On my way home.

So I'm finally heading home and I wanted to thank you all for being so patient and sticking with me through the stop-and-go-ness that has been life over the last five months. I did miss the odd email (so very sorry!) and sometimes I took a few days longer than was totally acceptable to reply to emails and comments. But for the most part The Craft Sessions is coming out the other side unscathed, with an amazing event that is just about to happen. Eleven days to go!.

When our big potential life change was shaping up last November we had a few stressful chats about whether I was going to be able to plan the event while we did what we had been talking about doing for many many years - travel! In a way it felt incredibly selfish to want to work in the face of our family having time and space for the first time in a long time. But as I was just coming off the joy of our first retreat last October, I couldn't really see cancellation as an option. With the very kind support of my family, I made a choice to take a chance and try to do it in spite of the circumstances. And although I have had to struggle with my nature a little (which sometimes involved chanting "perfect is the enemy of good" like a crazy person) I am so glad I made the choice I did. This year's retreat is shaping up to be amazing. Registration went wonderfully and everyone seems so excited - which is just a total joy fest for me!

Sicily

As so many of you have kindly commented on our trip I thought I'd fill you in on how it went. After we left Australia in April, we travelled from the UK to Denmark by ferry before driving down through Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece. We then took a ferry to Italy and spent a few weeks there before driving quickly back through Switzerland and France two weeks ago. And I'm sitting here about to get on a plane to come home, not knowing how to tell you what it was. 

We didn't take a guide book and we didn't have any plans, which felt incredibly luxurious after years of work and schedules. We travelled slow, much slower than we thought we would, mainly in response to the kids. Many mornings we awoke not knowing where we were staying that evening. We ate simply and locally. We ate a lot of gelato, and it became more of an "everyday" food than a "sometimes" food. Our car Rex and our tent Starlight, truly became our home, with well established systems. Rexy had her windows smashed twice, and we broke down just once (in beautiful Bosnia). We walked and walked and walked and climbed many many stairs. We saw so much everyday beauty. 

Rome

And then we saw showstopping, breathtaking beauty over and over again in places we had never heard of.

Croatia

We skimmed many stones and swam many places. We got used to looking super weird with our rashies and hats among the almost nude Europeans.…. and well I feel like I could go on and on.

We saw over and over again that most people are doing their best to have a happy life. And that most people are good. I feel totally chuffed that my kids really got this. 

They became champion walkers!

I met this lovely woman a few weeks before we left who said to me "Wow - that will totally change you as a family!" and I do believe that is true. It feels like we have had a reset. We have had time to talk about the stuff that we normally only discuss on road trips. About our values, about what we want for our family, about where we are failing and about how we can change, about what makes us feel the joy. So so good.

Anyway this post was me simply trying to say a big thank you for your patience with all that was. It was truly appreciated. 

Felicia x

PS. THANKS to each and every one of you who commented on my last post (with the swearing!) It really did make me laugh and cringe. Which I so needed.

PPS. UPDATE - I've woken up realising that in my late night going-through-pictures rosy-eyed view I forgot to talk about the hard. And the meltdowns. There were so many meltdowns…. me included! ;)

The post with some swearing.

Alrighty then. So this isn't what I was going to post about AND I don't want to actually say it out loud, but it was suggested to me (by my friend Tiger) that maybe if I blog about it I might feel better. I'm sorry to say that I can't see how that would be possible but I am going to give it a go. 

I bl*&dy well just totally bl$#dy f*&king well felted my favourite ever knit. Just now!!

I spoke about James here but you don't even need to go to that post to see just how perfect she was. She was the perfect sweater. I wore her all the time. All the time! I loved her and I am sad.

And just a tad angry with myself. An experienced knitter and handwasher and I f#$king felted her. FELTED!!!

Perfect fit and she was made from Blue Sky Metalico which is the most beautiful naturally shaded Alpaca Silk blend.

Perfect amount of flare.

I know all of you lovely knitters must have done it at some stage in your knitting life. So I'm putting the call out -  can you please tell me some felting stories to ease my pain…. Make them painful. Make them funny. I don't mind….

yours in solidarity and pain.

Felicia x

Making as a habit

I often get asked how I make so many things….. “especially with the three kids and the travel – I don’t know how you do it?” A while ago I wrote a blog post that describes many of the ways I fit in crafting time. But last week I read something that made me think that that blog post had missed something rather important. Yes - all those ways to fit in craft are totally true. For example I do craft on-the-go and make sure I have things dotted around the house. But I think there is a better way to sum up my productivity and that is – I have made craft a habit.

