A few weeks ago I went on holiday with one of my favourite people to Alice Springs. We went particularly for the
Beanie Festival. It was wonderful. We also saw a few of the local and not so local sites.
On the Friday we flew to Alice Springs. I had no sleep the night before. I was too worried about not getting up in time to catch the plane. Flying over central Australia was amazing. The colours were like nothing else I have ever seen. It was red and dry with no vegetation and there was not a house in sight. As we flew into Alice Springs we started to see small settlements and amazing rock formations. As we were driving through Alice Springs I was amazed by the colours and the rocks. After yummy home made soup for lunch we headed out to the Beanie festival. In beanie central where you could purchase beanies there were so many weird, wacky and wonderful beanies. We tried on many and purchased a few. They also had a good old fashioned cake stall and I ate 2 yummy honey joys. That night was the official opening with some great music.
On the Saturday we went into the centre of Alice Springs and looked through the shops and gallery's and purchased our souvenirs. We also went to an excellent textile exhibition called "Rocks in my Head" by Melbourne artist Julie Langford. In the afternoon we went back to the beanie festival and saw the official exhibition. I was amazed by the competition beanies. Their artists were amazing and so creative. Truly inspirational. I also completed a drop in class in the foyer and learnt how to make felted buttons and beads. We also went to the play reading of "A Head Full of Love." It was read by Colette Mann and Roxanne McDonald and it was awesome. There were some real home truths in this play for me. They talked about how worries are crocheted or knitted away as we create.
On Sunday we went to the Todd Mall Market and I purchased some craft supplies. Then we went back to the beanie festival. That afternoon I completed 2 drop in classes. I learnt how to make a needle felted butterfly broach and ruffled edge crochet flowers. We also saw the beanie Olympics where one contestant made a crochet beanie in about 10 minutes. Wow.
The beanie festival was a great experience. I would definitely recommend that you go or at least look at the website
here for a taste. Going to central Australia was also an experience I will never forget. It's a fantastic place to see. Finally a very big thank-you to our hostess and host. Thank-you for having us to stay and being our guide and taxi service. We had a fantastic time.
The next 2 were made from patterns from this book using Patons Inca wool.
They were both quick to make. The red one I made as a practice for the blue one which I have made as a request for a special person. I hope she likes it. 
