tiny happy

bus-stop crochet + other stories

Happy solstice - summer or winter! And mānawatia a Matariki! This post is coming to you from a cosy spot by the fire close to the shortest day of the year. It was dark by 5pm today, and cold, too, but I love this time of year. Everything outside is fresh and damp, and the smell of rain and wood smoke is everywhere.

With the shorter days and a generally busier schedule than usual, I've not found as much time for my usual favourites like knitting and sewing. I've started taking a bit of crochet with me on the bus and it's amazing how much I can get in little increments - waiting for the bus, sitting on the bus, zooming home after work. I'm making a granny square blanket from 4ply leftovers - more info in my Ravelry project page here. I think this is going to be an extremely long-term project for obvious reasons! I do enjoy using up my leftover yarns and choosing the colours for each round of each square.

In my last post i wrote about sun prints and how I've had a fair few 'failures' along the way. I've started to use watercolours on some of the less than crisp prints and it's such an enjoyable process, to sit down and hand-colour the prints to make cards and other things. I've included a picture above - the plants used here were (clockwise from top left) kōwhai and clover, hellebore leaf, kawakawa and pink hibiscus.

It's made me think about how I might manipulate the cyanotype process further in order to combine other mediums in these pieces. So far, watercolour has worked best and it's especially pleasing because I use watercolour paper to make the prints.

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I realised I never shared here my fluffy pink sweater! I knitting this in the autumn and held together a strand of possum-merino DK yarn on a cone that I've had for a long time, and a strand of cream mohair/silk yarn. The design is called 'Magnolia Bloom' by Camilla Vad. You can click here to see my Ravelry project page for more info, including a picture of me wearing it!

It's a lovely chunky garment- very warm and soft as you might imagine! We're definitely entering sweater season now, so I'm grateful to have it.

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I've just finished reading So far, for now, which is a collection of memoir essays by an author local to me, Fiona Kidman. She's one of my favourite NZ authors, and I really enjoyed these beautiful essays, which touch on lots of different aspects of her life, from childhood, her father, the death of her beloved husband, and their political activism and community work. 

Through the headphones, I've been enjoying so many new-to-me songs lately - including some by Thundercat, Kendrick Lamar, Jay Som, Aldous Harding and Khruangbin.

Here's a song that is especially dear to me this winter: Holding Hands, by Magic Lantern.

So much love to you, wherever you might be,

M X

 

conjuring warmth

Even though winter has officially just begun, the short days and general grey-ness has really settled in and the shortest day is near. Looking at these recent projects, I realise I must be trying to conjure up some warmth and light!

A rather joyful discovery in my life has been cyanotype printing. I had tried this before, years ago, with a kit I bought from a science materials-type store. But after watching a few online tutorials and reading a bit on the subject, I bought some bottles of Jacquard printing solution (like this) and have been experimenting with this fun and rather old technique. If it's new to you, here's a good explanation.

I must admit I've had more failures than successes. I've used the wrong type of paper, over-exposing, and under-exposing, not securing my printed matter properly and the wind moving it around, and more! But like with everything I try, it's an extended process of trial and error! I'm still not completely certain about the best length of time to leave my prints in the sun, but I have created some lovely little postcards and prints I'm happy with to send to friends and save up for future correspondence. 

The things I have learned about the process are:

• a rougher watercolour paper is best in nearly every case. It holds up to the process and the texture helps with clarity of prints
• it's simpler to make a print with pre-pressed plants, leaves and ferns
• clothes pegs are great for securing the layers of board, paper, plants and glass
• it's tempting to wash and wash the finished print but that can damage the finished piece, so a quick rinse or soak is enough.

I will no doubt keep practising. I'd love to make layered prints and also to print on fabric, but have so far found that to be a trickier process. I might need to wait until spring for some decent sunlight!

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I'm lucky enough to have a subscription to Skillshare, which is an online programme packed with video classes and talks from all sorts of people around the world. I stumbled upon a class by Penny Dean about creating a custom watercolour palette.