This year I have been trying to start running again. Since having my third kid (many years ago!) I haven't been exercising regularly and I really want to fix it.  I try in spits and spurts but nothing really sticks. Then this week I came across this article in an old magazine about this idea called #runstreak. With #runstreak you commit to running a mile a day, every day, for as long as the streak lasts (some people do a year, some a month etc). No days off. Part of the idea is that by making a commitment to do the streak, you turn off the internal “should I, shouldn’t I, maybe today I will, or I won’t” rubbish that goes on when you have days off, and over time running becomes a habit. Now I know this internal dialogue is a barrier for me – I find excuses and make it hard when it doesn’t need to be. It is as simple as a. put on sneakers then b. walk out door. 

I got to thinking that while at the moment running isn’t a habit, making and crafting totally is. I always pick some craft up on the way out the door along with my keys, wallet, mobile and camera. I pick up some craft when I have my mid-morning coffee or am watching a movie, or when I have completed a good run of housework. I always knit at school pickup, while the kid is at violin, while I am a passenger in the car. I always try to sew a few seams while they are in the bath.

Making habitually is littered throughout my life. Almost like breathing. I just do it, without thought. It really is just part of my everyday. 

That is not to say that everything I make is like this. Obviously some things require thought and planning, time and space, but I always have projects underway that can be done without thought. Which is how the majority of my making happens.

Taking photos for me is now also the same; habitual. The camera is often in my hand as we travel, and I do it almost without thinking. Sometimes I consciously put it away in order to make sure I don’t take photos and am able to just be. And it is the same with my craft. If I want to be sure I don't pick it up then I need to put it away as the habit is so ingrained.

One of those times when the camera was put away on purpose. This photo was all I took when walking from Vernazza to Corniglia in the Cinque Terre.

I cast on the cowl in the photos for this exact purpose – to have something to make habitually. At the time everything else I was working on required thought. The cardigan was also made in the same way. Easy knitting to be done with my fingers and not with my head.

Suggestions for how to make crafting a habit.

 1. Start small

One of the articles I found while reading about #runstreak gave 29 ways to successfully ingrain a new habit. The jist of the article was that habits are hard to change and so you need to start small and only try to change one thing at a time. Start with just 5 minutes a day of your new activity. The idea is that the new habit would slowly become like having a shower or brushing your teeth.

2. Choose a trigger activity

Another suggestion from the article (when adapted to crafting rather than running) was that you should choose one thing that you want to be a trigger – tv, cartrips, school pickup. Just try to have a project ready for that activity each time you do it.

You will be surprised what you achieve by doing a single stitch here and there.

Is your crafting habitual or do you try to carve out crafting time?  For many of you I am guessing that like me it is both?

Felicia x

But "why"?

So I was on a bridge the other day when a woman complimented my girls on their frocks. My middle kid started telling the woman that her mum made them, and that I make most of their clothes*. And the woman ……well she said “why?”

Because you are reading the blog I’m going to assume that you understand why. But as I’m totally feeling the craft joy over the last few days I thought I would list a few just in case you want some easy answers if you are ever asked. I’d love to hear some more in the comments.

I've started two new projects in the last week and both of them are totally doing it for me in different ways. Project 1 is the Brooklyn Tweed Shale Baby Blanket and Project 2 is another version of Granny’s Favourite but with colourwork rather than the lace.

Without further ado here are my reasons “why”!

The pure happiness you have inside when lost in making

I talked about it a little bit in my last post – about the thrill of doing something you get lost in.  I saw this TED talk the other night which was talking about when we are truly happy. She said that it was often when we weren’t caught up in our ego and were totally lost in what we are doing. There are other places in my life where that happens but craft is the biggest.

The joy of starting something new

After finishing something big I often give myself permission to get my cast on (it would be my sew on too except that I am still far from home without a hoop or sewing machine). And humans seem to love a bit of new don’t they.  Pure excitement.

The sensual thrill of working with beautiful materials

I’m using Pear Tree Supersoft to make the yellow baby blanket in the pictures. This yarn is probably my all time favourite yarn but sadly the company is no more. However after extensive stalking of people’s Ravelry stash, due to the fact I love the yarn and due to the fact my SIL loves this colour (she is the one having the baby!), I finally turned up some of more of this yarn. I don’t even want to think about it’s transport miles, but the feeling of this yarn, the softness, the thick, the thin running through your hands is pure sensual joy! It truly is supersoft and yet it retains it’s sturdiness and has structure. It has a special place in my heart and so every time I am working with it I am aware of its qualities. It is all in the fingertips.

The meditative joy of making something for someone special

The baby blanket to me is also much more than the joy of working with the beautiful yarn. Attached to it is all the sentiment and love for the new person who will be born and receive it. Thoughts about that baby (and his/her lovely older sibiling) mean that knitting this blanket is a meditation of sorts on the love to come.

The absolute excitement of coming up with an idea that sings

We have been travelling for over four months now and one child has done that growing thing in spades. Her only cardy has sleeves that are almost at her elbows, so I thought I would whip her up something before I headed home for The Craft Sessions. I have been enjoying colourwork so much I wanted to do a little more, but when choosing from my box in the car I had super limited options. I used two yarns I wouldn’t normally have thought to pair and I made a little magic. By accident. I cannot put this thing down I am so excited. 

