It occurs to me that I posted a whole blog about knitting a toasty pile of squares – to be made up into an even toastier blanket, and yet I have failed to fill the blogasphere in on the fact that I finished the project. It has actually been finished for quite some time and gets dragged from room to room depending on where some extra cosy-ness is needed.
The blanket was finished well in time for my mum’s visit and I was very happy the moment I spread it out on our spare bed for her. And she gave me a perfect gift to accompany it.
A rainbow coloured cushion cover designed by Betsy Napangardi Lewis and hand chain-link embroidered as part of the Better World Arts, cross cultural project. The design is based on an indigenous dreaming story of journeying women.
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| Completed blanket with Betsy Lewis cushion cover |
To add to these rainbows I recently attended a craft workshop at Edinburgh Contemporary Crafts, and had a very relaxing Saturday afternoon learning to make felt beads. Although my beads did not start out rainbow coloured – once I got home I inevitably ended up going a little embroidery-rainbow crazy.
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| Rainbow stitched ball necklace |
I am still playing with this idea, and my final piece may end up looking a little different – but it is a lot of fun and you can bet whatever the finished product is, it will be multi-coloured.
With our days getting rapidly shorter and colder I was very pleased to unwrap a parcel from my mum containing bright orange leg warmers (originally purchased in NYC way back when) gloves (originally purchased on Gertrude Street in Fitzroy) and a (surprise surprise) hot water bottle cover made by me featuring… clouds and a rainbow. I am saving it for my next lot of Aussie guests.
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| cloud and rainbow hot water bottle cover |
I thought I would also use this blog to talk about a different sort of rainbow in my life, which is the ‘somewhere over the rainbow’ type of dreaming one does. Some of my dreaming is about my writerly self and I am very pleased to announce a little landmark on that journey. The book, which I have a story in Edinburgh Shorts has been available to purchase online, both as an e-book and paperback for a little while now, but this week marks my own and the Cooperative of Creative Writers début as writers with a book in a bookshop. Seeing out book on the shelves of the wee bookshop in the lovely Scottish Poetry Library made my heart sing.
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| Edinburgh Shorts |
And that is quite a pile of rainbows for any girl to have.
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| This blog is posted in conjunction with Natural Suburbia’s Creative Friday |
“Zippy, Bungle's gone out”, said George, giggling as usual.
“Well put some more parafin on then!”, replied Zippy.