Lotsa stuff.

Hello! How are you?

I'm good. Very excited that it's almost the weekend and although my house is a bit of a mess, I feel like I've got lots of little projects bubbling away that are keeping me excited. Lots to share and some to keep secret for a little while longer. Eeeeep!

So I cast off my latest knit, Tikki's latest test pattern, Griffin. It is cute! A little sleeveless vest with a hood and a kangaroo pocket. Miss Pepper is busting to carry a baby chicken around in that pocket. Maybe I'll have to line it.

I'll show you some more pics once I've blocked it.
I've raveled it here.

Nextly (?), I wrote a post for Just B about home and my reflections about going away for six months and then coming home. You can read it over here if you like.

One of our farmer boys, Pierre, just returned from a month in France with his family. When he got back he bought each of us a knife. How gorgeous is that! I've never had my own knife before.

I posted a photo of them on instagram yesterday and people left me the most wonderful comments. It seems so many people have an Opinel and an Opinel story in their lives. Do you?

I had to answer an interview question the other day about children who grow up on farms. I've been looking at my three with a bit more interest and wonder since then. 

I got a copy of Ro's new book in the mail the other day and he got the beanie he's been asking for for the last few months. Its a really gorgeous book. Beautifully photographed and designed filled with heaps of interesting info too. I'm certain our copy will become very well thumbed, very often referred to, very quickly.

The WholeLarderLove beanie is raveled here.

A lovely blog reader wrote to me a few months ago asking my permission to paint Miss Pepper. I said yes and she did, and then this week I received a copy of her painting in the mail.

Wow Coral!! Its amazing. And thanks so much for the copy.

The original photo is here if you want to compare.

Even though its icy outside, the garden and the foods we've stored, are showing us that the season's are changing. So we're cleaning out our stores and our garden beds to make room for what comes next.

We've been eating just starting to sprout potatoes, spinach, broccoli, rocket and leafy greens. And planting onions and peas and beans and tomatoes and herbs so far.

I'm starting to get excited about this exhibitions of local Daylesford Instgrammers. Its on from the 20th October until the 20th November at St Mel's cyclery and cafe. I so hope you can come. I think there will even be an opening soiree. I'll let you know.

And finally, I'm off to my first craft camp tonight. I'm super excited and a bit stressed about leaving farmer Bren with the farm and the girls and all their activities too. And what to take?? Oh my goodness, what to take?

So that's me, this Friday afternoon.
How are things with you?
Have you got exciting plans for the weekend?
Did you click on any of my many links?
Are you reading a good book?

Ciao Ciao. xx

Made with love.

A few weeks ago I knitted this little Milo for my parents to give their friend's baby granddaughter.

The baby's grandmother is a pretty amazing knitter herself and her great grandmother had been the most amazing tapestry artist.

These might seem like incidental details, but to me they are most important. You see due to the fact that I am still quite a slow knitter and I don't have a huge amount of time in my life to knit, this little vest probably took me a couple of nights to finish.

The fact that this baby has wool in her blood (ha!), means her family will appreciate and understand it. They will know that it was knitted especially for them, with love.

A few months ago I knitted a similar vest for a baby and when I hadn't heard back, I asked the Mother if the baby had worn it. She replied that it'll be a great addition to her wardrobe if they ever bring her to visit us in chilly old Daylesford.

Isn't it cold in Melbourne in winter too?

I knitted her the six month size so if they don't come and visit us in the next few weeks, there's no way it'll still fit when we get home from our trip.

This baby does not come from a crafty family and it made me think that they would have liked a vest bought from a baby shop just as much. I probably could have bought a lovely one for the same amount of money that I spent on the wool.

To me, a handmade gift is the ultimate gift. Because it is my world, I understand the care that is taken in choosing a suitable pattern for the recipient, selecting and purchasing the appropriate supplies and then the time it takes to actually make the present.

I guess we often have the same issue on our market stalls when people ask why our free range, organic eggs cost more than those from the super market.

I've been thinking about this for a while and asking around and it seems that many crafters have unhappy handmade present giving stories of their own. A pair of hand knitted socks that are too good to wear, a quilt that is packed away in case the kids spill something on it, a beanie that was chucked in the wash and felted.

And then there are the happy ending stories, the dolly that was carted around until her arm fell off, this Milo that was worn by that precious little baby on her way home to Norway, the dress that has been worn by every girl in the family.

It's a risk this handmade present giving business. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Do you give handmade?

Do you choose carefully who is lucky enough to receive your handmade goodies?

Have you got a handmade prezzie success story/disaster?

The Norwegian's Milo Ravelled here.

Have a wonderful day. x

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

Indi's wrap.

I don't think I ever showed you the Leonie wrap I crocheted for Indi.

I crocheted it at a farmers' market a few weeks ago and it kept me so warm as it rested on my knees.

It is just perfect for the kid who lives in the coldest part of the universe but gets overheated when she wears too many clothes.

And she actually wears it. The kid who wants to dress like a skatergirl actually wears something that I made. Yay!

I used Cleckheaton's Folklore in colour number 5 and had help from Tania with the kid dimensions.

The butterfly brooch is on loan from Bren's Mum. I bought it for her a few years ago fully intending to make a few more for myself and for pressies but never did.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Bren and Indi have gone to a clearing sale and I am heading to Ballarat to a wool/knitting sale to stock up on some essentials.

Oh and I'm on Ravelry. Finally. I'm still figuring it all out. I have six friends! If you have any handy Ravelry hints, I'd love to hear them. Come and say 'hi', my name is Foxslane.

My creative space.

Soon after we moved here nine years ago, we bought a couple of rolls of woollen blanket from Creswick Woollen Mills and Bren's Nana and Mum came up and we had a curtain-a-thon. Woollen blanket is non flammable and we live in a high risk bush fire area.

Last week I was complaining about how non creative my wardrobe is, so this week I made a skirt out of some leftovers of that woollen blanket.

No pattern. I cut around another skirt, put a zip in the side and when it was a bit falley downy, I added two darts in the back.

And then I stitched on the lace trim I crocheted.

I am loving the wool and crocheted cotton combination at the moment and have a gazillion ideas running through my mind about where to take it next.

I am wearing and loving my Leonie/Michelle wrap even though it is still about four rows too short and I haven't darned the ends in. Who knows when I'll ever get to the wool shop in Ballarat again.

Bren likes the lining side of the skirt. Its a vintage sheet. I'll have to do something about the zip this way though. There must be such thing as a reversible zip out there somewhere.

Its been a crazy, intense week of looking after a sick two year old who wouldn't let me out of her sight. But its been cold and wintery outside and its been kind of nice to be stuck inside cuddling and crocheting on the couch.

Happy Thursday y'all.

Check out the rest at Kirsty's.