After coveting a special watercolour travel set, I realised I could make my own by buying an empty folding palette and adding in watercolour pigments from tubes I already had. I made a little chart to remind me which colour is where. The method for creating your own set is pretty simple. You lightly scour the plastic before squeezing in pigment, then let it dry for a couple of days. It's quite a thrill to have this custom set. The first thing I did was try a bit of 'negative painting' of plants.

Then a quick painting of Paekakariki beach, from a photo I took a few weeks ago when Tom and I headed over to Kapiti for the weekend. It's such a beautiful spot at dusk, with the wet sand glistening and Kapiti Island quietly watching over everything. 

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Finally in this post, I've included my latest knitting project - a pair of socks for Tom. He is very knit worthy and loves to wear handknit socks. but it's been a couple of years since I made him any. His old ones had worn through. For these, I used some sturdy grey Regia sock yarn and colour-blocked that with dark green, mustard yellow and navy sock yarn left over from other projects. My Ravelry notes are here (including a link to the free pattern I used).

It's great that my favourite musician of all time Kate Bush is back in the news/charts since her song Running Up That Hill featured in a Stranger Things episode. It reminded me that her album The Sensual World is my favourite winter-weather soundtrack. I recommend playing it through your headphones on a wild Wellington windswept walk... it doesn't have to up a hill but it probably will be! 

Take care,
M XX

an autumn of painting + knitting + books

I'd say the heading on this post pretty much sums it up! Winter has tentatively arrived here in Wellington, but here are some photos from the end of autumn. 

I found a trio of books from the 1970s and 80s by the NZ painter and journalist Shona McFarlane in a second-hand shop. They kept my spirits up while I was isolating in my room with Covid (all recovered now, and feeling very fortunate!) McFarlane died in 2001, after a long career as an artist, writer and also TV panellist and arts administrator.

Her books are very witty and quirky, with stories about travels with her politician husband and the funny things people said and did. She loved to paint vegetables but also did interesting portraits, landscapes, stained glass and etchings. In one of the books, next to a portrait of brown onions she wrote: "still life is to feel the shape, weight and silence of things. To reflect on the perfect nature of humble ordinary things and portray them in a state of unfussed clarity. An onion is a beautiful fruit of the earth." 

Her writing and everyday paintings reminded me to get my nature journal out and record a few things that were popping up in the garden over that time. I'm still enjoying my painting but finding that I definitely need to practice more! 

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I wanted to show you a picture of my favourite new plant - a variegated ficus I bought from my local florist Next Stop Earth in Newtown. I bought another for a workmate who was leaving us and couldn't resist getting another for me. She sits on a shelf in our bedroom and I admire those leaves every morning - they could be painted with watercolour!

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I've also been enjoying the odd bit of knitting, as always. I made a little set for a new baby from creamy alpaca yarn - the hat is the 'Baby Bear Bonnet' pattern by Pernille Larsen and the slippers are called 'Greemy Baby Booties' - there are links to both patterns here on my Ravelry page.

I also knitted something for me - a new hat for winter. The design is by Melody Hoffman and it's called the 'Brume Hat.' I used some beautiful Australian DK yarn that was a gift from my friend Lizzie, held together with a strand of mohair. The result is super soft and cosy and I'm almost wishing for cooler weather so I can wear it (not really... I'm not a big fan of proper winter...) Here are the Ravelry details.

And speaking of Lizzie, she sent me some yarn the other day - Cloverleaf Corriedale naturally dyed with onion skins, which is very local to her.. It's so golden and beautiful! And she also included a tin of beautiful hand balm. Might have to make another hat with the yarn, I reckon.

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Early winter is such a good time to stock up on books and other indoorsy things. I'm currently reading Hannah Gadsby's Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation which is making me feel and think all the things. Also recently finished Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie which was simply an amazing piece of writing.

