The Strathewen chook tea cosy

 

 

This is the story of the Tea Cosy Competition winner. The magical powers of the humble chook were at work once again; please read the story below; the judges were unaware of this until after the chook won. Quite extraordinary!

Congratulations to Barbara Joyce of Strathewen for her chook cosy.

 

Strathewen Chook Story - Comfort after trauma

After the Black Saturday firestorm, 29 people lost their lives in Strathewen. Residents were traumatised at the loss of friends, neighbours and the black destruction that surrounded them.

 

For three years after this tragedy, Barbara Joyce, an art therapist, organised a group of local the women to undertake a project for the children of Strathewen who had lost their school in the firestorm. Each Primary School age child was asked to colour in a drawing of a chook and then the women undertook the knitting of a life size chook. The unique drawings featured stripes, flames, dots and patterns, often in the colours of the recovering landscape. Barbara gave the children a questionnaire to fill in after 3 years and they all said that their chook slept with them in their bedroom.

 

This project brought children comfort, nurtured close friendships between the women, fostered connections within the community, assisted the recovery process and reminded everyone that they could laugh again. The chooks were an ice-breaker and a way for people to start connecting again.

 

The project was not contained to just children. Chook envy gripped the local community and proved quite contagious. People tracked down the pattern and wool, and all sorts of chooks started emerging. Many chooks were knitted for bereaved people to add a smile and comfort to their lives.

 

Barbara sees the hen as an ancient symbol of regeneration and rebirth and when the world turned black, the humble chook found its way into everyone’s heart.

( to view story on line go to: big stories small towns/Strathewen chook project or isiiad chook project)

 

Barbara adapted the chook knitting pattern for this teacosy competition. Patterns are available from sales@winterwoodtoys.com.au

 

Winners

Here they are, as voted for by our judging panel.

 

The doggy one from Ali Maciver in the UK won 3rd prize.

 

The Teddy Bear's Picnic by Kaye Whitney from Mooroopna won 2nd prize.

 

The chicken from Barbara Joyce was voted the winner!

Congratulations!

There's a special story attached to this chicken; I'll ask Barbara to write about it.

Nobody knew about the story until after the judging. Watch this space to find out...

Raffle tickets

I'll be picking up the last of the competition entries tomorrow (Friday 27th June).
The judges are all organised; Sunday afternoon is Judgement Day.
The teapots have been collected; waiting to be adorned by all the beautiful cosies that you've sent in.
So, in the meantime, I'd like to show you a (preliminary) photo of the Raffle Prize!
It's been made by some friends and myself; appliqued and embroidered by us; and quilted by the award winning quilter, Veronique Diligent.
The raffle tickets are $1 each; a book of 20 tickets for $20. All money goes to the Cancer Council. If you wish to purchase tickets, let me know. You can put the cost of the tickets directly on the Cancer Council site, http://vic.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/craftacure. Just leave me a message, and I'll let you know your ticket numbers. My email is lorraineedunbar@gmail.com.

The quilt will be on display at the Warratina Lavender Farm from 5th to the 13th July. The address is 105 Quayle Rd, Wandin Yallock; just a few kilometres east of Lilydale. Come and see all the tea cosies on display; buy a tea cosy, and some raffle tickets, have lunch or morning/afternoon tea at the tea rooms; a nice day out! The tea cosies will be on display from 9am to 4pm .

Just over one week to go...

It's very exciting to open the parcels that are arriving and see all the wonderful tea cosies that you've been sending in.
To be a part of the competition, the cosies need to be here by 27th June.
Judging will be on the 29th June. I'll post some photos of the judging panel doing the difficult job of choosing a winner....not something I'd like to do.....every tea cosy is special!!!
If your tea cosy arrives after the cut off date, it will still be displayed and sold at the Tea Cosy display at the Warratina Lavender Farm, (July 5th to 13th), and the money it helps to raise will go to the Cancer Council.
The official page for this fundraiser is http://vic.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/craftacure. Some people have already made donations on this page, so we are well on the way to reaching the goal of $10,000.
Thanks to everyone for your support.

Some tea cosies that have been sent in already

Some lovely ladies at "Chicks with Sticks" have been working hard making some lovely cosies to support the Tea Cosy Competition fundraiser for the Cancer Council. Here's a peek at a few of them.
It's time to finish off your cosies and send them in by 27th June; that's less than 2 weeks to go!

Beautiful lady tea cosy

Check out this beautiful vintage tea cosy, made by Bernadette. She used a pattern that she found on Ravelry, and added a lovely porcelain half-doll. Doesn't she look gorgeous!

Vintage in pink

Only 25 days to go, to get your tea cosy entries in!

This one is from a vintage pattern, published in 1935 by Madame Weigel. In the original, there was a large satin bow at the top. I've replaced that with a crochet rose, and small I-cord bow. The I-cord actually gathers the centre of the cosy together. The knitting is done without any shaping. Make a length of the garter stitch pattern; sew the lower edges for a few centimetres; gather in the centre; and there you go! Tea cosy completed! I have posted this one under the vintage patterns tab.