Autumn

I'm not going to talk about the fact I have neglected my blog. I'll just break the drought.
here...

knitting has been slow for a while, but a fox is in the making: pattern is Sophisticated Mr Fox

The cooler weather is on it's way and I turn my mind to woolly things, knitting, spinning, cosy nights creating. I even read a book which whet my appetite for the cool inner creative evening: Burial Rites by Australian writer Hannah Kent. set in Iceland in 1829. Wonderful read, and the best part was being immersed in the domestic world of this time and place. scenes of knitting, mending, even gutting animals was so goooood!

 I loved it so much I was grieved to finish, so I used a gift voucher which had been sitting around since last year (from my choir of seven years I finished up with) to purchase some fluffy clogs, so I could feel I was still in Iceland (there was no mention of clogs in the book I might mention, but even wearing Swedish shoes was close enough).

my girls have been keeping me very busy as their "mum-ager" of Charm of Finches since mid last year. There were videos, paper mache boats, shows upon shows and vintage dresses. We spent a lot of the summer going to Folk Festivals so they could perform. It meant seeing and meeting many wonderful musicians and having adventures. And it continues. as does school, driving kids around town, juggling my work....

I took over directing a community choir last year, and I love them so much. they are there for the joy of each other and singing together. We have a ball! half of them showed up for a community event to perform some songs, and they fearlessly and joyfully sang their hearts ourt and filled the room with the most heavenly atmosphere. that's me at the front introducing a song.

time to knit mr fox!!

joining the yarn along with Ginny here.

ferny

ta-da!
my first, freshly dyed-up hand spun skeins! gloriously nubbly and unintentionally thick and thin, which I'm told is quite the fashion. I used some landscape dye shades fern and chamomile. First time dyeing wool too, and oh sooo much fun!

my knitting::the annabel pullover in misti alpaca tonos worsted (leatherly), almost done.
I'm modifiying it, because the length in the pattern was too short for my kidney-conscious girl ("I want it to cover my kidneys...wow),  and she wants length.
my idea is to add a rib in another colour, either grey or bird egg blue...I'm knitting the sleeves in the round using two circular needles.

I found this book at an op shop. Pearl S Buck's The Big Wave. As soon as I saw it, I was struck by what I can only call a memory-feeling or feeling-memory. I can't remember what age I was, but I remember reading this book and it fascinating, or maybe, haunting me. That's all I remember, nothing about the story itself, but when I saw it I had a faint rush of awe mixed with fear, and fascination.
It now waits for me...it's kinda spooky.

also, yarning along with Ginny

yarning in the wind

It's. Really. Windy. Outside.

Joining in with Ginny for her Yarn Along: reading Bob Graham picture books, they have so, sooo much heart! and great urban characters and dogs! In his bio, Bob says he likes the sound of dog's ears flapping. When I read his stories to my youngins, I always get the feeling I would like to be this author's friend! I also feel the stories are set in my neighbourhood.
On the yarn side of life, plodding away at Hitch!! Still!
And also crocheting some samples for a session with the Class 5 children, who are just learning how to crochet. Big thick 16ply wool with 6mm crochet hooks.

See a Sami face peeking out next to a lovely card from Lori (snail mail! yay!)

 I also had an inspiration to alter a cardigan I never wore simply because it was a bit gapey with the snap closures and also a bit short, and my kidneys just have to be warm! So! I sewed up the front to make it a pullover and picked up stitches along the rib bottom to add a garter stitch bottom! It's a bit of an experiment, and I'm also going to throw in some short rows at the back so as to get it longer at the back. The yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mill Rustic 8ply in charcoal.

And we are madly all listening to The Mae Trio's new CD! Gorgeous young women from Castlemaine. Delicious harmonies, songs so fresh and full of heart and gentle humour.

knittin' and sangin'

Oh Lordie what would I do without either!
I finished the most delicious Griffin vest for Mr P, who loved it at first sight!
Check out the puddle jumping action!

