tiny happy

through the mist

Kia ora! How are you? I wanted to send a dispatch through the interwebs - a warm hello from my house to yours. From this second week staying home (apart from a walk around the block every day) I know one thing for sure: I'll not take the beautiful faces of my friends for granted after this stay-home period. Nor my family members' faces! I miss them all, and I know you miss your loved ones. 

I hope you are doing well and managing to stay calm and happy, despite the huge changes all around. My heart goes out to those who are ill or have family and friends suffering from the virus. Sending you strength and love!

I'm finding it comforting to look at pictures of other people's stay-home life right now, and nicely distracting to think about creative projects. If you do too, this post is for you. I'll try to post more often than usual.

I've got two projects to show today. The first is a pair of socks i knitted for my son Arlo who is now 16. He has really big feet! That's my excuse for why it took me nearly 5 months (!) to knit these socks for him. They were mostly sitting, half-finished, in the bottom of my bag and I worked a round or two every now and then. But with this extra time on the weekends not spent doing the usual busy things, I was able to finish them. The yarn is 'Honest Sock' by my friend and local dyer Bonnie (Union Fibre), and the pattern is one I always use: Wise Hilda's Basic Ribbed Sock, which is free on Ravelry. They are great everyday socks and the ribbed pattern means they stay in shape well. 

I like knitting for Arlo because he's always appreciative and wears handmade things all the time. The other socks I'd knitted for him were completely worn through, so he needed a new pair for winter.

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The other project you can see above is an almost-finished Tamarack Jacket. The pattern is by Grainline Studio and I bought it several years ago but really only felt like tackling it last month. I cut the pieces out then it sat on my desk until the weekend, when I fully immersed myself in the project. It's a lot of work - you hand-baste then machine quilt all the pieces, insert welt pockets, construct then cover all the interior seams with bias binding. 

Because I wanted to use only materials I already had, I ended up sewing scrap fabric together to make the lining pieces, including some floral Liberty cotton and fabric from two old shirts of Tom's. I also used up some Liberty bias binding I'd been saving for something, but made the rest of the binding from the same fabric as the exterior. That fabric is quite a lightweight black cotton dress fabric, with a fine black stitched embroidery to give it a bit of texture. I was worried my fabric choices would be too lightweight, but I'm happy with the weight and feel of the quilted pieces.

Hopefully I'll be able to show you the finished jacket in my next post! If you're looking for an ''involved'' make for these days, I'd recommend this jacket. You do need to have patience and a good space to spread your work out on, though. Just a friendly warning! 

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And lastly, Keira made a rather tried-and-true recipe over the weekend: this any-kind-of-fruit cake, first published on my blog in 2011. The recipe is super simple and makes two! You can use up any fruit you have, just by slicing it and pressing it on to the surface of the cake. Keira's version used up feijoas, berries and sliced almonds. We recommend it for breakfast, with coffee...

A few other things I enjoyed this week:

Getting Through a Pandemic with Old-Fashioned Crafts (on The Atlantic)

Novelists pick books to inspire you (the Guardian)

Revisiting this Fleet Foxes album (hard to explain why it's so soothing, but it is!)

Cressida Cowell reads her book How To Train Your Dragon (for any children who love being read to?)

This free hat pattern that I'm keen to cast on (simple rib, slipped stitches, a fast knit and looks so cosy)

This timeless and impossible to resist song by Bill Withers (RIP) 

Take care friends,

M XXX

 

big world, small world

Hello! How are you?

The world feels so big right now - we're sharing the experience of sheltering in our homes during this pandemic and tracking the numbers of those suffering every day. But at the same time, our own lives are smaller than ever. Staying close within ''our bubble'' as our Prime Minster would say, and reducing contact with others as much as possible.

I hope you're feeling well and happy. And safe, wherever you might be. 

Of course, in a time like this, those of us with indoor hobbies like textile crafts, listening to music and reading will find life a bit easier. I've never been more grateful for my bookshelf, and craft supplies and the like. I hope that you're able to access the things you need to keep you comfortable and happy right now, friends.

