Knot Ugly Shrug

Here's my version of the Knot Ugly Shrug from Debbie Stoller's The Happy Hooker:

I made it about two years ago. Looking at it now, I can see what a simple garment it is. It's construction is relatively straightforward and the colour is plain, but it was anything but easy for me to make. It's the first piece of clothing I've ever crocheted and I made it when my crochet skills were very basic. I frogged it about four times. I was determined to make it fit but I never managed to get the right gauge ~ it came out too wide, so I had to modify it and turn it into a ballet wrap. After crocheting this, I have a new respect for anyone who makes clothing. Getting something to fit and move with a human body is a real feat!

How to Post a Comment

I've received some lovely responses from people about my blog.
Some have been posted here,
some have been contained in gorgeous emails that have been sent to me,
and some have been part of conversations I've had when I've met up with friends who've come to visit inkberryblue. I am very grateful for all of them.

Quite a few visitors have told me that they haven't been able to work out how to leave a comment, which is not so surprising as it really isn't very clear at all...so I've left a short tutorial in the side column that explains the steps involved in commenting. Hopefully, my instructions are easy to understand.

...and on the crafting front. I've found a pattern for a sweet felted bag and a tutorial for the most gorgeous daisy embellishments , and I'm playing with the idea of putting the two together.

Trace

Last week was a full week. I spent the evenings:

• in rehearsal for an up and coming concert my choir is performing,


• at after hours work meetings,


• receiving bowen therapy and jin shin jyutsu massage (which was blissful)


• and drinking champagne, with my mother and father, at Cedric Baxter's exhibition opening at the Linton and Kay Gallery in Subiaco. Cedric is a fabulous artist who produces elegant, figurative art work. If you live in Perth, his exhibition is well worth a look.

...so I was very happy to spend the weekend simply. For the most part, I crocheted on the couch, kept company by my cat and my graceful goldfish Trace. Here are some photographs of my little fish. They don't really capture her prettiness (it's hard to take good shots of a subject who's in perpetual motion and who lives in a hexagonal tank) but hopefully they give some indication of how sweet she is.

Photos of crochet to follow...

Shelly

Here's some progress shots of another scarf I've been crocheting:

I'm using a pattern, from Crochet me, named Shelly and a Cleckheaton wool called Vintage Hues. I love variegated yarns 'cause they do half the work for you.

A Picture and Some Poetry

I'm feeling quietly glad to be alive tonight
and I wanted to share two things.

One is this picture:


(I painted this landscape when I was working up in the Pilbara. I lived right on the edge of the desert. It was very very hot,
harsh, breath~takingly beautiful and full of Spirit.
I am so grateful to have lived here.)

..and the other is this poem:

"i thank YOU God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for
everything
which is natural which is infinite which is YES

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of the life and of love and wings: and of the
gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any - lifted from the no
of all nothing - human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now eyes of my eyes are opened)"

~e.e.cummings

I love how his words celebrate the beauty of the Earth.

Simple Food

I really enjoy writing here and I delight in reading other people's blogs.
I especially like the way that blogs often celebrate and elevate the ordinary. They inspire me, sometimes in ways that I'm surprised by ~ like the way I've started cooking again since I've been blogging. Seeing fabulous posts like Louise's, Kat's, Meshell's or the fabulous Posie's has a lot to do with this rekindled desire. These women do simple food really well...and here's some more evidence. This is a picture of Kat's guacamole.
(You can find the recipe here.)
It was delicious!

Here's my humble contribution ~ part of my breakfast. I topped the strawberries and passionfruit with natural yoghurt, almonds and honey, and had it with a big glass of freshly squeezed orange juice...mmm...

...and a photo of a posy of flowers from my garden, just because they're so pretty.

Inspiration

This is some delicious hand painted cashmere wool that I bought from Live 2 Knit.

This gorgeous ball of yarn is destined to become a feather and fan scarf. I've been inspired by Moonstitches' beautiful work. (Isn't it elegant?) I also want to crochet a version of her hexagon granny blanket. I just love the motif, the colours she's chosen...and, because I'm sentimental, the fact that her blanket reminds me of one that was made by my great~grandmother, Gran Baxter.

