Lucy Bad Dog

New Toy Frenzy

2012-01-16T20:44:00.000+11:00

I said ages ago I would show off my new toy.

I have wanted one of these babies for so long. I have been making bags for the market which look like this.

I was going to put off the purchase until I could afford some digitising software because the designs that come with the machine are so awful. Then I discovered Urban Threads who have heaps of totally brilliant designs and they are happy for you to put them on things you are going to sell.

I made his one for myself, I changed the colours around to something a bit more vibrant.

I also made some plain bags to see how the would go at the market.

I made Jenny's dog Bizzy a little jumper - she is a trembler.

I also finished Scott's second red rug.

UFOs

2011-10-23T22:26:00.001+11:00

I just don't seem to be getting things finished at the moment so I thought I would take a moment to celebrate some of my many UFOs. These are just the ones that have a good chance of being finished in the nearish future - there are many many more languishing in tubs just waiting for me to dig them out and get working.

Oddly enough I dug this one out of a UFO tub but I have no idea why it was there, it is huge already and perfectly useful as a rug to snuggle up under on the couch. It is a prime number rug - every prime numbered ring is in red. I guess it could just keep getting bigger and bigger which would be cool, maybe one day when I have some free time.

This one is a kit I got from Prudence Mapstone at the last craft show I attended, basically some wools and a pattern for the square, you just mix and match colours as you please. The yarn is Freetrade alpaca and is wonderfully soft. he colours are not those that I would choose if left to myself but the work together wonderfully and I can't wait to see it finished.

I have just started work on the next round of crochet creatures and have been experimenting with feathers. Trying to expand on the Gol Goroth design and work more detail into the wing structure and feathers. I have a long way to go.

This is the beginning of a fantastic retro cardigan, I have only completed the front panels so far. I am using a thicker ply than the original pattern to try and get it large enough to fit me - so far I think it is going to work.

I had enough wool left from Scott's lace rug to make another so started a different pattern from a doily book - it does not have that far to go I should really try and get it done before the weather gets too warm. You really can't tell what the pattern looks like now it needs to be blocked before it will kook any good.

And lastly my African Flower rug (actually I do seem to have an awful lot of rugs on the go - I can think of at least three more that have not made it here) inspired by Pandatomic a Flickr contact who does absolutely marvelous crochet work.

Anyway that is just a few of the things I am pottering around with at the moment. Later this week I will tell you about my new toy and share some of the things I have been making with it.

Saturday Llama Frenzy

2011-09-10T18:04:00.000+10:00

Spring has sprung and with the wet winter we have had the citrus trees are going crazy.

My Seville Orange is fruiting for the first time.

Still a small tree so not quite enough for marmalade but looking good.

The lime tree has also produced its first fruit.

The lemon tree is also producing heaps of fruit including this fabulous mutant.

I had my first go at mitred knitting and made Scott some gauntlets. It is really fun to do but a little tricky to get the finish up to standard.

I think they look kind of like something Link from Zelda would wear.

One of Scott's co-workers has been ordering purses from me so I have made another veggie burger purse.

And another apple slice purse, unfortunately I did not get a photo of the first one I made before I sold it

The worm was a special request.

I really like the colours in the red yarn.

I have been hard at work making market stock and have now made enough components to offer custom sandwich purses. I have made centers with the purse frames of cheese, bacon, tofu and burger. People can then choose from white or brown bread and add other things like tomato, lettuce, beetroot, cucumber and cheese. I sew them all together in a few minutes and voila your very own sandwich purse. I will try and get a picture of them all laid out nicely at the next market.

This month's market went surprisingly well considering it was so windy I had to pin all my stock onto the table to stop it from blowing away. I have to get really busy, Christmas is not that far away and I need to make as much stock as I can.

We had a great day today. Scott and Jenny and I went to Croydon to the Farmer's Market and the new Art Attack market that has started up. It was a bit windy, wet and miserable but it was good to hang out. afterwards we went back to Jenny's for tea and to collect this beautiful item.

Scott had been admiring Jenny's blue eyed llama sculpture every time we went over, so when we were visiting at the last Open Studio I told Jenny I wanted to buy it for him. Unfortunately (or fortunately as it turned out) Jenny's husband David sold the original sculpture later that day - he did not know I had intended to buy it. Anyway it turned out for the best because Jenny made this one especially for Scott, and there is nothing like having a talented artist make something just for you.

I love Jenny's work there is just something about her faces that is magic (she did the blue guardian sprit that I have posted about before).

A Little More Holiday

2011-08-06T15:14:00.002+10:00

I never did finish of showing you the holiday snaps - largely because I hurt my back again and have been avoiding sitting at the computer, all is on the mend now after a bit of rest.

After Auckland we went to Rotorua where there is boiling mud:

and thermal pools with geysers:

Of course the pictures don't really do justice to the amazing eddying movement of the steam, or the plopping and hissing and whooshing, or the sulphureous smell for that matter.

Rotorua is also home to the Te Puia school of Maori carving and weaving where we saw lots of amazing work and I had a great discussion with an Aunty about working with New Zealand flax which has resulted in all sorts of interesting ideas.

Maori are the only polynesian culture to carve spirals and curves rather than just straight lines, and are they ever good at it.

After Rotorua we headed down the west coast making our way towards Wellington. I was very excited by the sight of my first snow covered mountain. In Australia you have to go up and up and up to even get near the snow, but in New Zealand you can be trundling along through farmland minding your own business - and bang all of a sudden there is a bloody great mountain.

We spent most of a day driving around this beauty - it was spectacular. We ended up in a tiny little seaside town called Otaki, no phone signal and one corner shop. Dinner was horrible but there were other things that made it more than worth while.

Once we got back I finished Scott's rug. Before blocking...

...and after...

A Little Holiday

2011-07-17T17:27:00.002+10:00

I know it is kind of sad to reach my age without ever going overseas before, but we just had our first holiday away together in years and my first trip overseas. Not terribly adventurous, only New Zealand but it is a start. It was also the first time we have both been away from the dogs, but thanks to some magnificent house sitting by Wendy and Bevan (thanks so much guys) it all went well.

The first three days were in Auckland where Scott was attending a conference. He usually seems to end up staying in horrible places but this time the organisers recommended some nice apartments. We were up on the hill with a fabulous view of the bay.

We were at the top of K'Road which is arty and funky like the Windsor end of Chapel Street when in was cool. We found a cool lowbrow gallery called Rebel Yell where I met Polly Zee who makes totally cool monsters. You can see more of her work here (I so want the Two Face toy), I could not resist bringing Cyril & Cecil home.

Scott wagged the second day of the conference and we went to the Zoo and saw lots of cool animals.

A Galapagos Tortoise enjoying the morning sunshine.

A Spider Monkey. The Zoo has a quite a large population 0n an island and they were playing like crazy in the trees jumping and wrestling and swinging off each other. A bit hard to get pictures as the sun was in the wrong direction and they are very fast.

Golden Lion Tamarins are my favourite monkeys ever they are so tiny and have such wicked little faces. You can never get good pictures at the Melbourne Zoo because they are always behind mesh.

Cotton Top Tamarin.

A baby Orang Utan.

An insolent Lemur, although lets face it they're pretty belligerent.

For once the tiger was not sleeping up the back and had quite a boisterous play session with the super heavy duty cat toy hanging in the enclosure.

A beautiful elephant (I love elephants) we want to go back because they have a close encounter scheme where you can pay lots of money (which goes to elephant conservation) to help wash the elephants - how cool.

Rhinos are so adorable when they play, they get all prancy and gambol around - there is something about an animal of that size bouncing around all perky (Corto is bit the same).

Anyway that was Auckland, next time bits and pieces from the rest of the trip and some knitting projects finished.

Finally Cthulhu Gets Out of Bed

2011-06-13T12:53:00.004+10:00

I forgot that I never got proper pictures of Cthulhu all finished to put up here - he went straight to the exhibition.

From behind you can see his butt dimples.