I am now knitting another Griffin vest for my big high school chicken, who has suddenly been released from the tyranny of black and blue! Free to wear emerald green!! Hooray!
The yarn is Malabrigo Worsted, in a delightful Sapphire Green colourway. This is my "go to" yarn for so many occasions! It's so squishy and comforting to knit with.  (Ravelry notes here)

I am reading Maya Ward's unique book The Comfort of Water about her pilgrimage up the Yarra River from the mouth to the source! It is so rewarding and nourishing to read about my local river (it takes me fifteen minutes to walk there) and her writing is so holistic and evolved. Love!

I'm also researching for some Autumn yarn dyeing! More on that a little later...

Oh! and the sangin'! Been indulging in some three part mountain mama sangin' with two sweet friends, this fair maiden and this fair maiden. What a joy! Shiveringly gorgeous harmonies, so gooood for the soul!

Oh Oh! One more thang: been very much enjoying looking at these lovely "plain jane" creations from Anna Branford.

I'm joining Ginny for her Yarn Along

Yarning Along on a hot Melbourne day

Joining Ginny's Yarn Along.
It's 31 degrees and feels hotter while I knit this Griffin vest for Mr P. I'm loving the design: a great little pocket at the front and can't wait to see the hood come into being. (ravelled here)

The book, well, I'm making an attempt to read Alain de Botton's The Consolations of Philosophy. Not sure why I decided upon this to read,  but I picked it up at the op shop for a buck and his style and his championing of secular wisdom, common sense, history and culture impress me. A funny choice for a woman who hasn't read a proper big person's book for three years...
...and I am listening to Appalachian folk right now inspired by some sumptuous sing-a-longs with a couple of delicious ladies.

yarn along

Joining Ginny from Small Things in a yarn along.
Everyone in this house seems to be reading Anna Branford's latest Violet Mackerel gem, Violet Mackerel's Possible Friend! Chicken 2 says it's the best one yet! Yay Anna!
Not only do the "Violet" books make us all chuckle out loud quite often, the illustrations are full of knitting! You see Violet's mother is a voracious knitter, so hand knits abound in every book! Love it!
Aside from this,  I find myself constantly marvelling at how an adult could be so spot on with writing the inner dialogue of a small child! She captures the innocent logic, the vivid imaginations and bemusing, fragile insecurities which go completely unnoticed most of the time by the adults around.
What Anna does is illustrate how children are so present to the world. I start yearning I could be so attentive to everything around me. 
I totally LOVE Violet and so do my two big girl chickens.

And on the needles, a Griffin hoodie vest (designed by Tikki), in the most divine Noro Silk Garden (colour 341). The question is , will I be able to go back to knitting with anything else!

Yarn Along

Joining Ginny from small things blog for a yarn along!

Sometimes I just can't resist casting on something new in the middle of another project: in this case I was swept into the Woolly Wormhead Mystery Hat Knit Along on Ravelry. I have completed the brim, but very slow starting the cabled body of the hat.  The yarn, Madelinetosh Sport in "well water" colour is a dream, you would swear there was silk in it, and it is so "sproingy".
*I also have another cable project on the needles, the Lyttleton shrug by Kate Davies in Quince and Co. Tern (wool/silk).
*And!! I am making another Steiner/Waldorf doll with a knitted body. The wool is 16ply naturally dyed by Elizabeth Newbirch of Morning Star crafts.
*And, what we are reading! You may think it's a bit early for Christmas stories, but I have to learn a one for a storytelling night in early December, and of course, I immediately thought of this book, The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston. This story is an absolute gem. It is the story set in the Appalachian mountains during wartime, when the folk still got around in horse drawn sleds. Papa goes off to war, and Mama and Ruthie have to come up with the Christmas tree for the Church. I won't say anymore...It contains such heart, so much warmth and hope and human strength. When I stumbled upon it one year at the library, I just had to get a copy for myself right away, and I always get a lump in my throat at the end...every time! (ahem...The children love it too!)

yarn along...

