishes on my last post. So far so good, but we have some nasty weather forecast for the next few days and it would be wonderful if the trees can hold off blossoming until next week.

The fourth is that Rita Hodge is the winner of my Suzy Hausfrau giveaway!!!!!
Hooray for Rita!!!!
Email me your postal details and we'll get that gorgeous wool to you asap.
Hugest thank you to Renae for the generous and gorgeous prize. xx

Watch this space because I have another woolly giveaway coming up very soon.

The fifth is that my Swans Island wool is still sitting next to my computer, still wrapped in its skeins. And I have spent waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much time over the past few days stroking it, admiring it and searching ravelry queuing possible projects for it. I'm thinking cardigan tonight. Possibly a bit lacy. I'm hoping to get on with it this weekend.

The sixth is that Joel Salatin, that lunatic farmer himself, is coming back to Melbourne.

One of the highlights of this trip will be Joel's conversation with our buddy Rohan Anderson. According to the website - The pair will discuss Joel's radical farming methods - which have revolutionised the way thousands think about animals, produce and life. 

I'm certain it's going to be an unbelievably interesting and incredibly inspiring evening.

If you are around Melbourne on the 23rd of this month. If you are interested in where and how your food is grown. If you want to know more about what's going on in the big wide world of food production and politics, then this one's for you. Book it in, the details are here.

The photos above are from when Joel visited our farm a few years ago to have a look around and a chat with us about what we're doing here. Joel was an enormous inspiration for us starting this farm all those years ago. He and his books gave us permission to break the traditional farming rules and farm in a way that made a lot more sense to us. I have to say, that visit was definitely a highlight of our Daylesford Organics journey.

The seventh is that I wrote a guest post over at JustB called Bloom Where You are Planted.

And the eighth is that after a very long break, we will be back at a farmer's market this weekend. Yep, Daylesford Organics will be selling certified organic - free range eggs, at the Collingwood Children's Farm this Saturday. Yay!!

We are super excited to be back in town. 

If you are in Melbourne, why don't you come down and say hi, pick up some of the best and freshest produce around and make a lovely morning of it. We'd love to see you.

So that about wraps it up for me.

How about you?

Do you have anything to tell me?

Come on, I bet you do.

I can't wait to hear.

Bye! xx

Crazy apple farmers.

When you think about it, us farmers really are a crazy crew. With Mother Nature as our boss and our pay-clerk, the seasons as our guide and our timetable, and a gazillion variables that have to work in our favour in order to get a successful harvest, this really is a crazy adventure.

At the moment we are thinking a lot about apples.

Our 1,000 trees made up of 50 heritage varieties are finally awake after the long winter and this year, so far, they are filled with fruit buds.

So far, this early in the season, everything is pointing to a wonderful apple crop. But in order for this dream to become a reality EVERYTHING has to go right for the next six months. SIX MONTHS!!!

Right now, in the second week in October, we are watching the weather very, very carefully, crossing our fingers that the trees will blossom after this Sunday when the rains finish. And that blossom time will hopefully be sunny, 14+, with no wind or rain in order for the bees to get out of their hives and pollinate healthy flowers.

After pollination we will be hoping for a great fruit set. For no damaging frosts. For no disease. For no black spot or powdery mildew. For no fruit damaging hail. And no humidity.

And then, if everything goes our way and we have an orchard-full of delicious apples, we have to hope with everything we have that the birds leave us alone.

Crazy huh!!

We are as nervous as anything. But dreams of gorgeous market tables groaning under the weight of baskets of so many apple varieties makes it worth it and keep us going. 

Dorset Glodens, Isaac Newtons, Esopus Spitzenburgs, Vista Bellas, Annas, Wandin Glorys, Jersey Macs, Golden Harveys, Primas, Galas, Coxs Orange Pippins, Sturmer Pippins, Peasgood Nonsuchs, Mutzus, Bonzas, Golden Delicious, Gravensteins, Ribston Pippins, Kid's Orange Reds, Somerset Redstreaks, King Davids, Akanes, McnTosh, Catsheads, Stewart's Seedlings, Idareds, Stoke Reds, Frequin Rouges, Kingston Blacks, Brown Snouts, Bulmar's Norman, Stoke Red, Eggleton Styre, Improved Foxhelp, Reine Des Natives, Dabinett.....and that's just one of our four orchards...

So for the next few months think of us walking hopefully through our orchards, waking up at crazy-town hours to spray fish and seaweed, watching the air for bees and hunting for four leaf clovers for good apple luck.

And then, if Mother Nature is kind and everything goes to plan, we'll see you at a farmers' market with baskets filled with apples of every variety in six months time. Finally we'll have the confidence to call ourselves apple farmers again. We will eat oh so many apples, and apple pies and apple cakes. And we'll make apple cider. Yes we will. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.

Fingers tightly crossed eh.

Do you have a favourite apple?
Has the season been kind to you?
Are you a weather watcher?
Do you remember the name of the movie where the people made a fire to protect the orchard from frost and waved it around with some kind of wings??

Happy, calm, wonderful week to you.
x

Organic wool giveaway. Yay!