I've also been lucky enough to be able to keep my job, but just do it from home. So while it doesn't feel like I have lots more time on my hands, I do have the time that I would have spent commuting to and from work, and the time that would otherwise be spent at events, parties, kids' activities, etc. So I have found that I've finished off some projects. 

I wanted to share some pictures from my week with you. Some were taken on my early-evening walks around the neighborhood. Yesterday I came across a huge wall of mint-green succulents I'd not seen before. And the day before, I climbed a small hill to look at our suburb from a new angle. Small but beautiful novelties.

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In my last post, I showed the start of an Elizabeth Zimmerman Baby Surprise Jacket I was making from some handspun yarn. I finished it last week. Such a clever design, and a fun knit too. I have tucked this aside for one of my nieces. It will be on her way to her as soon as we are able to post things again. Hopefully before it's too small for her!

And in extremely practical craft news, I finally replaced a peg bag that had been left outside too often and was completely worn through. For the new version, I used some blue striped linen and a kind of envelope opening in the front. There's a small hole in the top where a wooden coat hanger can be fitted so the bag can hang on the washing line. The simplest make but also one I'll use nearly every day! I'm quite fond of projects like that.

One stormy day on the weekend, Keira asked if she could do some knitting with me. It's a very rare occurrence so she was probably bored. But I was happy to document the moment nevertheless. You can see that she opted to knit her first sock - she's using some self-striping Opal sock yarn and the magic loop method. I'm making a pair of Hermione's Socks.

I also finally got an artwork framed - you can see it hanging in our kitchen in the photo above. The piece is by Tom's maternal grandfather who was an artist and designer based in the UK and working mostly between the 1940's and the 80's. This particular piece depicts a place he visited in Majorca, Spain, and worked in graphic pastels. I'm so happy to have it framed and on the wall, and in such a busy part of the house so we can look at it every day.

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A few links you might like:

The other night, some friends and I stayed up late to listen to some music together (through our screens) - Nadia Reid Live. You can listen again here, if you like!

And this coming Thursday evening (NZ time), you can hear part 2.

If you're a sock knitter, you might like to download this beautiful free pattern: Woodland Walk Socks. I'm thinking about casting them on too.

Audible have made a selection of their audio books free to listen to, including classics, folk stories, and children's books. You can find them here.

A very simple and cheap dinner we made the other night: red lentil soup + ciabatta. We used this recipe for the soup and this tried and true method for the bread.

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How are you filling this time spent indoors? Are you working on any new or interesting projects? Perhaps you're trying to finish off some neglected ones, or work your way through a book you've always meant to read. I'd love to hear from you, if you have time to leave a comment below!

Sending lots of love to you.
M

comfort in plants

If you're reading this blog, the chances are good that you enjoy a bit of textile making, music, books and the like. There has never been a better time to get stuck in to these activities, but I so wish it was for a different reason than keeping away from each other to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Wherever you are in the world, I hope you're well and safe, and not feeling too lonely. I'm sending love and good vibes from my screen to yours!

I thought I'd share a few photos from life here lately:

+ + In amongst so much sad and frightening news, there was something joyful: I had a beautiful wee niece born this morning. It will be a while before I meet her in real life, but in the meantime I'm knitting her some winter clothes and admiring her through photos. In the first photo above, you can see I'm knitting her a Baby Surprise Jacket, from a 1968 Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern. I've not knitted this before, and I must admit I'm finding the pattern a little trickier than others I've tried (it was written in a time when knitters were expected to know a lot more) and I'm using a ball of handspun gradient merino wool that was a gift from my Mum.

= = I've been finding comfort in my pot plants - i'm getting a nice wee collection of indoor ones, and trying to remember to look after my outdoor ones too. Question: how many indoor plants are too many? 

+ + This time of year is such a special one. I love the early-morning sky outside the bedroom window (fiery-red/maroon on a clear day, and sometimes a pastel pink gradient) and it's also Keira's birthday. On the weekend, we celebrated her 15th! Three of her cousins came to stay and the girls went to see Aldous Harding and Weyes Blood as part of the NZ Festival.

