Sneaking up to Santa Time

I'm at that slightly frustrating time in the making calendar for someone who loves to blog. It's nearly Christmas. I'm doing lots of making, but it's mainly for gifts. And I hate to spoil the surprise for my friends. At the same time I don't like to leave a blank here either. So I guess I'll post the occasional sneak peak.

This migrated from my knitting needles to my blocking board this morning, via a warm soak in the bathroom basin. Tomorrow I'm hoping to turn it into its final form.

 

Just to complicate matters, it seems that either my computer or my internet connection doesn't want to play nicely this morning. So I may need to shift my focus there. That's not nearly as much fun as making gifts!

Roses Galore

I'm continuing to make hand-dyed cotton roses. Meanwhile the garden is bursting into bloom.

So I have fabric roses on my table and recently picked rose blossoms hanging to dry. That's the next step of this year's Christmas pot pourri underway. I've been drying orange peel for quite a while already. 

Sparkle

My Christmas this year was hosted by the next generation. It was peaceful and beautiful. J did a fantastic job of decorating to really make the occasion.

She has dreams of working in interior design--it seems to me she has what it takes with creative flair and an eye for detail. Thanks for having us J and A!

Christmas Classics

'Tis the season for making pretty things . . .

. . . and for keeping secrets!

Just a teaser today before I head back to the studio.

Pretties

It's a week until Christmas and there's lots to do, but I haven't got today planned out very well. It's going to be a hot day. I have some gifts to make and the studio would be the ideal place. I have plenty of pretties.

Unfortunately I'm missing some of my basic jewellery findings and supplies. I'm guessing I didn't replentish my tool box after my last creative burst--whenever that was. That means I need to go shopping, which at this time of the year is not my favourite activity. I'll have to think about how I can fit everything in without getting too hot and bothered. Meanwhile I'll brew myself another coffee. Hopefully I can get a bit of focus and make myself a list.

Assembly Required

I picked up some Christmas baubles from the market section of my favourite Swedish flat-pack-furniture store the other day. I'm a fan of their DIY style of doing things and pride myself on my capacity to interpret various complicated diagrams, but I hadn't really expected this: When I opened the pack yesterday, there was the instruction page, complete with safety warning, and yes, some assembly was required! No allen key though.

As it turned out, putting together the Christmas baubles was one of the easier aspects of my day. A friend who was here for lunch and has only recently come out of hospital, found the pressure of the day all too much . . . even my quiet, no frills Christmas with his favourite goodies. He asked to be taken back to his unit just as I'd finished setting out the meal. Unfortunately when we got there, the staff had taken the few remaining clients out to lunch, and the gate was locked. So we walked around for more than an hour until someone arrived. What can I say? . . . humans are so much more complicated in the way they're put together and don't come with instruction sheets.

Peace on Earth

The texture of this bauble made me think of those satellite pictures of earth. I'm posting this pic with my Christmas greetings and a prayer that the message of peace will be more than just one of the trimmings of Christmas . . . please!

All that Glitters

I'm home for Christmas this year. That hardly ever happens. What's more I will have at least one guest young enough to enjoy the idea of decorating a Christmas tree. Last weekend I bought a tree: admittedly a small artificial one at a reduced price. Not really my first preference, but it got me going. The next question, where to start with decorations? I'm not really the tinsel type. What about a smooshy yarn with silver spangles? There just happened to be a bag of it in the clearance rack at the craft store: I've got lights. I've got silver baubles. I've been making beaded angels for years, so there are a few of those hanging around the house. They can go on the tree. I've got some glass DIY baubles too and glue and paint and glitter to pretty them up with. I think I have the makings of sparkly Christmas that's conventional enough to be easily recognised, and individual enough to make me happy too. Now to put it all together over the next few days.

Workshop

I have shelves--a whole wall of shelves! It took most of the day, but that part of the job is done: Working in the Studio not only protected me from the occasional showers, but meant I had easy access for measuring and adjusting as I went along. The biggest challenge was the corner shelf. You can see it in the far right of the pic. I'm glad to see how accurate it looks from this perspective, since it cost me a fair bit of effort. The reality is less precise, but I won't care about that once I load it up with boxes and bits. That's today's task, but first there's some cleaning up to do.

My friend L is dropping in this afternoon with some jewellery that needs repairs and adjustments. I'll see whether I'm up to doing that in the studio or back on the kitchen table. And I need to buy a Christmas tree and some trimmings. That sounds like quite enough for one day.

