Ripped jeans.

This morning as I was hanging out the washing I was relieved to find a hole in Miss Pepper's jeans. You can see it there, just under the red flower.

Bren's Mum bought these jeans for Indi waaaaay back about eight or nine years ago. All three of my girls have worn them. They've been hemmed, let down, patched and repatched many times. Loved. The other day I noticed that they were a tad too short for Miss Pepper, my littlest and last.

So what do I do with them now?

I was relieved to see the hole because it narrows down the options and some of the guilt.

I am so happy to hand most things on to friends or op shops when we are done with them if they are in good condition, but there are some things that I just can't.

One of my friends has recently inherited a suitcase of baby clothes that her and her sisters all wore and then all her nieces and nephews wore and now its time for her own babies to be dressed in these white hand knits and nighties.

I love the idea of keeping clothes my kids wore for their kids to wear but most of the things I want to keep are well worn items I made, my girls wore and wore and wore and will realistically never serve any purpose but the sentimental one ever again.

So far I have two and a bit boxes of clothes Miss Pepper has outgrown and I have put away. Two and a bit boxes of little hand made bits and pieces I have made, friends have made, or bought or knit by a grandmother no longer with us. Each has its own story.

These little patched up jeans will be carefully folded and added to the contents of the boxes this afternoon. Maybe one day the girls will take them to school for show and share, maybe one day we'll sit together and go through the boxes telling the stories, maybe one day I'll tell them to their kids or maybe one day I'll come across the boxes and see that I've kept way too much and chuck them out. Who knows.

Its a little bit sad to think of these jeans not being worn again and put away in a box, but they sure have had quite a life...well you know what I mean.

Do you keep many of your kids' old clothes? How many? How do you decide what to keep and what to give away? Has anyone actually made one of those quilts out of all their baby clothes? And if you don't have kids yet, have you started a collection of clothes for when you do?

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend where ever you are.

Bye now. XX

Now.

Today is the last Friday in January, we're four weeks into 2011 and its the only Friday left of the school holidays. Today I have that fluttery happy feeling in my tummy for no real reason at all. Today it feels like its all good and I'm not going to question it but I am going to record this little moment in time.

Today; I am reading The Secret Garden to the girls.

I am eating sun warmed, just picked apricots, plums and berries. Mmmmmm

I am wearing a sundress, jeans, thongs and a straw hat when outside.

I am knitting bits of my charcoal cardi.

I am threading elastic through the neckline of a little dress.

I am trying to remember to get to critical mass at 5 this afternoon.

I am marveling at how grown up my big girls are. This morning I dropped them off at a cafe where they ordered and drank hot chocolates. I met them half an hour later at the fruit shop when I'd finished my deliveries. I must say my heart almost burst when I drove past them crossing the road holding hands.

I am loving that the boys are laying irrigation lines and planting carrots and beetroots. Farmers need to farm and after the uncertainty of the last few weeks after the flood that's what they are doing. Hooray!!

I am looking forward to the weekend when our Farmer Boy will be ours and we'll go swimming and hang out by the dam.

I am smelling lavender. Jazzy has been making fairy cups full of sparkles and flowers and beads and lavender.

I am imagining what it will be like when my parents build and then live on the block opposite ours where these photos were taken.

I am popping the auction cushion in the post.

I am listening to Pepper 'read' to me the pages and pages of stories she has 'written'. I must remember to film her.

I am marveling at Indi making eggs for the boys for lunch the past few days.

I am not shopping for school uniforms. A lovely lady stopped me in the street the other day to offer me three bags full. She saw I had girls and her girls are off to high school this year. Yay!

I am worrying about those communities trying to pick up the pieces of their lives after the floods. Like people have said all along, the recovery will be a marathon not a sprint, and we cannot forget about them now that the media circus has moved on.

That's me today.

I hope you are happy and I hope you have the most wonderful weekend.

Bye for now. X

Makings.

In my creative space this week I am stitching together a cushion sandwich.

I am making a mad dash at a dress for Miss Indi.

When a ten year old jeans only wearing girl says she might contemplate wearing a dress now and then, you don't dilly dally.

And I am slowly knitting away at my charcoal cardi.

