tiny happy

fort sweater + summery things

Hello! I hope you're well and this week has been a good one for you and yours. 

It really feels like the beginning of summer here right now - and that just coincides with a warm winter sweater I've just finished knitting for my partner Tom. My timing is always a bit strange. Never mind, summertime in Wellington does have its wintry moments.

Tom chose the pattern and yarn. The design is Fort Sweater by Brooklyn Tweed and I bought the yarn (Cascade 220 100% wool) at my favourite shop: Holland Road Yarn in Lyall Bay. You can find more details about the pattern on my Ravelry project page.

I couldn't be happier with the finished sweater, and am so pleased I measured and swatched several times (I really wanted it to work out once I realised how long it would take me to complete!) Tom is also happy and has worn it nearly every day since it came off the needles. He appreciates my knitting so much - it makes me want to knit lots of other things for him. :)

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In other spring-related news, I found a great old 1970's basket at our local op shop. I remember these from my childhood and always associate them with kind mums, nice snacks and interesting craft projects waiting within and have secretly always wanted one. So far I've only taken it shopping once, but maybe I will keep my new project in it, ready for weekend picnics and bus trips. 

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A few weekends ago I explored the historical Bolton Street Cemetery garden with Tom's mum Clare and Keira. It's quite a special place, steeped in colonial history with many heritage roses and other old plants. One particular grave was completely covered in tiny lily-of-the-valley plants which reminded me that my great-aunt Sylvia had once sent me one of these plants, dug up from her garden and wrapped in newspaper when I was quite young. It made me feel grown-up and important, that I might be able to look after such a special thing.

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needle punching poppies

Hello!
It's been a while since I wrote here... for some reason I couldn't seem to get started. Blog-writer's block? Or something. I hope you are well, dear reader, wherever you are in the world.

In the wintertime i bought some supplies for needle punching, after I got a strong desire to make my own rugs and mats from wool. I still want to, but so far I've only managed to make a small cushion with the tool I bought. But it does have poppies on it, and it's quite practical as a chair pad so I'm pleased with it.
 
I bought my Amy Oxford needle punch tool from this shop, after I met the owner Claire at Soul Craft in Melbourne in June. She was selling them along with lots of other lovely supplies. Tom has now made me a good frame for future needle punching (I used an embroidery hoop up until now which isn't ideal but does work) and I have lots of ideas of future projects. I'm just lacking the time, really. But that doesn't stop me dreaming about it!

Speaking of Soul Craft, I loved this recent post of Felicia's called Overthinking Our Stories. She writes about being brave and ambitious in our making lives. I love it!

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It was my birthday recently and I got some really nice gifts, including making-related things. Among them was the latest issue of Making Magazine which is like gold to me. Thanks Mum! 

Along with a great needle punch project in there, I am hoping to make some of the garments within its pages. I think I would wear the Array Shirt a lot in the summer (you can find some pictures, plus an interview with the designer here) and there's also a couple of beautiful knitted cardigan patterns. And a small knitted sheep. I'm now wondering if I have enough time to knit sheep for all my nieces and nephews for Christmas (along with these amazing toys, also designed by Susan B. Anderson.)

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I've also been doing some embroidery in the evenings of late - I had a little waiting list for project bag orders, and I wanted to get those done. Above you can see some colourful daisies embroidered in clusters, but I've also been stitching buillion roses and leaves, ferns and dahlias. For that sort of work I really like to have music to accompany me. I've been listening to the latest Kurt Vile album and Julia Holter.

 

preoccupied with thoughts of future projects

I hope October is going well for you and you're feeling the spring sunshine on your face (at least, if you live in the Southern Hemisphere!) 

I feel as though I've been preoccupied by two things, lately: work and wool! Work is self-explanatory, but on the wool side of things... I went to the annual sale/open day of local yarn factory Woolyarns just outside of Wellington last week. They have in the past produced wool carpets and other products, along with a range of different yarns, including Zealana yarns, which are some of my favourite because they blend possum fur with merino and other fibres. 

Anyway, the sale was quite amazing and there were cones and cones of natural wool for sale, as well as some blends. I bought a few cones that I'm planning to share with friends and family. Also for sale were lengths of machine knitted possum-blend yarn, made up in a fine moss stitch. The pieces had been cut apart with scissors but I managed to find a beautiful big piece in grey that only needed finishing along one edge. I did that and now i have a lovely soft, warm shawl from fine grey merino/possum blend yarn. It has a dusky-pink ribbed border on each edge. 

I had thought about hand-knitting something like this, so I'm very glad I never embarked on that particular project! With the rustic marled yarn I bought, I plan to knit sturdy slippers using this pattern (Tom and Arlo need new slippers for around the house and before we know it, it will be autumn.)