In these strange and uncertain times, here are my suggestions of comforting things to listen to/try/do:

This beautiful knitting pattern, by Japanese designer Eri, is free to download until Sunday.

This vegetable lasagne. I'm going to make it tonight.

The Gentle Knitter podcast on Youtube

Until March 31, all of Whitney Hayward's knitting patterns for Harrisville Tweed are free to download. There are some real beauties! I love this hat and this cardigan, especially.

Make a needlebook for a friend or yourself? Here's a pattern I wrote for Sweet Magazine a while back

Moonchild, NPR Tiny Desk Concert

Some nice, simple, free sewing patterns from the Fabric Store

Pressing flowers and leaves (you could make gift tags or cards like these or  these)

Life-long favourite piece of music to listen to in anxious times: The Lark Ascending, Vaughan Williams

I'd love to hear what you're up to these strange days, friends. I'm feeling deeply grateful for human connections and the internet, and where these two combine: our amazing online community of makers and writers. X X X

a new shelf to put things on

Kia ora! I hope this finds you very well.

I've been a bit quiet on the blog front, mostly because I didn't feel there was much to report. I have been slowly knitting on a top/sweater that I think will be just the thing for autumn. But as usual, it's taking me ages to finish it, but I suppose that's what happens when you only knit in front of your evening episode of Breaking Bad and at no other time. (Tom and I are watching the last season because we seem to have missed that when we watched the others years ago).

The design is called Virginia, by Jonna Hietala and it's a pattern from Laine magazine, issue 6. I loved it the first time I saw it - just the simplicity of the design, the wide neckline, and the way the hand-dyed yarn really is the star of the show. The yarn I'm using is some DK-weight that Mum and I dyed together while I was staying with her over the New Year break. We were going for a peachy-brown tone, but ended up with more of a rose colour, which we then over-dyed with darker browns and pinks a few times. The end result was this variegated plum-chocolate-rose vibe and I really like it! I have no idea how I'd get the same colour again though, so hopefully I'll have enough yarn to finish the garment.

I'm just working the bottom twisted rib section now, then will pick up and knit the sleeves. It would be lovely to have this for autumn wear - I think I'll enjoy wearing it with a long linen skirt or trousers for work.

It was really fun to have a go dyeing yarns with Mum. She has a great set up for it - a lovely big stove top and space to store the dyes, and we dried the skeins on the deck in the sun. It gave me even more respect for the people I know who dye full-time for their job - it must be so tricky getting the colours to be uniform every time, and to organise everything! I feel I would soon have a lot of yarn tied up in a terrible tangle, if it was me.

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Also in January, we were the unlucky recipients of a burst pipe in our spare room (this is the place where family and friends often stay when they're in town. It also houses our laundry and I had some craft supplies stored in there too). The water sprayed everywhere, meaning we had to strip everything back to the joists behind the walls, and the concrete floor. We've just now managed to get it back to how it was and in the second-to-last photo I've included a shot of a very pleasing wee bookshelf that Tom built! I popped a few of my favourite books from the past year on it. This little scene is so pleasing, it's almost possible to forget the other elements of the project that need sorting out. Focus on the bookshelf!

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And lastly, look at this lovely wee gift I received from my friend Lizzie. She lives near Melbourne, and the card features a painting of the town she lives in. She also included a super sweet linen pin for my cardigan and a ceramic star she made too. I'm hoping to see Lizzie 'in real life' very soon. X X X

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Some other things from this week:

I've started work on a Tamarack Jacket, after dreaming of making one for a long time. Set myself the challenge of using only what I had among my existing supplies. I hope to have some progress to show in my next post!

I've known of the music of Anais Mitchell for years now, but have only just found her NPR Tiny Desk Concert. If you like folk music and story/songs, I think you'll love listening to this.

RIP, Jeanette Fitzsimons. You were a true inspiration.