I also finished the Wool Leaves throw from a pattern by the always amazing Jared Flood. I blocked it but it looks like I did not stretch it tightly enough as it has started to wrinkle back up again.

New Things

2011-05-22T20:55:00.002+10:00

Nothing finished since the exhibition went up, I have been madly nesting postponed knitting projects over the last couple of weeks and now have about 6 on the go at once. The exhibition has been going well, I have had lots of positive feedback and even made the front page of the local newspaper.

I had a birthday along the way and scored some lovely things. Mum made me a mosaic house number, which she and Greg installed when they visited for the exhibition opening. It is beautiful, although you can't really see the details in this picture.

Greg came home with this fabulous metal mermaid who has made a home in the garden.

Scott found this amazing Victorian watch fob, apparently you clip it to your pocket and attach a little upside down watch to the chain (like a nurses watch). It is hard to see the detail here but it has a little goblin like bulldog face on it.

Until I make myself a steampunk waistcoat with a fob pocket it is living on my hat.

Tonia gave me an original zombie picture which I love, she also bought be a completely cool bear plate but I forgot to take a picture so it will have to come later.

Plus on Saturday we were in the Silver Compaq (the coolest second hand shop ever) and we found this:

Looks kind of ordinary but wait till you see inside:

The most fabulous 1960's Italian picnic set ever (it even still has the stickers on the base of the glasses). Of course picnic weather is still a way off but we were unable to resist its modren (as Norbert would say) fabulousness.

I promise by next week I will have finished something - the Wool Leaves rug is drying from blocking as I type so that should be done for sure.

The Stars Have Aligned

2011-05-08T21:18:00.008+10:00

It finally happened, the stars aligned the terrible Cthulhu arose and the exhibition opened on Friday night. Foolishly I did not take a picture of the finished Cthuhu before we set up on Wednesday but mum sent me her pictures from the opening night.

If you came along and are reading this thank you so much for all your support, enthusiasm and well wishes. I was so nervous about the whole thing but everyone has been fantastic.

Super extra special thanks have to go to Scott who started the whole mess by asking for an Innsmouth Golliwog, plus he puts up with my obsessive crocheting and always takes brilliant and thoughtful care of me.

Cthulhu Stirs

2011-04-26T21:26:00.002+10:00

I really wanted Cthulhu to rise from the deep but he just rolled over mumbled a bit and went back to sleep. I honestly thought I could finish the sculpture this weekend but there is still quite a bit to go. You may wonder what I was doing gallivanting about on a road trip with all this work to do but I promise I was crocheting all the way in the car and in the motel that night.

Road Trip

2011-04-23T19:54:00.002+10:00

I cannot remember the last time Scott and I managed to go away anywhere together which made our road trip over the last couple of days extra special. In preparation for our upcoming week in New Zealand we went away for a night to give our excellent friends Wendy and Bevan a chance to practice looking after the terrible two.

We drove up to Bendigo on Good Friday under some of the most fabulous cloudscapes.

Every so often a really heavy squall would come through.

When we got there we went to the Chinese Museum which was full of the most stunning embroidery unfortunately the lighting was too dim to get pictures of most of it but I did manage this one.

We also fed the goldfish in the garden.

We had a fabulous dinner at The Dispensary Enoteca I highly recommend it if you visit, especially the Cucumber Martini and the Gorgonzola Soufflé.

After a not too comfortable night owing to a soggy mattress we had a yummy breakfast of poached eggs and headed off to the Bendigo Woollen Mills. I mail order a lot from them for my monsters but this is the first time I have been to the factory outlet. Needless to say my stash has been enriched and my wallet depleted - now I just have to figure out where to put it all.

Next we went to the chrysanthemum and goat show. I had no idea chrysanthemums were so big some of the flowers were almost as big as my head.

The best bit of course was the goats, they had these beautiful Anglo-Nubian goats with totally amazing colours and spots.

This particular goat loved Scott she put her hooves up on the fence and lent over to give him a big kiss, she was beautiful and we would have smuggled her home in the car if we could.

Then we discovered there is such a thing is a miniature goat - I want one so badly they are adorable. Apparently you can keep them in our area if you get a permit from the council.

Then we went back to the centre of town for lunch and a wander round the art gallery. We drove home the back way via Kinglake and Yarra Glen. All in all a fun journey and the dogs were not too evil while we were gone, although Corto is still in a bit of a sulk.

Time To Catch Up

2011-04-20T22:45:00.003+10:00

I know I have been missing for a bit but I have been working away on monsters. Cthulhu is the last large monster for the exhibition and I am probably about a third of the way there.

He is going to be bigger than I thought.

I have also done a bear making class with Linda Benson which was lots of fun. I haven't made bears for ages but I learnt some wonderful techniques which I hope to apply to some of my other work. I have not quite finished due to monster time pressures but it is very cute so far.

I learnt so many cool things about making leather noses, and eyelids and paws and open mouths.

Other than that have had my Aunt and her friend visit or a couple of days which was lots of fun.

We are going to Bendigo for a night at Easter to visit the Woollen Mills and see the Chrysanthemum and Goat show (an odd combination I just just hope none of the goats get out and eat the flowers).

But mostly I will be crocheting Cthulhu.

Sunday Shoggoth Frenzy

2011-03-27T21:02:00.002+11:00

Yay, four out of five big monsters are now finished for the exhibition, last one is the big crouching Cthulhu for which I have had some ambitious ideas that I hope I can pull off in the time left.

Monster number four is the Shoggoth, particularly amorphous in its written descriptions (other than driving sane men mad as is par for the course with Lovecraft beasties). My interpretation has 13 eyes on stalks and 13 eye/maw thingies and is otherwise kind of slug like. I think it is kind if sweet and cuddly.

Here are this weeks sock creatures:

The antlers were a bit of an experiment but I think they came out well.

Tuesday Shelf Frenzy

2011-03-08T20:38:00.005+11:00

How amazingly beautiful is this. There are lots more pictures here.

I have wanted to see lava for real ever since I was little, maybe one day.

Some new sock monsters for the market - mostly gone now as I had quite a good day on Saturday.

No new monsters but I made a shelf for Ithaqua which hopefully will work for the exhibition.

Sunday Finishing Frenzy

2011-02-20T17:04:00.002+11:00

Last week was a bit crappy things happened that made us both sad and mad (although luckily not with each other), however the universe made it up to us in its chaotic random fashion with a particularly lovely weekend.

We went out to Credo in Olinda on Friday night and had a truly delicious dinner, we went and saw Jerico and Sydonia at the East Brunswick club on Saturday night and had a fantastic time, the weather has been cool and he dogs have been snugly. Plus I finished two monsters for the exhibition.

For starters here are a couple of photos of Ithaqua after the surgery to insert armature.

Notice he is standing on his own now, although I was holding my breath he is still tricky to balance even if his head no longer lolls.

After a two week delay while I waited for the eyes to arrive Gol Goroth is finally finished.

I am still trying to figure out how to display it, I have added a hanging point at the top of the head which seems to help but not sure how to implement it at the exhibition. Scott had the brilliant idea of putting it in a cage, so I am on the look out for one of those old fashioned wire dome ones with the idea that we can tear holes for the wigs like it has been trying to escape.

The original plan was that it would be self supporting but with only one leg it tends to twist too much. Plus I did the leg on a separate piece of armature connected to one that runs from the head to the tail and it wobbles a lot - next time I will run the support from the foot to the head and join the tail separately.

I am looking forward to perfecting the bird design, I think my next big project once this one is done will be a series of bird creatures.

I have also just finished the Gug or Old Gug as Scott keeps calling him (cos he has a mangina - you were right Tonia he is incorrigible) .

His armature is much more stable - I am getting better as I go.

I was hoping to pose him kind on on all fours using his second forearms support himself but he tends to just look like he has accidentally toppled over.

I sewed his teeth in individually this time instead of running a wire through the loops like I did with Ithaqua, they seem to sit much better this way.

Old Gug wants your Baileys.

