Warwick's Jumpers and Jazz festival 2014...The Knitted Kitchen...

I found out about this festival a few years ago but up until now, haven't had the chance to go to have a look. But this year we had an added incentive...a former work colleague and his wife now are living in this town, so we could catch up with D and M, as well as have them as our own personal tour guides.
They said that we MUST see the Knitted Kitchen, so after enjoying some jazz street musicians, and walking around looking at the yarnbombing, a stop for a lovely cup of coffee and homemade scone, we went to the Art Gallery to see this exhibit.

Walking towards the entry to the Art Gallery

I'm not sure whether I let out a squeal of delight when I first caught sight of the display, but I wouldn't be surprised if I did!

 And cameras were not banned like they are in so many galleries...you could not enter the 'kitchen' or touch anything but there was one chair which people were encouraged to sit on to have photos taken...

 The tiled floor was knitted...

D was the Learning Support Teacher at my last school; he's retired now too :-)

Now for a closer look at some of the items...

A box of macaroons beside the old dial phone

The fridge was covered with crocheted doilies...

The 3 level cake tin...so 1950s :-)

Ducks on the wall, the view out of the window in front of the sink unit...

I loved this chair!

There was a little knitted mouse near the kitchen bin...

 A closer look at the table...and that roast chicken...

The back of the kitchen unit...

 A closer look at the ducks!

The kitchen utensils...

 A closer view of the sink...

The dish drainer and the stove top...

For some background information on this art installation I suggest this website...lots of people were involved and the results are amazing! http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2014/07/21/4050199.htm

This knitted sculpture was just near the doorway of the exhibit...

If you live in SE Queensland, it's not too late to have a look at what the Jumpers and Jazz in July Festival has to offer...the festival ends on Sunday (27/07)
Program details here...http://jumpersandjazz.com/
I will write another post about the yarnbombing in the streets, so stay 'tuned' for more clever exhibits!

And it was free too!

Years ago when I worked part time, I used to attend the free lunchtime concerts in the Brisbane City Hall. A little while ago, I realised that I have been retired for 3 years and although I have had time to go to these concerts, I had not been to one!
So I have been checking the program online and have been to 3 in the last month or so...
To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Beatles tour of Australia there was a concert by a local Beatles' tribute band, the Beatlegs.
( Excuse the poor quality of the photos...used my phone)

 The MC introduced the concert...

No photos till after the concert...that's the rule!

Here's a photo from the Beatlegs website. A friend told me that her cousin Paul (real name) , plays Paul in the group...he is right handed but plays the bass guitar left handed just like the 'real' Paul.

Another concert I went to, featured a terrific percussion group called Percussimo.

 Then there was the Elton John tribute concert featuring local entertainer, Greg Andrew...another enjoyable concert!

 Greg really did sound like Sir Elton...both in voice and piano playing

Brisbane City Council also sponsors author talks at local libraries...and these talks are also entertaining and free! DH has read and enjoyed 2 books by local author Matthew Condon, so we went along to Ashgrove library one evening to attend his talk. Matthew has been writing books about the 'corruption in high places' involving police and politicians...and he also focusses on the fact that many honest police officers and their families had their careers and lives ruined by the 'bad apples'...his books are allowing them to have a voice.

Matthew's book Jacks and Jokers which is a sequel to Three Crooked Kings

The hour and half went too quickly...he is an extremely interesting man.

So that's just a small part of the free entertainment provided by the Brisbane City Council...now I have a friend who loves the council's GOLD Program...(Growing Old and Living Dangerously)...but would I have time? lol

Hexies!

I was reading a fellow blogger's post which was an update on the Geta Grama project that Vireya has embarked upon, when I noticed that the post had been linked to a post of another blogger, Sarah, who is also addicted to hexagons. 
Sarah invited other hexie lovers to link to her post and as I do have a EPP project on the go at the moment, I thought that I would join in as well.
I had a number of long hexagons cut out of Christmas fabrics, left over from various projects and each month when I attend the Sunday Stitchers' meet up, I grab this bag of hexies and papers. It's an ideal project for when I want to talk rather than concentrate on fine stitching etc. :-)
I decided that I would make another table centre/runner with these leftovers and last Sunday at our most recent meetup, I managed to get a fair bit done.