The hank of cream yarn you can see in the picture above is very rustic and I'd like to try some natural dyeing with it over the summer. I recently bought a punch needle (more on that in my next post!) and I think it would be fun to prepare my own yarn colours for this craft. My dream project for the pale grey/mauve yarn is this cardigan pattern in Laine magazine by Libby Jonson (Truly Myrtle).

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The Wool Lover is a new NZ online journal devoted to all things woollen. It has some lovely articles - I recommend it!

Also in the photos above, you can see some floral embroidery I worked on this week (clusters of daisies on oatmeal linen) and some beautiful real flowers I encountered today. Now that it's lighter and warm in the mornings, I'm trying to get up an hour earlier to walk up the hill before sitting down all day to work. Some days I'm more motivated to get up than others, and once walking I do tend to stop and look at plants on my way, but it is a lovely way to start the day.

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spring fling

It's been a little longer than usual since I last wrote something here, due to an extra-busy few weeks. But it always feels good to sit down and reflect on the nicest parts of each week. This blog is useful like that.

Friends came to visit and brought me the giant waratah flower you see in the top picture. It's a real beauty, glossy dark red with a sturdy, almost trunk-like stem. Thinking about Australian plants led me to the delicate illustration work of Edith Rewa - isn't it beautiful?

My sister also came to stay and she delivered a bag of juicy lemons from warmer climes (i.e. my parents' orchard in the South Island) and the first thing I made with them was this lemon slice. The best! I'm thinking the remainder of the lemons might have to become lemon curd, or perhaps this cake for afternoon tea in a few hours.

It's the school holidays at the moment, and while Tom and I have been too busy at work to go away anywhere, we have managed to do a few evening things together. The other night the kids and I took our dinner down to a rocky spot on the coast and seagulls swooped around us, desperate for leftovers. It was extremely windy and cold, but even so, brought a hint of Wellington summer evenings. We're all looking forward to longer days and being outside more often.

Tom had a suffrage-themed dinner to attend for his work, and asked me to make a white camellia pin for his jacket. Camellia flowers were a symbol of the suffrage movement in the late 1800s in NZ. Suffragists gave white camellia blooms to parliamentarians who voted to finally allow women to vote.

It was midnight when I got to work on it, so it's not quite as glorious as I'd hoped. But fun to make, anyway! I'm proud of being a descendant of women who signed the Suffrage Petition in 1893, so I might need to refine my design and make some more of these camellias for my own coat.

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I hope this dispatch finds you well, dear reader. See you next week!

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fort unate

Hello! It's a beautiful spring day here as I type this, and a baby tui is singing outside from the power line. I hope you are well and you've had a good week.

I'm so grateful for these lighter and brighter days. When the sun is shining, it feels like everything is simpler and more possible.

In my last post I mentioned a jersey I had started making for Tom. You can see my progress in the photo above: it's constructed from the bottom up, and I've mostly finished the body knitting. The pattern is Fort Sweater by Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed and it's just a simple design in a checkerboard stitch (which i think is the same as double seed stitch?) In any case, it involves a lot of knitting. But I'm enjoying the project so far and it's quite fun to make something for someone who is excited about wearing the finished garment. When it's my turn to wash the dishes, he says, 'oh no that's okay, I'll do them so you can work on my jersey instead,' which of course is fine with me.

I've also been doing a bit of embroidery when time allows - I have a great new lamp on my worktable which makes it easier for me to stitch at night time. I am planning a small etsy shop update on Sunday September 30. Just a few things, and I'll try to have them listed by 10am NZT.

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Some things I've been enjoying this week are:

The latest collection of clothes by Australian label Nancybird. I absolutely love this online shop and have ordered a few pieces over the years, including a best dress and a big bag that I use everyday for work. But the latest collection is something really special I think - the designs are all inspired by the work of one of the world's first female architects - Marion Mahony Griffin and employ lots of earthy colours like olive green and orange. I ordered a treat for myself last week: the 'lace t-shirt' in a pearly grey knit. (You can see the lovely reusable packaging in the photo above).

This interview with my clever friend Elizabeth Barnett. Lizzie's latest collection of paintings, 'Preservation', is currently exhibiting at Modern Times gallery in Melbourne. In the interview she talks about her artistic process as well as the thinking behind these paintings and her favourite music. You can also glimpses of the work. I found it inspiring!

Castle Rock, a great but fantastically creepy TV series based on the stories of Stephen King and set in Maine, USA. It's on the edge of being too frightening for me to watch, but I feel compelled to keep going now I've started it.

Gratitude, a book of essays by neurologist Oliver Sacks, published shortly after his death in 2015. The writing is beautiful and uplifting, and sad of course, because the author knows he is dying, and is looking back on what has made his life meaningful. 

