To frog or not to frog ... that is the question ...

Just about to finish my round - using the right colour this time ...

This is a good tip - don't choose colours at night!  I worked a whole round of my yarn eater blankie, then started on the next in a new colour, before I realized the colour I'd joined on to finish the previous round wasn't quite right, nearly ok but subtly different.  So I walked away and wondered if I'd be able to live with it.  The choice: to frog or not to frog - i.e. to rip it (frog noise, sort of, hence the term 'to frog it') out and start again or not.  I decided to frog it - I simply would not be able to look at the blanket without seeing my mistake, and I figured it was worth another couple of hours of pain to gain peace for the next 10 years or so when I view my blanket!  :)

Blogtober 2012 is here!!!!

  I have been spectacularly bad at blogging for quite a while now, but help is at hand!!!  I am always inspired to blog for the Blogtoberfest, and it's almost that time of year again!  Yippee!!!!  Ooooh, got to love those exclamation marks!!!!! :)    So if you feel like signing up, please go to this lovely website 'I saw you dancing' - it's a new host for this year, and a whole new blog to discover, right in the spirit of Blogtober!  And you get to grab a beautiful button too, so what are you waiting for!  GO!!!!!!!

My Creative Space: There's a birthday in the house ...

It's a very special little man's birthday today!  And I must have done something right in my parenting as his special request for a birthday meal was beef, gravy and vegetables!  Followed by lemon meringue pie instead of a birthday cake.  Here is where we got creative - candles stuck into a foil covered potato, favourite Star Wars candle held up with blu-tac, and empty party poppers lined up artistically by Little Man himself to form a backdrop.  Looks rather stunning overall don't you think?  A good team effort in creativity :)

Charlie dog entering into the party spirit with party poppers

Follow the cake crumbs over to here to view other creative adventures ....

And the recipe for the lemon meringue pie is from Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course ... yummy!

Where is September going?  Wherever it is, it's going there fast!!!  I feel like I'm lagging seriously behind where I should be - lots happening, birthday and accompanying party, big kids leaving school, wishing I could get my life into gear and start my arty adventure ... where are you at?

Highlights and hoarding ...

Here are my highlights from the last part of last week, seeing as I didn't blog for a few days:

Wearing my lovely new DM's for the first time at work which I'd bought whilst in the UK ....

And I do have a problem with fabric and yarn hoarding.  My stash is getting so big I will have to move everyone out of our home so that I have room for it!  My friend and I went out at lunchtime from work last week and had a stroll round Spotlight.  These are my treasures (also can be read as more 'stash') from this expedition ...

Yarn to make a scarf for my sister's Christmas present ...

Some vintage inspired fat quarters I want to use as bag linings, such fun ...

Although I do obviously have a really big problem, I'm fortunate enough to have two workmates who understand and dare I say it, share my desperate need to make crafty items, even if it does mean giving up living space to accommodate our hobby.  Insanity to some, necessity to me :)

Time for a September quote ...

It's Thursday, and it seems fitting to have a quote from a Thursday, for a Thursday, even if it's a written Thursday ...

You know those people who know everything, who tell you everything you should be doing, and leave you wondering just what you should do, and whose advice to take?  You feel in a state of confusion?   Well, this quote is for you xxxxx

"All three were experts, and all three had conflicting views.  I was reminded of Clarke's Second Law of Egodynamics: 'For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert'" 

 - The Written Thursday, from 'One of our Thursdays is Missing' by Jasper Fforde.

This has been my craft of choice today - I've rather overdone the hexagons and gained myself a quilter's injury - I've made the end of my finger sore with the eye end of the needle pushing into it (and sometimes through the skin - ouch!)  So, I couldn't bear to sew anymore.  No need to worry about infection as it's been cauterized too - I burnt said finger on a hot dish when cooking this evening!

The cardigan is called the 'Shalom' cardigan - you can find the pattern on Ravelry I think.  I've never knitted a yoke before, and  am quite impressed at how easy this has been, especially as the whole jumper is knitted on circular needles, which means no seams - yay!  I've used 'Chantilly' by Moda Yarns, from Spotlight.  I chose the yellow because I loved the colour but don't use it that much and the yarn was so soft to the touch.  Unfortunately as I 've been knitting it's rubbing up and I think I'll either have to give it a soft brush or a trim with tiny scissors to make it look neater when I've finished.  If the winter weather continues after today, I'm not really going to care what it looks like as long as it keeps me warm :)

Heavenly Hexagons

Well, it may be blowing a hooley and raining heavily outside, but I don't care :)  And this is the reason why ...

my beautiful hexagon quilt ... this is just the weather to keep on quilting, knees kept snuggly whilst working.  Blissful.  Wonder how much I can get done before the blistering summer heat starts?

Being a tourist - Part 3

Today's post is continuing the tourist theme - this time being a tourist in our home town!

I didn't get much time to relax and do nothing when I returned home last weekend - we'd already booked a Bill Bailey gig and I wasn't going to miss it for the world, despite being heavily jet lagged.  (I love that man!  His humour had me laughing until I had tears rolling down my cheeks).  His jokes and musical talents woke me up briefly before returning to our hotel and blessed sleep :) 

Classic Andy Warhol screenprint pop-art - with our own added touch

Now, hubby had arranged a stay in one of the Perth hotels who are offering tickets to the current exhibition at the Perth art gallery as part of their special deals - so on Monday we tootled off to take a look at the modern masters - "Picasso to Warhol".  Fascinating viewing, although I must say I'm not really a fan of the abstract/cubist/surrealist movement.  I left with a huge question I'm still pondering - "what IS art?"  Confused.  What do you think?  Do we have to understand something for it to be art?  Does something have to be technically perfect to be art?  (As opposed to something that looks as if your dog could do it blindfold, and there was some of that type there!  Although that is only my opinion)  Is it all dependent on the perspective of the viewer?  Is beauty indeed in the eye of the beholder? 

Monochrome work by Mark Tansey (The Brothers, 1989) - with more 'artyness' on our part, lucky I was wearing a matching top

And where does craft fit into all this?  Craft is often seen as the lesser cousin of art, but often just as much work goes into the finished article.  It's a mystery I'm going to keep returning to as I continue my creative journey.  For now I've decided I'm an artisan, which sounds a lot more exotic than artist anyway :)

Detail of Mark Tansey painting - I really loved this painting.

The exhibition continues until 3rd December 2012.

Being a tourist - Part 2

The worst part of being a tourist is the journey home I think - I was not looking forward to the flight home, needless to say because I don't cope well with jetlag coming from the UK back to Oz.  But here I am a week later, feeling almost human and able to communicate with words again :)

So, thought I'd share a few more pics of my time back in Blighty ...

Summer weather ... it is August after all:

 My dad, my sister and I - celebrating dad's big birthday!

And a little creativity included to keep me inspired -

This is part of the shell galllery at A la Ronde - an amazing hexadecagonal sided house in Devon.  The stairs are so narrow you could just squeeze up them if only you were allowed to climb up them.  The Parminter cousins must have been very tiny!

And one of my favourite pics of a favourite childhood past-time, rock-pooling - on a delightful summer's day at the beach ...

It is wonderful to be back with my hubby and children, but I did have the most wonderful time catching up with my family on the other side of the world.  I was very lucky to be able to spend so much quality time with my dad, something not everyone gets the chance to do.  Very special memories were made on this trip xxxxx