And here is a link to Vireya's post on her progress with Geta's Flower Ball quilt...what Vireya has done so far is magnificent!
Ooops, too late! Sarah's link is closed!

The recent Mini Swap...

In a previous post I wrote about the Mini quilt I made for Peg; I realised too late that the theme of this swap was not just Embroidery but there should be an inspirational message stitched into the mini...my mini was 'wordless'. 

But Lyn (no blog) who made a mini for me  was definitely 'on the ball' and read the instructions more thoroughly than I had! I was absolutely thrilled when I opened Lyn's parcel...have a look at this beautiful mini...

And that wasn't the only item in the parcel...look at these lovelies...just gorgeous!

Many thanks to Lyn for all these beautiful items and thank you to Cheryll once again, for organising this fun swap. 

FNSI....

The 3rd Friday of the month was yesterday, so that means that last night was Friday Night Sew In. This means that people from all around the globe have signed up to spend some time, (in their respective Time Zones) working on crafty type projects. Thank you once again to Wendy over at Sugarlane Quilts for organising this, and you can visit other blogs to see what people worked on, using the Linky in Wendy's post.

After I signed up, I later realised that DH and I would be out at the theatre on Friday night; at the QUT, Gardens' Point Theatre to be precise, to see a David Williamson play, 'Managing Carmen'. So I did some 'FNSI ing' in the late afternoon and then again some more after we arrived home from the theatre. 

The project I'm working on is a secret at the moment, so just some glimpses I'm afraid. It's a knitting project and will be another throw...surprising that eh???

The colourway is greys, pinks, mauves and purples and this is the back of the project...

 I had some variegated yarn that 'linked' the mauves and pinks...but it had yellow in the mix.

I knitted a trial row and the yellow 'jarred', so that row got pulled out!

Then I thought of something...take the yellow out! And I did...I wound off the yarn that I thought I would need to do that 'block', and when the pink graduated to the yellow, I just cut the yellow length out and joined the ends...

I ended up with a pile of ends which will go into my 'Minestrone project'. (Kaite has discontinued the blog, but my knitted throw is still a work in progress)

When I finished that 'block' of colour, I still had this 'pinky/mauvey/bluey' ball of yarn...

This Cleckheaton Mohair/wool mix is a delight to work with; it reminds me of the lovely Te Awa mohair from NZ which is no longer available. 

In a short while I will be able to show you a 'full length and full frontal' pic of this project...stay tuned! 

(B+B+B) ÷ 30 = 7

You are probably thinking I've 'lost the plot' a bit judging by the subject of this post?? But all will be explained!
Another way of writing the subject could be; The sum of the squares in the box, basket and bag, grouped into piles of 30 and joined together, equals 7 blankets for K4BN. (These days I use double crochet to join squares together as it's quicker than sewing them like I used to)
I started this 'joining squares marathon' a week ago and last night finished weaving all the ends in. This morning, for a bit of fun, I 'yarn bombed' our lounge with the blankets...

The squares came from a variety of people; some donors I know, others were just handed into K4BN. Susan W your squares are in 2 of the blankets, Helen S there are heaps of the ones you collected for me in these, and Glenda from Sisters of Stitch, your lovely crocheted squares have made up into 3 blankets. Susan D, there are many of your granny squares used in these blankets, although I added some crocheted rounds to them to make them the same size as all the others.

For a while now, Jennifer, who comes to the Grovely Knit and Natter, has at various times handed me a pile of squares that she has made for the group. Jennifer tries out various interesting patterns and these squares look so effective as feature squares. I made a collage of just a few of the squares made by Jennifer...

