Rockwiz at The Palais

Last October I camped out all night with my sleeping bag and thermos to be first in line to get tickets to see Rockwiz on tour at The Palais, and it paid off, we got front row tickets! Okay, so I was actually camped out at my computer with a visa card and a glass of white, but you get the picture; it's all about the dedication.

We had a fantastic night and thoroughly enjoyed seeing awesome live performances by Ella Hooper, Angry Anderson, Claire Bowditch (how much do I love this woman!), Vika Bull, Steve Kilby and Adalita Srsen, not to mention the Rockwiz Band.

During the show, host Brian Nankervis mentioned that this was the first show to go on sale, so we were sitting amongst the most truly dedicated Rockwiz fans in the country. It did not escape my attention that we were actually sitting with 2500 people who clearly have no life and who are always home watching SBS at 9.30 on Saturday nights. And we were in the front row. I have no life.

Thanks to my mum for babysitting so we could pretend we still have a life!

Be Still, My Beating Heart

Here it is, the amazing gift Mum gave me whilst I was staying with her on the weekend:

It's Kimono Silk. Real Kimono Silk from Japan.

 An ENTIRE ROLL, it's 38cm wide by about 18-20 metres long! Isn't it completely gorgeous?

Okay, be still my beating heart. So how did I come to be in posession of such awesome loveliness? Three years ago my uncle married a beautiful Japanese girl, and my mother travelled to Japan to be at the wedding. The bride's parents presented this roll of Kimono silk to Mum at the wedding as a gift from their family. She has had it ever since but had no idea what to do with it, so she has given it to me in the hope that I will make something beautiful with it. Of course I'm terrified to touch it, let alone take to it with scissors, but I do have a dream of it becoming a quilt someday, maybe with matching cushions and a tiny wall hanging?

If you know anything about Kimono Silk I want to hear from you! If you have any idea what I should do with this, or how it should be handled, I'm all ears! I should also say that I am fairly sure it's silk, but it doesn't actually say anywhere on the fabric or packaging.  I don't know anything more about it except for this Japanese mark which is stamped on the end of the roll and is also on a tiny piece of tape which held the tissue paper around the fabric. It may be a manufacturers mark, if anyone out there can read it and translate I'd love to know what it says.

Thanks Mum

My sleepover at Rancho Relaxo was wonderful.

We went out for lunch here. Delicious.

Then back to Mum's for 2 hours of relaxing in the spa with a refreshing drink and a good book:

Followed by a spot of relaxing in front of the fire, listening to some beautiful music, (and I was given a very very special gift by my mum which I will share with you tomorrow)

Then a gourmet meal of Rack of Lamb, Dutch Cream Potatoes pan fried with garlic and rosemary, and steamed beans and carrots.

Some more music and relaxing before heading off to my cosy little bed:

(with a nightcap)

And above my bed were the books of my childhood (and my mum's childhood), aren't they fab?

All topped off by a sleep in 'til 9am. Heavenly. Thanks Mum, it was exactly what I needed xx

Going home to Mother

I'm off to my Mum's for a lovely girly (child free!) sleepover! The Bloke Who Lives At My Place will be spending some quality time with his little 'uns: The Junior Crafter, Captain Underpants and Poor Point 3, while I will be spending some quality time catching up on some much needed sleep.

Mum and I are going out for lunch, then doing a little spot of shopping, then home to unpack a few boxes (Mum has just moved back into her house after a housefire earlier this year), and spend a little girly time together. I'm hoping Mum will teach me to crochet so I can have a go at one of these. And then I'm having a very early night and hopefully a lovely sleep in...I think the last time I had a decent sleep was around 2001!

Knitting Needle Roll - Blogtober day 16

All my moaning and complaining about lack of crafting time seems to have paid off! I have completed yet another little project, a knitting needle roll. It's my first attempt at a needle roll, and also my first attempt at piecing *gulp*. It's not perfect, but I'm pretty happy with it.

Inside

Lift the flap

The outside

Detail of the piecing on the outside.

The roll is a gift for my mum who knits these wonderful colourful blankets for all the new babies in our life. She has knitted one each for my three little ones, these two belong to my two boys:

Aren't they gorgeous :)

The needle roll was inspired by Tania Howells' needle case in "The Crafter's Companion" edited by Anna Torberg.