Friday, January 26, 2007

Australia Day January 26, long live the kangaroos!

Today is Australia Day.

It was hot and sticky and we enjoyed a barby by the pool. The boys spent the day watching the Aussies beat the Poms in the Australia Day test. I reckon the balmy army have probably had enough of Australia by now!

I learnt today that Woolworths makes burgers in the shape of Australia so we enjoyed some of them, with some Portuguese chicken, french lamb cutlets, wombok salad, bruchetta, turkish bread and a glass of Queen Elizabeth Chardonnay. Made us realise how multicultural our food has become. When I was a kid a barby was snags and rissoles, burnt onions, a splurt of tomato sauce all stuck in a bun.

I had a personal goal of having my crochet kangaroos completed for today. This is the next square in my rugalugs series. I like how the nose is sculptured and the ears stick out.

I figured crochetroo designs from Australia should have a roo or two in the collection (lol)

Having said this, they are not an easy animal to capture in crochet. The first few versions looked like a drunk rat, then they looked like a cat on speed, and a few I wasn't sure what they looked like. Some feral mutant animal that was trying to look cheesy.


When I finally had it figured out ,I had fun making a little kangaroo carry pouch. I reckon these would make a sweet gift with the little wallaby.


My Aussie animals collection is growing and I decided I would sell a few as a package on etsy. I seem to have some repeat customers so thought it worth a go.

At the moment I am deciding what to do next. The Tasmanian devil beckons, but he is such an ugly and nasty little bugger. And it is a pity that the Tasmanian Tiger is extinct. One of those sad things that happened with European settlement of Australia.

I read today that the sound of the Tassie devil is ranked as one of the worst in the world. Came in at number 11.

I find this odd: firstly because the devil is only found in Tasmania, and b) even in Tasmania they are pretty hard to find. So where are all these people voting on annoying noises? Well the research was done over the Internet. Fortunately most people will never get to hear the annoying noise of the devil, so it interests me they were in the line up. My pick for annoying noises would have included a few relatives, the dog down the back and a dripping tap. Having seen and heard the devil in the real when I was in Tasmania a few years back, I reckon they would also rank high as one of the worlds fugliest animals. Here is the link if you are interested.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1834540.htm

As for my crochet habit, then there are possums, and bilbies, and numbats, and of course I haven't even started on the birds....

I could be doing these critters well into my golden years!

I hope you all had a great day! Aussie Aussie Aussie oi oi oi!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aww, that Kangaroo square is really cute! Great job! Happy Australia Day!

Mimi said...

They all look great! Wonderful work!

KarmasKreations said...

I LOVE your kangaroos; they're absolutely adorable! They make me think of my oldest kitty, Roo (named from Winnie the Pooh; Kanga's son).

MaryAnn said...

Isn't it a hoot when working out a pattern what things look like? The roos are looking good!

Anonymous said...

Terrific. What a face. Thank you for the story on Australia Day (um, what is wombok salad?) and the other wildlife (previous posts). Keep up the good creative work.

tami and todd said...

I am so glad to hear that it is so hot there in Australia while it's all snowy here in Utah, USA! I think you are so talented & I absolutely love your koalas, I will order one someday soon!

The Bookworm said...

your critters are too cute :) love those kangaroos.

also, 'tag' youre it'
hope u dont mind, you can read at my blog for more.

Seahorse said...

OMG, how fabulous are your Aussie Animals! Really lovely!

Thanks for your kind comment on my blog!

Sherry Carline said...

Hi. I just couldn't leave here without telling you how much I enjoyed your blog. I am new to blogging but found yours by looking for crochet patterns. Absolutely adorable! Thank you for sharing. By the way. I live outside of Sacramento, California. USA

Anonymous said...

I love your kangaroo squares.

But now I want to see the drunk rats and cats on speed! There goes my belly laugh for the day.

ironik said...

hello, I love all your work, you are very creative :)