tiny happy

a giant blanket + other things

My last post was titled 'winter makes' and now we're close to summer! I'm so sorry, little blog, for abandoning you for such a long time.

I've been telling myself I didn't have much to share but when I looked through my phone photos, I realised I have finished a few projects since my last post. Too many to share now, probably! So here's a bit of a selection.

I put in some long hours to finish a giant (queen bed size) crochet blanket in time for Arlo's 21st birthday. He was born around the shortest day and is a student in Dunedin, a famously cold place to be in winter. So it seemed fitting! He told me it has been keeping him warm every day since so all those treble crochet clusters were worth it! To make this, I used a range of DK wool and possum yarns in grey, brown, peach, charcoal and forest green. I used a different colour for each round but essentially it's just one giant granny square of crochet! More details on my ravelry page here.

My knitting has really slowed down this year. I've spent nearly six months working on a green garter stitch cardigan - I just don't seem to be making any progress on it - do you ever feel like that about your knitting projects? The pattern is from Laine Magazine issue 14, and the design is called 'Skagen Cardigan.' My Ravelry details for it can be found here. I'm using Purl Soho Linen Quill yarn in a beautiful shade of deep green. To be real with you, I started this cardigan because I thought it would look good with my favourite pounamu/greenstone earrings, and I still think it will. I just have to finish it.

I've always wanted to learn how to make soap, and this has been the year for it! Tom is also quite into it, and it's a fun activity to do together - he likes thinking up all the different colours and scent combinations whereas I'm all about the basic soap that gives the perfect lather and is long-lasting, but not too long-lasting! If you know, you know. I've had a decent number of failures in my soap making (and I've definitely spent more money on soap than ever before), but I think I am beginning to improve and better understand the chemical process. If you know me in real life, you might reasonably expect some soap bars for Christmas..!

It's also been the year of rediscovering muesli-making, after a long hiatus of toast-only breakfasts. Here is my favourite way of making our muesli. I also take this to work for quick lunches on busy days.

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Simple toasted muesli - makes 2 big jars and a bit leftover!

In a big bowl, mix 4 cups of wholegrain oats, 1 cup each of sunflower and pumpkin seeds, 1 cup long thread coconut, 1 cup each of raw and roughly chopped almonds and cashews. In a small saucepan, melt 2 spoonfuls of honey with 1/3rd cup oil, then stir this through the muesli ingredients until thoroughly mixed. Spread the mixture in shallow layers on trays lined with baking paper and toast in a slow oven, stirring once or twice to ensure everything is evenly toasting. Let it cool completely before tipping into airtight jars.

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Other things I've been doing lately: reading - I revisited some favourite Janet Frame stories around her 100th birthday, which was in August, and have been enjoying the latest Elizabeth Strout novel this week - I can't remember what I read in between! Sewing - I have made a few items of clothing, including some square-neck tops from silk fabric, the pattern for which I cut from a store-bought top I love. And also some patchwork tote bags, to use up small pieces of linen and cotton in pleasing colours. I sewed up the patchwork pieces and then stitched the finished block onto the front of an existing tote bag, to hide the logo on it. And painting - my love for watercolour paints continues! I am still practising my skies and seas specifically.

Favourite music this month:

• Black Sea Dahu - Transcience (here is a live version but I like the studio version too)
• Troy Kingi (everything he does really, but especially his Holy Colony Burning Acres album which is both timeless and timely for us in Aotearoa right now
• Chained Unchained by Nadia Reid - such a beaut video too
• Laura Marling's new album Patterns in Repeat
• Tinariwen - who I was lucky enough to see live this year X

I hope you are doing very well, wherever you may be. Thank you for your patience with me, and for still visiting here sometimes!
M X

winter makes

The last time I published something here was at the end of autumn, and now we're nearing spring! For some reason, I thought I had nothing to share, such a long, dark winter it's felt, with little space and time to work on my creative projects.

