Happy New Year

The bag model :)

One of my bags

Pea pancakes

Lemon cake

The Raw Food Kitchen

 

A few bits of delicious Liberty Tana Lawn from a visit to Materialise

Hello from my little plot!  I'm back to the rhythm of my normal life after a wonderful 10 days of flying by the seat of my pants. Days spent doing things on a whim.  It was pure delicious-ness to throw routine out the window and move easily through my day.  A dear, dear friend came to visit, which was so special - we had such an amazing few days.  We did not stop talking as we explored, drove, ate, cooked, walked, swam, shopped, drank. We had so much catching up to do.  I have known Sal from the day she was born (I'm a little bit older!) so our families have a long shared history. It was incredible to have time together - it was the first time Sal had left all 3 of her children, in 13 years.  It filled up our souls, reaffirmed our friendship and sparked all our creative juices.  Sal is the most wonderful person, with an incredible ability to live a truly creative life.  I love her to pieces. Our time together is something I will treasure forever.

I sent her off with one of my bags, and forced her to model it for me in the above picture.  It looked so great with her outfit!  Much better than the table pic, don't you think?  The food pics were taken as we ate our way around Perth.  Everything pictured is gluten free - from Sayers Sister in North Perth and The Raw Kitchen in Fremantle.  All of it was a taste sensation.  Sal and I talked food and nutrition a lot and have decided to share recipes across the country. I've sent off the first one, which is roast potatoes with prunes from the Jerusalem cookbook.  I made them one night and served them alongside Jamie Oliver's lamb with a green leafy salad.  Dessert was one of my small Christmas cakes - another success!  See pictures below...I can't take credit for the potato shot - it's from the cookbook....but the Christmas cake is my pic.

Potatoes and Prunes in caramel sauce from Jerusalem by Ottolenghi

Recipe from Cake Angels by Julie Thomas.

As you can see it was a bit of a foodie-fest!

Bon appetite...until next time.....

Just had to share....

http://foxesoffancy.com/collections/frontpage/products/market-to-market-stripey-tote

the photos make them look so yummy don't you think?...

A new bag is on the needles

Lately I've had lots of new bag style ideas swimming around in my little brain.  Colours, dimensions, names, patterns, yarns.  It's a total creative buzz high!!  It's consuming me and I can't knit fast enough to see them all into fruition!!  I knit a row and look at the colours and just get more excited as it grows and evolves into my vision.  Ah I love the creative process, it makes me feel alive and like skipping everywhere!!!

There's a couple on the needles, but this is the one I'm concentrating on... here's a sneak peak.  It will change so much between now and being finished and that is so exciting...exactly what will it look like finished ... will the felting process fuse it and transform it as I imagine.  I won't know 'til it's done, so I'd better get back to the knitting!!!

It already looks different....I'm using up all the scraps...  Project Delete Wool Reserves  is making progress.

Bags for Sale...?



Stripey Uni Tote with shoulder straps and large wooden button

 


To Market To Market Large Stripey Bag

 


Miss Grey Mist lined with Liberty Tana Lawn, with wooden flower button.

 


 Here are a few bags from my collection, left over from my days of market stalls.  I'm taking them to a local shop http://www.foxesoffancy.com/ to show the girls to see if they might like to stock them for me.  I popped into the shop the other day - I just came across it whilst out for a jaunt with my crafty friend for coffee and fabric ooooh-ggling.  A wonderful shop supporting locals artists and craftspeople. 

Anyhoo, I have a crate full of bags and thought it might be the time to part with them, I'd better record them photographically first. Just in case I ever get orders....




Miss Ochre Purple

 

My mother the artiste...