This week I got the most wonderful package of wool in the mail from Suzy Hausfrau in Canberra.

Isn't getting parcels of supplies in the mail just the best thing ever!

A few weeks ago I noticed Renae (from Suzy Hausfrau) tweeting about a shipment of certified organic, naturally dyed yarn that had just come into her online shop.

Some day in the not too distant future I hope to have my own line of certified organic wool, but until then I am happy to hungrily read and learn the stories of anyone else doing it already.

So Renae tweeted the organic wool and I visited her gorgeous online shop to check it out for myself. And OH MY GOODNESS, the gloriousness of the colours and the names of the colours made me want to know the whole story right away.

So I clicked on the Swans Island website and drooled over stories of antique farmhouses and century old techniques, and natural dyes and extra fine merino wool and the love of the handmade. It really is such an inspiring story.

I am such a firm believer that we should use the best ingredients we can afford in all our making. And this wool is the best, softest, most environmentally friendly, sustainably created, luscious wool I think I have ever come across.

Suzy Hausfrau is the only Australian stockist of the Swans Island wool.

Suzy Hausfrau is a gorgeous online shop specialising in exquisite yarns, patterns and needles from all around the world.

The super lovely Renae from Suzy Hausfrau has ever so generously offered to giveaway to one of your guys two 100 gram skeins of the glorious Swans Island certified organic merino wool in the fingering weight.

200 hundred grams would be enough to make a cardigan, a shawl, several scarves, hats, socks or baby items. Check out some of the patterns on Ravelry here.

I'm thinking about a shawl or braving my first pair of socks with mine. But in the meantime, it is so wonderfully soft that I can't help stroking it against my face and squishing it while I decide.

So if you would love to receive a Suzy Hausfrau brown paper package filled with deliciousness in the mail. If you would love to rub this soft and squishy wool against your face. If you would love a chance to knit or crochet or weave with some of the most delicious yarn in the whole world...then this giveaway is for you.

Leave me a comment and let me know which colour of the Swans Island wool you would choose for your two skeins were you to win. I'd also LOVE to know what you think you might make with it.

We'll choose a winner next week.

In the mean time check out the;
Suzy Hausfrau shop.
Suzy Hausfrau blog.
Suzy Hausfrau twitter (where this giveaway started).
Suzy Hausfrau facebook.
Suzy Hausfrau instagram.

Good luck.
And I hope you have the most wonderful weekend.
I'm off to do the farm chores and then to a wedding. Yay!

Bye! xx

My friend Kootoyoo. x

I feel like I've told the story I am about to tell you a hundred times. To friends, in interviews and whenever else I am asked the question 'What made you start a blog?' But you know what? I don't think I have ever written it here. So here goes:

Waaaaaaaay back in the beginning of 2009 I was a farm blogger. I had a blog called Daylesford Organics which documented and told the stories of our days on the farm. The who we were, the what we were growing and the theory behind the why we were running this organic family farm.

I loved writing that blog.

But once I discovered the world of blogs, the blogs I found myself reading and obsessing over were the craft blogs. There was this big, wide, crafty world out there. People were photographing and writing about what they were sewing and crocheting and painting and making and parenting. Who knew?

At that time I was still a farm blogger and a bit too shy to get involved in the crafty blog goings on. But I remember clearly one day discovering this crafty community project and knowing that I had found my peeps and that I couldn't stay away any longer.

That project was the Quilt project. Do you remember it? Fifty bloggers signed up and each was sent a plain piece of over locked calico on which they were to stitch something, anything, in their own style, in red. The squares would then be sent back and made into a great big, gorgeous quilt. The whole blog world seemed to be buzzing with these squares and this project. The excitement was infectious.

Coordinating this whole awesome community project was a blogger called Kootoyoo.

My one blogging regret is not being a crafty blogger early enough in the piece to be part of the quilt project.

But very soon after that Foxs Lane was born. June 2009 to be precise.

And while I was incredibly excited at having my own space to document the stuff I was making, I still had no idea how to get into that community.

Until I found My Creative Space, coordinated and hosted by that very same Kirsty of Kootoyoo.

Every Thursday Kirsty would put a post up on her blog detailing what creative amazingness she was up to that week. Then at the bottom of her post she'd set up a thing where all the other bloggers could link up and share their week's creative spaces.

Every week I looked forward to Thursday. To posting my space and getting lots of feedback on what I was doing, to getting a glimpse into the creative worlds of so many other inspiring craftspeople and most importantly, to join that community.

My creative space was my in.

And the reason I am telling this story today, in case you haven't guessed, is my awesome new banner. Three and a bit years later I am lucky enough to call Kirsty a real life friend and she made it for me. How unbelievably rad is that!

Kirsty's blog is here; I'm certain you know and love her already. Kirsty still runs My Creative Space on Thursdays and has the most incredible way of seeing the world and its creative opportunities. All the pics on this post are obviously Kisty's too.

Thanks Kirst, you are the absolute acest. xx

So how about you?
Were you a part of the red quilt project?
Were/are you a My Creative Space devotee?
When and why did you start your blog?
And is there a particular blogger who has influenced your blogging journey?

Bye! x