Monday, September 27, 2010

{work in progress}

Chicken No. 2 is turning 8 on Wednesday, so this mama is burning the midnight oil making gifts for the special occasion. Of course, at the top of my hill are plenty of wondrous gifts to purchase, but, no! I have taken the handmade pledge- I think I did this at birth, and must make all!!

So: a bean bag upon which to dream into the incredible books of the world!



the cardigan...

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Odelette to the Sproutings

Oh Spring, you are being a touch coy, methinks. Yet,
the little sproutings sighted hither and thither reassure me
immensely!
the noble basil
the humble salads


 I have just discovered Elsie Marley's blog, and her kid's clothes week challenge.
Have managed to knit for one hour at least per day, trying to knit up Chicken 2's birthday Spring  tea leaves cardi.
Highlighting the fact that knitting is a s-l-o-w way to do things....but I love it.
After having been raised in a family of runners, in every sense of the word, I have, for the first time in my life, discovered the joys of slow.  The healing benefits of knitting, indeed.
Now to get this cardi finished in time!!!
oops
This is a divine pattern, and I am enjoying knitting the yoke so much! It always amazes me what nifty things one can do with some knits and some purls!

 And because the sun showed its face a little, and because my favourite  magazine arrived in the letterbox yesterday, I sat and knitted and "read" said mag in between little hand grabs...

Saturday, September 18, 2010

The Upcyclers

Dr Anna's super cute bunnies and carrots- which lucky bunnies get to have the two extras??



We pondered the general sensibleness of "upcycling", the practice of taking used items and rearranging them as a "something new" item, like Anna's completely "upcycled" dolls...

 


and another Anna's upcycled yummy shorts...
A most fantastic day it was: full of more delightful busking good hearted children, happy handmade-loving folk, busy craft fingers and more fiscally splendid for the orphans ... yay!

 

donated items made with love, enormous altruism and faith...


 

and a certain dose of cleverness...

 
Gratitude in abundance to the many good folk who made, shopped, smiled, and played. 

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Felting/Baking

Last night, husband and I spent a few hours felting for the stall on Saturday. I must say, his wool sculpting abilities outstrip mine hands down. He is particularly deft at character-full animals.
I on the other hand, prefer to stick to chubby birds. Giant ones, as it turns out...

Today I set myself the task of baking at least one Orange/Yoghurt cake  from my all time fave New Moosewood Cookbook,  to take to Chicken 1's play this evening.



The play, "The Death of Baldur", and the cake, were a hit!
And Chicken 1 was the most magnificent cello playing Queen of Hell a proud mum could ever ever wish for

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

The Peace Fleece Corps

Last night I spent some wee hours at ComfortGertrude's house with three wonderful fellow wool addicts,  winding our newly arrived Peace Fleece, sipping honey mead from Kangaroo Island, hearing about sightings of whales out of kitchen windows, and generally revelling in the company of colour, fibre and friends!
The colours are all divine, and it will be so fun to watch it slowly (in my case) and quickly (in the case of FlickaFish!!) transform into garments, and toys! The Chickie Masla is so deliciously yolkish, softer than in the photo actually. The Seamoss is also much, much more dreamily green and divine in real life.
Kamchatka Seamoss and Chickie Masla


Ukrainian Red, Patience Blue, Zarya Fog, Antarctica White



Purl101's Violet Vyehchyeerom and FlickaFish's Lena's Meadow
Stack of Lauren's Coral- yum!
super winding action shot

My own knitting has been on the back-burner a bit, amidst the excitement of the Orphfund craft stall...slowly getting through the yoke of my Garter Yoke Cardi...

ALSO...The supremely talented and ever-creative FlickaFish contributed some divine little skirts for the upcoming Orphfund stall this Saturday at Ceres. Thank you!!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

the table glowed with handmade love

We had our first fundraising stall for Orphfund today!

The sun shone,

the table glowed with handmade love






the children busked,



Anna sewed, Katie smiled,


the baby slept,



A wonderful, stupendously enjoyable, and successful good-vibes time was had by all.
Thanks everyone!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Handmade for Orphans


Handmade for Orphans
My friend Moya has just been to Uganda with an organisation called Orphfund, building a children's village for orphans. the situation they found there was desperate and heartbreaking. Desperately poor children completely uncared for, sleeping in deserted buildings, foraging for food, 11 year old children caring for their 3 year old siblings.
This email was sent from Steve Argent of Orphund from Uganda a couple of weeks ago, along with the photo above.


"Right now we are working on our latest project for orphans in Western Uganda.
Over the past 2 weeks we have been deep in the remote hillside villages near the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo, interviewing hundreds of orphaned and abandoned children.
Sadly the circumstances we find the children in are far worse than we expected with HIV, conflict, and disease leaving children to grow up completely neglected and unsupported.
Since Orphfund began i have spoken to nearly a thousand orphans but over the past few days have heard some of the most saddening stories yet. We have found children as young as 11 who are carers for their younger siblings living with absolutely nothing.
No family, no home, no adult support, they just roam, searching for empty buildings to sleep in, rubbish tips to find food in, and all they own are scraps of filthy clothing on their bodies.
In other cases 13 year old girls are becoming prostitutes to get money to help feed themselves and their younger brothers and sisters; and with each $2 they make they risk becoming infected by HIV. (attached are a couple of pictures from one of our registration outings.)

Our goal was to help 35 children, but sadly the need is just too great. We have identified 60 children suffering in conditions we cannot and do not want to ignore. Most of our team are close to tears when we have seen and heard how they have been living.
Right now WE have a chance to change things and do something that can improve the fortunes of many kids who are suffering severely.

A new sponsor will literally pull an additional child out of such hardship.
Please....anyone reading this who feels they can spare $22 (£12 a month) let us know now if you can help, so we can welcome 1 more child into our project.
1 extra life will change with every extra donor we get!!!
Its hard to stress the impact we can have and also to describe how these children live, but i can guarantee if you could be here right now you wouldn't hesitate to help.

Help us give them the chance to live again.

100% will go to feeding, providing health care, care, clothing, and education.

For Australian online donations https://www.givenow.com.au/orphfund/regulardonation?execution=e2s1
For Australian bank transfers (preferred method) our details are Commonwealth Bank, Account No 10272571, BSB 063104, Account name Orphfund"


My marvellous friend Anna and I were moved to hold some handmade stall at Ceres over the Spring to raise some money for this project. The plan is to have the first one this coming Saturday if the weather isn't terrible. Below are samples of what will be for sale, thansk to some crafty souls.