My Creative Space

Three years ago I left a comment about a brooch on a blog post (the last brooch). A post I found through My Creative Space. I inquired about the price. Kylie wasn't yet selling her beautiful wares, but she wanted me to have it anyway. And I still have it. Cohen was just a baby then. I remember nervously going to my first mother's group wearing that brooch for a bit of added confidence. I met one of my very good friends for the first time that day. She recalled a couple of years later that she had first noticed me because of my brooch.

A few months ago, Kylie saw a hot water bottle cozy I'd made and commissioned one for herself. It was a lovely compliment. I have been knitting away here and there and was pleased to stitch the buttons on yesterday. Just in time for Kylie's arrival home from a working/holiday to London, Berlin and Paris. I sifted though a tin of op-shopped buttons until I uncovered these. An old pair of metal Eiffel Tower buttons. They seemed just the thing. 

It seemed apt to post the finished cozy here too, in My Creative Space.

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More Creative Spaces here.

Ravelry.

Weekending

Outside and in

We went fishing this weekend, for the first time since we've had children. I had high hopes of bringing home a bream or flathead for dinner. It was quite different to the old days though, where we would pack lightly and sit alongside each in quiet conversation, laughing at ourselves as we threaded blood worms or yabbies on hooks, snagged those hooks on rocks or logs, and occasionally surprised ourselves with a fish. This time we juggled the children's necessities along with the rods and bait, and conversation was interrupted by an excited toddler and an unsettled baby. I managed to hook one small bream, which darted away as soon as I returned it to the water. Our bait was continually taken, but we caught nothing else. I do believe there were some well fed crabs that night! 

The overcast days this weekend were perfect for gardening. There is always something to do in Spring, which suits me perfectly, as I love pottering in the yard. Seedlings to be planted on, tomatoes that need re-staking, new additions to plant out - in this case a hydrangea and a Hans Christian Anderson azalea - and of course, weeds to to be pulled. 

Blogtoberfest begins today. A post a day for the whole of October. 

Bloggers, are you with me?

Yarn Along

I think I have spent as much time undoing my knitting this week, as I have actually knitting. I slowly made my way back to where I had overlooked a row of the cable pattern on one side of the cozy. The pain of this venture subsided by the time I had finished knitting the shaping of the neck. The 3 x 3 ribbing begins.

I am now reading October's book club book, Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks. Having read 59 of the 304 pages, I find myself absorbed by the protagonist and the historical and geographical setting of the novel. I was interested to note that it appears 98th in a list of the 100 best books of the decade (2000 - 2009) on Good Reads. My new favourite book, The Book Thief, comes in at number 11 and . 

Are any of your favourites on the list?

Any books you would recommend for a book club?

What are your current favourite reads?

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Joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along.

Ravelry.

Yarn Along

I feel as if I am on the homeward stretch with the hot water bottle cozy, with only one repeat to go before shaping the neck. Then only several inches of ribbing remain. So perhaps not quite on the homeward stretch after all. But it 'feels' like it, so I am going with that.

I'm a third of the way through The Happiness Project and find it interesting and motivating. Gretchen takes principals of happiness and puts them in to practice in her life, then talks openly about the results. A lot of the principals feel well known - sleep more, exercise better, declutter, enjoy now - but it is how she chooses to tackle a list of resolutions each month and her individual experience of them that makes for compelling reading. We all know we should sleep more and exercise better, but what does that look like? How do you achieve that if, in Gretchen's case, you are a mother of two and a writer? What are the results? 

It's difficult not to feel inspired when reading about her experiences. I have had several 'ah-hah!' moments and have been thinking about exactly what brings me happiness. I have been reminding myself of two simple points from the book over the past week, because small changes can make big differences. Firstly, "by doing a little bit each day, you can get a lot accomplished." And the "one-minute rule." The first idea strikes a chord with the knitter in me, I know that a little each day can accomplish a lot. A row here and there will eventually make a blanket. But in day to day life I often find myself discouraged at starting a large project when I know that I will soon be interrupted by one, or both, children and won't have achieved much. Rather than feel discouraged I have been reminding myself that every little bit adds up and have changed my outlook. I don't have to organise all the photos on the lap top at once. I can just start sorting them out and come back to it. I don't have to Spring Clean the whole house in one day. I can go room by room, closet by closet, there is no time limit. One day I won't have two lovely little ones wanting my attention, but at the moment it is about finding ways to achieve things that work with our life.