Sunday Burger Frenzy

2011-01-30T18:17:00.002+11:00

My boss came back from leave the day after Australia day and I managed to wangle the Thursday and Friday off - so I have just enjoyed a pleasant and reasonably productive 5 day weekend.

My studio, while still an abomination is a significantly more organised abomination than it was a couple of days ago. We did an Ikea trip to get more bookshelves for the library, I got a plasma globe for $20 - its cheap and nastiness does not in anyway diminish its cool electrical Teslaness.

We framed and hung some beautiful art sent to us by our extremely talented friend Tonia, you can see more of her works here.

This one was a Christmas present.

And this one was part of Scott's birthday present (apologies for the crappy photos).

I found a new fabulously ugly piece of horse art at the Silver Compaq (the best second hand store around and a source of many fantastically ugly things).

This is the first painting (well textured print) that I found there:

And this is the new acquisition:

The horses are in relief on a kind of a hessian background and it has a kind of tikiness to it. I did not mean to start an ugly horse picture collection when I bought the first one but I guess having two is probably a bad sign.

Navigating the yard has become a little hazardous with summer getting into full swing, we have orb spiders everywhere.

Their webs are so beautiful, except when you wander into one without knowing whether the spider was home and have to do the get this thing off me dance. I have become very cautious when heading down the front path on my way to work.

Gol Goroth is coming along slowly, I have done about as much as I can until his eye gets here. Still having some issues keeping him upright as the leg armature keeps twisting relative to the body but hopefully I can sort something out.

I have also finished my piece for the Strumpets Crumpets valentine craft swap. My swapee is a vegan which presented some interesting challenges re materials but with a bit of questing I managed to put together a suitable combination of acrylic and cotton yarns.

Meet the veggie burger purse with beetroot, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and of course veggie burger.

I'm not entirely happy with the veggie burger yarn which is a mixture of two yarns knitted together but there was not a lot of choice. Tomorrow I will send it on its journey to Canada.

Sunday Fence Frenzy

2011-01-23T17:36:00.003+11:00

Finally it has happened - we have a dog proof fence. No more having to constantly supervise the little buggers while they are outside. We had to cut off part of the yard as otherwise it was going to be too expensive. On the plus side we now have dog free part of the yard to put a veggie garden and maybe one day some chickens.

Another cool side effect of the fence construction process was we discovered we have an apple tree with what tastes like Granny Smiths growing all over it.

Our backyard is a constant revelation there are all sorts of things hidden in its jungly depths. One of these days we will have to get organised and tidy up a bit, I have a dream of a more permaculture type set up with cooks and food type growing things.

Gol Goroth now has one wing fully completed.

A bit of an arduous frustrating process involving spiky wire and awkward angles.

The left wing still needs its scallops added round the edge but I have had enough for now so it will have to wait a bit to be finished.

I also have a date for the exhibition with set up on the 3rd of May and the opening on Friday the 6th of May. This is all getting quite exciting - my first ever exhibition looks like its really underway.

Sunday Feather Frenzy

2011-01-16T21:19:00.003+11:00

Not much to show this week, working on a secret project that I can't show you till after Scott's birthday next weekend (assuming I get it finished).

This weekend I over did it a bit and my neck and hands are killing me but Gol Goroth's wings are well underway.

I figured out how to crochet the feathers around the wire so they are sitting better than the tail feathers do.

There will eventually be an armature that runs right across through both wings I am waiting until the last minute to put it in as it is hard to crochet around. I'm getting spiked by the wing feather wires enough as it is.

It is not easy but everything continues to be crocheted in - nothing is sewn on at all.

Sunday Crochet Frenzy

2011-01-09T16:54:00.004+11:00

Had a bit of a stall on Gol Goroth this week while I waited for some blue wire to arrive to support the feathers. So I started on a Gug (especially for Tonia).

I found some great lumpy wool on sale and am experimenting with texture in this one, I think it looks kind of like stone.

The blue wire arrived late in the week so I have spent the day trying to get the tail to work, I think it will but it is hard to tell at this stage because the excess armature keeps flopping over.

I must thank the lovely Karla over at Itsy Bitsy Spider for the inspiration for the tail feathers, the idea came after seeing pictures of her beautiful doves.

Tuesday Gol Goroth Frenzy

2010-12-28T17:47:00.003+11:00

It has been a busy month, I have done three markets and there have been more sunekosuri:

This guy has the cutest round orange bum you have ever seen.

There have been more sleepy kitties:

A new egg on toast purse, and a new slice of apple purse but I forgot to take a photo before I sold it.

There were origami stars:

For Christmas there was raspberry cheesecake:

Yum.

I knitted Scott a beanie with a brilliant pattern that came from here.

You would think being in Australia and thus summer that it would be too warm for beanies but we are so far having beautifully cool weather.

Ithaqua also got gutted and then reassembled with aluminium armature so his head no longer lolls and his legs don't bow. The exhibition has now been confirmed for May so I need to keep moving. Over the last couple days I have started on Gol Goroth, a large bird with one leg and one eye.

Today I made sour cherry pie, it looks super yummy but still too hot to eat just yet.

I love sour things and Scott hates them but one thing we agree on is that sour cherry pie is the best.

Sunday Ithaqua Frenzy

2010-11-14T17:58:00.003+11:00

Sorry I have been missing for a bit but I have been having neck and shoulder issues and haven't been able to get much done the last couple of weeks. Things are looking up though I have finally finished Ithaqua after many hours and a lot of hand pain.

He is a little unsteady on his feet, I had to lean him against the veranda post because I was

worried he might fall the not inconsiderable distance to he muddy garden below. If I make

another on this scale (60cm from toes to tips of tentacles) I will definitely use armature as he

is a little inclined to collapse under his own weight.

The head tentacles were a little tricky as they are stitched up from the head as the head is

decreasing in diameter so you have less and less room to work in as it goes on. That being said

I still managed to complete him without sewing on a single component he is totally crocheted

together.

I have also been on a bit of a sock monster binge with Christmas coming up and three

markets due. I am trying to finish one a day on the train - here are this weeks miscreants.

Sunday Fang Frenzy

2010-10-24T20:14:00.004+11:00

Bit of a wasted weekend, had a migraine on Saturday and still groggy and headachey today.

All is not lost however I did get some stuff done during the week.

The latest pair of socks is coming along well I am about to turn the heel.

I made three more sleepy kitties - if I manage to make enough for the market I think the purple polka dot one is going to stay with me.

I have also made some progress on Ithaqua, not quite finished but looking much less headless than last week.

I had planned for the top and bottom jaws to be more evenly balanced with teeth on both, but he just didn't turn out that way.

I have had to learn that there is a limit to how many times you can undo things, sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

Besides I kind of like him this way and he continues to be 100% crocheted together. I suspect I would have a much easier time if I conceded and decided to sew bits on but as Scott well knows I can get awfully stubborn when I get fixed on an idea.

Next week you should find out how crazy I went trying to finish off the head.

Sunday Sock Frenzy

2010-10-17T21:16:00.002+11:00

I finished the Noro socks this week, they are warm and comfy.

I have started a new pair with the lovely alpaca mum got me in Tasmania I am mixing it with a dark brown solid stripe to bring out the bright blue.

Ithaqua is coming along I have finished the body and have started on the head.

The head is a work in progress I have pulled it apart once already.

It doesn't quite make sense at the moment but rest assured I do have a plan.

I have also made some teeth.

Stay tuned for more, hopefully next week it will all come together.

Sunday Claw Frenzy

2010-10-10T19:46:00.002+11:00

Looks like the exhibition thing just might happen if I can get enough monsters made. Last weekend was research ad sketching and I have been pondering and designing all week.

This weekend saw a bit of a creative splurge and Ithaqua is coming along nicely. I am using the basic design of Cthulhu but adding more detail, I think as part of this process I will redesign Cthulhu with claws too.

I had a bit of a brain wave on the claws, using polymer clay and wire.