But looking through some photos, I can see that I did find time to do some making - the results of which I've shared in the images above:

1. This is a Homme Wrap Dress (pattern by Elbe Textiles) that sat in pieces on my desk for a decent length of time before I decided to sew it up! I had been worried about my fabric choice, a coffee-coloured linen with cream grid pattern, colours I don't usually wear. But I love the finished dress, and it was fun to make as well. Please excuse the bathroom mirror pic! I recommend the pattern, if you're looking for your next dress to sew.
2. Is it even a Wellington winter if you're not knitting up house slippers? I made a couple of pairs of these classic slippers for a 3-year-old family member and a larger pair for Tom. He wanted leather soles on his, and ended up hand-sewing them on himself. For all three pairs, I used the trusty Temple of Knit 'Simple House Slippers' pattern (more info on my Ravelry page here).
3. Cosmos-inspired things: a small bouquet from my sister-in-law inspired a bit of watercolour card painting, and some embroidery, too. I turned the stitched piece into a needlebook for a friend. 
4. These little pouches were inspired by a book about sashiko I found at the library. I used small scraps of avocado and indigo-dyed linen to hand-sew these and sent them to friends for keeping small treasures in.
5. On the shortest day of the year, or very close to, I heard Tiny Ruins perform in the Begonia House at the Botanic Gardens. It was such a beautiful concert, cold and dark but cosy with the plants, music, and company of dear friends. I had to buy a copy of 'Ceremony' to play at home through the winter, which I've faithfully done ever since!

Some other things I've loved lately:

This beautiful song in particular ('Earthly Things' from Ceremony). It's accompanied me on many a dark evening walk home from work this winter.

Making classic lemon meringue pie, which will forever remind me of my nana. I made one last night for friends.

This documentary about musician Martin Phillipps, who passed away recently (and a new appreciation for the beautiful lyrics in this song)

The NZ International Film Festival - I was lucky to see Eno and The House Within, both of which I loved.

This book: Love is a Pink Cake by Claire Ptak. So many beautiful bakes to try! And super pretty photos, styling and writing about the cake life.

Take care sweet friends and see you next time,

M X

knitted guinea pigs & other projects

It's been such a good while since I wrote here, some of these things to share are from the past two months. I hope you don't mind! They include some autumnal scenes - our kitchen early one morning as I got ready for work. That golden light of autumn, I'll never get tired of it.

And some small things I've been working on lately:

• Autumnal bouquets, made from native shribs and leaves from our garden and the walk into town. I then bought a bunch of hot housed freesias and split them between the leafy bouquets for a bit of colour and scent. Very pleasing...
• Mini Amore cardigan. I knitted this for my workmate who was expecting her first pēpē (baby) and I used the Amore pattern which is a favourite of mine. I like how soft it is, and that it doesn't have any hard seams which I think is important for a baby cardigan. It also has a nice wide neckline, unlike many newborn patterns. You can find my Ravelry notes and a pattern link here on Ravelry.
• A knitted guinea pig! This was a fun and comforting project to work on in the evenings during a bit of a stressful time. The pattern is by Claire Garland and is a bit fiddly to make, but totally worth it I think, and I gave my little guy to my niece.
• I wanted to make a few little gifts to include in some parcels for friends I was putting together. I made lip balm using this recipe and tinted one of the mixtures with a bit of lipstick for extra colour, ooh lala! I also sewed up a batch of good old scrunchies, for which I used some black silk fabric leftover from a dress project - they're super handy things to have.
• My niece Eve has recently moved to Wellington for university. We invited another friend over and had an avocado dye session - we are all knitters so we transformed some undyed sock yarn, embroidery yarn and other threads. And it was good to use up the summer avocados that were taking up lots of space in our freezer! Here are some avocado dyeing notes I wrote up a few years ago, in case you're keen to try it for the first time.

Some good things I've found lately:

A new Crowded House song with a beautiful video (a West Coast Auckland beach dream...)

This wonderful way to wear granny squares - I'm contemplating making it - what do you think?

These fun and colourful patterns - I'm going to make the 'collage gather top' first.

This amazing hand-painted and embroidered quilt (and the whole Insta feed is beautiful)

5 free animal knitting patterns by Claire Garland

This beautiful track by Patrick Watson and La Force (plus cute clip)

Hard times in the world right now, my friends. I hope you are doing ok and finding lots of good things in your days, 

M xx

warmer shades

Warmer shades, tones and textures for autumn...

Here are a few photos I've taken over the past month or so.

I finally finished that 'No Frills' sweater! For this I used some Shetland 4-ply yarn in a charcoal shade, held together with a strand of black Camarose Midnattsol, which is a Danish yarn that blends together merino, tencel and wool. The resulting fabric is nice and light and has a matte, felted texture. This raglan sweater pattern is such a classic every-day style and I've worn it loads already. You can find my Ravelry notes here.