 

 

late summer things

Here are some images captured by my phone over the last few weeks. Except the first one, with rose shadows. That was taken this time last year, but it beautifully sums up the slightly cooler, darker mornings creeping in.

I've been working on my punch needle frame, getting a few pieces underway for an event coming up later this year (more details soon!) Above you can see a small finished project: a wee mat/pot holder type of thing. There are so many people making beautiful graphic work with punch needles these days. What I'm going for with my work is a slightly softer, muted look, almost inspired by watercolour paintings, rather than crisp and bold outlines (as much as I love that style, especially the work by Arounna Khounnoraj and Rose Pearlman). I'm still learning and playing with this craft, and enjoying mixing up my mediums.

If you've been reading this blog for a while you'll know that I have two teenage kids, but lately our home has been humming with more teenagers. We have a friend of Arlo's living with us for a bit, and their friends are often visiting too. I love having them in the house: their strong and thoughtful opinions, their different perspectives on the world, and the way they wolf down any food I make (though this is, admittedly, a mixed blessing). A couple of weeks ago, Keira and her friend stayed up really late to make the cherry pie you see above. I had already gone to bed when it came out of the oven, but had a piece for breakfast with coffee and knitting on the side. So good!

The knitting you see to the side there is a project I'll show in my next post. I hope I'll have made a bit of progress on it by then! I'm knitting a very simple pullover top that I hope will be perfect for autumn. The yarn is some that my mum and I hand-dyed over the summer holiday, and is incidentally quite reminiscent of cherry juice.

We're in the middle of our national arts festival here, and I've been lucky enough to go to some wonderful events, and have more lined up (helped by my day-job in the arts sector). On Monday, Tom and I went to see Kate Tempest perform and it was a really special one. I recommend listening to her, if you haven't already! Here is a song from her latest album.

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autumn ready

Even typing the word 'autumn' feels a bit sad, but its imminent arrival is the only way I can explain my motivation for knitting on a big grey blanket, possibly the warmest thing I've ever knitted, and certainly the largest.

I finished it a couple of weeks ago, and finally managed to get a couple of photos of the whole thing. It's a good size for a queen bed and comprised of 9 panels, which are each made up of 4 squares, knit in alternating stocking stitch and reverse stocking stitch. So, it couldn't be easier! I wrote a bit more about it here, and you can find more details on my Ravelry project page. The project was one started by my Mum nearly 20 years ago, from a pattern in an old Erika Knight homewares knitting book. The grey Rowan yarn was discontinued a while back, and I realised I wouldn't have enough to finish it. A very kind Ravelry user from California let me buy 3 balls from her stash! After knitting the 9 panels, I began the long task of blocking each square to the same shape, weaving in the ends (there were many, many ends) and mattress stitching everything together as neatly as possible (don't look too closely - it's really not that neat).

The blanket edging was a bit rough looking, so I picked up around each side and knit 6 rows in garter stitch, using a different yarn. I'm quite happy with how it looks now it's all finished, and I know it's going to be an Extremely Nice Thing to have on the bed when it gets a bit colder. It almost makes me look forward to winter! Though I know I'll get over that nearly straight away... 

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I took the last two photos on a recent weekend away to visit friends at their place in the country. It was really beautiful: dry and hot, with a soundtrack of cicadas. We swam in the river and picked many wild blackberries. I had to take a photo of the small cabin we slept in, which was furnished with an excellent collection of vintage bedspreads, pillows and curtains. A dream!

I hope you're well, dear reader.

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deschain + snail mail

I made this loose-knit, loose-fitting top over the summer break. It took me a while to get a photo of it - it always seemed too bright or too dark to capture it properly, though that was probably my rubbish camera skills. The pattern is Deschain by Leila Raven, and I knitted it from Erika Knight Studio Linen yarn in black. 

The pattern is written for an aran-weight yarn, but the studio linen is a DK, so I made a few modifications such as knitting more repeats and changing the numbers around a bit. I think the finer yarn resulted in a more open texture too, but i like the amount of drape it has and it's comfortable to wear. I am really happy with the finished result and it's already proved useful to wear over dresses to work. If you're interested in the other modifications I made, and thoughts on the pattern, there are some notes on Ravelry.