Joining in the yarn along over at small things and also over at frontier dreams:
My Lyttleton shrug by the amazing and admirable Kate Davies is coming along slowly, but I love love it! Cables and lace!!
And the colour of the Quince and Co Tern (silk and wool) is delicious!

Ravelled here

 I also decided very whimsically and perhaps illogically (considering all the knitting projects I have lined up already!!) to partake in a "Mystery KAL (knitalong) with the Woolly Wormheads Ravelry Group. I've never done that before.
It's a hat. That's all I know...knit in sport weight yarn (5 ply). The pattern gets released in trickles, with no-one knowing what the thing will eventually look like! A bit of geeky knitter fun...and why not!
Here's the yarn I chose: Madelinetosh Sport in Well Water , a gorgeous warm blue, divinely soft, I only just started the gauge swatch and I'm in love...

And, reading! I'm afraid I'm still on a diet of picture books, though the recent Booker Prize finalists sparked a yearning for some big people reading soon...soon...soon....come on brain, get it together!
So, here's the bedtime favourite at the moment: "The Happy Lion" by Louise Fatio and illustrated most deliciously by Roger Duvoisin, first published in 1955. My small boy requires it read at least twice per night and I'm not complaining, I love the Parisian drawings so much! We found this beauty at the school fair last weekend for a buck! That's one Australian dollar for those wondering if I exchanged it for a male deer...

as my acupuncturist says, enjoy the needles!

it's not every day...

This post is about my friend.
I met her one lovely Autumn Saturday morning.
She was sitting quietly amongst her basketry and recycled craft supplies at a children's pre-loved market at our local park. We made a b-line for her, being mad crazy dollmakers ourselves, and promptly met her.
Since then, Anna has shared her writing for children with me, asked my opinion, which was most flattering, really, and invited me to join her crafty exploits at times, as have I her.
Well, last night, she (not the "cat's mother!") came to our house for Friday night lasagne, and we made a few items, which I failed to photograph.
She also brought over copies of two of her books as gifts for the Chickens,  inscripted especially.
At bedtime she read a few chapters of Violet Mackerel for the Chickens.  They were a tad excited! It is not everyday an author comes over to your house to read you their book, I remarked, and they grinned, feeling very special.
This morning they had the books out, Chicken 2 reading Sophie's Salon in bed, and then Chicken 1 reading Violet to her sister.
Thank you my friend! and CONGRATULATIONS!!

Return from the Land of Morning (All Day) Sickness

Such a long absence from this blog can only be explained by four words...nineteen weeks with child! Or perhaps I should add a couple more...at forty! Yes, I turned forty, and discovered number three child is on it's way, accompanied by languid, sickly lollings on the bed, gazing out the window wondering when I should try being vertical! Oh, and continuing mothering, teaching yoga, and studying full time!
It is fascinating how joy and wonder at the miracle of conception and the impending visitation of another cosmic being onto earth can be accompanied by such dreaded, phsyiological and emotional ordinariness.
Most wonderful and novel has been the added constant joy and anticipation of my two darling chicken daughters, who await their tiny sibling with such excitement and curiosity. Daily tummy kisses, and infinite questions about the logistics of it all, how big is the babby, what if it kicks so hard it makes you fall over...
9 year old chicken remembered our friend who lost her baby, and then the question, "What happens if the baby dies in your tummy. Do you have to push it out?"
Answer: Chicken 2, 6 years old, " It just wasn't ready yet, it just goes back to God. It will try again later."
The infinte wisdom of the dreamy young...

Other than this Big event...
The odd felted gift.

An obsession with Moomins at story time!!


and the enjoyment of Greek Mythology told by a great yarn spinner, Padraic Colum.

Steiner Teacher training has been wonderful, with a current immersion in Norse Mythology, the time of the ten year old (Class Four).