It's an Obsession....

Not much to report on the creative front this week, due to pesky kids on school holidays (so not my fault at all), but I find that almost any void in my life can be filled with the glorious world of men's retro knitwear. This has become quite a regular fixation of mine, but what's not to love? How can anyone not bask in the glory of tight singlet man (above)? How can we not wonder if he is her boyfriend (creepy) or perhaps her father, and his wife is at home whipping up knitted singlets for the whole family as we speak?

How can anyone resist the simmering sexuality behind 70's knitwear photoshoots? After all, this bloke (above) is not wearing a stitch of knitwear, and later on he clearly wants her knitwear off too.....

What is this dude whispering in her ear? "I'm in room 69....I'll leave the door open" or " sorry, my belt buckle is stuck to the back of your soft crew neck sweater". The guy below is not so subtle. Is it just me or is he definitely interested in more than just her backhand and her snappy vest? The face is up the top, buddy!

This guy is in his natural environment. He's clearly a very clean farmer, just finished harvesting for the day and now relaxing in a bed of straw....but not even a bunch of carrots can save him from looking desperate. Not with that blow-wave and turtle neck. Where is the female knitwear model for him to nuzzle and show his carrots to?

Hope you are all having a creative moment this week. For many more creative moments have a look at Kirsty's xoxoxox

It's supposed to be Spring...

It was a bit depressing looking out the back window this morning to see that once again the fog had closed in. What's going on? Who's in charge of this debacle?

I shouldn't complain too much as I do get to look out over the farmland and wierd looking shed every morning. It's just that yesterday, after a really long, wet winter in the upper regions of Victoria, the sun came out and it was sensational. I think that the weather is definitely responsible for my moods as I was feeling irritatingly perky yesterday afternoon. Also, if the weather is charge then I can't be held responsible for anything, so that's good news.

Meanwhile a bit of sewing summer dresses for the shop, but a bit too early judging by the weather today. Maybe they could be worn with a skivvi underneath, and then socks and sandals for footwear. I do love a bit of sock and sandle action...it is actually very comfortable if you have never tried it.

The good thing about the hideous winter is that there is still a lot of snow up in the mountains, and tomorrow morning I am heading off with George, 9, for a bit of ski and snowboarding fun for a couple of days. The winter woollies are still being worn every day, but hopefully it won't be too long until summer dresses are called for. Have fun wherever you are....... (Next week..special History of Knitwear edition for Hana and Olaf in Auckland. They love their knitwear!!)

My Creative Space

Last night was the opening (and closing) night of the Big School Play 2010!!!! Wow!!

A ripple of excitement spread through the crowd as the lights went down......and the show began!! Here is my gorgeous Matilda as The Red Queen from the slightly re-named Grace in Wonderland. We had a lot of fun making her costume from an old Halloween Dress (the black bits) and her previous play costume (the red bits), so the Creative Space this week was full of costumey-type construction......
Everything in the costume was pretty much recycled, including the shoes from the Op Shop. We did buy some new false eyelashes, but I guess we didn't want to buy any pre-loved ones. Unless they belonged to someone cool, like Liza Minelli or other experienced false eyelash wearers.

As you can probably work out, George is not so willing to pose (he was trying to get into character), but he looked like a pretty decent pirate. Maybe a little cleaner and less smelly and with better dental care, but otherwise very piratey.

Hope you have been making lots of goodies this week....by the way, Rusty says Hi. Or Woof!

Have a look here at Kirsty's place for lots of creative geniuses!

My Creative Space

This week I finished a little dress for 2 year olds to go in my etsy shop, but unfortunately I have been far too distracted by my knitting...

Every so often I get so into knitting that all my other jobs just don't happen. I don't read anything, I don't sew, and I don't listen to anything that anyone is saying. I just say 'Mmm', or 'really?' or 'stop talking to me, can't you see I'm trying to knit?', or worst of all, "what the hell is that burning smell?' Pretty much anything could be going on, but I don't care because I just have to finish the row....

These pictures are bits of my new, nearly finished blanket which was inspired by some blankets in a book by Sarah Dallas, who is one of the Rowan designers. Can't remember the name of the book. Sorry.

