Bit busy

Life has been a little hectic of late at Ravensridge, with major work changes and M away at a couple of conferences. Where are the months going? I can’t believe that a year ago this week we were climbing the Eiffel Tower and watching the sunset over Paris. 🙂

    
This week we have goannas climbing gum trees instead.

  

 This week’s projects – 
Madrona Cardigan by Rohn Strong. Not sure how this one is going to turn out, will have to see how the sleeves look.

    
2 X ‘Over the Willamette‘ shawls, which I had to make after seeing Karin’s at Pointe Shoes Punk Rock and Purl. These only take a few hours, lots of fun! (Details on my rav project pages.)

 
   
   
   
A little birdie told me that a set of my favourite Knitpro crochet hooks was winging its way to me courtesy of the lovely M, and I couldn’t bear the thought of throwing them all in a pencil case with the others. So, knowing there were fifteen in the set (fifteen! Oh the joy! :)), I set about making a case for them. I am pleased with the end result.

(Incidentally, a lady at the Brisbane Craft Fair last year told me to put clear nail polish on the size so it doesn’t rub off, and it proved a good tip.)

   
    
 A Year of William Morris update:
The peony tapestry cushion has been such a joy to stitch! I’m about two thirds done. I almost don’t want it to end. 

  
And a William Morris cross stitch has been started…this is called ‘Peace be in this House’. I’m not a lover of cross stitch, but I couldn’t resist the design or the sentiment. 🙂

  
I’m also in the process of planning a William Morris quilt. Incapable of directly following a pattern as I am, this will certainly be a hybrid, and will include ravens.

Christmas Village Mark II:
So…..as promised, I gifted the original Christmas Village – with a little pang, I must admit – and set about planning the next one. I wanted it to be sturdier than paper this time, so I had the idea of using model train scenery. 
I did some research and chose HO gauge and started looking for little houses. Well, if you know me at all, you can probably guess what happened next. The simple Christmas Village in my head has now exploded into a full blown model train layout, and my plans include over a dozen buildings, lake, mountains, Christmas market in the town square….you name it. Oh, and of course a train. I had no idea the model train thing was so frickin HUGE, particularly in the UK but also here. And now, I am becoming one of them. I shan’t be wearing a tracksuit nor growing a beard, but I have inadvertently stumbled upon a whole community of my own miniature-loving kind!
I’m doing it all arse-about, as for me the train is secondary to the landscape. So I started with buildings. I got my first kit on eBay for 99c. I didn’t know at the time, but this is a pretty complicated sort. There are over ninety metal extras plus the houses. The first one took a week of evenings to complete. I am using Tamiya model paints and Piko glue. I am particularly pleased with the curtains, stripe linen in the lounge and gingham in the kitchen. 🙂 (The pen is to show scale.) Weathering and the ‘Christmassy’ aspect will be added later, when I have more of the village completed.

            
I have picked up 8 buildings so far, and will slowly work my way through them. 

  
In the meantime I am gathering supplies for the build and reading railway modelling magazines, sometimes into the wee hours, which M finds hilarious. (Yeah, go ahead and laugh it up, Chuckles. You’ll be wiring the whole thing up for me.) 🙂 
B