our creative space . . . 'generational knitting'

Greetings all,
My hand surgery is coming up & boy do my hands know it, a last hurrah of carpal tunnel agony before they get chopped up & fixed, yay!!  So i haven't be playing along with Our Creative Space lately as the most creative thing i've been doing is pressing buttons on various kitchen appliances & baking!!

Last night i found my 3rd daughter, freshly bathed & pyjama'd, enjoying the balmy evening outdoors.

 This girl comes from a long line of knitters: her twin sister is especially good, her mother not so great (i knit too tight, i crochet too lose) & her grandmother, possibly the Queen of knitting, who was taught by the best - her mother - who was a house maid (totally Downton Abbey style) in Northamptonshire England & her mother-in-law - who was a seamstress & made the finest dresses for high society in Sydney Australia.

 I grew up in a family where the boys matched our father's fashionable outfits & we girls matched our mother's colourful ensembles!!  It could be safari suits & mumus, or matchy matchy knitted jumpers, beautifully made, but surely we looked like a cult or Von Trapp family gone wrong.  The worst part was truly the hair cuts!! 

 Back to this little lamb - her dream is to spin her own wool off our sheepy fleece when we have a farm.  I can totally see her doing it too.  Only she wants to knit straight off the lamb, so she has a foot rest for comfort & a lamb for company!!

 Before i took these images i did spy on her first, she chatters away to herself & moves her mouth to the rhythmn of her knitting.  I do that when i cut fabric!!

 What a delightful evening in her own little world of craft.

I love that my children have been given the gift of handmade craft from my grandmothers down to my children.  Even my brothers can ice cakes & sew, knit & paint - often better than their wives!!  Generational craft, not only do you learn the skills but it's often the most memorable time you spend with family.  Love Posie

i'm grateful for . . . 'my inner '80s release'

Well hello ladies, or should i say laydeeez??

 My eldest brother's eldest daughter is having an 80's themed 21st party.  I was born in 1975 & can safely say i was spared the worst of the 1980's.  My big sister was modelling so i got her hand-me-downs & my friends would say "those red jeans are rad".  My husband remembers grey leather shoes & a matching skinny tie, shudder.  Even more shocking, he graduated high school in 1989 & was let loose in nightclubs wearing such fashion.  When i mentioned the '80's' theme, he suggested i swing by his parent's home to borrow his totally awesome leather jacket dude!!  After 18 years with this man, i never knew said jacket existed!!  What is next??  Sweat bands, leg warmers, a WHAM album??  He was still wearing hypercolour in 1994, it mysteriously went missing when we got married!! 

 Within minutes of tearing open the invitation, i was on line ordering Tshirts & $3 sunglasses for my children, having Pretty In Pink flash backs, Footloose was in my head & bad fashion had never been so much fun.  I rang my sister & was SHOCKED that she is considering not dressing up, like what, like not at, like all.  Not even a chunky lace Madonna tie in her hair.  

I'm so very Grateful (hello hostess Lemon Rhodes) to release my inner 80's with a sense of humour. 
Now i need your help, suggestions please, what do you remember of 80's fashion??  I'm thinking . . . strategically placed hair gel, bubble skirts, thick black elastic belts & fluoro colours.  One mum at school suggested anything flammable would be perfect. 
Can you remember words or sayings??  Like the Tshirt above, "Say It, Don't Spray It".  We could dress 80's & talk 80's too!!  Love Posie
PS i'll be back tonight after the Handmade Market day 1 - wish me extra luck now, my EFTPOS machine has been corrupted (as in the date says 1975, a fine year, but not for EFTPOS) & hopefully a kind ANZ IT guy will come to the market with a new money-taking-machine, it's happened before at a market, he was easy to find, the ONLY bloke at my stall!!