Not only are there those treacherous clear days with the promise of Spring, and the cheerful nodding of jonquils, and sightings of Magpies with nest supplies firmly clenched in their beaks. It is not just the cold and the wet and the little tease of Spring that makes August wicked. No. August is also wickedly busy and wickedly expensive.
Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a galaxy without children, in what seems like a former and foreign life, I was a lacemaker. I made beautiful bobbin lace with my own two hands. There is a magic to bobbin lace - it is essentially weaving with little bits of stick and lots of pins. The magic is what you create, inch by painstaking inch. It is not a quick craft, and it requires a high level of patience, and a commitment to the task, which is probably why I have been a lapsed lacemaker for a decade and a half. Anyhow, this weekend I made a comeback. Travelling by myself still seems a very decadent and grown up thing to do, but I packed up my bobbins and flew to Melbourne for a wonderful reunion with my old lacemaking friends. It was lovely.
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| These little guys are Judy's amigurumi dogs - I loved them! |
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| My lace-making - you can see how it is easy to get excited by all of the lovely turned wooden bobbins and spangles. |
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| This remarkable lady was my Mum away from Mum when I was first in Melbourne. She is a dear friend - sooooo wonderful to catch up! |
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| My amazing friend Helen is almost finished an entire bobbin lace shawl! That is true commitment! She is so clever! |
This weekend coming I am heading off to the Mt Pleasant Fibre Fair to indulge in some spinning stash enhancement. We will visit the farmers market and Repurpose (which is a lovely op/junk/recycling shop full of nana-ish treasures like old cutlery and remnants of vintage fabric etc)
The week after that is our Quilting retreat down at Goolwa - and that is always worth a visit to my current favourite Patchwork shop and some great secondhand stores.
After that I will pull my head in. I really will. Because you know what, that takes us pretty well right up to Spring and unless something drastic happens within the next 3 weeks I think I can congratulate myself on a remarkably grump free, almost happy Winter!
Have a great week folks!
Keep smiling,
Nell
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