Hip hip horray!

Three chairs for our Celebration of Wool Day stall this weekend. $3 each from Salvos. Perfect for our Knit Cafe area and nicely timed as we held a planning meeting yesterday afternoon and realised we only had one folding chair amongst us that we could use...

I also picked up yet another retro teatowel plus a bird statue: $1 for both.The colours of the tea towel go nicely with the colours I chose to paint the knobs of the bamboo needles we'll have for sale on the stall:Speaking of needles - guess who picked up a pair of Brittany knitting needles for $2 while I was with her today? It's a pity they're not the right size for the twirly scarf, that would be beautifully poetic...

The Yarn Savant says

my "unidentified misty blue mystery yarn" is probably Jo Sharp Kid Mohair. I'm feeling like I have untapped Yarn Savant tendancies bubbling away and rather smug that my $5 investment netted $20 worth of mohair, $20 worth of Silkroad plus my lovely torties.

The unidentified misty blue mystery yarn has gone home with the Yarn Savant to become a Twisted Scarf, to be knitted while eating the dairy-free banana cake I made this afternoon. In return I get to lounge round on the sofa eating organic apple crumble she made while reading Vogue's 1953 corontation number which she gave me. I think that's a fair swap, don't you?

(And I almost forgot. Daisy Hoodie update: +31!)

A busy Sunday...

There was painting(including a giant thumbtack which I picked up yesterday at The Warehouse - a pack of three was $1.49 but alas they were pink, blue and green. Not any more. Weehee!)

There was sewing(three groovy green bags plus a new messenger bag for me which I've been wanting to make for ages. Perfect for work - pinstriped outside, houndstooth lining and a flower brooch to finish it off. I experimented with not using stiffening - not sure how I feel about it yet...)

There was cleaning and mowing.

There was sweeping and throwing.

And now to the kitchen I'm going! (Afternoon tea is required for this afternoon's meeting to discuss the finer points of next weekend's SnB stall at The Old Bus Depot Markets' Celebration of Wool Day.)

Random number generator

Today in numbers:

Knitting needle knobs painted: 13
Rows of daisy hoodie knitted: - 2 then + 5
States visited: 2
Op shops checked out: 4
Dollars spent at said op shops: $13
European river cruise catalogues drooled over: 1
Friends caught up with: 4
Christmas presents purchased: 3
New favourite CDs purchased: 1
Art galleries visited: 1
Percentage of today's To Do list marked off: 20
Bags sewn for next weekend's stall: 0
Interesting photos taken for my blog: 0

Yep, that pretty much covers it really...

Fussing with photos

I'm still trying to work my way through the pile of pictures I took at last weekend's show. I'm making progress but I don't see the end yet. If you're interested keep an eye on my Flickr album...

Minus 25

A row a day

Over lunch with m1k1 on Saturday I asked how the jumper she was knitting for DH was coming along as I'd seen lots of blogging of little things but no mention of the big thing.

Alas, it would seem it was ever so slightly stalled. As is my Daisy Hoodie.

So I opened my big mouth and heard the words "We could always make it a challenge you know, a row each a day in the hope we'll do more than just one row but even one measly row while standing in the kitchen waiting for the pasta water to boil has to add up eventually..." come out.

And she seemed to think it was a good idea.

Therefore I pledge to work a row a day on my damned Daisy Hoodie until it is done. Unfortunately I'll be unpicking a row a day at first as I continue to battle with the left front.

If you've got a stalled knitting project you'd like to kick in the rear end, feel free to join in!

Shop update complete

See here

A little lunchtime S.E.X.* did me the world of good...

I feel quite sated.

How much do you think you'd pay for 2 balls of Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed,just over 100g of an unidentified misty blue mystery yarn (which I'm sure the Yarn Savant could identify if I wave it in front of her), 4 pairs of torties and a single cream and black knitting needle? How does $5 for the lot sound?! (Obviously these weren't bought from Vinnies who seem to think $5 a pair is a perfectly reasonable price to charge for torties... Silly people.)

There was also 250g Patons Flair (60% mohair, 35% wool , 5% nylon) for $6:a vintage angel tea towel for $1 (check out the tootsies!)and a single sized cotton doona cover with surfboards all over it for $7.50:

(*Stash Enhancement Exercise, just in case you got the wrong idea...)

