creative space

My creative space this week is mobile. I am in Darwin at a conference and when I have free time I am doing a crawl of cafes with good airconditioning so I can knit. It is too stuffy in most of the rooms at the conference venue, good but dull in the hotel room, impossible outdoors and just right in this cafe.

The thing I love about knitting at a conference is it is such an icebreaker, particularly with women. I love that you find all kinds of closet knitters in these conversations and make friends you never would talking work.

These are my Hedera socks. one down one to go. If only I could knit on the almost 6 hours of flying time I will be doing later today.

For more creative spaces head over here.

scared witless

I have to give a paper at a conference in a couple of weeks.

I still have to write the presentation.

I still have to coordinate with the other two people (I have never met) on the panel we will do after.

I have never done this before.

I am too scared to even think about it.

I have given presentations and lots of community events and that was OK.

But this is different.

There is an expectation that I will be entertaining and also tell people something they don't already know.

What if they already know it all?

It is about this.

(that's me with the Chief Minister of the ACT and the Federal Minister for Infrastructure Anthony Albanese showing them what we are building - like the hard hat?)

This is my baby. I have lived and breathed it for months, amongst managing another dozen or so projects about the place.

Specifically my presentation is about blogging and community engagement.

and I have to leave the pirate behind for 4 days to fly to Darwin to do it.

What was I thinking?

where else did we go???

you asked for it! well someone did.

The-one-day-nut-tour-of-Melbourne

Nut is our very good friend and a Melbourne resident. She worked out the places she knew I would love and then, with the pirate, made a plan for the day. see?

We started out at Olive Grove textiles on Sydney Road Brunswick - and while waiting for the magic opening time popped up the road to Sly Baby for some bargains. If you are into retro clothes it is attached to Episode, which was very very good. I picked up the great skull jacket the pirate was wearing in the last post.

So back to Olive Grove - it is a clothing and print space. The shop is mostly taken up by a huge screen printing set up with lots of great handmade clothes, bags, underwear and jewelry around it. We went because they have some kids stuff and the pirates most grooviest pants came from there. Sadly he is a little too old now for much in the way of cute stuff - they seem to stop at size 4.

From here we were back in the car and across to Fitzroy for a visit to Meet me at Mikes and the Art Souvenir Shop - here I picked up a great present for my sister which I can't talk about right now. Around the corner to Arcadia on Gertrude for the best French toast I have had in a long long time. I don't have any shots of the french toast - we were too busy eating it to take a photo. I do have a photo of the pirate's magnificent pizza though.

By now we had enough energy for the Rose Street Artist market. Oh my lordy what a place. I picked up a few bits and pieces from Neil Thomas and his Wooden Postcards.

I am still lusting over a ring I saw - it was a silver teacup and saucer.

By now the pirate was over it.

We headed over to Westgarth to visit the primary school. You might recall that the pirate's school is going to be the first Canberra school to have a Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden. You might also recall that I am designing it and am on the garden working group. Westgarth school has a very successful kitchen garden and I wanted to check it out - and how lucky was I to find a working bee in progress and the coordinator there to talk to? very.

I had a great look around, the pirate had a play and then we headed for the Flashback Fabrics. My wonderful friend kept the pirate entertained for a long long time while I looked at everything and came away with this.

By now we were very very tired. I had spent two days scooting around for work and eating great food and generally having a lovely time and then another day doing all this. It was good to retire to nut's house, open the red wine, make a curry and relax.

a little more

of our Melbourne break - which did include some work, but then even the work was quite something.

When I wasn't at meetings we did what we do in Melbourne - I drank coffee - the pirate had milkshakes, we looked at shops, opp shops, at art and at tried not to spend all my money.

We both found treasure. Good, Good treasure. The pirate and opp shop with jewels and me - a retro fabric shop.

And then we did what all people do in Melbourne, right?

We turned a giant vegetable into a baby named Jim Clary Hawkins.

Sadly he was abandoned at the airport.

and Flair had its first outing - unblocked but still devine to wear. It did end up pilling quite badly unfortunately.

worn with some Melbourne purchases

and as an aside - this time my crochet hook was confiscated on the plane. rats.

I am not doing the best job

of the Southern Summer of Socks. I got this far-

but then I read this post about christmas knitting and making. I need to get on with christmas things, right now. These are not christmas knitting.

I didn't like christmas until recently. I like it now because...

it no longer involves huge extended family I don't really like
it does involve family I do really like
it involves little kids
it is always open to drop ins - and there is usually at least one
it means great seafood
and pudding
and champagne
and I get to give people presents

This year is particularly special for the pirate and I. Back in March my brother and his family moved to Maningrida, an indigenous community in Arnhem Land. Gone were pirate's adored cousins, and losing them has been really, really hard for him. He misses them desperately.

This week we heard they will be back in Canberra for 3 whole weeks over christmas.

There was much cheering - it will be a wonderful, if cramped, christmas at my little house.

So, getting back to the point, christmas is getting closer and it is time for christmas knitting and gift making in earnest. And the worst thing about this?? I can't post what I am doing cause I know some read this blog.

I will only say that I went to Sydney last Friday for a workshop. Through some careful planning I got a lift up and came back on the bus - that is 7 hours of knitting time. Enough time to finish a whole project. A project I can't tell you about.

I can show this though

it is a barber shop in North Sydney - how cool is that ?

And the workshop? There is an amazing organisation in the UK called CABE. They provide leadership in thinking about the built environment and they sustain me when it all gets bogged down in what we can't do rather than the many possibilities One of their directors was here for a week and ran a workshop - A great workshop and 7 hours knitting time - what knitter wouldn't be happy.

the working week

Is over - and isnt it so nice to be at this end of the week? It has been a difficult week at work - trying to get things accomplished is not always successful. But...I rode my bike to work today for the first time in months - which was heaven. I even managed to squeeze a few rows of my new beanie/beret in at lunch time and a couple more at our Friday afternoon beer tasting - one of my work mates is a fabulous maker of traditional beers. I love the opportunity to kick back and try all kinds of beers.

Work may be frustrating at times -but with knitting you always see some progress. It gladdens the heart.