Not quilting

I've been stashing all those odd little offcuts of my favourite Liberty cottons for ages.

I did make a start on a quilt.

But then, as often happens when I'm busy, a little idea started to niggle in the back of my mind.

How about a patchwork scarf?

All cotton front and back.

So, I've been dipping into that quilt scrap bag this week. 

And feeling quite guilty about it too!

And here are three from the first lot.

I made it up as I went along, but they resolved themselves into colourways all by themselves!

Thank goodness I had a market to get to yesterday morning, otherwise I'd still be at the machine.

They're addictive to make.

And pretty!

Monday

What's happening at your place today?

I had a terrific weekend, which included seeing a film on Friday night, the very bitter sweet Beginners. Oh, Ewan, you set my heart all aflutter...

Be warned, this is a handful of tissues movie. I loved it.

Then there was dinner out, and a lovely morning at the brand new Little Village Market. Thanks to those friends who popped in to see me, that was the icing on my cake!

Being an earlier finish than I'm used to meant getting home in time for cocktail hour and a relaxed dinner with the old bloke.

A few of these neckscarves went off to new homes, leaving me with less than I'd like to keep in stock.

I've been making a huge mess of fabric and jumpers in my workroom to get some new ones together, and here's a little taste from the latest batch. 

I don't know about you, but I'm loving that orange vintage kimono silk.

I can't get enough of some bright happy colours for the coming season!

Tuesday inspirations

My latest colour crush!

I find myself incredibly drawn to this particular shade of blue.

Denim blue, slate blue, dusty blue.

But then again, there's something about green that makes it my favourite still.

All these lovely pictures are from Purl Soho and Calico & Ivy, wonderful places to fill in a bit of time just looking on a Tuesday afternoon.

Kapow!

Red!

And that might just be all I have to say about this one.

Watermelon, coral, peach...

I'm besotted with this colour this week.

And in the crazy topsy turvy world of clothing, I'm starting to think about some new things for Spring and Summer. How mad is that?

On colour

I've had a colourful day today.
First, lovely Wendy decided to take the plunge and buy a little present for herself, a Pea handknit scarf.
She was after something a deep eau de nil.
I'm hoping what I call Pea is just the right shade!
It's one of things I love about each new season of scarf knitting, giving them all a name.
It reinforces the sense of creation I have about them, if that makes sense!
Anyway, a new yarn arrived today, and this one has me stumped.
It's a brownish purple, very lovely indeed.
It's kind of muted and soft, yet rich in tone. Kind of like the purple you'd find in an old faded oriental rug.
Trying to give it a name had me doing a bit of searching for inspiration, and I stumbled over a list of all the crayola crayon colour names and history.
Really. There's nothing you can't find out there in internet-land.
They started in 1903 with all the basics, named just so. Blue, green, orange...
And the list ended with colours added in 2003 - inch worm, wild blue yonder, mango tango!
Perhaps I just need to stick to something basic?
Mulberry anyone?
ps. Wendy's having a little bother naming her lovely blue cardigans, perhaps pop over and give her a hand!

Bananarama

My love affair with all things yellow continues this week.

If I can't have real sunshine, then I'll make my own.

More creative sunshineyness to admire over here.

Colour crush and op shops

I've been a bit absent from this space this week it seems.

We did have a little day trip to Camperdown for a visit to the op shops.

My favourite one there is called the Sunshine Shop. How sweet is that, and the ladies are gorgeous.

It's the old school type of op shop, meaning that you need to sit on the floor and sort through the shelves to find your treasures. And we did!

I think we could all use some sunshine today don't you?

from here

and here

I love this too.

Have a great weekend.

Working in multiples

There's been quite a bit happening here this week.

Lots of nice new Liberty cotton belts.

A fresh batch of tea cosies.

These look a little like a strange coral!

(Packed away all ready to be sent to the Little Shop of Handmade)

This one's staying behind with me.

Oh, and there's been some more of the chambray skirts too.

And, after visiting Caravan, I realised there's been a bit of blue at my place this week!

See some more creative goodness here.

Yellow

Such a sunny, happy colour, it speaks to me of Spring!

In today's post

Three yummy balls of yarn.

Honestly, I had no idea at all that these colours would be so nice together when I made my order.



Pink...and green

Has Spring sprung in July?

Just when I was getting settled in for a long and cold Winter, along comes 2 days in a row of incredible mild, sunny, gorgeous Spring like days.

Can't complain!

Sneaking in

A new place to buy Frankie & Ray neckscarves snuck into my list of stockists last week.

The Little Shop of Handmade in Carnegie asked very nicely, and I'm pleased to offer the folks on the south east side of town some woolly goodies!

This is one of a batch sent off today, made from the irresistable vintage wool I picked up at L'uccello last week, looks like there's a bit of pink finding it's way into my work....

In between the knitting

I'm enjoying a little lull between markets.

Nothing in my diary until the Winter Indoor Market down here on Queen's Birthday weekend.

Apart from the knitting, it's given me a chance to have a good look at my stock and catch up on some things that were getting a little low in number.

These little scarves are a delight to make if I've got a bit of time.

I think I may possibly be a frustrated quilter.

I do love working out the combinations of patterns and colours.

This green toned one my favourite from the fresh batch!

Something red

Frankie & Ray red 3/4 t-shirt ©

Not strictly new, but a new colourway for this coming season.
Continuing my flirtation with red!
I have had a lovely relationship with the clever and gracious girls over at Ink & Spindle for quite some time now. Their beautiful fabric designs have graced a good number of t-shirts in my current and past ranges.
I love that they are Melbourne based, print by hand with non-toxic dyes, have a fabulous talent for design, and are so supportive and encouraging of small independent craftspeople.
Last week I made an order for one of my very favourite designs in a custom colourway. It won't be arriving for a little while, but I'll be sure to show you when it does.
Anticipation is not such a bad thing!

Gold, acid yellow, mustard...

Image from here

I'm finding a new colour favourite sneaking around the edges of things.

I'm noticing it everywhere.

Is it the autumn like weather that's having an influence on me?

It's found it's way into my work before I even really noticed.

What I've been working on

It's an odd time of year in the Frankie & Ray workroom.

The weather is still warm, but I'm starting to get going on goodies for the cooler months.

I'm having a bit of a flirtation with red, but green is still my favourite.

You'll be able to find these new lovelies at the next Shirt & Skirt market on February 21, and I'll let you know when they hit the shops too!

Green is good

A new t-shirt. Green. Green as grass, green as an emerald. Nice.

I only have a very limited number of these at the moment, so they'll only be going to the market with me for now. I will be making an order to get some more in though, because, well, they're green. Oh, and they have a nice fitted sleeve, scoop neck, and great length in the body.

Frankie & Ray will be in two places at once on Saturday! I will be down at the foreshore market in Apollo Bay on Saturday morning, but I will also have some stock up at the Church Hall Market from tomorrow through to Tuesday.

Pop in to either or both to say hello.

I quite like green

I was thinking about colour, and how much I do like green.

Prompted, I think, by wearing these shoes. Old favourites.

And then I started to look around me...

And...

(Weedy Sea Dragon by Clare Whitney. )

It's everywhere. I could go on all day. But, finally there's this...

A Frankie & Ray bag I chose to keep for my knitting.

Uh, yes. It's green, it has dogs on it, and it's made from a tea towel!