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hellebores + podcasts

We have some hellebores in our garden but their season is ending. I love them a lot. I went to embroider some but instead the thread became something that looks more like dahlias, but that's okay because I love them too. 

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Speaking of embroidered flowers, I'm planning a small-ish shop update with a spring theme. I'm thinking early October, but I'll give an actual date in my next blog post. Thank you to everyone who has emailed to ask about this and also to those who have expressed interest in buying my work - I really appreciate it! When it comes to making and selling my work, time is not on my side during the working/school year. But I have a few things in progress and it will be fun to celebrate spring by making a small collection of work for the shop.

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This week I made a soft corduroy bear for a new baby, and wrapped it up along with a book that was a favourite when my kids were smaller - The Kuia and the Spider by Patricia Grace. The illustrations are by Robyn Kahukiwa and are really evocative, I think.

I must have made fifty of these toys over the years, for nieces, nephews, my own kids and friends. The pattern is in this book. The design is purposely simple, to allow for maximum customisation (or not). My niece Phoebe sewed some fetching linen pants for her bear and I've also seen one with a beautiful hand-knitted scarf. I usually 'under-stuff' them so they're soft and squishy and nice to hold by the hand.

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Thank you for your podcast suggestions in the last post! Here is a list of them. I also want to add one I like, it's called Art, Life, Music and it's a Radio New Zealand programme featuring interviews with artists and writers who talk about their favourite music. I especially liked listening to Dunedin artist Kushana Bush - and have you seen her paintings? Amazing. 

Here is our collaborative podcast list (please feel free to add more in the comments section):

Journalism/news/crime

Caliphate
This American Life
Teacher's Pet
My Favourite Murder
BBC World Service: Documentary and Witness
The Daily
Stay Tuned with Preet
Gone By Lunchtime
Black Hands
Dr Death

Humour/comedy

The Guilty Feminist
The Alice Fraser Trilogy 
Adrift
Answer Me This
No Such Thing as a Fish

Arts/science

On Being
Love Stories with Dolly Alderton
99 percent Invisible
Radiolab
Dispatch to a Friend
Tea and Tattle
The High Low
Dispatch to a Friend
Lost in Translation

Music

WTF with Marc Maron
Song Exploder
Desert Island Disks
NPR's Fresh Air
Art, Life, Music

Craft (most of these are on YouTube)

Pompom
Fruity Knitting
The Green Bean
Curious Handmade
Yarnchix
Yarns at Yinhoo
Kammebornia
Truly Myrtle
The Gentle Knitter (this is one of my all-time favourites!)

spring things

It's properly spring here now - the first week of September - but we've had stormy weather with bitterly cold winds along with slightly lighter mornings and evenings. I hope you've been keeping warm, wherever you are!

My newest niece M had a small party to mark her 100th day on earth last week. I knitted her a hat from some pale pink alpaca yarn I'd been hoarding for just such a thing. The pattern is a free one from Tin Can Knits, called 'Barley', and comes in every size from newborn to extra-large-headed adult. I'm really pleased with how this tiny little hat turned out. Might have to make myself one to match.

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Tom has requested a handknit jumper and on the weekend we called in to Holland Road to choose some yarn. Tash kindly popped my purchase inside this great tote bag - yarn noodles + needle chopsticks! I know it will get lots of use.

And in other yarn-related news, I bought this beautiful Norah George hand-dyed yak/silk/merino on a destash page and have just had it sitting on my desk, admiring the colour (its name is 'mustard seed', which I think is perfect) 

I'm thinking this yarn would make very lovely socks, or maybe fingerless gloves? Haven't decided yet. And besides, that man-sized sweater is going to take me a while.

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This week I finished reading The Kindness of Strangers which is a memoir by New Zealand writer Shonagh Koea. I've read all her novels because I love the unusual style of writing - but think I loved her memoir even more, as it explains the non-fiction roots to her fiction, if you know what I mean. 

And I've been listening to the excellent and beautiful album LUMP, which is Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay. Thanks to Flora for alerting me to it.

In the comments section of my last post, Deb asked if I knew of any good podcasts at the moment. I'm afraid I'm not much of a podcast listener, because I like audiobooks if I ever have time to listen quietly, and music when there's no time or space to concentrate on a story. But I have enjoyed the Guilty Feminist and Tom is currently listening to one called Teacher's Pet. And I hear The Alice Fraser Trilogy podcast is good.

Do you have any suggestions for Deb? Please leave any recommendations in the comment section. Thank you in advance!

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in the slow lane

This week I finished a knitting project that I've been working on for months. I'm quite a slow knitter! But I'm very happy with my new cardigan, which I made from this alpaca and merino yarn in a darkish shade of silvery-grey. The pattern is designed by Joji Locatelli and is called 'Lanes'. It appears in the very first issue of Laine magazine. I hope to make my way through more Laine patterns eventually, as they're all very beautiful! Maybe I will within the next 20 years...