These squares need to be surrounded by the lovely garter stitch squares that people regularly knit for the group; we are so fortunate to have donors who happily knit squares for us.

I combine both crocheted and knitted squares...no discrimination here! lol

When I joined the squares I had on hand here into the 7 blankets, I was left with 3 squares, so my joining ended. Then this morning I heard my cat Eduardo meowing a welcome  to someone on the veranda...as luck would have it...it was Christine W, another member of K4BN, who happens to be a prolific crocheter. Christine had some baby rugs to hand over to the group, plus 2 bags containing 74 squares. Christine's squares always have the ends neatened and are always the same size...so...74 ÷ 30 = 2 blankets with 14 left over plus the 3 left over from the joinings this week. Unlucky for some but I will be thrilled to find that 13! lol

Christine's lovely crocheted baby rug plus bags of squares...

(You know how they say that you learn something new every day? Well thanks to Google, this morning I found out how to get the division sign on a PC keyboard; hold down the Alt key and using the number pad on the righthand side of the keyboard and type 246. As if by magic, when you release the Alt key, the division sign appears. I did not know that! lol)

There was chaos for a while...

I've written one post about being busy knitting items for the Art Show ($3500+ was raised which thrilled the organiser) and I alluded to the fact that other things happening were also taking time away from blogging. There was really only 2 words to describe things around here for a while...absolute chaos!
The fridge was in the lounge, as were the 2 buffet hutches.

The contents of the latter 2 items were in boxes in the second and third  bedrooms as well as in the bedroom which is our office, and even in the bathroom! The dining room table and chairs were stacked on the veranda under a dropcloth.

Another desk with lots of craft materials was also on the veranda with a blue tarp thrown over it...

We had to have help to move all these heavy objects and we couldn't pick and choose when that help was available...sooooo everything was moved a week before it was needed to be moved. The weather had turned cold, so eating the evening meal on the veranda had become a bit chilly. So DH set up a folding table in the empty dining room.

I also did some stitching at this table so the Day-light had to be dragged back from the front bedroom....

Now you've probably guessed it was some sort of home improvement and you would be right! DH and I had decided that the cork tiles in the dining and kitchen area were a bit worse for wear...DH calculated that the tiles were laid 22 years ago, long before I came on the scene. They were quite pitted and the floor was also a 'patchwork' where changes to the layout of the kitchen necessitated cut out pieces of tiles to be inserted in gaps.  So the answer was a complete new floor...
The day dawned when the floor would be put down...the young man arrived before 7 am and unloaded some long thin boxes...

 The new flooring we chose was grey gum timber...

 The rolls of underlay which was laid straight on the cork tiles....

 The floorboards locked together very quickly...

The transformation took place rather quickly...the new boards flow into the kitchen area...

My BiL helped DH move the furniture back so that just left all the items in boxes to be replaced in the cupboards....Then DH had the rather smart idea that while the hutches were empty, it would be a good time to get the room repainted, so he organised his nephew who is a  painter, to do this. 

Michael mixing in the tint...

Michael's FiL gave him a hand that morning...

We had to wait 24 hours after the painting, before moving the furniture back against the walls. Then it was time to put items away. It was an excellent time to do a bit of decluttering and DH and I were quite ruthless. The local Red Cross Op Shop got a large box of china/collectables and the Lifeline Collection Bin at the local school got 3 bags of books from the bookshelf in that room. And of course there were some items that were despatched to our rubbish bin too!
I took the opportunity to do a 'Winter' display on the open shelves as well...the 'Summer' theme had been put together before we went away in mid March, so a change was in order. Note the lovely Winter themed mini which Anthea made for me in the Seasons' Swap last year.
The dinner set is one which I bought in the 1970s and added to over the years until Wedgewood discontinued it. In the last 12 years it has mostly been hidden away in cupboards so making displays in these shelves brings out such items. I know that I have far too much china but I'm not ready to get rid of this set...:-)

PS. I LOVE my new floor!!! :-)