The groove at the top is made so that you can tighten a magic loop into it which holds the claw in place, the chenille stick is for posing and shaping.

He is quite tall around 50cm at he moment, I am not sure where it will end up as the head design is still a work in progress.

I am still determined to have the whole creature as one continuous piece of crochet with nothing sewn on. You can see from this picture that the all the fingers and toes have been crocheted in rather than sewn on.

I am also planning on an open mouth with polymer clay teeth, I have an idea how to do it but will have to experiment a bit. I will keep you posted.

Sunday Unfinished Frenzy

2010-10-03T14:06:00.003+11:00

Despite the fact that winter is my favourite season I always seem to run out of oomph by the end. Work has been a bit crazy which hasn't helped, I have a whole heap of not yet finished things and a giant mess in my studio.

I have one finished thing - well actually it was finished quite a while ago but it took us ages to post it.

This was a birthday present for my buddy Tonia over at Ailuromancy who made me the fabulous crafty octopus which now adorns my business cards and tags.

Some of the things I have not finished lately include:

A baby dragon from the very clever pattern by Karla over at Itsy Bitsy Spider.

A Monte Carlo purse, I have started and pulled apart the biscuit about 8 times and am about to do so again. I should have chosen a round biscuit to start off with, ellipses in crochet are a bit tricky - I should mention the icing part was started and pulled apart a whole heap of times as well. I'm having a little rest from this one in case I succumb to the urge to throw it out the window.

Fantastic Mr Fox made from mohair, fully jointed and eventually to have a suit. I love the Wes Anderson movie and Scott bought me a beautiful book on the production design which inspired this piece.

Stripey Noro socks, knit both together using the extremely useful and well documented tutorial over at Silver's Place. I am addicted to knitting stripey socks it is like meditation very rhythmic and calming.

Of course my biggest unfinished work is my studio which despite the acquisition of a "Tower of Power" (three 500 watt halogen lamps on an industrial stand) is still a big mess.

It is not actually quite this bad anymore you can see bits of the floor and the table is almost usable.

I have had some inspirational and possibly quite exciting news this week, although it is early days yet I remain quietly hopeful. An amazing new store and exhibition space has opened in Belgrave called Limerence run by Brent (who makes gorgeous kind of steampunky clockwork jewellery) and CJ (who makes fabulous clothes).

We dropped in to say hi last weekend and I had my crochet Cthulhu with me. Brent got all excited and wanted to put some in the shop, but even better he suggested that if I could get enough creatures together I could have a exhibition.

I spent yesterday afternoon researching descriptions of Mythos gods and monsters and have a shortlist of about 17. Some of them are going to take a crazy amount of design work, especially the Yithians but I think the focus could be good for me right now.

Sunday Rain Frenzy

2010-09-05T18:26:00.003+10:00

Not a very successful market this weekend with gale force winds and driving rain. We set up and it just got windier and wetter, things were getting blown off the table, and the marquee started to lift off so we packed up and went home again - a fair bit wetter and muddier than we left.

It was supposed to be the debut of the sleepy kitties but I guess they will have to wait till next month. The grey one from my last post has already made its way to the US, the lovely Karla at Isty Bitsy Spider has given her a home.

The succulent that Greg gave us as a housewarming present has gone crazy this winter even though it barely grew at all for the first year.

It looks about ready to flower.

Mr Peeps came back today asking for afternoon tea, he and his lady friend have not been to visit for ages. I think there must be plenty of food around in winter so they don't show up looking for munchies very often.

They are so bright and pretty, we watch them from the lounge widow. Mr Peeps (so called because he sits on the veranda rail and chirps till we bring food) always comes down first and checks that everything is safe before his partner joins him.

The craftiness has slowed down a bit lately, the stall is fully stocked and I have been tired. I am halfway through a big perler monster (just need to order more dark green).

I am thinking of using him as a table top, we have a set of nesting coffee tables from Ikea and they have become very chipped and the paint is bubbling. I had originally thought of re-doing the table tops with mosaic but a chance remark by Scott when we were wandering round the hardware store today got me going. What if we put the perler monsters on the tables, add some edge beading and then set them in resin? Still needs some thought and maybe experimentation but I'm thinking it might work. Stay tuned for updates.

I have been either reading or sleeping on the train lately which is where I usually tend to get a lot of my making done. I need to find a good portable project and get organised.

Sunday Kitty Frenzy

2010-08-15T11:41:00.002+10:00

Sorry for the gap between posts, I did make some new things last week but I couldn't post about them cos they are presents and I will ruin the surprise - maybe next week.

Things have picked a bit this week after an extremely quiet market last Saturday where for the first time I did not sell anything at all.

I have been succumbing to the whole perler thing and made a Dragon Quest IV monster sprite.

It has occurred to me that these being made of plastic will make really cool decorations for the bathroom where we have lots of blank wall.

I also received my owl from the swap part of the Great Owl Crochet along, plus an adorable frog from Karla of Itsy Bitsy Spider who organised the whole thing. I had sent her an owl for herself as a thank you for all the amazing hard work she has put into this project and she very sweetly sent me a froggy of my own.

The crochet along was a great experience and I will participate again if I can.

Also my Cthulhu amigurumi was featured on Itsy Bitsy Spider's Feature Friday (as you can tell by the badge over on the side). I don't think I have ever posted about it here because I designed it before I started this blog.

I think will try and post some more about the design process later this week, as it is not constructed in the usual amigurumi way.

The latest addition to my market stall is the sleepy sock kitty.

People often ask for things that are suitable for babies (i.e. no button eyes), but I have not been willing to compromise the monster designs - I make them as soft sculptures not toys anyway. Those who know me well (especially Scott who has to put up with it the most) will tell you how contrary I can be, especially when people want me to make things. I kept the notion of a button free creature in the back of my mind figuring that a suitable idea would come to me one day.

These were inspired by a picture I saw in "Stray Sock Sewing Too" by Daniel, his construction methods seem quite different to mine so I kind of took the basic idea but made them to my own technique.

Sunday Cheesecake Frenzy

2010-08-01T18:45:00.003+10:00

I have not made a whole lot of stuff over the last two weeks, I have been reading on the train. The Kindle is brilliant (thanks Scott) way easier than carrying big heavy books.

I just finished Perdido Street Station by China Mieville which was bloody fantastic, I think he might be my new favourite author.

We have been totally busy this weekend having cleaned out and rearranged the kitchen cupboards - so much scrubbing. In between I made my first batch of seville marmalade for the year plus what has turned out to be my best cheesecake yet.

My first experiment with leaf gelatine - way better than the powdered stuff and a much nicer texture. Plus I found some cold setting jelly at the supermarket which I used for the top, never seen it before but it's just perfect cos you don't have to wait forever for it to cool.

I got an excellent present last week, the ever so clever and creative Karan with whom I share my market stall gave me one of her tattered hats, a really cool voodoo one. I did up some business cards and tags for her in Photoshop and she very kindly and unexpectedly gave me a hat.

It even suits me, which is unusual as I don't usually do well in hats.

I have discovered Perler beads which are just brilliant for doing 8 bit computer game characters. I made some coaster sets for the market and I also have plans to make some big Dragon Quest monsters to decorate round the house.

My photos are a bit crappy today it has been cold and raining and hailing and I had to do them with the flash inside. On the plus side after all the cooking and cleaning I get to snuggle up on the couch with the boys and a doona and feel all snugly and warm.

Sunday Sunshine Frenzy

2010-07-18T20:06:00.003+10:00

First week back a work after four weeks off and I am a bit worn out. As a consolation I have had an absolutely beautiful Sunday.

Snuggled in bed with the boy, then trundled up to the Yerring Station Market to buy yummy goodies. There were ominous clouds all around but we were followed everywhere by glorious sunshine until we got home. Then we finished playing Gears of War II on split screen co-op, and had vinefruit loaf with terrine, olives and the most divine goats cheese for afternoon tea. Now we are snuggled on the couch with the dogs watching Warehouse 13. Sundays don't get much nicer than that.