Lacy Scarf

Here's a scarf I made recently:

I like crocheting scarves. They're quick to finish and warm to wear. Making them gives me a great opportunity to learn different techniques and stitches. I used a SweaterBabe pattern for this one and, even though it was classified as having an intermediate level of difficulty, it was really easy to follow.

Rest

It has been a beautiful sunny Winter weekend.

I went out to lunch with some old school friends yesterday

(Hi Guy! Hi Nat! Hi Tanu!)

and we talked about how sacrificing sleep,

even if it is a way of extending your life outside of work,

is not a good habit to get into.
So,

this morning I allowed myself the luxury of sleeping in until 11:00 am
then dawdled over breakfast, hung out with the cat, pottered around in the garden and just enjoyed the simplicity of it all.

I love going s l o w l y.

The cyclamens at my front door


and Molly, my faithful nap and sleep~in companion.

Sweet

I bought these sweet crocheted and knitted coat hangers a few weeks ago. They were made by the good women of the Little Daughters of Charity Bargain Box, my favourite opportunity shop. The hangers are resting on a lovely, faded, floral pillow case that I also thrifted from the Bargain Box. I'm planning on edging this pillow with a white thread edging like this one here. I've been inspired by these absolutely beautiful pillows that Alicia Paulson has embroidered...I love the idea of resting my sleepy head on something hand~stitched.

Succulence

This is a little pencil sketch I made of a small succulent that grows in my back garden...and here's a photo of it:

One of my favourite authors, SARK, uses the term succulent frequently. In fact, she's penned a fabulous book called Succulent Wild Woman where she defines succulent as " ripe. juicy. whole. round. exuberant. wild. rich. wide. deep. firm. rare. female." SARK writes, with great candour, about self nurturing, creativity and living joyfully. She also hosts a wonderful online community called PlanetSark which I've belonged to for over three years.

Some of the members of PlanetSark have beautiful blogs. These include:

Leonie life Leonie is gorgeous. She's a writer, photographer, artist and spiritual soul,

dancing mermaid McCabe also takes photographs, paints clothes and writes with great honesty and sensitivity,

abc creativity Andrea is an artist and creativity advocate who holds marvellous workshops,

romantic circus songs Lisa Marie is a writer. She just wrote a poem called Never Made it to L.A. which knocked my socks off,

and side project Melissa's blog is completely handwritten and full of whimsy.

Be inspired!

Pay It Forward Swap

Thanks to Kat at Snapdragons, I am participating in a Pay It Forward swap and you, dear reader, are invited to join in too! The first three people who leave comments on this post, saying they would like to participate, will be sent some sort of crafty goodness from me sometime in the next 12 months. These three people are then obligated to post this swap on their own blogs. I'm more than happy to send parcels overseas, by the way. Come on, don't be shy!

Daisy Blanket ~ Progress

I have joined the daisy squares together and I've started to add the giant granny border. I'm starting off with a frame of white stitches, then I'm going to add some coloured rows... and here's a progress shot:

Actually, I'm just about to frog the white dc border. If you look closely at the first photo you can see that the border is a bit wavy which means, for those of you who'd like to know, that I've got too many stitches. I'm going to recrochet it with some 2dcs, as well as the classic 3dcs which should, hopefully, fix the problem. Any which way, I'm having fun!

If you would like the pattern for the daisy squares you can find it at the Warming Families site.

Retreat

I'm feeling very rested.
I've recently come back from a beautiful women's weekend retreat.

I went to a property in the forest

and spent two days with gentle souls

in a very special and sacred part of the Earth.

I meditated

and read

and had reiki,

took long, solitary walks

out by granite outcrops and huge red~gum trees,

soaked in the stillness and the quietness and the wildness,

sang,

slept,

walked a sacred spiral by candlelight,

prayed softly,

drew mandalas of stars and women with knowing eyes,

shared delicious meals rich in replenishing food and laughter

... it was full of loveliness and I feel so blessed to have been invited.

Woorooloo Brook, prayer flags and gum trees.

The bridge.

The dam. Last year we floated tea lights on it at night. It was so pretty.

The Chinese Tallow tree in winter.

The perfumed garden.

Bliss

*