But now I'm up to the tricky bit, at least for me, which is to crochet the chocolate strip to the edge of the stripey bit. I am crochet challenged, just ask Beck, which means that I get confused about simple things like where the wool should be and where the hook goes in. I get mixed up with which hole I stick something into. I'm not even going to make a rude joke here because this is serious business. I just don't get it! But I will eventually.........

I am finally going to conquer my crochet fears soon. Not only do I have a blanky to finish, but I need to crochet that super man vest from my last post. Hope you are all having lots of crafty fun at Kirsty's!

My Creative Space

My assistant , George, and I have made an indoor football this week. In this neck of the woods we are desperate for indoor type activities as the weather is still revolting. 0 degrees Celcius yesterday morning at school drop-off, and nearly 5 degrees at pick-up time, with constant rain in between. Yuk. Good sewing weather.......

Also good weather for enjoying more men in knitwear.....

And pondering what to do with this gorgeous old Singer sewing machine. My stepmother gave it to me last week and I think it was her grandmother's originally. It is totally dependent on hand power and would probably work if it got a bit of attention. I'm not sure what to do with it really. If only we had a spare room, like we did when I grew up, and all the items that nobody knew what to do with anymore went in there. A bit like a museum, except with fairly crappy stuff.

Anyway, if you have any suggestions, let me know. A doorstop? A paperwieght? An object to throw at annoying people? Hope you are all having a creative week no matter what the weather....

Cigar, anyone?

Another rivetting image from the History of Knitting archive. These ones are from a Cleckheaton catalogue from about 1980? As you will note, smoking was not only still acceptable, it was downright sexy!!! Let's hope the yarn wasn't flammable, although this guy is surely hot enough to set her mostly synthetic garment on fire by himself.

Here he is putting a giant shell on her shoulder, and why not? Nothing says Cleckheaton wool like a giant shell on the shoulder.

This one has a more European feel...good to see he has lit up once again and is ready to pounce on her. I don't think knitting catalogues are anywhere near as raunchy as this now. I feel like this one could easily lead into a whole story / romance novel where he is a former bullfighter who has just inherited his family's stake in a cigar business. He is bored and looking for love. She is a knitwear model...aware of his bad boy reputation and yet amazingly attracted to his easy ways with shells and cigars......

Where was I? Here is another knitwear model who has never had a giant shell placed sexily on her shoulder.

This is my first poncho, from a Rowan pattern I started only this winter. Now that's a miracle. Perhaps I don't need cigar smoking men when I have a poncho to snuggle up to. Happy Crafting everyone!

New ways with denim....You know you want them!

On the week end something exciting happened to me. No, Keanu Reeves didn't come over for a cup of tea (that's next week), but I was the lucky recipient of the New Idea Denim Book. My stepmother, Robyn, delivered a huge box of goodies to me....knitting patterns, crochet patterns, crafty stuff and more going back to the early 1960's including the gem above. The collector of all these items was Robyn's friend Jan's late mother, and Jan thought that by sending them to me they would be fully appreciated. Boy, was she on the right track! It's a goldmine!

As you may know, I am particularly partial to men in knitwear. Who wouldn't be when confronted with this chappy? The amazing thing is that these glasses are currently selling for big bucks down at OPSM.....all the young groovers are sporting this look in 2010 as well.

tuniGood taste never goes out of style, and if I could crochet i would be all over this pattern. Instead I will have to take my new treasures to craft group and see if some of the clever sheilas down there want to whip up a crochet tunic for Spring!

These two ladies above are my favourite so far. The colours, the hairstyles, the belt buckles, the cravat and the strategically placed hand on the chin. These tick all the boxes...... The best thing about inheriting all these things is that it reminds me there is always someone who will appreciate things the same way you do. Hopefully one day when I have gone to the great craft studio in the sky, someone will appreciate all my crap too and get excited about it the way I do.

So crafters...let's get Crafty!!!! I will have many more goodies to share with you on future trips down memory lane, especially as all I have to show at the moment are 3 not quite finished knitting projects. I feel a menswear special in the pipeline so stay tuned.........