What have I missed?

Felicia x

*possibly not entirely true anymore as there are three of them and they seem to be growing quicker than I can keep up…

Women and Craft - A love story.

By the time I finished university at the age of 26, I was itching for some adventure. I worked for a scant few months to save some money, before jetting off with no plans and no idea how long I would be away for. I think I murmured something about being home in time for Christmas. Which I was – just six years later…

I arrived home pregnant and now in my early 30s, and the women I had left behind, my women, were thin on the ground. Many had moved overseas or interstate. Some were doing that corporate thing, rather than the kid thing. Others had just moved to the other side of Melbourne. It became clear to me over that first year back that coming home actually meant starting again.

I needed to find myself a whole new community, which to tell you the truth felt a little daunting.  As a new parent with a small fella who did a lot of screaming and not much sleeping, trying to bond with women at the local mothers group was often just excruciating. Their babies peacefully slept on their bunny rugs on the floor of the community centre, while mine was a. screaming and b. throwing up all over me. Did I mention that he was also a chucker?

After a long hiatus, and like many women before me, I started crafting around the time I had kids. And so I was making. And making. And making. Making mainly to feel the joy. To feel that little spark you feel when you are lost in whatever you are creating. And I was making to own a little part of my day. The tiny part that wasn’t owned by housework or small people.

A second kid was born not long after the first and things were good. I had made friends and it was friendly, but I hadn’t really met my people. Friendships were based around our kids and while they were nice people, there wasn’t that ease you have when you find your place. 

What I didn’t know then, that I do know now, is that things were going to get a whole lot better. A chance meeting on the street one day meant that I became friends with this woman. I liked her that first day. Then I ran into her again. She gave me her number – because she is like that – and after a few days I called her.

The beautiful hands of the wonderful woman who asked me out for a coffee.

I remember calling her. It felt like I was asking someone out. We had coffee and discovered that we both made things. Then there was another chance meeting with someone we both kind of knew – another crafter - and a date was made for a craft night. Something simple at someone’s house. That second woman invited someone else to that first night, and then we were four. By the end of the night we agreed to do it again in two weeks time. A month felt like too long to wait. 

We began talking that night and didn’t stop for the year and a half of fortnightly Tuesdays. Four women, a cake and a couple of bottles of wine and craft. Pure magic! Some nights I don’t think we were that productive craft-wise but the joy was there in spades. We talked and laughed and argued about ev-e-ry-thing, late into the night and none of us missed an evening. We knew nothing about one another when we began. It's now seven years later and I know I will grow old with them.

So here is the thing - the whole point of this post - I truly believe that craft was the key to bringing these friendships to me and making them hum. Not just because it gave us a reason to meet up in the first place – which it did. But also because to be a crafter, means that you must understand and value the energy and joy that goes into making with your hands. You must get it! And as crafting is such an important part of my life, I think sharing that value is a wonderful space in which to start a friendship.

Then the what you make, how you make, what you are scared of, how you approach things, tell you so much about a person; who they are or how they are feeling on a given day, that there really is a kind of magic to how you get to know someone. When you are making something, creating something, you have that little spark inside you that makes you feel a little bit more alive, and in my opinion from the outside you look a little bit shiny. You have the joy! And that is a great energy to bring to anyone’s kitchen table.

Crafting gives you a reason to work together, encourage one another, be generous with one another - it gives you the space and a framework to form a friendship. Making together means that you get to see that creative hum in someone else; and it is truly beautiful to watch.

Since that first group, I have been lucky enough to be part of quite a few other craft groups, big and small. I have watched the magic happen over and over again, and friendships form.  Some groups have fallen apart, some just fade away and others have morphed into something completely new. And I have been lucky enough to form and strengthen friendships through each and every one. I found my people!

Which then inspired me to start a craft retreat; mainly as a way to create a space to come together in Australia as a larger group to connect around our shared love. But it would not have happened without the encouragement and ideas of my craft group, and it would not exist without their help and support. 

Crafting has been the catalyst for connection with a whole range of beautiful, wise women that I now have in my life – and for that I am truly grateful!

I realise I said magic a lot this post and for that I apologise ;). I’d love to hear your craft group stories? Love them, hate them, never tried them….You don’t need to use the word magic. Promise.

Felicia x 

P. S. And now for the world’s best segue…. You too can participate in a big craft group called The Craft Sessions. Our event is held September 5-7 in the Yarra Valley, and we have so many lovely women coming. Women from nearly every state in Australia and even few from NZ. Top women and magic teachers!  And you can pick up your tickets by clicking on the link register at the top of the page. Registration closes tonight so this really is your last chance for this year!