I have good news for those of you in the know - Seville Oranges are back in season and we went and got five and a half kilos today. Marvel at their orangy goodness and imagine the scrummy marmalade that I will be making soon.

I have made a medium sized Nannageddon purse, not sure how big the large one will be but I'll get around to it at some point.

I have also almost finished a BLT purse to go with with the TLC purse, just one slice of bread to go. I have tried for plumper more stuffed bread this time to try and stop it curling up at the edges.

Thursday TLC Frenzy

2010-07-08T09:07:00.002+10:00

The day has not started off well, the repair man has been and our washing machine is kaput. Now we have to figure out how to afford a new one. Our budget is a bit stuffed at present due to vet bills for poor GIR's tooth which he had to have out after he split it laterally on a bone.

Got halfway through my couch day yesterday before I got the urge again and created the TLC Purse.

TLC of course standing for tomato, lettuce and cheese.

The cheese forms the main purse and is knitted, the other bits are crocheted.

Wednesday Misty Frenzy

2010-07-07T10:55:00.002+10:00

Today is a couch day, the world outside has disappeared into cloud and the dogs and I are all alone in the mist. We are snuggled up on the couch watching Eureka with lots of cushions and a doona looking out into a white world.

There are neighbours and a mountain out there somewhere, in fact since I took that photo it has closed in even more. Everything is dripping and there are shining beads of water decorating all the bare branches.

Was quite productive yesterday and made a much more successful granny square purse.

Smaller but much more manageable to make than the last one, I think this might be a winner for the market.

Also experimented with another new design - the egg on toast purse.

The toast is still a bit wonky but I think I might be onto something here.

Tuesday Nanna Frenzy

2010-07-06T11:51:00.002+10:00

Last week of my holidays this week and Scott is in New Zealand until Thursday. I had made up my mind to be super productive and get heaps of things done but still find myself mostly pottering around.

I have just finished a prototype of a new creation - the Nannageddon purse. I am quite pleased with the idea but it took way too long to make, plus I'm not quite happy with the top where the crochet meets the purse clasp. I will have to find a better method if I am going to make more for the market.

Tuesday Motorcycle Frenzy

2010-06-29T11:16:00.002+10:00

You would think given I'm on leave from work I would be posting like crazy but I have been slack as usual. It is cold and very windy with smatterings of rain and the dogs and I are all snuggled up on the couch.

I went to Sydney last week on a training course, the best part of which was I got to go to Kinokuniya which a super brilliant bookshop. I came home with some fantastic new Japanese craft books so expect to see some new experiments here in due course.

I have been working on one of my other crafty passions lately and have finally finished this:

It took forever and I must admit there were times I almost gave up. I love the whole cutting and folding and sticking process of making things from paper, but this thing had some incredibly tiny tricky parts.

If you feel the urge you can get it from Yamaha here plus a whole lot of other amazing paper crafts besides. There is a crazy amount of design work in these things, how cool is it that they do all that and then give them away for free.

I have also finished Greg's cowl.

I am trying to use this time off to deal with some of my endless list of UFOs, I am running out of storage room already and I need to finish some things and use up some of my stash to make more room. I was making a list of unfinished things in my cupboard and it is a bit scary how many there are.

Anyway I need to get back to working on all this stuff, but just one last picture to warm the cockles on this freezing day.

My boys are so snuggly (all three of them).

Wings for Owls

2010-06-14T14:37:00.004+10:00

I have been crocheting along with Karla at Itsy Bitsy Spider in the Great Owl Crochet-Along. If you pop over here and follow the instructions you could enter her totally cool giveaway.

Because I can never quite manage to follow a pattern to the letter I made wings for my owl and here is my attempt at providing the pattern for anyone who is interested.

I cannot take full credit for this design, although I made this pattern up I am sure the idea came from a picture in a Japanese Amigurumi book a bought a few years ago and now cannot find anywhere.

I am trying US notation for these instructions although it is not what I usually use so please let me know if I stuff it up.

All you really need is 4 basic circles.

The observant among you will notice that I absentmindedly broke off the red yarn on the dual coloured circles - do not do this, make sure you leave enough to sew it onto the body.

The circles are made in a spiral, I start with the magic loop for preference but you can just use 2ch if it suits you better. The brown circles have 5 rounds and the red and beige have 7 rounds, and the circles all follow the same basic sequence:

1. 6 sc

2. 2 sc in each st (12 total)

3. 2 sc in the first st, 1 sc in the next st repeat (18 total)

4. 2 sc in the first st, 1 sc in the next 2 st repeat (24 total)

5. 2 sc in the first st, 1 sc in the next 3 st repeat (30 total)

6. 2 sc in the first st, 1 sc in the next 4 st repeat (36 total)

7. 2 sc in the first st, 1 sc in the next 5 st repeat (42 total)

I prefer to make and stuff the body first before I add all the bits, but if you are following Karla's pattern exactly you can sew on the wings at the same time as the tummy patch.

Now take the stripey circle and fold it in half, make sure the bit where the stripes jog when you change colour are hidden towards the back. Attach the half circle to the body of your owl folded side upwards.

You stitch from halfway round the semicircle up to the fold and then down along the straight edge to the centre. Leave the back edge open, like below.

Next you add the top circle, place it over the top half of the folded circle and stitch it on.

You can vary the size of the circles to suit your own owl, looking at this one I think maybe I should have made the brown one one row smaller.

Once you have sewn on both wings then this what you should have.

The eyebrows were crocheted directly onto the already stuffed body I don't really know how to write instructions for them I just made it up on the spot.

If any of this does not make sense please ask questions, I have never written instructions before so I might miss things that seem obvious to me but not to you.

Sunday Cake Frenzy

2010-06-14T12:57:00.003+10:00

I know it is Monday but it is a public holiday so it it almost the same as Sunday. Any of you not looking at this via RSS will see that I have been playing with the new template designer which has lots of new ways to make your blog pretty.

You will also see in the side bar the fabulous crafty octopus picture that my extremely talented buddy Tonia drew for me as a birthday card. She has also kindly allowed me to use it for my business cards and toy tags so it has become the official Lucy Bad Dog mascot. I plan to update my banner at some stage to include it too.

I made Scott an Italian ricotta cake which came out rather yummy even if it looks a bit wonky in the photo.

I also got a surprise from my Mum, I thought my birthday present was an Amazon gift voucher so I could buy more books for the Kindle. But earlier this week a parcel arrived with this beautiful artwork inside.

It is called Elemental and is by Rupda Wilson.

Weaving is on my list of things to learn how to do, along with a whole lot of other stuff. I admit I have a serious addiction to learning how to make things, there are just not enough hours in a day.

Sunday Owl Frenzy

2010-06-06T16:37:00.003+10:00

Sorry I have been a bit quiet lately, one of our close friends passed away and another ended up in hospital shortly after so I have been a bit distracted. As a very slight consolation I have finished quite a few things as I have been trying to keep myself busy and distracted.

I have joined the Great Owl Crochet-Along over at The Itsy Bitsy Spider Crochet and finished a couple of owls last weekend.

Sorry the photo is so dark but is is rainy and miserable here and rather dark for photos. As usual I couldn't quite stick to the pattern we were given and I have embroidered the beak and added some wings (I also left off the tummy patch and feet).

I was going to send the smaller of the two owls for the swap but GIR the naughty neurotic dog sucked on it while we were out the other day. It was not damaged but I think had better send the big owl instead.

Scott bought me a Kindle for my birthday which is a wonderful gadget and I have been reading a lot more as a result. To keep it safe I have made a cover hand sewn from felt and cardboard and braid.

Finally Nonna's shawl is finished and I shall post it off to her next week.

Once again Scott has been suckered into modelling for me and I thank him very much.

You can't see it from here but his "Blue Steel" is amazing.

It came together quite nicely after I blocked and I am so relieved to finally have it done.

