close knit finale

After what felt like an impossibly long wait the Brisbane festivals Close Knit program finished up in a big way this Saturday with a cherry picker reaching to the high limbs of this gum tree to create the most spectacular sight- a knitted tree!

The Close Knit project has been a beautiful community project-life affirming,
joy giving and funI know a few people who think yarn bombing is a waste of resources and time but for me it's a way of elevating the status of both womens work and yarn work.
And I just love the way the colours work, it's such fun to see people noticing, seeing, stopping and examining something familiar because it's been wrapped up in wool.
I love yarn bombing!

It was amazing to look up and see all the individuals work joined together to form a whole.
Knitting and crochet were the traditional skills which provided for the various communities involved in the Close Knit project to come together, to share conversation, create, learn and reach out.
The tree is a perfect symbol to me of the beauty of healthy close knit communities-they are well grounded but also extending, growing and a part of larger systems.

Who(hoooo?) would think yarn could be so useful? ;o)
xKate

Trees and banks and breasts

My latest brooches...what do you think of these?

Felt applique and teeny tiny hand stitched details.
I really like them even if they seem to take forever to make.

But I suppose these doilies took a lot longer to create!
I cleaned out all my local op shops yesterday to fit out a bank in Ascot with these crochet pretties.

I wonder what the customers think?

I also made some bunting out of some gorgeous hand dyed organic yarn.
It is perfect for yarn bombing and stall decorating and I am making more for no purpose at all beyond the fact that it is just so pretty and cheerful!

This installation was placed in the Westpak bank, Racecourse rd, Ascot, as part of a breast cancer fund and awareness raising campaign.
I would have enjoyed creating a themed installation for the cause but unfortunately I only found out the purpose of the installation on the day!

But I still am glad to have the opportunity to remind myself and others to be gentle on ourselves and look after our bodies-eat well, move about a lot, check yourself out and get all those bits checked out. We all hear it all the time - get regular pap smear tests and do breast self examinations but when do you find the time?
How about now?
X Kate

My creative space

You can still enter my giveaway here, so do that, then read on...

All of us women in the back row of this photo are wearing a scarf...one very long scarf!!
We all contributed to it, part of our efforts towards the Close Knit project,
for the Brisbane Festival.
(I am fourth from the left wearing a a black top and happy grin!)

Brisbane readers may want to keep the 25 of September free because we will be presenting our crochet creations as yarn bombing artwork at the 'Into Africa' event in Yeronga.
There will be a market, dancing, a choir of 200 singers, cute sleepy babies in slings to fuss over and more...I can hardly wait!

And with her big blue dancing gumboots and blue crochet hat on Petronias' angelic daughter sure looks excited and ready too!

On the dash robin crafting side of things I am heading in for the Village life market at Northey street in Windsor this weekend.
I love the place and am rapt to be able to attend. I will be there my lovely friend Angie, who some of you will know from the Avid market.

Over the next few days I am going to use some more of the caramel coloured wool (dyed with gum tree bark) to make more brooches to take in.
I have been busier than ever and thought I might like a break today from crochet, an actual day off from all work related pursuits...

but the beauty of loving what I do means I still yearn to do it in my spare time too.
I am absorbed by the fun of coming up with new ideas, trying different techniques and I get to keep myself busy, contented and my creative mind active.


Oh and Brisbanites also keep an eye out for an upcoming TV special-its a Great South East episode on the close knit project.
I may possibly be in it, in a blink and you'd miss it kind of way, the real draw card is the lovely women of a Sandgate aged care place.
I have been volunteering there and enjoy working beside these amazing women, some in thier nineties, striken with arthritis yet the knitting they do makes me green with envy. Hopefully the show will highlight how thier beautiful, wrinkled, soft and delicate hands can still wield knitting needles or crochet hooks with amazing results.
xKate
P.s-if you do watch it let me know what you think...I have no interest in TV so never hooked mine up, ha, ha, irony!
I also slept through my abc radio interview (it was on at 5.30 a.m) so I have to rely on more reliable viewers to keep me up to speed...:o)
more creativity here

Yarn bombing fun!

I really enjoy listening to local abc radio so it was especially fun to be invited into the abc radio studio to yarn bomb it to promote close knit!
The lovely Anne O'Keefe, is the reporter for abc local radio 612, featured on Spencer Howsons' breakfast show...

She pre recorded an interview with me for the early morning show.

These snaps were taken as Sam, Getano and I decorated.

It was really easy to wrap my scarves and brooches all over the equipment and not so easy to hold back...so we didn't!

While Sam was in getting interviewed I kept adding more and more; placing things all over the walls, mike stands, monitor stands, chairs, etc, etc.

This lovely monitor stand flower was my favourite detail.

Happiness is a crochet covered studio!