Knitting and nature

At various places along the local Kororoit Creek, the active Friends of Kororoit Creek (FOKC) group have been regenerating the habitat along the creek. You can really see where they have been at work, it’s so transformational.

One area a few kilometres away is referred to as the Bug Rug, and last year there were some big community working bees coordinated by FOKC, for example to celebrate National Tree Day by planting thousands of tube stock of locally indigenous plants.

It is really rewarding to get involved in projects like this, playing a small role in caring for the country we live on, and restoring natural habitat for wildlife. Every time I pass by I feel connected to the place through these small contributions and get a lot of joy from seeing the plants grow. A year on, and it has become a stunning corridor of colourful wildflowers, attracting pollinator insects, birds, and even humans like me to this peaceful natural haven.

Often I pass by on my bike en route to somewhere, but recently the Bug Rug was my destination- to spend an hour relaxing and knitting on a new project in nature surrounded by wildflowers and bird song. It really was such a treat, I am determined to make more time for this from now on!

I’ve also been knitting a shawl slowly over several months while chatting with friends at our local craft group. I hope to finish it in time for Christmas. It has not been fast, but it has been an enjoyable social knit, using yarn that has been in my stash for many years. The multi-coloured speckled one is a hedgehog fibres 4ply fingering yarn, unsure of the origin of the blue yarn, it is 4ply from the deep stash! The pattern is a lovely simple one called Stripes of love by Petit bout de moi (Collete Audrey), currently available for free on Ravelry.

I really like this drawstring bag I made a couple of years ago – the birds on the fabric look a bit like the wattlebirds that have started visiting our garden to drink nectar from the eremophila ground cover plants and the kangaroo paw flowers.

It is impressive to see so many native birds and pollinator insects visiting our little garden already since replacing the boring lawn with a small native garden a little over a year ago. It is heartening to see the positive difference that can be made, whether along the creek or in our own garden in a relatively short period of time. I always like seeing what is visiting our garden. This week I saw a Yellow admiral butterfly spending time on a patch of everlasting daisies in our garden. These butterflies are native to Australia, New Zealand as well as Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands.

I hope you all have some peaceful natural spot that you (and local wildlife) can enjoy.