our creative space 'rhino repair'

Greetings all,

Meet Berri, he's the green rhino (or rhino-saurus as he's know in these parts) from Berrima NSW.  It's not often my 3rd girl asks for anything but she positively would not budge on the concept of living life without this knitted rhino when she spied him one school holidays on the way home from Bowral. 
As what happens with much-loved-softies, they show wear & tear, like an amputated limb, missing eye or grow threadbare.  When my sweet girl showed Kylie . . . wonder knitter, crochet queen & softie surgeon . . . Berri's injuries from too much love, Kylie too him away in her ambulance/ family ute.

My daughter sat by my mobile waiting for news when he was out of surgery.  Then magically we got the SMS saying he was fine & ready for delivery (in a mere 24 hours).

Can you believe the amazing job Kylie did??  She even delivered him home with a 'Berri Repair Kit' for future injuries due to too many hugs.

Look at those eyes, oh, doesn't he look so much happier??  Ditto for my daughter.  So yet another brilliant reason to visit Brisbane, Kylie is there at the ready, able to fix anything & everything.  Love you Kylie!!  Thanks so much, happy creating spacing on Thursday everyone, love Posie

our creative space 'hooking & knitting'

Greetings all,

Wow, what a fantastic lesson with Kylie from Mealy&i - i can officially crochet a Granny Square!!  I have a lot to master - tension, shape, consistency . . . but how exciting, it's so much fun & we made good use of my new selection of hooks & bundles of yarn.

Look at these cute 'stage' examples Kylie made for the lesson demonstration & my very first square, glee!!

 It's so darn magical how a circle becomes a square!!

 Kylie had to teach us to knit before i finished my square, so i am not 100% certain i finished it off properly, might have to consult a tutorial + it's a great excuse to catch up with Kylie again & build on my crochet skill set??

 Pretty pleased with myself, it was so much fun!!

 The purpley one is Kylie's handy work, note tension perfection & man she's speedy!!

 All the children got involved, some stopping at chain stitch & making bracelets as their current crochet lesson limit for the school holidays. 

 Then the knitting lesson commenced in the early afternoon - yes, middle daughter declared it a pyjama day & remained in her Peter Alexanders, knitting in comfort.

 My keen French knitting 3rd daughter was very excited to learn knitting too.  Children really only need those 20cm long needles, the ones i brought along were way too long, she's not knitting a blanket, just learning!!

I soon discovered, even after a good 20 years of zero knitting to my name, i picked it up like riding a bike!!  I'm just playing, i want the skills to share with my children, not to knit commercially.  I was thrilled with how quickly it came back to me, even casting on with my hands (Kylie showed me how to cast on with my thumb & 1 needle, which i excelled at, handy when i have to cast on for 4 children too!!)   
Thank you Kylie, you are a delightful teacher & dear patient friend, i'm loving my new lounge craft hobby.  No doubt there is more crochet & knitting action over at Kootoyoo & Our Creative Space this Thursday.  Special mention to Kirsty at Kootoyoo (Queen of tiny crochet perfection) - my youngest daughter wanted to start crochet with a 2mm hook & i said "oh, you're aiming at Kootoyoo dizzy heights already".  Love Posie   

i'm grateful for 'loving & wonderful friends'

Greetings all,
You know that feeling when you've had huge highs & incredible lows, all in one week . . . this is that kind of roller coaster week.  The highs - Sew It Together & IKEA Sleepover + a visit from my beloved husband . . . then the lows - my friend, a mother of four who is fighting breast cancer, lost her young teenage son & my darling Corrie from Retro Mummy, her beautiful mother passing away.  I've been trudging through my routine of housewifery with little enthusiasm this week, i'm so sad for my heart broken friends.
My week has been busy, distracting me from the sadness.  We've had the athletics carnival; i ran the BBQ lunch; i attended a little market; 3 days at Shop Handmade.  All involved wonderful old friends & amazing new friends, who understood this underlying deep sadness i am feeling.  I laughed with Ainslee on the treadmills while our children did Zumba . . . LAUGH = pant-wetting-listening to her Saturday night adventure on Stallions Afloat.  Picture 100 women on 5 different hens' nights mixed with fully nude strippers on Sydney harbour for 5 hours & unlimited alcohol.   

 I'm grateful for my wonderful & loving friends, when i'm down, they really notice, they share, listen & cry with me!!  Most of all, it's so totally OK to be sad, flat, devestated.

An especially amazing friend is Kylie from Mealy&i/ Mealy Bug Creations.  She remembered that I support Heads Up, a cancer support Shop & group run by Navy wife Sue. Kylie is a darling long time crafty gal pal Army wife i met up with at Sew It Together & she handed over a selection of gorgeous handmade head wear for the Heads Up Shop. They sell 'head fashion' & teach the beautiful ladies who are going through chemotherapy, how to rock a new style of head wear.   

 Models were not hard to find, they love the styles.

 This gorgeous beanie will be very appreciated in Canberra Winter.

 They also sell quality handmade products for cancer patients to purchase, as getting to the shops might not be possible, or they want gifts for their children too - love this chin strap style!!

I remember my mother-in-law playing around with scarves, hats & wigs, she had the most amazing blue eyes like my 3rd daughter (above).  Sadly she didn't win her battle. 

 I bet Kylie didn't reckon on this combination??

These are going to the Heads Up Shop at Calvary Hospital in Canberra.

 Here is the lovely, sweet, kind hearted Kylie avec moi at Sew It Together last Saturday in Sydney.  She's so much fun - anyone who met their husband by running over them with their car - has plenty of funny stories to share.  I'm trying to encourage her husband to post to Canberra so we can play, craft & laugh together more often.  Love you Kylie, you're a doll.

So thank you my dear, loving & wonderful friends, you're truly appreciated.  I'm so incredibly lucky to know so many amazing, clever & thoughtful ladies in this world - they are so supportive when i'm worried about my mum's Alzheimers or my husband in a war zone, where would we be without our amazing friends, on line, bloggie & in real life??  Wishing you lovely Gratefuls this weekend.  Love Posie