My current WIP is a cowl for Greg's birthday (well and truly late as usual). My first attempt at a Fair Isle style pattern, getting the hang of alternating stitch colours in the same row was tricky but ultimately kind of fun.

Last of all a special treat that Corto made all by himself:

- a 50cm string of drool, yummy!

Sunday Knitting Frenzy

2010-05-09T19:51:00.007+10:00

Managed to get a bit behind and miss last week's post, I did not get it together to take all my photos in time. Although I love winter the major drawback is that it is dark when I leave for work and dark when I get home so I can really only take photos on the weekend.

Market last weekend was quiet for me but good for Karan, the marquee worked well and the weather was lovely. We have half the stall each, Karan with her pirate clothes and tatter hats and me with my monsters, stars and some purses that my buddy Andrea made.

My first monster for the week almost got thrown away several times, it was an attempt to refine the eye stalk design for the purple star monster from last week which did not work out how I had planned. On the bright side it gave me the idea for the fish body design that I used for the next sunekosuri and even though I think it is a bit wonky someone will come along who

has a place for it - it has happened before.

The result of the last wonky monster is my first fish monster, still needs some refining but I think it has some potential.

Plus I finished another triffid.

You may remember some time in March I was being optimistic about finishing the shawl I was knitting for my Nonna by her birthday on the 30th - turns out I was a bit cocky. I hit the lace portion and slowed right down, plus work went a bit mental and I was too tired to work on it at night - I kept making mistakes and undoing them was taking so long. Anyway after letting it slide for the last month or so I am back knitting again and determined to finish it as soon as I can.

Last but not least a message for my mum, I lost track of the time and left it too late to call but when you get it together to check this you will know that I was thinking of you.

I know if it was not for you I would probably have missed out on this wonderful crazy making things obsession of mine. I see my hands large and strong with thick fingers and yet capable of such delicate work, just like your hands and Nonna's hands before you. Hands that held me and comforted me and showed me how to sew and knit and crochet and embroider. When I see my hands working I feel such a strong connection to you, it keeps you in my heart always.

Sunday Electricity Frenzy

2010-04-26T11:21:00.000+10:00

Electricity is my enemy this week - no lights in the studio. When the electrician finally came round to put in the halogens we we told that apparently all our wiring is stuffed and we need to redo the whole house - very expensive. So now I have no lights at all in the studio and no idea when we will be able to afford to fix them. We still need to get a second opinion, I am hoping they will say only that room needs to be done not the whole house - everything else still works just fine for now.

Only two new monsters this week, mostly because they were a little more involved than usual.

This is the first crochet monster that I have made for ages. The Ubel Ferkel is an evil piglet, he has bat wings, black beady eyes and an adorable fat tummy.

The Sunekosuri for this week is a triffidy kind of creature, the first sock monster I have done with wired pieces. It took a lot more work than usual but I am very pleased with the way it has come out, I plan to do a series in different colours.

I have been very focussed on production for the market stall for the last 6 months and have let the Etsy store slide completely. I think I am finally getting on top of things now and will hopefully have time to start making pieces for Etsy again.

I also bit the bullet and sent off a submission for the Plush You exhibition in Seattle, I find it a bit scary taking the plunge and trying to get my stuff out there and am very good at procrastinating this sort of thing. Fingers crossed.

Sunday Monster Frenzy

2010-04-13T18:58:00.000+10:00

Hopefully I finally have an electrician coming to fix the lights in my studio on Monday so I should be able to post some decent photos, in the meantime here are some not so good ones.

These are the shelves all painted and full of my various projects and stashes, I still need sort things out a bit though. Down the bottom you can see my wonderfully kitsch tiger skin latch hook rug that I have been working on this week.

My bookshelves, yarn stash and some of our toys, because the ceilings are so high I still have heaps of room to hang pictures. Scott has given me some nice folios of prints over the years so I have dug them out to try and choose which ones to frame.

Now on to this week's monsters.

Not sure if this one is going on the stall I might keep him for myself, something about his fat bum, little tail and general air of belligerence appeals to me.

A spotty two header who always knows where it is going.

Next week I should have finished my first crochet monster for ages, an new Ubel Ferkel a fair bit bigger than any I have made before.

I also bought a marquee for the market stall, winter up here can be very wet and cold and I don't think Karan and my market umbrellas will be quite up to the challenge.

More Shelf Frenzy

2010-04-02T18:36:00.000+11:00

I am running a bit behind this week work has been a little crazy and I am worn out.

Last weekend I did the undercoating.

And did three coats of red on the top shelf.

During the week I made chicken burgers and super freakily both the eggs I picked were double yolkers. That is just weird, one is rare enough but two together is spooky.

Anyway today I did two coats on the rest of the shelves today, I think it is starting to look rather nice and I cannot wait to pack them full of all my crafty hoardings.

They are going to need at least another coat maybe two to get rid of the streaks.

I almost forgot - we went to see Gogol Bordello on Tuesday night, they were fantastic, brilliant anarchistic, joyous, and full of gypsy punkitude. If you ever get to see them play live do not miss it.

Sunday Shelf Frenzy

2010-03-21T19:23:00.000+11:00

My completely excellent neighbour, train buddy and all round great guy Graham has been building me some shelves in my soon to be studio.

Saturday was a mightily busy day Phase 1 involved a trip to the hardware for wood and screws and glue and stuff.

Phase 2 was the demolition of the existing crappy cupboard leaving a great big hole in the ceiling and lots of mess on the walls.

Phase 3 was closing off the hole and putting in the posts to hold the whole lot up, the big posts are cyprus and have most beautiful grain.

Phase 4 was the shelf supports.

And finally Phase 5 the shelves.

Plus of course the building inspector had to approve everything.

I still have to fill and sand and paint everything but I am very excited I have never had his much storage space all for my stuff before.

Sunday Storm Frenzy

2010-03-08T11:04:00.000+11:00

Hey I know its Monday not Sunday and the big storm was on Saturday but bear with me please.

Work has been crazy busy this last week with meetings lasting till after 9 at night so I have been kind of drifting through this long weekend in a bit of a haze.

Other than that the shawl for my Nonna is progressing well, I cannot knit on the train anymore as the pattern has become a bit too complicated so it had been relegated to evenings in front of the TV. I did not get much work done last week, being way too tired and not wanting to have to un-knit all the mistakes I would make. I remain hopeful that I will have it done before her birthday on the 30th.

Back at Kallista Market on Saturday (luckily over well before the storm hit) both Karen and I had a great day although I now only have 6 Sunekosuri left and will have to get sewing before the next one. We have prepaid for the next 6 months so come and see us if you can, on the first Saturday of each month.

I have begun working to transform my disarranged study into a proper studio workspace. Our fabulous neighbour Graham is building me some shelves so that I can finally rip out the crappy built in wardrobe and organise my stuff properly. Once that is done and I get some decent lighting it is going to be great.

Last night we went to see Men Who Stare At Goats, we had both read the book which is non-fiction and kind of investigative journalism and were very curious as to how they would turn it into a narrative. They did a fantastic job it was hilarious, the casting was brilliant, and the politics were spot on. Another one not to miss is Fantastic Mr Fox, I would not recommend it if you are not keen on Wes Anderson films, but if you do like them then it is not to be missed.

Of course the most dramatic thing to occur in the last few weeks is the massive storm we had on Saturday afternoon. Wendy, Scott and I were sitting on the couch when we noticed the light had gone a weird greenish yellow and then all hell broke loose.

The hailstones were bigger than golf balls.

The road turned into a river.

We had waterfalls in the back yard.

All in all not too much damage, the PT Cruiser has a ding on the bonnet from hail and we seem to have developed a leak in the roof somewhere over the lounge but it could have been much worse.

Friday Zombie

2010-02-19T19:45:00.000+11:00

The evening is golden, the black cockatoos are back in the valley and their eerie cry lends a mournful air to proceedings.

I am siting on the couch watching the light change on the mountain zombified after a big week at work, Scott has gone down to the Chippie to get dinner as I am too buggered to cook.

