Jumpers, jumpers and more jumpers

Knitting has been a hobby since I was a little girl. My mother taught me to knit and I remember my first efforts at knitting a scarf.

One of my first jumpers was a bulky knit jumper in a blue/gray color that I knitted for myself. It was knitted on really big needles and all in stocking stitch. There was no shaping for the armhole or on the sleeves and there were no bands but it was really warm and comfortable.

Most of my knitting has been for family members and mostly for babies and children. I knitted a full layette for Megan and Jacinta before they were born and lots of jumpers as they grew up. I also knitted a fairisle sleeveless vest for Jonathon when he was a little boy and only a few jumpers for Philip as he used to complain that they were 'too itchy'.

I've always enjoyed knitting jumpers with bright colors and patterns. I used to knit jumpers for a shop and on order from friends as well as sold quite a few at a market stall. My favourite and probably the hardest jumper I have ever knitted would have to be the red jumper with peacocks in the top photo.

I don't know how many jumpers I've knitted over the years but I think I can remember most of them.

A Bowl of Roses

A Bowl of Roses is a longstitch that I made in January 2000 while I was living in Sunbury. It was one of my first attempts at long stitch and has special memories for me of my nephew, Jimmy Hugh Cameron.

Jim and Tom came to stay with me during the school holidays. We spent one day at the Werribee Open Range zoo and then walked around the rose garden at the Werribee Mansion. Jim and Tom raced around the garden trying to find the 'best' rose for me to photograph.




The next night we were sitting in the lounge and I started to work on my longstitch which I'd nearly finished. Jim came over to look at what I was making and then picked it up turning it over and over looking at the front and the back, sighing as he was doing this. I thought something must have been wrong so I asked Jim what the matter was. He said "Nothing, it's so neat that I can hardly tell what's the front and what's the back. It's just beautiful and looks like a real bowl of roses and just like the roses at the garden".


As soon as I finished the long stitch I had it framed and always think of it as Jim's Bowl of Roses. It now takes pride of place on the bedroom wall above my dresser.

The Penguin

This little guy was one the very first things that I ever made in High School - 1974 Year 7 East Doncaster High School. I'm not sure why, but I've kept it all these years. I've always thought he was cute even though he's not very well made and looks as though he's had a huge meal.

'The Penguin' is made using enamelling where you cut out your picture on to a steel plate and then cover it with a powder and place it in a kiln to 'cook'. Once the pieces were cooled I stuck them onto a board which I had covered with a piece of hessian.

In the early 1980's I ended up with a nickname at work. It was 'Penguin Vic' after the Victorian Governments advertising campaign for Phillip Island - the home of penguins so I guess this penguin was destined to stay with me.

Jonathon's Quilt

I call this quilt 'Jonathon's Quilt' as it was made specially for my nephew Jonathon.

This is the very first patchwork quilt I ever made back in the early 1980's. The quilt was all handmade from different pieces of velvet and cord material all in different browns with splashes of green and gold. I really loved making this quilt as I new that it would be a part of Jonathon's life for a long time and something he would have from me when his family moved to live in Canberra.

Before I made the quilt I cut out hundreds of 'templates' from used greeting cards and then sewed each piece of material onto the card. This made it much easier to sew all the pieces together. Once the top of the quilt was finished all the cards were removed, the Dacron filling and backing were sewn on. I still use this method today when making my quilts.

My First Entry

I've decided to start writing this blog after being inspired reading Ruth's blog page but I wasn't sure what I could write about. My life always seems to be busy and yet I feel as though I don't do much. When I stopped and thought about this blog I realised that my life is filled with lots of different things - family, my boy Charlie, my work as a part-time bookkeeper, studying for my Advanced Diploma of Accounting, various craft projects, gardening, reading.

I have decided to write about the everyday things that I think and feel when I'm at work or studying or just pottering around and about the different craft projects I have completed and the project that are still UFP'S (unfinished projects).

To start off with I've gone back and looked at some of the projects I have already made over the years.

It's funny how you can spend time making something, be it a quilt, tapestry, long stitch, cross stitch or a piece of clothing your life goes on as usual. When you stop and look back to your life at that time you see the project in a different light. In looking at some of the things I have made I was amazed at the memories that often went hand in hand with each stitch sewn.