I divided the sleeves last night (that's them on the red cotton), only to find I have about 13 too many stitches. I have no idea how far back that happened, but I do know that this is the sort of pattern that you do not pull apart one or two rows, waaaaaaay too many yarn overs and stitches knitted together. I might try and decrease a few under the arms, or I might leave it and deal with it when its finished. I have already pulled the whole thing off and started again once, and know that I don't have it in me to do it again.

And then there's these three balls of Noro sitting across from me taunting me. We picked them up the other day at the Purl's Palace closing party. The last three balls of Noro they will ever sell. Indi says they should become a pair of arm warmers. I like the idea although I have yet to master the skill of knitting on double pointed needles. We'll see.

So what's going on in your creative space today?

Have a happy Thursday.

Bye for now.

PS. Maddy and Ali, Pepper says thanks so much for her postcard, she loved it so much. She wants to reply but I've lost the bit of paper with all your new details on it. When you get a chance please ask your Mum to email me your address and birthdays. Miss you loads. XX

Not so random.

I am thrilled to announce that the lovely Michelle has won my cushion cover auction. I couldn't think of many better homes for a granny cushion to go to. Not only is Michelle a fabulous crocheter herself, she also sent me a photo of her very granny lounge room and I think this cushion will fit right in.

After a few attempts at random colour selection that did not work at all, after leaving the whole package of wool and crochet hooks at the beach and having to wait for it to be posted back to me, I am finally on the home stretch.

Michelle, hopefully I will be posting this big fat granny off to you before the week is done.

Thanks to everyone who participated in my auction and to those who cheered it along from the comments section. You guys are so ace!

And just in case you thought it was all lazing about with my feet up and hook in hand at our place. ITS NOT! After playing buses, vets, doggies, babies and squeezing in some laundry and cooking, I have set up a bit of cupcake decorating so I can have a few minutes off to myself.

Now if only they'd stop describing each cake to me in minute detail and asking me if I like it....

Have fun out there. X

ps. Have you ever tried completely random colour selection for anything? Did it work for you? Mine was awful. I think maybe I'm too much of a crafty control freak.

What's in your bag.

This morning after my pilates class I was rummaging around in my bag for some money to pay when it occurred to me how much crap I carry around. Oh my goodness, so much crap!

Then I came home and started to sort through it when it occurred to me how pretty all that crap would look all laid out in a photo and how it probably is a moment in time worth documenting.

So here it is. All my crap laid out for the world to see. The only things I edited out are my current knitting pattern (too much paper), a carrot (it had seen better days), my phone (needed for a scrabble move), my diary and a pair of little undies.

So this is what's there from top left; My sunnies, Jazzy's sunnies, water bottle, current knitting project, crochet hook pen, Pepper's sunnies, socks for pilates.

Next row from left; sample face creams, tape measure, spare circular needles, a button, pin tin, purse, wool band, sewing machine needles.

Bottom row from left; bias binding, double pointed knitting needles, a teaspoon, a texta, a hair choppy, another texta, some buttons, a head band, soy sauce, hair elastics, tweezers, coins, face cream, big button, sewing kit, crayons.

Whew!

You wanna play too? You know you do. Don't be shy, I've shown you mine... Why don't you empty it, lay it all out, take a pic and then pop back here and put in your link so we can all have a look.

I hope your Monday is a funday.

See ya. X

Sundress.

I'm loving making these summery little dresses at the moment!

(I think she's a bit over modelling them for me though!)

Some vintage floral sheets, a bit of elastic and I make the rest up as I go along.

Sometimes long, sometimes short, maybe a pocket, or a frill, or some twirly gathers. The mixy matchier the better I think.

I couldn't be bothered hemming the sleeves on this one so I cut them on the selvage. I love a sewing short cut don't you?

She's slowly acquiring a whole wardrobe of them. The three of them are. I wonder if people down the street mutter to each other: There go those girls dressed in floral bed sheets...

Maybe one of these days I'll work out a way to scale the pattern up for sizes other than my three and write up a pattern. Maybe one day I'll make one for myself. Maybe one day I'll make up a few and pop them in my shop. Maybe.

I hope your Sunday is a funday.

Oh and my cushion cover auction ends tomorrow morning. You gotta be in it to win it you know!!

Bye now. XX

Grateful.