We will eat chips and watch Charlie Brooker and then Fantastic Mr Fox while the dogs look on hopefully and scavenge for crumbs.

My forearms are aching from bashing a star picket into the ground by the front steps. The purpose of this picket is to stabilise the sculpture we bought last weekend from local sculptor and all around gorgeous person Jenny Rowe.

Here she is keeping guard over our front steps:

Our acquisition of this artwork it was funded by my Mum as a thank you for the cardigan I knitted for her. I think I said I would post a picture of it ages ago but never got round to it, this is not the best image but here you go:

I continue to work on the shawl for my Nonna and should have it finished in time for her birthday at the end of March.

Anyway dinner has arrived and the warm chip smell is making my mouth water, better tuck in before they go all soggy.

Sunday Again Frenzy

2010-02-14T20:31:00.000+11:00

I have been slack, well slack about posting stuff at any rate, otherwise quite busy.

Scott has had his birthday a big one with an "0" in it, we had a party with lots of wonderful people. You can see the present I got him here, there are 10 pictures in total around A4 size. They look nicer in reality I think they were scanned for the website which makes them look a bit harsher. Had to have a big picture hanging rearrangement to fit them in but they look great.

I have been helping with the Melbourne Satellite Reef project by making a a Blog which you can see here. I have also bee crocheting coral and making flyers and generally helping out.

I am knitting a shawl for my Nonna who is in hospital at the moment.

I am also trying to finish some UFOs and tidy up my study.

I have no pictures because my Flickr account has gone haywire and I can't get in to upload anything. It is a frustrating process it looks like I've been hacked and someone has changed my details so Yahoo just keep telling me the details I am giving them do not match my account - duh I know that that's why I can't get in. Not sure how long this is going to take to resolve.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

2009-12-28T19:18:00.000+11:00

In that strange dreamy limbo between Christmas and New Year it is time to take stock of the year that has been and gird ourselves for the year to come. My buddy Andrew keeps telling me it it a fantastic time to be alive right now, and you know what he might just be right.

Here are some of the things about this year that make life worth living:

The Boys

Scott & GIR & Corto make every day a joy. I could complain about the the endless fur, dribble & scratching (that would be GIR & Corto not Scott), but really nothing beats dog love at the end of a crap day. Except of course Scott TLC which is always in abundance whenever I am sick or just feeling sorry for myself.

Star Trek Movie

I must confess I am a total geek for original Trek, not the movies or the beige spinoffs but the campy Shantnerific TV series. I really thought the movie captured the essence of classic Trek - funny, campy, grandiose without being pompous, and full of optimism for the future.

Un Lun Dun by China Melville

The best book I have read for ages, Melville manages to combine influences from a lot of my favourite authors without reading like a pastiche of other peoples ideas which is very rare these days. Plus his heroine is fantastic, a brilliant antidote to the hysterical vapid vampire fixated females you find elsewhere in fiction.

Team Winchester

I know they are pouty slashies with psycho fans but I have a soft spot for Sam & Dean ... well mostly Dean. Season five of Supernatural has been whizz bang, the best so far, introducing those bastard angels really got things going.

Ripe

This cafe in Sassafras does the best vegetarian platters ever - shots of fabulous soup, quiche, frittata, & salads in ever changing combinations. They also do a mean iced chocolate.

The Fall

A truly amazing visual experience and a beautiful heartbreaking story. See on the big screen if you can - maybe The Astor will play it one day, otherwise Bluray on a good size TV. I will not even try to describe it, words will never do justice just see the movie guys.

Monster Magnet

A favourite band for a long time we finally got to see them in concert at the beginning of the year. Sleazy stoner metal at its best.

Uncharted: Among Thieves

This game was so much fun to play, funny and exciting like watching a movie. In fact I played it all the way through on easy for my friend Wendy cos she got so sucked into the story.

Sherlock Holmes

This one just managed to sneak into 2009, a great way to see the year out. Interestingly enough it remains true to cannon while dialling up the action and excitement to 11.

Sunday Allergy Frenzy

2009-12-15T11:52:00.000+11:00

I have a good excuse for being late this week, on Sunday night I had a super duper anaphylactic allergic reaction - very scary. Looks like my occasional attack of hives from eating prawns has turned into a full on extreme allergy, puts a bit of a damper on Yum Cha. I now have take super strong steroids with me everywhere just in case it happens again. I am on my second day home from work and my eyes are finally almost unpuffed.

Aside from all that drama I had quite a productive weekend, I made two batches of cherry jam and we have now finished all the presents and cards for Christmas - yay.

The Sunekosuri family continues to expand, here are photos of the last two from the first batch:

These are the ones that I made last week, travel time on the train can be very productive:

I will be at the Kallista Market again on Saturday.

Sunday Catch Up Frenzy

2009-12-06T15:15:00.000+11:00

I had such grand plan to post a Sunday Frenzy every weekend but I got too distracted by everything going on and now I need to catch up.

Did my first Kallista Market a month ago and sold one Sunekosuri oddly enough it was the slightly lamish duck who cannot stand up on its own. I did not think it would sell, but goes to show what I know. Here it is in all it purple glory.

Although I only sold one thing I had a fabulous day, the weather was wonderful and I met some great people including the gorgeous Vicky from Nolly Posh who makes the most adorable dolls and is an all round sparkly person.

This weekend was my second market, on my own this time as poor Karen had the dreaded lurgy. It was a cold slow start to the morning and I was feeling a little disheartened but it picked up and I sold a grand total of five Sunekosuri and lots of people stopped by for a look and a chat. I have to say a big thank you to my neighbouring stall holders who kept an eye on things so I could go to the loo and helped me out with change when I ran out.

The most elaborate Sunekosuri to date who I've been calling Huff went to a new home, I hope he behaves himself.

The slight down side to selling things is now I only have two weeks to make more as they sneak in a extra market before Christmas so looks like I will be even busier over the next two weeks.

I did finish the cardigan for my mum and will post some pictures soon, had a text from Rome the other day she and the cardigan are having a good time.

I also did a class on making Temari Balls which are a kind of Japanese embroidery on, you guessed it - a ball. When I finish one I will post some pictures.

I guess it is just the time of year when things get a bit frantic but we are close to having this year's Christmas card finished Scott has done a fabulous design (once again based on something idiotic I said). I have figured out what to make for gifts (just have to actually make it) and most of the shopping is done.

Scott's 40th birthday in January has been giving me a whole lot of ponderation and I had come up with a crazily elaborate plan (involving 40 gifts over 40 days, kind of like Lent except with presents and no deprivations and a big party at the end) but a minor miracle this morning has seen a decision made and a whole lot of potential stress evaporate.

Sunday UFO Frenzy

2009-11-01T19:08:00.001+11:00

What a crazy three days it has been, Scott and I have been helping out at the Burrinja Community Arts Centre. Part of the building is going to be demolished to make way for a new auditorium and in celebration of the old space and the new they held an intergalactic extravaganza.

The fabulous Emma Johnson (www.emmajohnson.net) organised an amazing event, we spent three days creating all things space and aliens and at 15.10 on Sunday we demolished it all.

Friday was schools day and I took it off work as a community day, spent a surprisingly exhausting day teaching 8 year olds how to make origami stars.

On Saturday more origami teaching and I helped Scott with a large monster sculpture by making a maw.

Later in the afternoon I added to the mural with a happily demented tentacle thing.

Sunday was more origami and the giant smushing of all we had made. We filled the origami stars with glitter to make glitter bombs which was spectacular but I think I have glitter poisoning I just keep finding more and more of the stuff on me.

All in all it was an incredible weekend, very cathartic, I tend to be a bit control freaky about my creative process and it was great to just spontaneously create and then destroy.

Sunday Marmalade Frenzy

2009-10-26T19:28:00.000+11:00

I am running a day late because I crashed out on the couch last night after making Seville orange marmalade. Not our own oranges unfortunately, they are probably still a couple of years away - although our little tree does have flowers on it at the moment.