Triang Times (Part 2)

Imagine my surprise when I spotted another Triang House at last weekend's show! This one was not for sale (although that phrase about everything being for sale if the price is right did cross my mind) but rather was being displayed by The Thompsons.

The board you can see in the top right corner of the picture above shows how Richard recreated some of the missing windows in a very delicate looking exercise involving many layers of metal and intricate cutting out.

I could tell the house was much loved and was heartened to know that it would live on for many more years.(I did, of course , check out the possibility of them adopting me so I could inherit the house but that, alas, was no go...)

Wool you look at this?

More pictures from the weekend's miniature show:1. One of the Mini-Mad Mates girls hard at work behind their stall.2. And some of the items they had for sale (I was rather tempted by the black and white one...) 3. A cabled jumper which was for sale on Ayleen Coppard's stall (no web presence - what is it with these Kiwis not having websites?! I have an email address for her so contact me if you need it)4 and 5. Some Hotties in Handknits for Taph.

Triang Times (Part 1)

Do you remember how I said on Saturday that I found some very exciting things? Well this is what happened...

I was doing the speedy reconnaissance of the stalls when I first arrived (do you do that too? Whip around checking the lay of the land before slowing down and really looking (I start from the opposite end that every one else does - so for The London Dolls House Festival that meant the top floor and in Sydney it means the far back corner)). I was primarily looking for the one or two stalls I know stock vintage furniture and sometimes have 1/16th scale. And then I saw this vision of loveliness:(OK, it really looked like this but still!) A stall full of vintage heaven including a vintage Triang dolls house (which instantly made me realise the lost MacGregor house was probably not a Triang after all) plus a similarly designed vintage dolls house by Amershamand Dolly Daydreams house plus a Gottschalk blue roof which I got to gingerly stroke* (once I'd asked permission, of course!)

The Triang and the Maison de Poupees were quite famous as they'd been displayed at the 1999 exhibition at Elizabeth Bay House in Sydney - and here's a shot of the book with the houses (thanks to the random woman I accosted when I saw she'd just been given a copy of the book as a birthday gift and dragged over to "meet" the houses contained within)Did I buy the house? Alas no, much as I wanted to.

It was out of the price range of an impulse purchase no matter how beautiful it was, how wonderfully original the interiors were (including the vintage curtains at the windows) or how perfect the furniture I had at home would have been for it. I consoled myself by believing (hoping?!) that if I had a windfall which made it possible to shoehorn it into my budget (and into my house) it would still be waiting for me. Little House, don't despair, I know where you are!(* I also stroked a Gottschalk on a visit to Kirstin Baybar's' amazing shop in London)

This is what put me over budget yesterday

A new Fair Isle vest by IGMA Artisan Helen Palenski*, perfect for autumn.

Are you as amazed as I am at the intricate workmanship involved? Are you also as amazed as I am that this work of art cost a mere $30 (I told her off for underpricing severely)

I don't know if I should frame it or put it in my bachelor pad...

(*no web presence but I have an email address if you want to contact her)

Saturday in Sydney

The first weekend in May can only mean one thing - time for this year's trip to The Sydney Dolls House and Miniatures Show.

I had a brilliant day. Spent $30 over budget thanks to a friendly enabler (who also provided me with an early birthday present.) Found some very exciting things. Caught up with lots of lovely people. And took lots and lots (and lots!) of photos.

But now it is late and I'm tired so you will have to wait to the morning to learn more. In the meantime here's a (taken at night, in the lid of my best "travelling miniatures" box) picture of some of the things I bought: (notes here).

And what I think will be my favorite photo from the ones I took today:

Come what May...

Is it just me or did April speed past at the speed of light?

I'm pretty happy with what I managed to achieve from my list though. Black and White Swap done and dusted (with the largest number of participants yet), 6 art books read (OK, make that 6 art books started and 4 finished), the overlocker got a work out (and there was the start of a shop update!), I made it to see Juno, Dr Plonk and I'm not there (as well as an unplanned viewing of Jumper) and although I haven't yet finished the daisy hoodie I've worked out the solution to the problem that's been holding me up for months.