Well I suppose I've blogged more this month than I have for many other months...does that count...am I slightly more back in the habit? I hope so...i don't know my life is busy although I still think I was time at times. Time is precious and not every day do I make the most of it. So much of it (my time) is dictated to with work, family, commitments and then sometimes I'm the kind of person that just needs to be for 5 minutes. Today I had 1/2 hour between a drop off and pick up so I got on the computer checked emails, read a few blogs then waiting for something to down load i played scrabble. 15 minutes later I was still trying to win a game against the computer and my mind is saying to me...susan stop your time is precious and here you are wasting it playing computer scrabble...what about all the creative projects you were going to do tonight...see you''re your own worst enemy...anyway I played for a while it's still open on my computer and now I beat myself up about wasting my precious time...I think I'm going mad or already mad...Anyway by coincidence the pic I've uploaded is one of my mum's creations. My mother - Christine West - of Birregurra is a textile artist. Her talents are boundless and she is a particularly wonderful felter. The hat is just one of many on display in her studio. She is so creative and inspriring and I doubt would get distracted by solitaire, but I will ask her and check with her on "Distractions from tasks on hand" and not just laborious houseworking tasks but genuine creative, fill my heart with energy and happiness projects. I'd be interested to hear from other struggling creatives - is that what I am? Do other people do the same - do they find themselves off on some irrelevant path when that's not where they want to be. Perhaps today it's a fatigue factor - I'm feeling tired and now going to head to bed and read?

Round and round the garden market totes

Absence from blogland doesn't mean absence from craft and here's proof - 2 of my market totes. The earthy one inspired by the colours of the pilbara in the north of the state and the bumble bee (or jaundiced zebra as I like to call it) - inspired by ...well ...um ...I'm not sure exactly...just colour play really. I love picking up the skeins - starting with one and adding another and another, discarding one, trying another, until I have about 4 left cradled in my arms by then I'm in a frenzy of excitement and can't wait to cast on; then I can't wait for the first colour change, then the second....round and round the garden until the bag is finished. Then the metamorphis magic of felting them. They truly take on a whole new character - the original bag has melded into a new form. I love it! I positively skip and dance around the washing machine and as I shape and stuff them. I admire them from lots of angles at morning and night whilst they dry... I know I'm talking to those that understand - you do don't you?

I love the idea of going to my local farmer's market at Clontarf and coming home with them stuffed with organically grown goodies...can't you just see the celery and silverbeet and baguette sticking out the top? Freshly brewed and fragrant coffee in the other hand and a delicious bakery treat to enjoy when I get home.. what a perfect start to the weekend on a Saturday morning. My bags are for sale at my stall - not that I've had one for a while - but I think I'm getting inspired again to stock a stall.

My Jackie O Range

Okay, I've figured away 'round my dysfunctional camera - use the office one! This is what I've called my Jackie O bag. I've made about 6 of them (green, red and black not shown). Each one has its own button that I hand pick to suit the bag's personality. I've recorded the pattern for this one too so that I can remake them again and again and again. The pink one was the first. The button was a "find" in a vintage shop it Sydney. No more to be found - should have bought 2 of them! The bag sold at its first stall! I get so excited just thinking about other colours and trims. The red bag has a sparkly diamante belt buckle for a little bit of added bling!

Favourite Bag

I love this bag. There was no pattern. I just picked a colour from my stash and cast on and went 'round and 'round changing the colours at random until I thought "right that's it" and cast off. I sold it before it was even finished as I took it as a UFO to work on whilst I ran the stall one day.

Me thinks I might make a few more. I've been without a camera for months now so getting photos of all projects has been an involved process so I haven't bothered most of the time. Luckily I had the foresight to borrow one to photograph this bag. I love the colours - I love just looking at the colours. Is it just me or do they sing?

Market Day

This year I've realised a long held dream...a market stall! The first day was fantastic. It was a real thrill and a truly positive experience. The response to my bags and artwork was wonderful. Now I'm wondering why I waited so long. It has opened up a whole new creative phase which is a by-product I hadn't expected. I am truly inspired with ideas jumping all around in my brain. There simply aren't enough hours in a day at the moment.

Pink black tote

I made this for a friend whose signature colour is pink. I used 2 slightly different shades and knitted them together to get the flecked tweedy look.

Felted knitty tote

Refer previous post 15 March...this is the felted result

Mother daughter pair

So here are a couple of bags in the same colourways in different sizes.
I loved making the random stripes, just changing colour when I felt like it or the scrap wool ran out!

I think I realised I was an addict when..... my sister told me to "Step away from the washing machine". I can't do it. I LOVE the felting process.