You can also see a crochet blanket-in-progress that I've picked up again - this is in essence a giant granny square, using up leftover DK (8-ply) wool yarns. For every second round, I'm using a cone of dark grey merino-possum yarn, which gives the multi-coloured vibe a bit of uniformity and I think brings it together nicely. I'm enjoying working on this blanket in the cooler evenings, watching TV or sitting by the fire.

My goal is to make it big enough to fit our spare bed (or until I run out of yarn) and I'm about half-way there.

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I've shared my latest cyanotype print - a large one I made to fit into a favourite square wooden frame. For this print, I used the last of the summer sunlight, and the last of some summer plants! Bees and other insects kept landing on the print while it was exposing in the garden which rather added to its late-summer charm. I was happy with the resulting print except for the grasses in the left-hand corner - I think they were a bit fine for the process. I've now put my cyanotype gear away until next summer as I've found it hard to get crisp prints at other times of the year.

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Finally, I included a picture of some sultana cake I made following a recipe in this great book about high-country farming (and cooking) life. You can find the recipe here.

I like it, but it made me wonder about my grandad's favourite sultana cake that I remember making for him as a child. It definitely didn't have walnuts or chocolate chips added - it was a very classic, British, slightly dense plain cake. That has led to a fortnightly sultana cake experiment (I have to wait until we have people staying over, to help us eat these cakes!) to rediscover his recipe. I think this one in the good old Edmond's cookbook is pretty close, but I reduce the sugar, add the grated zest of a lemon and use a bit more almond extract.

Please let me know if you too are a fan of the classic sultana cake - or is it just me? I love having a piece with a cup of tea and a chapter of whichever book I'm reading.

I hope this finds you well, dear reader! Until next time,

M X

 

 

summer fade

Kind of a bittersweet time of year, this one. It's always hard to say goodbye to the long, light days of summer and welcome in the darker ones. But looking back I can see it was a lovely autumn we enjoyed here at home, with some good social times and projects alongside a busy time of paid work.

In these photos, you can see a few things I made over the autumn and late summer time:

+ Some small botanical embroideries on silk. The fabric was formerly a favourite top of mine that wore out, and I didn't want to throw it away. I sewed the little embroideries up into pouches and filled them with dried lavender from the garden.

+ Summer pyjamas for Keira and I! I wanted to send Keira off to her second year at university with some nice new summer pyjamas, and ended up sewing her a set from some soft cotton. For this I used an old wide-leg pants pattern I had (cut short) and the 'Ogden Cami' pattern. I made myself a set too, from double gauze cotton - so comfortable and cosy!

+ More cyanotypes made in the full sun and light of Waitangi Day earlier this year. Toitu te Tiriti! And some coriander leaves captured, too.

+ This is a little summer top I knitted for Keira before she left home for another year in Auckland. The pattern is called 'Leaf Top' and I used some recycled cotton yarn to knit it, which was both manufactured from recycled garments and recycled from another knitting project of mine - double recycled! My Ravelry notes are here.

+ A simple raglan sweater in progress, for autumn wearing. The pattern is the classic 'No Frills Sweater' from Petite Knit and I'm using some Shetland fingering-weight yarn held together with CaMaRose's Midnatssol, which is an eco-friendly version of mohair-silk. It's creating a lovely soft + light, almost matte fabric and I know I will wear this loads! My Ravelry notes for this one can be found here.

I hope you are doing very well and finding time for the things you most love to do. Here are a couple of other special things I loved in the month of March:

+ Amiria Grenell's song and video for 'Lanterns' from her new album. So evocative and beautiful! And the setting reminds me of my childhood backyard.

+ 'A Study for Obedience' by Sarah Bernstein. A very moving and puzzling book that I'm still thinking about, a month later.

+ 1987's Babette's Feast which I had never seen until it popped up on my Netflix recommendations recently. It's my new favourite film, I loved it.

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toitū / honour

We've just marked Waitangi Day here in Aotearoa NZ - the commemoration of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi / The Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. An aspirational and deeply meaningful document to us here, at the moment its principles are being questioned by our new coalition government, and so it seems more important than ever to stand up for it. My own small protest was the embroidery you see in the first picture above.

I love this new waiata/music video from my friend and workmate who is part of Grove Roots - the artwork tells a story through sand! And here's a beautiful print you can download for your wall, if you like.

