Indulge me if you will in some sisterly bragging.

Some of you will know that my big brother, Tony, is an artist. Whilst he makes his bread and butter doing commercial graphic design at heart I think he would love to be making his bread and butter through more artistic pursuits.

This year he has put himself out on a limb and prepared and entered a piece for the Archibald Prize, the largest portraiture prize in Australia. I am so proud of him for committing himself to such a large and prestigious task. He is truly gifted and deserves to have his work seen by the larger art community.

Well yesterday there was a photograph in The Australian newspaper of some of the entries that had arrived in Sydney and shot us all down if Tony's wasn't amongst them!


For those of you don't know Tony by sight this is his work. It is (obviously) a self-portrait, a fact that I think makes the entering of the work all the more courageous. It is truly warts (not that he has any actual warts) and all and for those that love him just a little bit heart-wrenching to look at. The picture doesn't give a true indication of the size of the work. It stands about 7' high!

I know that Tony reads my blog most of the time, so he needs to know now that I am immensely proud of him and would like to apply to be head of the cheer squad! Love you T!

So I guess it looks like I have done nothing!

That is of course if it is possible to do nothing with three kids, a husband and a job! Actually I have been remarkably busy and have been doing a lot of different things.

On a completely craftless note, yesterday I presented at the Science Teachers' Association of Victoria (STAV) Psychology Conference. Nothing Earth shattering, just a session for the starting out psych teacher filled with tips and such. The participants seemed satisfied that they hadn't wasted an hour they would never get back. That, after all, is what matters.

At the end of last year I also persented at STAVCON (I am quite sure you are all smart enough to work out what that means) on the topic of Literacy in Science. I guess twice might make this a habit. As I explained to a colleague yesterday it is probably well time that the next generation stepped up at these events and I feel like I am at a time in my career where I have something worthwhile to say.

On the knitting front I have been quite busy, although nothing that I am quite ready to show just yet. I have worked up two designs that I might just have a try at submitting to various places. Have I lost my mind? Maybe, but you never know till you try. Of course submission means that I have to keep them both hush hush and out of the public eye. My trusty friends Sam and Tania have graciously agreed to do some test knitting for me and at least one of the designs is just about ready to be photographed and sent away. It will probably be rejected but I think it is damn cute and I am prepared to give it a shot.

The second design is on my needles at the moment and I am most pleased with how it is coming along. I think Sam is going to help me out with a test knit of this one too. The joys of having obsessive knitters for friends.

Come Sing me La

"You ain't been 'till you been high in Montego Bay

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Come sing me La

Come sing me Montego Bay"

Well I am officially in love! I have finished my Montego Bay scarf from Interweave Knits Summer 2007. I used Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in rainbow and it has just turned out to be absolutely beautiful! It is long and floaty and colourful and.... well let's just say I love it!

Pattern: simple
Mods: None, except I haven't braided the fringing, although I may have to eventually if they are fraying or tangling too much
My best tip: A lace lifeline is your best friend. The pattern was so simple that it was perhaps a little too easy to miss a yarn over and throw the whole thing out.

The only thing I would change? The second skein had been balled and then reskeined and thus was backwards in relation to the other. If I had caught this earlier I would have balled it again but frankly I just don't care! I love this scarf with all it's foibles.

Flying Cows and Mincing Queens.

What a lovely way to spend a few days! The lad and I dropped the kids with their Grandparents (thank God for grandparents) and took off to Melbourne for a flat out, no stopping, barely time to breathe, theatre extravaganza!

Melbourne is a wash with great musicals at the moment and seeing as we just couldn't decided between two of the biggies, we decided to do both. Hell, had I have known that Keating the Musical was in town I would have done three.

Friday we dropped the big kids at school, stopped for a quick coffee with Sam, dropped the third one with Grandma and Pa and took off to the city. After a quick trip to Bloch (well a girl needs new dance things every so often) and lunch at the Blue Train, it was back to the hotel room (via a pint at The Elephant and Wheelbarrow) to dress for Spamalot.

What great fun! If you love Monty Python you will love Spamalot. Even if you don't love Monty Python there is a fair chance that you will love Spamalot. The production team have done a great job of bringing some much loved film moments to the stage with clever tricks and intelligent use of technology. There are all the great parts of The Holy Grail including the rabbit jokes, the knights who say "Ni", the black knight and the flying cow. We laughed and cheered and even the rude guy behind us who insisted on narrating the show couldn't ruin the experience.

After another quick pint at The Elephant (well it was very close to the theatre) it was back to room for some sleep to prepare for act 2 of the great theatre experience.

Some breaky, a quick shop (this time for Jason) and then off to The Regent Theatre. This is easily my favourite theatre in Australia and probably in the world. If you have never been go and have a look. It is just superb! It reminds me of being in the most beautiful limestone cave and just fills me with joy. A step back to a time when beauty was something to aspire to.....

Saturday arvo saw us seeing Priscilla the Musical. I was a little worried about the tickets I had bought. I chose the upper dress circle because the remaining A reserve tickets were off to the side and I had a feeling that a straight view would be much better. When we arrived we were told to move forward 3 rows and sit in the dead centre if we liked! The seats we ended up in were great. Straight down the barrel. The only issue being we couldn't make out facial expression from that distance but it gave a great full view of the stage.

Priscilla was amazing. It was even better than the movie in my opinion, having more songs and the biggest, campest stage numbers. Drag queens just lend themselves to huge extravagant stage numbers. It was funny and moving and the performances were brilliant. Jeremy Stanford, Daniel Scott and Tony Sheldon do an amazing job of filling some very big shoes. The costuming and production was just awe inspiring, better than the movie in my opinion. If you see one show this year, make it Priscilla.

The only disappointing part of the weekend.... My light up daiquiri glass met a foul end at the hands of Jason's new home theatre system. Don't ask....

My apologies for over use of the exclamation point! It was just a great weekend!

Do you have one of my knitting bags?

Would you like to purchase a matching 1-2-Go bag but were to shy to ask? I have leftovers from most people's knitting bags, most of which are large enough for 1-2-Go bags. If you have previously purchased a knitting bag from me and would like me to make you a matching 1-2-Go bag, leave a comment or drop me an email at jackikelly@optusnet.com.au telling me the fabric that your bag is made with (outer and inner). If I have enough of that fabric left I will get onto making you a bag.

I make no guarantees that I have your fabric and I will not promise to make your 1-2-Go bag tomorrow, but it will get done if it can get done.

Just a special offer to say thank you to my past customers for their support.....

An example of matching knitting and 1-2-Go bags to whet your appetite...


Oh and Tracy.... Yours is coming I promise!