Advance Australia Fair

Australians all let us rejoice

For we are young and free

We've golden soil and wealth for toil

Our home is girt by sea

Our land abounds in nature's gifts

of beauty rich and rare

In history's page let every stage

Advance Australia fair

In joyful strains then let us sing

Advance Australia fair.

Week one over and we're fairing reasonably well on the medal tally, lets see what week two brings, in the meantime - I will continue to wear my cuff in honour of those representing us in London!

On the loom - Going for Gold

With the Olympics under way and inspired by the beautifully choreographed opening ceremony and our Aussie team already doing as proud in a range of  events ... I have finally got myself organised and started on my Australian Flag cuff.

The Australian Flag is symbolic of our heritage and representation of our early settlers - the Union Jack represents the Cross of St George for England, The Cross of St Andrew for Scotland and The Cross of St Patrick for Ireland.  The Australian Blue Ensign is emblazoned with five stars that form the Southern Cross and a sixth to represent the Commonwealth of Australia.
This cuff has been on my  mind for a long time, with the planning and development of the pattern a few weeks ago, I'm really pleased to be in the finishing stages and to be able to share with you what is on my loom ....

Aussie Aussie Aussie ... Oy Oy OY

One of our iconic symbols or flags is the Boxing Kangaroo ... the boxing kangaroo has been around since 1891  inspired by the outback travelling shows where the Kangaroo competed competed against men.  The boxing kangaroo became a symbol of the RAAF during WWII as well as featuring in numerous movies over the years.  However the flag as we know it today, received international prominence during 1983's America's Cup with a golden kangaroo featured on a green background (Aussie colours) with red boxing gloves was flown from Australia II which won the race.  The image was purchased by the Australian Olympic Committee and has since featured as a mascot for sporting events.

So here is my pattern design as a tribute to the upcoming Aussies who will be competing for Australia.  Aussie Aussie Aussie ... Oy Oy OY!

Go Australia ...

Aussies are very patriotic sports men and women - especially when competing in international competitions.  The upcoming Olympics have inspired me to design two patterns to show my support - with almost a month left to the start, I better get organsied and start looming!

To start ... we have the Australian Flag ...the actual design will feature metal clay stars attached to the piece (so won't look exactly like this).

I'll feature my other pattern design in another blog post.

Anzac Day 2012

Today I had the honour of watching my son and many others march in the Anzac Day Parade.  Whilst watching the parade, there were many fine moments, from the elderly diggers waving at the young children looking on in awe, or the ones who weren't afraid to show the tears in their eyes as they recognised loved ones in the crowd.

It was beautiful to see the diggers from the past ...

 To those currently representing our country  ...

and to the cadets of today ... my boy!