I'd love to hear what you're working on, reading or listening to these days? I hope this finds you very well, dear reader!

With love,
M

kelowna + crochet

Kia ora, how are you? 

Thought I'd pop on to share some of my latest projects - I seem to be having longer and longer gaps between blog posts this year! Thank you so much if you still visit this space and read my thoughts.

Keira turned 17 a couple of months ago. I offered to knit her something and she requested a brown, loose-fitting sweater, and chose the Kelowna pattern by Good Night Day - there's a Ravelry link with more info about my project here, but you can also find the pattern on the designer's site. 

For Keira's version I used some brown alpaca yarn she picked out from our local craft store. It's an alpaca blend and very light and airy. I held two strands together throughout, so that the fabric wasn't too holey - and I think the result was just right. She is happy with the shape and fit so that's great! And even better, she wears it all the time. I think the Kelowna sweater pattern would be a great project for a new knitter - it knits up quickly and is very simple. It has a great boxy shape. I'd quite like to make one for myself in black - but have to find the right blend of yarns I think.

In other crafty news, we received some beautiful photos of a cousin's newborn baby wrapped up in a crochet blanket I made for him, and the parents said I could share them here. Check out those tiny and perfect toes! The blanket itself was just a giant granny square, and i used various DK weight yarns in blues, browns and peachy pinks. Most of the yarns were wool and some had possum blended in (baby's parents are keen trampers and conservationists, so it seemed right to use that yarn!) I also love how soft and lightweight it is for babies.

For a friend's birthday recently, I made her a little set using small pieces of hand-dyed linen leftover from other things. I sewed these together and constructed a 'petal pouch', which is a pattern from the first edition of Making Magazine and a lavender sachet which turned out quite large and possible too lavender-ish - I probably went a bit overboard with the dried flowers! It was a fun little set to make, though.

And my watercolour learning continues (albeit very slowly). I've been practicing watercolour skies - and trying to paint one every day. I thought they did look quite beautiful en masse though - a wall of watery sky.

I hope you are keeping healthy and safe and is well in your world?

Take care,

Melissa

 

 

recycled denim and watercolours

You know it's been a while since your last post when the title of it is 'late summer things.' I think it's fair to say we're in late autumn now, with darker and cooler mornings and evenings. 

It nearly seems too late to post my last summer knit - but I said I would - so in the first two photos above you can see my completed Helle Top, which is a pattern by Ronja Hakalehto. I enjoyed knitting it, though haven't had the chance to wear it much, as it's definitely designed for the warmest days of summer. It's also a tad roomy, while at the same time not having great 'chest coverage' - I might have made a mistake or perhaps my gauge was off. In any case, it will a nice piece to wear over dresses perhaps, or even with a t-shirt underneath. More notes on my Ravelry page here.

I really loved the yarn - I tried Kremke Soul Wool Reborn Denim for the first time. It's a yarn made from recycled jeans, using even the threads and labels from discarded garments. It is soft but structured, and has a nice weight to it, too. I'm keen to use it again. I bought my Reborn Denim from Yarn On in Hamilton.

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I started something new towards the end of summer: art classes. I've always wanted to learn to paint, and I finally enrolled in a watercolour class at an art school here called Inverlochy. I'm not sure why I chose watercolour, except that it's always seemed like a bit of a mysterious witchy medium to me. Turns out it is really quite technical and there's a huge amount to learn. I'm really enjoying it though, and trying to practice whenever I can. So far we've painted coloured glass bottles, a group of lemons, trees and many skies. The teacher is Denise Durkin and I'm super inspired by her skills.

One way I'm practising is to keep a small journal to record things growing in the garden and other seasonal happenings. The other morning, the angled sun was reflecting off the (dusty) bedroom mirror before it came through the windows and it was so beautiful! I went and got my paints, and managed to quickly capture the first sky colours before it got too light. That is something especially beautiful about watercolours - it's a really immediate and (deceptively) simple medium.