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In knitting news, I'm sharing my finished Kaisla top - the one I wrote about in my previous post. This was a lovely project to work on over the summer break, and I've been enjoying wearing it over the last few weeks. The Papyrus yarn, a blend of cotton and silk, is my new favourite thing to knit with. I recommend it if you're looking for a warmer-weather garment to make. You can find my project notes for this top here on Ravelry.

And what's the point of a post if it doesn't include some seasonal flowers (aren't those blue hydrangeas a dream?) and baking. I tried a new recipe I found on Radio NZ for cheese scones as part of my ongoing 'research' for Good Bitches Baking, which has started back up for the year. I like to have quick and easy recipes on hand for when I have to make something in a hurry to drop off before work, and these will be added to the queue this year. They are much lighter than my usual scones which veer on the buttery, substantial side of the scone spectrum. Controversially, for a classic NZ scone, these have eggs but no butter. The result is a savoury snack that's closer to a muffin or even a cheese puff. But no less delicious of course.

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sun days

Must be a month of Sundays (or more?) since I last wrote here! What beautiful sun-days we've had over the past month. I'm feeling very grateful for a few weeks off from work, lots of good family adventures and hang-outs, books read, outdoor coffees had with summer knitting to hand.

I hope this finds you doing very well too, wherever you are in the world. The first photos I've posted above are collages from our summer holiday in Te Wai Pounamu - the South Island. We had some dreamy warm days, berries and icecream, sea swims, walks and I even managed to read a few books - heavenly.

I've also shared a few simple small gifts I made before Christmas. My son Arlo has recently become interested in painting and drawing, the first time since childhood I think! I bought him a small watercolour journal and brushes and made him up a custom set of watercolour paints from my collection of tubes. I wrote a bit about making my own set a while ago, in this post. It's been heartwarming to see him using his paints already.

I used up lots of cotton and linen yarn odds and ends by making a bunch of cleaning cloths. Every time I started to run out of a yarn, I held it with another one, and it created a  slightly messy-looking gradient effect that almost resembles little landscape paintings. And they're just for cleaning, so they don't have to be perfectly made! I pair these with a glass bottle of all-purpose cleaner which can be made like this:

= = = Into a 250ml bottle, place 1 teaspoon of dishwashing liquid, 1 tablespoon of white vinegar, a few drops of tea tree oil and a few drops of lavender oil. Top it up with water, put the lid on and gently shake to mix. = = = 

In the last photo above you can see a knitting project I was working on as we travelled around on our summer trip. It's just a simple sleeveless top and I used some Fibra Natura yarn called 'Papyrus' and a pattern called Kaisla by Finnish designer Veera Välimäki. The design is for a beautiful long dress, but I only had enough yarn (and patience, to be honest) for a top. I will show the finished piece in my next post - hopefully soon!

There's so much horror and pain in the world right now, it's unbelievable that I get to sit in the sun with my knitting while others are having their homes and families torn apart. I'm sending my heart straight to the Middle East, every day praying for an immediate ceasefire.

Sending love to you, friends,

M

 

on the summer solstice

Greetings to you on the longest day of the year! And the shortest, if you're in the Northern Hemisphere. This special time of the year has been one of poppies, roses, lots of eating and drinking with friends and family and... a lot of work as we near the end of 2023 and prepare for the summer break. It's also been a time of deep concern for people, especially children, in conflict zones around the world and my heart goes out to them and all those affected.

I wish you and your family, wherever you are, a very happy and restful festive season if you celebrate it. I look forward to being back in this space in the new year. Thank you as always for visiting me here and being part of this community.

X X X X X 

another world

I embroidered this phrase as a motto - another world is possible. I haven't felt like sharing much on here, as the darkness of what is happening in so much of the world - in the Middle East - Gaza, especially, in other war zones. On a much smaller scale, here in Aotearoa our new government has just announced its plan to undo so much of the progress achieved here in the last few years.

This small meditation on avocado-dyed linen quotes from Arundhati Roy. The full phrase is: “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” 

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I've done a little making over the past month or so. It's been a busy time at work so I've not done as much as I would have liked! But imminent projects are simmering away in my mind and I think the summer break will be a good time to crack into some of them.

I made these little slippers for friends with a new baby girl. The yarn is a cotton-merino blend from Knitting for Olive and the pattern is the classic t-bar sandal from Debbie Bliss - I have an old copy of this book that I often turn to when baby knitting is in order.

And I finally finished that crochet blanket I've been blogging about since forever! I wrote more about process in this post, in case you're in the market to make something similar. I've already started another blanket because I really missed this project once it was done.