I think Leila is an amazing designer and I would love to try another of her patterns sometime. You can see them all here.

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In the first photo above, you can see some small things I'd gathered to send along with some letters last week. I do love to receive handwritten letters (and am lucky enough to have friends who write to me from time to time!) so try to remember to write some back. This time I also sent a few hand-knitted cotton facecloths and soap too, and some hand-embroidered lavender sachets. Just because.

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Some things I've seen and liked lately:

Nicola's zucchini blossom feta fritters

A little woolen kitchen animation

Skovbær Shawl - a free one-skein pattern by Fiber Tales (video tutorial)

The Guardian's 100 Best Books of the 21st Century

This page of Nigel Slater summer salad recipes

Thom Yorke's Desert Island Disc interview

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I hope you're having a good week! See you again soon.

making to connect

Thank you for reading my previous post, and for your thoughtful comments! I loved reading them. I also had some great chats on Instagram and want to thank everyone who shared their thoughts with me.

Mostly I was just wanting to express the strange way I have been feeling lately. I don't think I will ever stop being creative and making things with my hands. It's very important to me and really a huge part of my life. I also love to share my work with others. 

My lovely friend Felicia wrote under my last post: Especially now when things are feeling so overwhelming, we have a need for grounding, for solidity and for intentional materiality. We have a need for active engagement over passive consumption. We have a need for purposeful work - even if that purposeful work is now an optional activity.

I love that thought - that rather than be dissuaded from what we love, we can instead take the opportunity to use our passion and skills in more meaningful ways.

I do think though that I will try and make some small changes in how I work. These are my ideas for 2020:

 * Make more gifts. I've always loved to make gifts, especially for babies and children. This year I'd like to make more of them, even if they're just small acts, such as knitting socks for my kids and partner and Dad and father-in-law, newborn baby socks and booties from the leftovers. Stripy baby cardigans from small amounts of precious yarns. Wee winter hats for my nieces.

I was invited to give a talk about making gifts at Soul Craft in 2018. In her comment, Felicia wrote: "The reason I asked you to talk about giving your work away last year is because I believe that this is part of the answer for all of us life-long makers. I don't need another frock but there is someone I care about who needs a pair of handknit socks. So many of us are needing comfort and the things we make offer us this by reminding us of our connection to others. These socks remind them each time they put them on of our connection in a way that a transient phone call or a store-bought gift cannot because they represent my time and intention. The material has a semi-permanence that offers us the solace of connection in the absence of the actual human."

* Make more and stronger connections with others. Share my materials, knowledge and skills more freely. Make more time for meeting up with other makers. My friend Bonnie wrote me a lovely message about this. She said: "I make because it's how I express myself. Making is my way of contributing positive energy into the world. I know we end up with 'things' in the process. But when we consciously make something with intention and meaning, it becomes more than just a 'thing'. It becomes a connection in some way. I think there is a big difference between mindless making, and creative making. One has ego and disconnect and the other seems to bring us into the present moment with a desire for purpose and meaning."

* Work my way through my ''saved'' craft materials. I've realised that over the past few years, acquiring materials has almost become a pastime separate from my actual making. I don't regret that. I have had so much fun and enjoyment talking about yarns with friends, going to markets, online shopping, op-shopping and planning my purchases. But I'm also aware that I now have enough yarn, fabric and other supplies to keep me busy for the next year or two, and I really do want to use these lovely things, rather than just collect them. So I am going to start using up my very favourite supplies, in particular, the ones I have been ''saving''. After all, that's why I bought them in the first place.