Christmas Time

There's some sort of strange time phenomenon that occurs at this time of year. Life seems to slow down and speed up in rather disconcerting ways. All of a sudden it's a week before Christmas and I'm nowhere near ready for it.

I can't quite remember the circumstances in which I made this little crochet heart. I do remember it was Christmas time and I must have been in some sort of time bubble, because there are an awful lot of little stitches there. It's come to light this week while I'm packing and moving. What started as the Studio project has resulted in practically my entire house being rearranged. I guess that just underlines how much difference it's going to make to have space set aside for all my creative stuff. Of course when this phase is done, I'll have a spare bedroom to set up, but that will be next year. For now I need to move enough stuff to make a welcoming space for some Christmas festivities. And arrange the studio space well enough that I can complete some of the gifts I have planned.

Try Again

I like to make Christmas gifts. It seems more personal and it's definitely more fun than the dreaded "Christmas Shopping". On the other hand, there's the need to design something new each year and often last minute crafting sessions to get things finished on time. So when I came up with the idea of a Christmas Star flower recently I decided to go with it. I made a first attempt yesterday:It didn't really turn out the way I envisaged. I haven't shown the whole flower because I'm still hoping to get it right and use it for gifts. The main trouble spots are the ways the various petals interact--the proportions and the angles aren't working the way I want. I'm going to try again. Meanwhile, as often happens, the process of starting something has kicked my imagination into action and I'm thinking of other possibilites and starting some different gift projects. Just as well and in a month or so it will be time for that last minute burst of activity.

More Christmas

They say, "Christmas comes but once a year". Somehow this year mine is extending beyond the usual limits. One of my gifts on Christmas morning was a bright, original, creative gift voucher. It was so nicely done that it would have made a gift in itself, but it actually had money in it too. My friend A knew that I would like a textile book as my gift, but they don't have a good range of those where she lives. Since she's only 16 and works hard for her money, I particularly appreciated her generosity. This week the Guild Craft Supply is open again. The voucher felt so special, that I took the whole thing along with me to chose a book. I'm not sure that the women on duty quite knew what to make of it: it's big and bright and was quite obvious in my hands. I found this book on sock knitting: It fits all my criteria for a good textile book: clearly and attractively presented, with lots of principles and techniques and a few good examples of work. It seems to cover all the basics of knitting socks, plus contains lots of scope for exploring and designing my own.

I've been wanting to learn to knit socks for a few years now. The major impediment--apart from my usual preoccupations and distractions--is the fact that I normally knit with a needle under my arm. That just doesn't go with the 4 double pointed needles required to knit a sock. I've gradually been getting used to using circular needles and am just about ready to try the double pointed ones again. Of course, my usual preoccupations and distractions haven't gone away; and I do have the work for my Spinning Certificate folio to get done, but now I have one more valuable resource to help me, and the added motivation of a happy Christmas gift to encourage me on my way.

Christmas Brew

It's Christmas already--since I'm heading off to Queensland for a few days today, the preparation time is practically over. I had grand plans for making things for my friends, but the reality has been rather more limited. What I did manage was a big batch of Christmas pot pourri. It's been fun watching people sniff appreciatively and try to work out the ingredients:

• rose petals from my garden before the weeds took over
• rosemary, also from my garden--it's the only plant that's really thriving at the moment
• orange peel
• lavender oil
• cloves
• cinnamon bark
• green cardamom
• star anise
• oris root powder as a "fixative"

Sorry, the blog doesn't come with a smell widget, but try to imagine the scent in my sewing room where I've been assembling the sachets!

It's That Time of Year

Finishing the work for my weaving folio feels a bit like coming up for air after a dive that was just a bit too long. I'm trying to clear my vision and breathe deeply. One thing I've noticed so far is that it's almost Christmas already. This window display greeted me on Rathdown St on the weekend:

The creator is from Gollings Florist. They do things I would never have imagined possible with flowers--botanical sculpture really.

Christmas of course means gifts, so I'd better put my thinking cap on and decided what I need to buy and what I'd like to make for the people in my life. Yesterday I got as far as nearly clearing my big table. That might not sound like much, but it's like a physical way of clearing my head. Alright, I admit, there's still a small pile of bits and pieces in one corner--I guess it's rather tidier than my head, OK!