It is 5 am, and you are listening . . .

Don't you just love waking up at 5am?
Harper woke me.
(Thanks chickadee: half 15kg kitten, half kangaroo)

And you know there's no getting back to sleep at 5am.

Now that the car alarm outside on the street has stopped (!), it's oh so quiet, it's oh so still, as Bjork said.
Goat has taken Scout to the office so it's just me + Harps today, and she's (surprise surprise) chilled out.
It's overcast and cool, lightly drizzling outside.
I did a black wash this morning, and I was in the bathroom noticing how sculptural the clothes looked against the white tiles and the soft light.



So right now I should be researching Arameic typography and graphics.
But you know what, I think I'll just keep coveting books and blog. Don't tell anyone.

Does anyone else miss Flea Bites? Especially the weekly fauna updates.
We don't live in any where near the same level of leafiness as Grandma Flea does, or rather, used to, but amazingly we still get some biodiversity.

A neighbour's gum tree is in full flower right now, great boughs groaning with beautiful creamy white blossom. By day the Rainbow Lorikeets flock in by the dozen and feed on the nectar with much trilling and squawking. By night the Fruit Bats do the same, with even more squawking.
But the smell, oh the smell.. on a really warm breezy day, a deliciously strong honey aroma wafts over from the flowers. Heaven.

And, oh yeah, I made an elephant.

Well, you could say it's a construction in spheres, cylinders and semicircles.
Or, indeed the most impractical child's toy in the History of the World.

But did I ever have fun making it. And I learnt a new increasing technique; the M1R, shown here at the fabulous KnittingHelp.com.

I'm not used to assembling objects that are so soft and yielding and so my sewing techniques (ahem) are a tad wonky, but I hope secured firmly enough.

Pattern: Elefante by Susan B. Anderson available here.

Yarn: Eki Riva baby alpaca in grey for the main body. Naturally off white merino for the paw /trunk pads and ear lining. Mohair eyes, which I hoped would fuzz, giving the impression of eyelashes.

Mods: Such was my glee at starting this fun project, I didn't realise until I arrived at that point in the pattern, that the ears are in fact crochet. I did attempt to teach myself crochet but let's face it, I had no idea what I was doing, so I found help in Cleckheaton Wildlife in 8 ply (which seems to be no longer available). I adapted Barbara Lennon's Tasmanian Devil ear shape and it worked out rather well I think.

Stuffing: I used poly fill, the kind you get in cushions.

General fun + Cuteness Factor: Pretty damn high.

off he goes...waddle, waddle.