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And finally in making news, I made another dress like the one in my previous post, but this time using some slate grey linen fabric. It's oversized and roomy, and the comfiest dress I own. I'm sure I'll get lots of wear out of it through the cooler months with tights, boots and a cardigan. The pattern is McCall's #6979.

Music-wise, I am loving this song (and entire album, really) by Leon Bridges and Khruangbin, as well as this favourite older Frank Ocean album. In March I read A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit, which is a beautiful collection of deep essays about loss. 

I hope you are doing very well, and I'll see you again soon.
Thank you for visiting here, as always!

Melissa

 

late summer things

Some late-summer things...

Keira and I went blackberry-picking in the wilder parts of our neighbourhood. It was hot and the cicadas and bees were out in full force. A proper late summer Sunday morning. Blackberry plants are not a good addition to our neighbourhood - they spread their tangly branches over native seedlings and multiply easily in most conditions but especially along stream edges and wetlands. They're definitely an invasive species, so we have mixed feelings about enjoying the berries so much when they're ripe!

I added some of the berries to plum jam, and with the rest, I baked a galette, bolstering the berries with stonefruit slices.

Here's how I made it. Of course, you could replace the berries with any type and fruit with crisp apples if it's not summer where you are.

p.s. this is my all-time favourite pastry recipe. I use it for everything - savoury and sweet and it's the simplest thing ever!

Blackberry galette

5-6 peaches, plums, apricots (or other fruit)

a good handful of blackcurrants (or other berries)

75 grams cold butter, chopped into smallish pieces

1 1/2 cups plain flour

pinch of salt

1/2 cup cold milk

1 tablespoon white vinegar

First, make the pastry by placing the cold, cubed butter into a food processor with the flour and salt. Pulse until the butter is as small as breadcrumbs. Meanwhile, add the vinegar to the milk and let stand for a couple of minutes. Then slowly add the milk mixture to the flour and pulse until the pastry forms a ball. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead lightly. Set aside to rest for a minute. (If you don't have a food processor, you can do this by hand by rubbing in the butter with your fingers, and stirring through the soured milk).

Slice the stonefruit roughly. Roll the pastry out thinly so it will cover your baking tray with extra hanging over the edge. Sprinkle the tray with flour then place the sheet of thin pastry on top. Pile the stonefruit slices into the middle, scatter the berries on top then simply fold the excess pastry around the apples to form an open sort of pie. Brush the pastry folds with milk. Bake at 200 degrees Celcius for about 15-20 minutes or until golden.

Once baked, transfer onto a wooden board and cut into slices and serve with yoghurt, cream or icecream. My family likes to eat this cold for breakfast!

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Somewhat related (in colour, at least), I also made a late-summer dress from some drapey rayon crepe. The pattern is the famous McCalls #7969 and I worked some free-form embroidery down the front edges of the bodice. I really enjoyed making it! Haven't had many occasions to wear it yet, of course... but hopefully one day I will get the chance. I did wear it to a friend's birthday dinner and night out at the art gallery, soaking up the Hilma of Klint exhibition. Actually, that was a month ago, but I'm still thinking about those paintings.

And lastly, I've popped in a photo of a knitting project-in-progress. I've actually just now finished it, so will share in my next post. But wanted to show you the beautiful project bag I'm using - it was a gift from Elizabeth Barnett, featuring her gorgeous embroidery.

I hope you are doing very well, my friends. Thank you as always for visiting me here.

Melissa XX

a trip down south

We recently packed the kids into the car, jumped on the ferry and drove all the way down the South Island. Arlo's off to university! Before we left him there (cue excitement but also sobs from me) we explored his new city a bit: cafes, bars, parks, etc. So many great spots? The photo with the big lightshades was snapped at Morning Magpie, an excellent spot where we all had breakfast together on the last morning. The beautiful roses above were at Timaru Gardens, on the way home. And the stripy pair of handknit socks was a little goodbye gift to him from me.

