well as promised here is a selection of some of the highlights of the Melbourne Scarf Festival Launch and from the top we have:
early birds picking through the selection in the Scarf Market
the alchemy boys behind the virtual wheels of steel,
top banana at Craft Vic, Director Kevin Murray,
more color coded perfection by Curator Kate Rhodes,
and of course us, pulling our best "what another opening?" art scene faces
it was packed, it was noisy, and at one point gallery three was overrun by a band of amateur balladeers...
really it was quite a night.
The event of the week surely is not the opening of the guggenheim exhibition (although secretly clearly it is) but in fact the opening of the 
Melbourne Scarf Festival 28 June - 07 July at Craft Victoria, 
The staff meal of the week award goes to Ramona. Her vegetable curry ("the only vegetarian dish I can make" she says) warmed our cockles and other bits besides on what was a ridiculously wintery day. It was so good we didn't even leave any for Ganesh, our plaster dining companion, who as the deity of poets and theives, remover of obstacles and lord of beginings seemed a particularly appropriate staff meeting observer. 
Important things I have learned while being laid up on the couch:
So here are the presents i've made from the couch: two hot water bottle covers for two cold footed friends and a bunny bag for my accessory mad neice. I hope they like them.
Well hml had a birthday over the weekend, and given that the birthday girl is laid up with a bung knee after a winter kerbside slippage these presents couldn't have arrived at a better time. Regular readers will have noted the needlepoint header we've adopted as part of our 'makeover' and will also know that the birthday girl is an avid collector of other peoples stitchery. Now however she has the guidebooks to create her own. 
We poured over these two excellent books yesterday at our staff meeting, enthusiastically picking out new things to make for our homes and our friends and yes, even ourselves.
These homespun vintage styles warmed our cockles, 
And as we're always on the hunt for new 'signature' looks, Beck picked out the above smocking detail for her winter wardrobe, while Ramona has decided that 2007 is all about velvet puckered sleeves.
and we've both gone ga-ga over this free form owl embroidery...
We must admit we have had a bit of an epiphany over the last few days, (thanks 
For those who dont know 
Katie Pye circa 1982 doing her best Toyah Wilcox.
You all know we love people who take an idea and run with it - even if it means taking it waaaaaay beyond what is neccessary. So with the idea of the tree hugger grass armchair locked into our newly greened brains we did a little research and found this gem on the ever fantabulous Readymade website. Oh yes people it's the one and only 
Its no secret that the ladies of hml love their coffee, and one of the things we've always coveted has been the traditional "we are happy to serve you" New York coffee cup. Beck tried to smuggle one home many moons ago on a trip to New York but the originals squashability really didn't make it the ideal international traveller. Ramona too has always coveted the cup, especially given her love of Woody Allen. That paper cup has become part of the New York landscape. Every year, more than 180 million of the paper coffee cups are used by Italian pizza joints, Indian diners and Jewish delis. It's no wonder someone turned the iconic Greek-themed cup from disposable to permanent, from paper to ceramic and good on them for doing so. Even better it has been manufactured from lead-free earthenware, and the 10-ounce cups are both microwave and dishwasher safe. Excellento! and we are incredibly happy to announce that finally you can get said greenie version right here in Australia, without schlepping all the way to Queens. In fact you don't even need to get out of the chair your sitting on right now. What's that... you need to get one, right now. You're jonesing for a new brew holder? Well just head to the home of the stripey thing 
Peeps it's World Environment Day today so get on your bike, get into the garden and get on board! We here at hml love to reduce, re-use and re-cycle, especially when it comes to Craft. We believe that the thrifty reworking of old materials is not only good for the planet but good for the wallet. DIY is all about taking charge of production and consumption: think global - make local. We'd also like to state that being green doesn't neccessarily mean wearing socks with sandals and using patchouli oil for deodorant - not that there's anything wrong with that. Hip websites like Treehugger show us all how to live more sustainably without compromising our style. Featuring great designs like the 
We always suspected that Durtonia was a mountainous country with a national flag made from vintage teatowels but what we didnt know was that there was monkeys in them thar hills people, sock monkeys. Penelope Durston's Afghan Mountain is on show in the window at Craft Victoria in Flinders Lane all of this week and the next. We've got altitude sickness already.
quickly went downhill...
are we there yet?
bums are funny.