This weekend I'm grateful for little bits of magic in everyday life.

I've been hanging out with these two cool cats and my goodness they see magic everywhere.

A couple in a cafe staring at each other adoringly with very shiny rings, a little girl in the prettiest yellow dress sitting in the window of her house, a lady wearing a bridal veil and a tutu walking down the street followed by her hens, a ring of daisies waiting for the fairies to come and dance, dragon flies, a bird song that sounds like 'twoodleoo', water melon that tastes like lollies,

a Macedonian couple filling bottles full of mineral water to magically cure their Mother's aches and pains, a grandmother teaching her grand daughter how to do the monkey bars, ripples and rainbows in the water, a bunny in the clouds,

being able to jump so high you can almost touch the sky, two little mixy matchy dresses that appear out of nowhere at the end of watching a movie about a dog, a Mama who is so happy and patient because she got a chance to sew two little dresses from some vintage sheets and some scraps of lace, a tea party made from sand and water...

More grateful over at Maxabella land.

Don't forget those who might not have as much to be grateful for right now and bid on my auction or some of the others at Toni's.

Hope you find a bit of magic in your weekend.

Lacy bits.

Gosh it feels like I haven't been near my sewing machine forever.

I blame the school holidays. There is always someone who needs me for something and it can never wait. Also it is much easier to be part of the action and get my crafty fix with a portable project like knitting than sitting with my back to it all in the sewing room.

But I think I've also been lacking in reason and inspiration to sew too. The girls have enough clothes for now, I have been happy rotating the same five sun dresses as my uniform and all my fabric is folded so neatly on the shelves.

No amazing ideas have been waking me up at night begging to be sewn and I haven't seen anything that I've desperately needed to try to make.

But then today this gorgeous little parcel arrived from lovely Brydie and now I am full, full, full of ideas. That's all it took. Thank you so much Brydie I absolutely adore every last scrap.

I'm seeing frills on the hems of dresses and pants and pockets and hats and collars.

Now I kinda want to push Miss Pepper off my knee and get the other two to make something for dinner so I can get some machine time. Maybe later?

Have you been sewing lately? What's been inspiring you? How have you been getting your crafty fix? Have you got a big weekend planned? Are you making, baking, knotting, knitting?

I hope you have the most wonderful weekend. XX

Oh and don't forget my auction and all the other wonderful things up for grabs for a great cause at Toni's.

The editor's Pebble.

The editor of my Mum's book had a baby the other day.

My Mum bought some of the most divine, organic wool and after a bit of emailing back and forth we agreed on a pattern and I got click clacking.

The knitting part was quick.

And the pattern is super clever.

How ace is a baby vest that doesn't have to go over the baby's head?

The night I cast off this vest I was at my knitting group and one of the older women asked me if I wanted to have any more babies myself. I replied that I desperately wanted a tiny baby of my own so I could knit little vests and hats and cardis. I didn't knit when any of my three babies were born you see. And do you know that none of the women looked at me funny. Even the one who is a maternal health care nurse. So I think that must be a good enough reason.

Vest details here.

Have you heard that all the combined flood relief auctions and raffles on Toni's site have raised over $45000 to date? Pretty awesome hey!

My cushion cover auction is over here.

Please make a bid if you can. Every cent raised goes to disaster relief for the families and communities that have been devastated by the recent floods.

So what's cooking in your creative space today?

Have fun out there. XX

A day.

We've been away at the beach for a few days. We left last Saturday when things just seemed too big and too difficult too deal with and came home last night.

Today is a strange, dream like, flitter from this job to that job kind of day.

We have been on the phone to plasterers about fixing our soggy kitchen ceiling, the boys have been chainsawing trees that have fallen down since the rains and have started to clean up around the place and we have been discussing leaving on our caravan adventure sooner than we had planned.

Indi is moving boxes of my stuff out of her new bedroom. Inside these boxes I am finding treasures from another time. Old diaries, fabric scraps, photos and other mementos from my life before now.

In one box I found the wings in the photo above. I made them and wore them to a dance party in the bush one time.

All my craft work used to be made in this fashion. I would draw an outline on a scrap of old op shopped blanket and then set my sewing machine to zig zag and colour in the shapes with millions of stitches.