Ginger kisses! I remember having these, from the local bakery, as a special treat when we were kids. I recently made some to take to an event and they were delicious. Quite light with a gingery-cinnamon 'cream' (icing) inside. They're my new favourite thing to bake for a fancy afternoon tea or party. I used the recipe in Alexa Johnston's Ladies a Plate book - you can find this particular recipe here.

In music news, I recently bought some bluetooth headphones for walking home from work in the summer evenings. I've been enjoying listening to the new album by Sufjan Stevens - Javelin. This coming weekend, I'm excited to go to see The War on Drugs who are playing in Wellington. And then the next evening - Handel's Messiah by the NZ Symphony Orchestra. What is this lucky life?!

And finally, I wonder if you've noticed the new layout for this blog? I have been meaning to re-jig this page for ages and last week I finally did it. Mostly it just means larger photos and text - I hope you find it an improvement!

See you again soon friends and thank you as always for reading.

M x

making a granny square blanket

For years I was convinced that I lacked the inherent skill to crochet. My patient mum, an accomplished crocheter, tried to teach me dozens of times. I stayed up late trying to learn from YouTube videos (even the ones that promised 'anyone can crochet - this video is for absolute beginners!') My sister tried to help, a few friends encouraged me, and I got books out from the library. I really wanted to make a granny square blanket and I knew that crochet would be a wonderful way to use up all yarn leftover from my knitting projects.

Eventually, it was an evening spent with my five-year-old niece that gave me the inspiration to try again. She was sitting on the floor, watching Netflix and casually crocheting a giant granny square from yarn scraps in a basket, almost absent-mindedly with her eyes on the movie. She said 'come on Aunty, look it's easy!' and her beautiful, colourful blanket-in-progress motivated me to try again, this time with more patience.

I started out with granny squares to use up my favourite 4-ply leftovers. Most of these were locally hand-dyed yarns in silk and merino that I had used in shawls and garments. Once I had a few squares, I realised they would make a beautiful blanket so I kept them, along with all my fingering-weight yarns, in a basket. This way I could carry them around easily and add to the blanket gradually over time.

I worked on these squares on buses, trains and planes, in my lunch break at work and even at the laundromat in the middle of winter.

Last month I finally finished this 2-year project. I am so happy with the completed blanket and it keeps us warm on the sofa. I hope my story of persistence encourages you to have another go at crochet, if, like me, it's something you've struggled to learn. I've described my process below. And yes, I already have another one on the go!

Materials

I decided on using fingering-weight (4-ply) yarn for this project consistently, in order to maintain a consistent gauge and drape. While I did use leftover yarn (merino, silk, alpaca, possum and blends of these) I was quite careful to 'colour-manage'. I tried to stick to a harmonious colour palette: greys, pinks, mustard and olive greens throughout.

I chose a charcoal-grey (nearly black) alpaca yarn to complete the final round of each square and join them at the end, for a consistent look.

I used a 3.5mm metal hook, and worked my clusters somewhat loosely, for a drapey, airy texture.

I also used a beautiful handmade wooden trug basket to keep my project together and easy to transport.

Method

I started out by learning how to crochet a classic granny square, using this photo tutorial.

I chose a new colour for each round of crochet and tried to balance light and darker tones. Altogether I made 16 squares.

I worked a total of 15 rounds for each square, then a final round in my unifying colour (dark grey yarn). Then I wove in all the ends, and soaked and blocked them so they each measured approximately 27cm square.

I knew I didn't want to sew the finished squares together, because I thought that would be tedious! I also wanted to avoid a stiff seam between each of the squares so I did some research into various joining methods. There are lots of options for both sewing and crocheting the squares together.

After the squares had dried, I laid them out into a 4 X 4 grid and joined them using the dark grey yarn again and 'the continuous method' explained in this great video.

I worked another round of granny clusters right around the edge of the whole blanket in dark grey, then few rounds of single crochet in pink and dark grey to finish.

Finally, I blocked the whole blanket outside in the sun. It measures just under 1.5 metres square.

I hope I've inspired you to give this a go if it's something you've always wanted to try! For a faster project, you could choose a chunkier yarn such as DK or worsted, and a bigger hook. You could also make one really big square, avoiding the need to join them up! That's what I did for this blanket.

You can see more pictures of my process here on Ravelry. Happy crocheting!