I used a classic sock pattern and some self-striping yarn I've had for a long time - Stray Cat Socks yarn in the 'brass tacks' colourway. On the way home there was plenty of time for crochet. Still working on those granny squares for a dream blanket, maybe to be completed sometime in the next few years!

The car trip provided a good opportunity to listen to the kids' music but one album we can all agree to listen to with equal enthusiasm is the new Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You which is a beauty. 

The world beyond our own family feels complicated and heavy, even more so this past week. Sending love your way,

Melissa X

bright as flowers

Kia ora! 

These February days are feeling decidedly "late-summer" in nature (current rainstorm notwithstanding) but looking at this week's photos, mid-summer is still shining through. 

Here are a few more projects and snaps to share with you and hopefully bring a warm breeze through the screen!

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In the first photos, you can see a silk dress I sewed up at the end of last year. We had a wedding to attend in the new year, and I knew it would probably be a hit day - so I made a really loose-fitting and airy dress from a self-drafted pattern. The fabric from The Fabric Store is a sheer crinkled silk - tricky to sew with but lovely and light. I wore it over a black silk slip I sewed last year. My kind sister-in-law sent through the photo of me at the wedding - cheers Gemma!

I've also included faded hydrangeas spotted on a recent walk around the neighbourhood - they're so beautiful at this time of year - papery and almost hand-dyed looking. And a pic of some chocolate brownies I made from a new cookbook I bought Tom for Christmas. It's Nigel Slater's A Cook's Book - a beautiful read if you can find it at your local bookshop or library. The brownies themselves are delicious, especially the next day - you can find his popular recipe here. 

Despite having more than a few projects on the go already, I've cast on for a new cardigan - I'm going to make the Sky Cardi by Carrie Bostick Hoge (Ravelry link here), a pattern in Making magazine issue #5. I'm using Zealana Kiwi yarn which is a combo of merino, possum and cotton and I'm hoping the result will be a lightweight cardigan that will be super useful for work over dresses.

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Are you reading or listening to anything interesting at the moment? I'm enjoying reading Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell and My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout currently.

Through the headphones, I've loved listening to the sweet and soulful voice of Emma Donovan this past week - especially this song. And in the evenings, Tom and I have been watching Succession - dark and funny!

I hope this finds you very well and keeping safe and healthy.

Melissa X

bottling season

While I love the idea of a full-scale home bottling operation in the summer, like my Mum used to set up when I was a kid, city life here in Wellington doesn't really necessitate a store cupboard filled with endless jars of fruit and preserves. But I do love making a little jam and marmalade when I can, and giving the jars to friends and family. There's something so nice about the jewelled jars cooling on the windowsill.

Last week we scored a bag of plums from my parents' place, and there were more than we could eat fresh. I made a batch of plum + blackberry jam and another of spicy plum sauce. I was really happy with both so thought I'd share the recipes here. They're both cobbled together from a few other recipes, and adjusted to suit the ingredients we had in the cupboard.

Plum + blackberry jam

2 kilos plums
1 1/2 cups water
7 cups sugar
2 lemons
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup frozen or fresh blackberries (or other berries)

Wash and sterilise your jars (I used 7) and place them in a warm oven. Wash their lids and place in a small saucepan half filled with water. Halve the lemons and scrape out the pips with a knife. Wrap these in a piece of muslin and tie securely.

Halve and stone the plums and place with the water into a big pot. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until soft and pulpy. 

Add to this the wrapped pips, juice from the two lemons, cinnamon, berries and sugar and simmer slowly until the sugar has completely dissolved. Then bring jam to a rolling boil and keep stirring until it reaches setting point. This could take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes, but you can use the saucer test if you need to.

Heat the jar lids until the water boils then drain. Remove the warm jars from the oven and carefully fill them with jam using a small jug. Seal with the sterilised lids.

