Koalas for France

I haven't been blogging much, but I have been crocheting. We have had a few long car trips while we sort out my mum in laws business. Here is a little set I made for a special friend in France.

We had a French student stay with us a few years back. It was a fabulous time, and while her English improved heaps, my French did seem to go anywhere!

Time passes and she has now settled back in France with her man. This is lovely news as the poor chap would ring her up every night at seven on a Sunday night, for the year she was with us. There was a time when they split up as she thought she would check out the Aussie blokes. I couldn't understand this as a French man is well, French, and he had the most amazing "Ellooo" over the phone. But this chap was determined and came across to Australia with some friends, and by the time they had travelled up to Cairns, been to the islands and seen the Great Barrier Reef, they were an item again.

Several years later and they are building a home and have had a baby boy. Naturally I had to make some Aussie for the Little bloke. I remember the day we took her to see the koalas at the sanctuary, so I figured a koala set was the thing.

Anyway these are now on their way to France and I cant wait to see a photo of the little fellow in them.

Thanks for looking, baby stuff always gives me the warm fuzzies. I have quite a back log of things to share.

(c) crochetroo 2008

(oops I have no idea why this little koala is sideways)

A Day on Moreton Bay

Last weekend we spent the day with my brother and his wife out on Moreton Bay. It was a glorious day, but not much wind. We headed for St Helena Island. Funny that even though I grew up in this part of the world, I didn't know much about this island, or its rich history.

St Helena Island is about 4 kilometres east of the moth of the Brisbane River. Its claim to fame is that it was a penal colony in the late 1800s and a prison farm in the early 1900. The photo below shows the ruins.

This is the wetlands of Moreton Bay. It was low tide but a beautiful day with about 5 knots of wind, which makes sailing pretty hard going!

My brother tells me that they used to run an abattoirs on the island and throw the animal off cuts into the sea. This of course attracted the sharks, hence keeping the prisoners in place!

This odd looking structure below was erected as a swimming pool designed to allow people to swim in a protection from the sharks. Not sure how they got to it though as it was a few metres from the beach.

St Helena is now a National Park protected as a historical site. It also has significance as the shelter of a range of migratory birds.

This is my brothers boat from the rubber duckie.

We stopped out to sea and the boys went for a swim. Yep they are stupid as it is the middle of winter here. They had a hoot jumping of the boat into the ocean. Apparently the icy cool salty water was quite invigorating!

I also believe that the icy cool salty water numbs the brain as they did this a few times so I could photograph them in flight!

As for me I stayed dry and crocheted, while sipping pink champagne. I cant go anywhere without a hook and some yarn.

You can see the coast of Brisbane in the distance and the sail boats trying to race on quite a un -windy day.

My little booties look nice and bright against the serene blue backdrop. It was a special day with the family.

Aussie Snuggly Ugg Crochet booties

I have been thinking about ugg boots all winter. Firstly they are an Australian thing, and secondly they are so snuggly warm. I have seen crocheted cowboy boots, ice skates and converse so I figured that Aussie uggs would be the thing for me to design in crochet.

The Ugg boot is an Australian icon, and is traditionally made from 100% sheepskin and fleece. Because the real uggs are made of wool I prefer to crochet these in pure Australian wool to achieve the woolly warmth. This is a quality yarn that is grown and spun in Australia. Nothing can surpass the real thing, but these booties are a bit of fun.



I love pure Australian wool but it doesn't come cheap, even here downunder. This is a patons natural country wool which is so beautiful to work with and deliciously soft and warm.

The picture below shows my trusty uggies which I have loved every winter for about the last 25 years!I love my uggies! This is a more classic style and the one I based my design on. Ugg slippers are basically 2 bits of sheepskin wacked together.



An American company recently trademarked the word “Ugg Australia”, hence restricting the use of these words by traditional Australian Ugg manufacturers. They were subsequently taken to court by a group of Australians who strenuously objected to this action.

Not only did the US company take the words "Ugg Australia", but were also having the boots made in China. Nothing too Australian about that! This caused huge uproar here as Uggs have been arround for decades. It was only when some of the Hollywood types started being seen in them did the overseas market take an interest in them. I have always owned at least one pair. I also have a pair of knee highs which I bought last year in Melbourne.

The history of the ugg boot is an interesting one.

http://www.australian-uggs.com/history-of-the-ug-boot.htm


The sensitivity of a US company trademarking the works Ugg Australia, was such that senior politicians were reported as saying "we should tell the yanks to bugger off".

It was declared that the word Ugg is a generic word in Australia referring to woolen boots and as such can’t be trademarked. Ugg boots have been around since the Second World War and were popular in the 60s and 70s for surfers. They were considered bogan until their recent raise to fame.

