Making more than just a mess

Thanks, girls, for the feedback on my last post - good to know that I'm not alone! I'm sorry to have to tell you, though, that my sewing room is even messier now than in the photo - I decided to tackle the over-stuffed wardrobe as well (that's over-stuffed as in full of stuff I haven't seen/used/remembered for ages.) The plus side of that exercise is that now I know I won't have to buy any cushion inserts for a long, long time. The minus side is taking up even more floor space than in the previous photo.

And I probably won't have time/energy to do much about it today. The sun is shining (hooray! rain was forecast but the sky is still blue) and I'm on duty at one of the local polling booths for a couple of hours.

My crafting mojo went AWOL for a while but has returned and I'm delighting in making little things - like these little bags and baby shoes. There's been an influx of babies among my friends and acquaintances and I'm thrilled to bits to be making little gifts. I've made so many of these bags - they're from a tutorial from the lovely Spoonful of Sugar blog and are a great scrap project. With the addition of some nice smellies, they'll be off to new homes in Ballarat, WA and France (I have a lovely piece of Leesa Chandler's wildflower fabric picked out for that one) soon.

Many years ago, I used to knit socks for my three younger brothers to wear. We called them 'gummy socks' as they were worn with their gumboots. I haven't made socks since then (and that was at least 50 years ago) because the idea of knitting 'proper' socks wrestling with four needs scares the pants off me. These little cuties are a two-needle job from a Debbie Bliss book and are for Marius in France. Marius' mum Anne-Laure is very special to us; we'd kept in touch since she stayed with our family in Tasmania as a 17-year-old French exchange student and we were so excited when she and her boyfriend, Marius's dad, visited us in Ballarat a few years ago. We've got to know Anne's  parents, too, and have stayed with them several times. We've all had some happy times together and feel like part of each other's families.

The little shoes are from a lovely book called Vintage Knits for Modern Babies; they're for a new arrival in WA whose mum and my daughter Rosy started primary school together. Marina's family and mine were great friends in the early days then they moved from Sydney to WA and we lost touch until a few years ago. It was lovely  to visit them in WA and catch up on each other's lives and reminisce about old times. My niece in Townsville is expecting her second baby soon and I'm hoping for a little girl this time so I can make another pair of these shoes - they're so cute.

Must go and get ready for the day and enjoy the sun while it's still shining.