You can find a link to the pattern, yarn, and other details on my Ravelry page here.

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Another very small project: a pair of earrings, made by taking apart an old necklace and a broken pair of earrings. It couldn't have been a simpler or speedier project (quite the contrast from the cardigan), but I love wearing them.

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This week, Tom and I stayed up way too late watching the latest season of Orange is The New Black, which I think is such an excellent show. I found it really laugh-out-loud funny and cry-spontaneously sad at the same time. I really hope they make another season, so we see some kind of new resolution for the characters (especially, my favourite, Taystee!)

And I've been listening to an old song: The Rip, by Portishead. It's ten years old now, but just as good now in my opinion.

Have a lovely week ahead, and thank you as always for visiting here. X X X X X

rare and exotic

The clematis that grows in our back fence has burst into flower this week, which is a very promising sign that winter is on its way out. The Māori name for this plant is Puawhananga, or 'flower of the skies' which I think is more beautiful than 'clematis.'

I hope you are well and keeping warm, wherever you are in the world. 

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This week I finished a pair of socks that I had been working on for quite a long time. The yarn is from Dark Harbour Yarns and the colourway name is the rather glorious 'Rare and Exotic Beast - grey with bits.' I've made this pattern lots of times and I love the design - it stays up, keeps its shape, and is nice and simple too. But I might try a different pattern next time. I'd love to master 2-at-a-time socks.

I do like to have a sock project in progress at all times though, as it's the perfect thing to fit in my work satchel for the odd bus knitting session or when I'm waiting to collect kids from somewhere.

This pair is a gift for a sweet friend of mine.

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This week I read a very small book: Notes of a Bag Lady by Margaret Mahy, a favourite NZ writer who died in 2012. In this essay, she describes how writing has given her many different ways of seeing the world and trying out different personas, from a detective to an adventurer, a princess and a witch. She eventually trained and worked as a librarian before writing full-time. 

Notes of a Bag Lady is a very funny piece of writing but, being a devout librarian fan, I particularly loved what she had to say about her profession and thought you might too:

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...I saw a picture in which the prim austerity of a female character was emphasised by the fact she was a librarian. Over the years librarians have been given a repressive image. Time and again they are shown as humourless women who, being largely sexless, have never escaped into the halcyon work of housekeeping and hanging out napkins.

Of course many people are unaware that Casanova was not only sexually prodigious but also progressed to become librarian for Count von Waldstein in Bohemia for 13 years, though admittedly this was towards the end of his career. We have no evidence that he progressed to be an efficient cataloguer.

Casanova to one side, I am here to assert that librarians stand dancing and pivoting on the tenuous ridge that separates chaos from order. That dancing librarian makes so much of the world accessible to others.

- Margaret Mahy (a small extract from NOABL, Four Winds Press, 2003.)

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the biscuit tin

Hello! Signs of spring are starting to appear here. I love these little blue flowers, the names of which I always forget. They don't seem to mind though and cheerfully come out of their bulbs regardless. The days are getting a little longer too, and the general bite of winter is not so sharp. 

I hope you are well, dear reader? Thank you for the lovely comments on my last post. Interesting that knitted rabbits are on your mind, too. I have started work on my angora version and will report back soon.

I also made the kimono jacket I mentioned in my last post. I used the Kochi Kimono design by Papercut Patterns and some drapey linen and it's already proven to be a useful garment to wear to work.

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This week I've re-discovered some music I hadn't heard in a long time: Joanna Newsom's Divers. I love this album, and was very pleased to find the entire thing online as I seem to have lost all the music I purchased on i-tunes a few years ago. 

I'm reading Women in Clothes by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits and Leanne Shapton partly because of the beautiful cover design and the fact I love hearing about other people's clothes, and partly because of a terrible Guardian review that made this book compelling reading for me. 

Do bad reviews tempt you to read or listen to something, too? I'm not sure if this is a normal reaction.

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I wanted to tell you about some very simple, but delicious biscuits. I recently found a copy of this book that I thought I had lost. It's filled with recipes from old community cookbooks from around New Zealand. The recipes are lovely, and remind me so much of my paternal grandmother, who was a proper old-school Kiwi baker. But the scanned pages of old books, and historical insights are what make Ladies, A Plate extra special.

Anyway, I made some 'coconut whispers' from it which are very simple little cookies, a bit like macaroons. You can find a very similar recipe here. I flavoured mine with the scrapings of a vanilla bean. But you could use anything - almond extract or lemon or maybe rosewater? You can see them above in a great old biscuit tin that my friend Anna gave to me. Old-fashioned biscuits in a proper old tin. Must be time to put the kettle on.