After so many stitches, the work became hard and three dimensional. I haven't sewn like that in years.

This is today's craft. A row here and a row there on my grey cardi.

It is such slow going and the pattern is complicated but I am loving it.

And today the puppies started to eat food.

They gobbled it up using their whole bodies to launch them further and further into the bowl.

I feel the same sort of melancholy I felt when my babies started to eat solids and became less baby and more person. Any minute now they'll move away from our house and in with the chooks.

I'll miss these snugly, furry, sleepy puppies.

And I am thinking about all those affected by the floods. I can't imagine how emotional and physically draining this time must be.

I am crocheting round and around the back of the cushion cover and can hardly wait to stitch it all together and see how it looks.

Please be generous and make a bid on it if you can. ALL money raised goes to disaster relief for the families and communities that have been devastated by the recent floods.

What are you up to this sunny Wednesday afternoon?

Bye for now. XX

Would you??

Would you wear it as a hat?

Would you use it as a mat?

Would you place it on your chair?

Would you use it for your hair?

Would you give it to your Mister?

Would you use it to hit your sister?

Would you lay on it for a rest?

Perhaps you'd use it for a nest?

Whatever the reason, whatever you choose,

Please, please, please, please make a bid, you cannot lose.

All auction details here.

HUGE apologies to Dr Seuss.

Flood relief auction.

OK lovely people, let's have ourselves an auction!

The prize is this Grandma Daisy Cushion crocheted by me from the softest Australian and New Zealand wool.

Here's how it's going to work:

1. Due to the weight of this item, this auction is open to Australian residents only.
2. All bids for the cushion are to be in Australian dollars and indicated in the comments section of this blog post. Please include your email address in your comment.
3. After you leave the comment indicating your bid, please tick the box that subscribes you to the comments of this post so you can stay informed of the new bids.
4. There is no limit to the number of bids one person can make.
5. If you do not have a blog and would like me to place a bid on your behalf, please email me at foxslane@gmail.com with your bid and I will make one for you.
6. Offers are open from NOW and will remain open until Monday 24th January 9am (Australian Eastern Standard time).
7. The highest bidder will be the winner and must make an online donation to The Premier's Flood Relief Appeal and then email me both the receipt and their mailing address within 24 hours of the end of the auction.
8. Please be generous with your bids. ALL money raised goes to disaster relief for the families and communities that have been devastated by the recent floods.

This photo is to show you how big the cushion cover is

This photo is to show you how it would look as a beanie.

Thanks so much to Michelle for donating the wonderful pattern, to Sarah London for donating the round cushion insert, to Purl's Palace for discounting the glorious wool, to Toni and Carli for hosting the big list of auctions and raffles and to my family for allowing me the time to make the cushion. You guys are so ace.

So that's it folks, now it's up to you.

Let's raise some big bucks.

See ya. XX

ps. All the cushion details are on Ravelry.

pp. The back of the cushion will be random circles of colour.

Cushion cover ramblings.

Hello!

I was speaking to my farmer boy just before and he told me he thought I would have much better chances of raising some big bucks in my auction if I made something useful. Some thing practical. A cushion is all very nice and all, but a beanie is better.

I hope he's wrong.

I was loving the calming watery blues and greens but then the sun came out and changed everything and so I added some purple and pink.

Michelle's gorgeous pattern has five rows of petals but I'm thinking mine might need one more round before its finished. Maybe a red or a burnt orange. Did I just consider orange??

I just visited the biggest haberdashery shop I think I've ever been to and they looked at me funny when I asked if they had any round cushion inserts. Is that such a strange request? Well they didn't of course but they did suggest I buy a round velour Bratz cushion to fill my cushion. Sorry but NO WAY!! No Bratz cushion even for the inside.

Did you notice I'm sewing in the ends as I go? I am being so strict with myself on this one otherwise I'm scared I'll never do them. Jazzy's rug, my first ever crochet project still has all the ends undone.

Because I had to take a bit of time out from the cushion making yesterday to deal with our own water issues I might not finish this by Monday. I wonder if people will bid on a work in progress. Hmmmm...

So do you wanna see the back of the front?

So how are you? Are you auctioning? Buying? Making? Sewing in the ends?

Bye for now. XX