The "one-minute rule" attracts me because a clean house makes me happy. The rule inspires you not to postpone a task that you can get done in less than a minute. Gretchen writes, "I put away my umbrella; I filed a document; I put the newspapers in the recycling bin; I closed the cabinet door. These steps took just a few moments, but the cumulative impact was impressive." I agree. It's the main task when tidying just putting things back where they belong? Putting my hair clips back in their tin rather than leaving them on the bathroom sink. Putting clothes in the laundry basket (even if they are not mine.) Returning shoes to the closet. If only I could get everyone in the house to live by this rule...

What are you reading, knitting or crafting?

Do you have any rules that help create happiness?

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Joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along.

Ravelry.

Yarn Along

How grateful I am to our local library. It satisfies my love of books more than my budget could allow. Monday we returned from our weekly visit with a calico bag heavy with printed pages. Among them, Elevate the Everyday. A photographic guide to picturing motherhood. A book I had seen mentioned on several blogs I follow.

I piled up my borrowings on the couch when we returned home. This book was placed uppermost on the pile. I couldn't wait for both children to nap so that I could make a cup of tea and sit with it's pages in that rare quiet. I was rewarded with a beautiful, inspirational reminder that as mother and blogger I am documenting the history of our family for prosperity. Clark also offers technical and practical advice on how to challenge myself to improve my photography. I am already rethinking my shots and using the 'auto' function less on my camera. Certainly a book other mothers and bloggers will enjoy.

In other moments of quiet I have continued knitting the twisting cables of the hot water bottle cozy.

What have you been reading or knitting?

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Joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along.

Ravelry.

Knitted cozy

My first knitted cozy, for the approaching cold nights of Winter. It looked much too small as I knit it. I persevered somewhat nervously, hoping it was just the cables making it appear so. Thankfully, once blocked on a full hot water bottle, the cables relaxed and the cozy took shape. The colour change was unintentional. The navy yarn, had been a remnant of a previous project. When I ran out I picked out another left over yarn. I quite like the colour blocking though.

Next time I would knit the bottom band in 3x3 ribbing, or else use a size smaller needle, as I think the band ended up being a little too big.

Needles: 5 x 3.25mm dpn's

Yarn: Left over Bendigo Woolen Mills 8 ply Wool

Thrifted: vintage snaps and leather buttons

Pattern: Seamless Hot Water Bottle Cozy, free Ravelry download

Ravelry.

Yarn along

It's raining for the first time this month. Grey clouds rolled over, and with that the light and smell of the day changed and softened. I took in two loads of washing and staked the tomatoes just as the first drops fell and Cohen called excitedly from the balcony, "It's raining!"

Now that the rest of the chores are done and the children are napping, it is time for some reading and knitting. I am thoroughly enjoying Rhonda's book, 'Down to Earth,' and am reminded of her gentle words of advice throughout the day as I knead bread dough, hand wash woolens, or weed the veggie patch. I'm making progress on the hot water bottle cozy too. It was relegated to the knitting basket when I cast on for the 'Larch' cardigan. However, since accidentally breaking the circulars, I've picked up the cozy once more. Perhaps I should refrain from buying replacement needles until the cozy is finished...

Joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along.

Ravelry.

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Don't forget to enter the 'Yardage Design' fabric pack giveaway.

Yarn Along

I am attempting to knit a seamless hot water bottle cozy, using five double pointed needles and a cable needle. I was feeling very much like a 'real' knitter indeed, until I realised that I had misplaced a button hole... To frog or not to frog? As it is for me, I have chosen to forge on. I intend to stitch close those nuisance button holes once I'm finished and hide snaps on the inside instead, with a few decorative vintage buttons on the outside. Don't tell anyone.

Sadly, I've all but finished 'The Paper Garden.' There was another paragraph that I felt compelled to share with you. I feel sure other crafters and makers will be nodding along in smiling agreement just as I was.

"Craft is engaging. It results in a product. The mind works in a state of meditation in craft, almost the way we half-meditate in heavy physical exercise. There is a marvelously obsessive nature to craft that allows a person to dive down through the ocean of everyday life to a seafloor of meditative making. It is an antidote to what ails you. At about the age of thirty-six, my mother executed six paint-by-number paintings, three winter landscapes and three exotic jungle-scapes prominently featuring peacocks. She spread the work out on the kitchen table and, over several years, went at it. One can loose oneself, even in paint-by-numbers, and the loss of the self within safe confines nurtures the imagination. To ornament one's existence, even with six paint-by-numbers paintings, is a key to understanding one's personal weatlth - and acknowledging that wealth in others, too."

'The Paper Garden; Mrs Delany begins her life's work at 72,' Molly Peacock
page 288

Meditation, obsessive, antidote, wealth? I feel as if she were talking right to me.

Such a lovely book, so glad I spotted it on Alicia's blog.

I'm joining in today for the first time to Ginny's Yarn Along.

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Ravelry.