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Spicy plum sauce

I was surprised at the delicious flavour of this sauce, and by whizzing it with a hand-held blender I got the most beautiful ruby-red sauce you can imagine! It's great alongside meat and/or vegetarian dishes, such as zucchini fritters, or even a toasted cheese sandwich.

2.5 kilos of plums
4 onions
6 cloves of garlic
1 fresh chilli (or dried chilli powder)
2.5 cups of brown sugar
1 litre apple cider vinegar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground pepper
1 stick cinnamon
2 star anise
5 whole cloves
6 cardamom pods

Halve the cinnamon stick and place on a square of muslin or cheesecloth fabric with the star anise, cloves and cardamom pods. Tie into a bundle with some cooking string.

Wash and sterilise your bottles or jars (I used 5 small bottles) in a warm oven or in a pot of hot water.

Halve and stone the plums and place in a big pot, along with the chopped onions and garlic, chopped fresh chilli, brown sugar, cider vinegar, salt and pepper.

Bring to the boil, stirring frequently. Boil steadily until mixture is pulpy. This might take about an hour.

Remove the spice bag and cool slightly before using a hand-held blender to puree the sauce directly in the pot. If you don't have a stick blender, you could push it through a sieve or blend in a food processor, or just go for a textured sauce!

Return the pot to the element and re-heat the sauce until boiling. Pour into bottles with the help of a funnel and seal.

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summer, part 2

I've been back in the office for a couple of weeks now (or has it been three?) but I'm not ready to let go of the summer holiday memories just yet! Here are some more photos from our South Island wanderings earlier in the month. I should say, but didn't last time: we are so grateful that we were able to go away and move around freely, when the rest of the world is experiencing ongoing Covid-19 outbreaks and lockdowns. The Omicron variant has now made it to our shores so restrictions are much tighter now than over the new year. I look back on our summer photos now with amazement - we were so lucky to be able to relax and enjoy a break away from the city.

I hope you are doing very well, wherever you may be. These are still really strange times. I'm also grateful for my (our?) love of quiet pursuits and things that can be done at home! I'm also sharing a few recently-finished projects in this post.

I finished my summer knitting project: the Sol top, which is a design by Jacqueline Cieslak. For this, I used 4 balls of Sesia cotton yarn in a light grey shade. I'm really happy with the finished piece - the only thing I would change is to make it a little longer. It's knitted bottom-up, so I had to play it safe with the quantity of yarn I had. It works well with high-waisted skirts and pants though and I guess I could also layer it over a dress! Will need to experiment with some clothes I already have.

Here are a few more notes about the project, over on my Ravelry page.

Making this has sparked my interest in summer knitting more generally. I have a few linen and cotton yarns waiting for a new project so have been looking through Ravelry for t-shirt and top patterns. Please let me know if you have a favourite summer knit I should check out.

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I've also included photos of a fun crafty afternoon I spent with Keira recently. We hauled all the art supplies out of the cupboard and I stocked up my stationery supplies by making a bunch of gift tags, envelopes and postcards using pressed flowers from the spring and pictures from old gardening books. It's always a fun time, I recommend it on your next rainy afternoon!

I found a sheet of shiny blank labels and used them to make 'stickers' for my young nieces by painting little flowers and insects with watercolours. I'm looking forward to sending them a letter with stickers very soon.

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Inspired by a post I saw last year from the wonderful Public Library Quilts Instagram account, I took a piece of embroidery I completed in 2020, at the time of the Black Lives Matter protest in Wellington and attached it to a tote bag, together with a patchworked border from hand-dyed linen scraps. I wouldn't have normally thought of using embroidery on something utilitarian like a tote bag. But actually, I can wash it if it gets dirty and I love being able to look at and use this piece I did every day. Reminding me of the power of those marches and also that being anti-racist is a daily commitment. 

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I wish you all the very best for the week ahead. Love,

Melissa