I had a bit of a panic initially because it came out very dark, but Scott assures me it tastes just like the Maggie Beer one he likes. Plus I did a bit of research and it looks like the darkness is a product of melting the sugar before I added it to the fruit - kind of creates a toffee like effect. I couldn't find any other recipes that recommended you do that (other than the Maggie Beer one I used) but a lot of people seemed to be having trouble getting their marmalade really dark - so if you ever come across this the secret is to cook the fruit until the rind is tender then melt the sugar over a low heat before you add it (be careful though, it really goes whoosh when you tip the molten sugar in).

I also made tags for the Sunekosuri I plan to sell at the Kallista Markets in a couple of weeks. It is the sort of thing that I usually procrastinate for ever, I waste more energy fussing around the process of selling things than I do making them. Thus I never really get around to selling them and save myself the separation anxiety of letting them go. Thanks to Scott for goading me about it, if not for him I would still be fussing.

Sunday Garden Frenzy

2009-10-18T18:53:00.000+11:00

It is Sunday and we have been to a big wholesale nursery, we get an invite every 6 months via my work to go for one day and get plants at wholesale prices. Last time we got a lime, a Seville orange, a fig, and an olive tree; and since we have actually managed to keep them all alive for 6 months we thought we would try our luck with a few more.

When we moved in there were well established grapefruit and lemon trees on one of the steep banks, and seeing as they did well we thought it would be safe to add more and put in the Seville orange and lime. The new trees have taken off, so this time we added a mandarin and a blood orange - we are working on our own little citrus grove.

Our new blood orange.

We have also added a dwarf apple (you can see the olive tree in the background).

We bought a male and female kiwi fruit which have to stay in their pots for another month or so (according to the tag) hopefully they will grow over that somewhat ramshackle trellis.

Scott bought this amazing pink flowering plant (not even sure what it is) he had a a vision of planting it near an old ceramic buddha head we had lying around. It looks gorgeous, if he continues with these flashes of inspiration our garden is going to be incredible (one day).

I have also started a little purple patch on the overgrown bank closest to the house, lots of nice smelling things like lavender.

Plus I finally got a pot for the beautiful succulent that Greg bought us as a house warming present over a year and a half ago. It kept getting blown over in the wind, but I think it will be fine now. I also got a pot for the companion succulent that Mum bought us on her recent visit (so the other one wouldn't be lonely). We also got a big rosemary bush and a pot for it too, the first thing we planted when we moved in was rosemary but it has been growing very slowly and we thought we might do better on the front veranda with more sun.

Of course none of this would have been possible without furry assistance and oversight, special thanks to Nami, Gir, and of course Corto who tried to eat he flower pots so we wouldn't have to carry them down to the recycle bin.

Here's Another One

2009-10-14T08:04:00.000+11:00

Here is the next Sunekosuri, not quite an octopus - it only has 7 legs (I like prime numbers). This is the first creature that has felt combined into its structure, for the underside of the tentacles. I did it largely because I was working with an ankle sock which really limited the available fabric. I had been trying to limit each monster to just one sock and use a much of that sock as possible, it creates interesting design restrictions and gives the process a real problem solving focus. I still try and stick to the one sock rule but since then I have been using felt a lot more and the Sunekosuri have been getting odder.

It has been a busy week this week, my Mum is visiting and I have had a couple of days off work to hang out which has been great (no work on the monsters though). I have also started knitting an entrelac cardigan for her, I have had the pattern and the wool for a while but it was going to be too small for me and the pattern was a bit too tricky to adjust. So now I get the challenge of the knit and I have a recipient for the finished product - for some reason it seems to be easier to finish big projects when I am knitting them for someone close to me. I will make sure I post a picture when it is done.

The Sunekosuri Are Taking Over

2009-10-06T20:43:00.000+11:00

I am finally going to do a market stall, my friend Karen (you may recall her from the Hillside Creeper post) is running a stall at the Kallista Market on the first Sunday of each month and I am going to join her for the first time in November.

My main product will be Sunekosuri - little monsters made from socks and felt and buttons. The name Suneskosuri means shin rubber in Japanese and they are a type of Yokai. Yokai are Japanese folk creatures similar to goblins or fairies. Given they are made primarily from socks I thought shin rubber was a good name (thank you Scott for the suggestion).

The first batch are based on the same pattern and are fairly normal by later standards but they are good base stock.

They all seem to come out looking different even though the basic pattern is the same.

There are more weird and wonderful creations to come once I get the photos taken. So keep checking back here (it won't be two weeks between posts this time I promise).

Back At Last

2009-09-01T20:27:00.000+10:00

I have been very slack on the whole Blog thing but also very busy with everything else. I am attempting a resolution to post at least one a week - but we will see how it goes.

I finally finished my rainbow socks made from Noro sock yarn and plain purple Morris & Sons merino. I love the colour transitions, particularly in the orange to aqua on the right one - it has this whole oxidisation thing going on.

These were knitted simultaneously on a circular needle thanks to this fabulous tutorial:

http://www.cometosilver.com/socks/2mlsocks_start.htm

Although there are lots of warnings it is not as scary as it sounds - I went and did my first pair with stripes which doubled the strands of wool to get tangled and it was not too bad.

And a special thank you to Scott for contributing his exceptional foot modelling skills.

Hillside Creepers

2009-04-05T20:02:00.000+10:00

Today was the second monthly meeting of the Hillside Creepers at the Bell Tavern.

Our attempts to start a crafting and Zine group in the area are progressing although after the drama of a near brawl with some drunken idiots we have decided to move the less central but more salubrious Burrinja Arts Centre.

Today apart from Scott and myself there was Tonia (our friend from Brisbane who is visiting at the moment), Meng, Paula, and Karen.

This is Paula doing some needle felting on a jumper.

Karen was cutting out skulls and crossbones for later applique.

I worked on Sije Sophie's birthday present which I have now finished. This is a crappy picture but it is late and I cannot be bothered fighting with the lighting, it is a hand quilted silk scabbard for her butterfly swords.

Hopefully we will have enough stuff to get an edition of the Hillside Creeper zine out soon.

Book Launch

2009-03-30T22:34:00.000+11:00

This was always intended to be a crafty kind of blog but to be honest I have not managed to finish anything from my long list of projects since I started it.

As a slight excuse I am late home tonight because I just got back from the launch of the Meet Me At Mike's book where I met its author the fabulous Pip for the first time.

If you have not read her blog you should have a look - Pip has boundless energy and a fantastic sense of community. Her book is full of cute projects and lots of sage advice.

Small Things

2009-03-25T20:41:00.000+11:00

True happiness comes in the smallest of increments, like the bliss of a dog allowed up on the couch, or the smell of rain.

The Story of Lucy Bad Dog

2009-03-21T17:33:00.000+11:00

Although this is intended to be primarily a craft focused blog I thought I would start with the story of its namesake.

Lucy was of indeterminate breed, her mother was ostensibly a ridgeback and her father was also a dog. We got her from the pound at six months and she was with us for another thirteen years. During that time she never slowed down - not even for a day.

We used to joke that she thought her name was Lucy Bad Dog because she was always being told off. She was crazy dominant and used to cock her leg on things when she went for a walk. She also had a mania about little dogs, she would pounce on them and pin them down without the least provocation. She never bit or even growled at them but she would not let them go no matter how much they or their owners freaked out, as a result she did not get to go off lead at the park very often. Lucy was often her own worst enemy, she wanted to be the alpha female in our house so every time I was too nice to her she would start peeing in the lounge.

All this makes her sound like a pain but she was such a sweetheart. Anything little and fluffy she loved to death, she used to lick our bunny until he was soggy and very pissed off. She adored the rats and was more upset than we were when they died. Once she found a sick bird in the yard and gently carried in to us in her mouth. Whenever you were sick in bed she would snuggle up tight and never leave your side. She was never aggressive to anyone and she had the most beautiful golden eyes like a lion.

We miss you Lucy.