So onwards and upwards, here's my list for May:

Reading theme:
Modernism (finally)Movies to see at ANU Film Group:
Atonement, Elizabeth: the Golden Age, a double feature of Control and 24 Hour Party People (both of which I've seen but it's such a brilliant double feature idea I have to go see them again), and The Jane Austen Book Club. If I manage all of them my cost per view will be down to $4.62. Excellent.

Exciting things I'm doing this month:
* Hosting a visit by the curator and exhibition installer at CMAG to discuss some finer points about my exhibition.
* Going on a day trip to Sydney for the Sydney Miniature Show.
* Being part of a team running a stall at the Old Bus Depot Markets' Celebration of Wool day.
* Taking my first ever self-driven road trip by car* to Melbourne for my birthday, Eurovision and (hopefully) some major frugalling adventures along the way.

I think I need a lie down now!

(*Note the qualification self-driven road trip by car. I've done a road trip by scooter. I've been a passenger on a couple of road trips but this'll be the first time it's just me, Miss Daisy, and a list of op shops between here and Melbourne)

30 Day Macro Challenge

1. Thread 3, 2. Too-small socks for a two year old's birthday, 3. Pink bubbles, 4. Fading flowers, 5. Happy Spider hand dye 1, 6. Serviced, 7. Daylight saving 2008, 8. Miniature clocks, 9. Read every day, 10. In the laundry, 11. Black and white, 12. Alligator purse, 13. Vintage buttons, 14. White robot, 15. Freshly ironed, 16. Round and pointy, 17. Moonlit attic, 18. My friend Liberty, 19. Fishy fishy fishy, 20. Wire Chrysler, 21. Humbug, 22. Spider web, 23. Blue and white china, 24. Comfy, 25. Carved flower, 26. Morning tea, 27. Morning sun, 28. Hot chocolate and marshmallows, 29. Kiwi biscuits, 30. Pears real and not

It's d...d...d...definitely Autumn

Gorgeous light and orange leaves? Crunching through the fallen acorns when you leave the driveway?

Check.Pulling out the woollies and lighting the pilot light on the gas heater?

Check. Mandarins in the fruit bowl, brussel sprouts in the fridge and the urge to make lentil bolognaise and drink red wine?

Check. Random garden picture just because I think it looks pretty?

Check!

Material pleasures

I was a lucky girl indeed this weekend, starting on Thursday (yes I know Thursday's not really the weekend but since Friday was a public holiday I'm taking poetic licence) when I found this at Vinnies in Chatswood:Pure cotton, $3 for a single sheet and pillowcase. I'm trying to decide if that's John Taylor or Mark Knofler...

They also had a MIP 1970s purple flowery king sized sheet set (with two fitted sheets - how weird is that?) but wanted $30 for it. Since it was polycotton (and very expensive) I left it behind.

On Saturday The Duchess of Mosmania gave me a couple of lengths of fabric out of her trunk plus a couple of good classic Vogue patterns (yes, we actually managed to pull ourselves away from various generations of Star Trek!)Then, on Sunday, Taph came round with this beautiful pile of barkcloth which she said wanted to live with me, not her...I wasn't about to argue.

But that wasn't all she had for me! She also gave me a vintage Terence Conran soft furnishings book (she knows how much I love Conran and has been listening to me banging on about wanting this book), 4 old Martha Stewart Living mags (which will be read and passed on) plus a long length of cream fringing.

I'm trying to decide if this is my favorite piece:or this:And for your material pleasure (as it were) a sneak preview of my Mothers' Day range of Groovy Green bags. I'll let you know when they're up in my Made It store.

Black and white bliss

One of the bonuses of staying on the other side of the harbour is the trip to the airport. Which can, quite conceivably, include a wee jaunt across the sea on a Sydney Ferry thus fulfilling the urge to cruise. Ever so slightly. But for $5.20 (claimable) I can't really complain, can I?Especially when it's a glorious afternoon and I get to cruise past this:and this:And get back to Canberra in time to see this at the ANU Film Group:

A Sydney sojourn

The view from my hotel room The Duchess of Mosmania's apartment where we've spent Anzac Day propped up on comfy chairs watching The Sci Fi channel on cable TV with masses of packets of Tim Tams calling us from the fridge.

If that wasn't enough she's promised a cleanout of her fabric stash tomorrow morning. Bliss!