* Keep re-using, recycling and buying secondhand wherever I can. Catherine left an excellent comment about this on my previous post. She wrote that she's now aware of having a well-stocked wardrobe, so instead of making something completely new, she'll consider embellishing an existing garment, such as embroidering a shirt, etc. She also mentioned that she tries to slow the making process down, in order to enjoy it more and be less material-focused. For example, feeling okay about un-ravelling knitting if it's not right, or re-doing something. I would like to work on this as I can be very impatient with my work at times. Another reader, Laura, wrote: "Mindfully creating and repurposing and reusing materials is great and I hope you continue to make things that bring you joy." She mentions the way children draw over and over on paper that may or may not end up in the recycling bin, as an essential way to express themselves or even just to pass time and practice mark-making and pen-holding. On a very similar note, Felicia has an interesting post on her blog: Craft as a project vs craft as a practice which is definitely worth a read. As is all of her blog.

* Start again slowly. I'm trying to re-introduce some creative practice each day, and not put too much pressure on myself to start/complete or even make much progress on projects.

 

If you're feeling the same way these days, I hope these ideas might work for you too. Thank you as always for visiting here.

 

brave old world

Happy New Year to you! I hope this new phase of the calendar finds you happy and well-rested. The family and I spent nearly two weeks in the South Island as we always do, visiting family, swimming, walking, and eating berry ice-cream among other things. It was a lovely time, though it felt too fleeting! We came home earlier than we usually would, because of work and other commitments. The photos above are some I took on our adventures. You can see how lush and beautiful it is down there. I'm so grateful to have had that time to rest.

Mid-January, when people are slowly re-entering their work and other ''everyday life'' patterns, usually makes me feel excited and curious about what the year ahead will bring. This year though, I haven't felt very positive. The fires raging in nearby Australia, international politics and war, the pettiness of our domestic politics when poverty and racism is still bad here, our changing climate and many other things are worrying me. As I know they are concerning many people. The things that usually bring me inspiration and joy are my creative work, and enjoying other peoples' creativity through books, music, films, art and even social media. But these things haven't lit any sparks in my mind lately. I keep wondering, ''what's the point of it?"

I think part of the problem has been a growing feeling about my creative work that I can't shake off. That is: in a time that I, as an extremely privileged person, believe I should be trying to simplify and limit my material desires and consumption, what can be done about one of my main joys, making things? My creativity has for many years taken this form. Embroidery, knitting, sewing, and other crafts too. But all of these pursuits involve buying materials and creating more things from those materials. Even when I've tried to hard to use only recycled materials, I'm still making new things. And I really don't believe the world needs more things.

I know these are not new ideas or concerns. This topic has been discussed at length, and brilliantly, on other blogs and last year on Instagram I read some really thoughtful pieces written by other makers. I'm still forming my ideas around this. I may or may not write more on the subject. In the meantime, I would love to know your thoughts, if you feel like sharing them below.

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Somewhat related, yet also contradictory: in the last photo above, you can see one of my current works-in-progress. This is a blanket given to me by my mum over the Christmas period. I remember her starting to make it in the early 2000s and I also remember coveting it. I could knit back then but wouldn't have called myself an actual knitter, if you know what I mean. But this was a project that re-sparked my interest in making things in my early 20s.

The project is called 'squares blanket' and the pattern is from Simple Knits for Easy Living, a book by Erika Knight published in the year 2000. The blanket is made up of 9 squares, which are knitted in a checkerboard pattern, with two panels in stocking stitch and two showing reverse stocking-stitch. The design calls for Rowan Chunky Soft yarn, a bulky alpaca-blend which is now discontinued. 

Mum had completed three of the required nine squares for the blanket, and sent me home with them and the book, needles and remaining balls of yarn. For some reason, I've become slightly obsessed with finishing this blanket and imagining how lovely it will be on the bed this winter. It's really the simplest of knits but somehow the right thing for this month and how I'm feeling about making these days. I did have to invest in some 7.5mm Chiaogoo tips to knit these squares though, as the old plastic needles were not doing it for me! 

See you again soon. 

M XX

sun days

Around the summer solstice: some knitting, some reading and a jar of summer flowers. I hope you have a very happy and relaxing Christmas, New Year and holiday time with your friends and family.

Thank you for reading my blog this year. See you back here in January!

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