These are my original designs based on the classic Aussie Ugg. Please leave your comments on whether I should write the pattern out.

My crochet design is protected by copyright. (c) copyright crochetroo. My images are also copyrighted.

Thanks for looking.

Chinese year of the red fire pig

Happy Chinese New Year!

This weekend celebrates Chinese New year. This has become a bit of an event here, particularly in some of the communities that were settled by the Chinese. One of the fun things about living in a multicultural society is the numerous celebrations we enjoy. You cant beat the Chinese for fantastic fireworks, festivities with the dragons and fantastic food.

The following years are pig years: 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995 and 2007.
The year 2007 is the year of the red fire pig. According to Chinese astrology, children born in the year of the pig will be happy and honest.

Chinese people in Australia

The Chinese have a strong link with our history.When the first fleet arrived and dropped off British convicts, it went back to England via Canton.In the 1850s Gold Rush over 40,000 Chinese people moved to Australia. For the first time civilians outnumbered convicts. So basically the population were the British officials, the British Convicts and the Chinese workers. Of course the indigeneous people had been here for a very long time. The colonists would use the Chinese people as cheap labour (as happened in many other settling colonies)and because of the famine in China at that time, many Chinese sought refuge, a new life, and opportunity in Australia.

Things such as the Eureka stockade, and in the early 20th century the White Australia policy demonstate an unpleasant component such as racial discriminatation.Today people from Chinese backgrounds are the 5th largest ethnic group in Australia. Most of our cities have a China Town, and the Chinese are very active and valued people in our society. China is also a major trading country with us, and my kids have studied Chinese in school as this is seen as a most beneficial second language to have.

Pigs in Australia

Pigs have a bad reputation in Australia. They were introduced in the 1770’s, as domesticated farm animals as a food source for the new colony. Due to a lack of fences and pens, and inadequate control in these times, feral pig populations were soon established in the wild. Because of this “pig shooting” or “boar hunting” became a pastime as officials tried to reduce the number of feral pigs. When I was a kid I can remember my Dad and uncle would load up the ute, go bush and go pig shooting. I can't think of anything more revolting, except perhaps for roo shooting.

The feral pig has a huge impact on the Australian environment and is considered one of Australia’s worst pests. Feral pigs erode the soil and waterways; they kill farmed animals such as lambs and carry disease which affects our native wildlife. Feral pigs will eat animals and plants, in particular small mammals, frogs, birds, lizards and eggs. When they wallow in the billabongs and creeks they destroy the water vegetation and disturb the ecosystem. They pose a huge threat to our native animals and wildlife. There is nothing cute about a wild pig!

Our daughter, (believe it or not) worked part time in the pig industry for the Pig Board eqivalent here while she was at uni. She told me everyone had piggy things on their desks. She also told me that even farmed pigs are pretty nasty. We had pigs on the farm when I was a small child and I always remember my younger brother being bitten on the belly by an aggressive sow. People would ask hin "where's your belly where the pig bit you?" and he would show them. He still has a scar.

So I decided that number 6 in my rugalugs series would be pigs, albeit a feral animal, but also in honor of the Chinese year of the pig. The pigs alone make great little brooches for a piggy party, and I reckon with a magnet glued on the back they could become fridgies. My son who is always full of bright ideas suggested doing the pigs bum with the tail, and this looks good on the back of the hat.

I think they turned out pretty cute, despite my reservations.

The chocolaty brown hat looks good for an older child. Again I have this predisposition to do things for boys because I also have 3 sons. I reckon crochet for boys is always a bit ho hum so I put a bit of effort into making it a bit blokey but also with attitude.

When worked in a 4ply baby yarn they are pretty special. I reckon these would make a different sort of baby gift for bubs born in the year of the pig. While red isn't every ones cup of tea for a baby, I think it is quite effective. Certainly a change from the pinks and blues.

I designed a baby's beanie, and then went on to make a matching pair of booties. These are really something else! I hadn't designed booties before, but once I worked out what to do with the pig I was on a roll. When worked in 4 ply they are perfect for a newborn bub.

I have just listed this little lot on etsy. It is the complete patterns set from pig motif, 3 types of squares - pig face, pigs bum and a contrast square. Also included are full instructions for the heat and booties. This is a bumper set but I felt it worthwhile to achieve something different for year of the pig.

So while they are feral beasts that stuff up the ecosystem, being on a babies beanie and booties is a good place for a pig to be!

Again my images and ideas are copyright. Please do not download my pictures. Direct links are always welcome!

Happy Chinese New Year!