tiny happy

preserved summer

I found some preserved summertime within the pages of an old book this morning - I'd quite forgotten I'd put flowers in there to press, but it was a good discovery.

Some of the plants are hydrangea petals and tiny pansies, and others are things I picked from the selection of weeds on the side of the road, walking home one evening last year.

I used these to make a batch of cards to go with parcels I send out - kind of like these, but with black card instead of brown.

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And also summer-related, I made this dress before the days started to get cold - and I find myself wearing it almost all the time. It's made from dark blue linen and I drafted the pattern myself - but it's nothing fancy at all, just a singlet-type bodice (unlined, but with bias edging around the neckline and arms) and a drop-waist skirt with pockets.

Even though it was sewn to be worn with sandals, it's just as comfy with tights, boots and a cardigan, which is my favourite combination of clothes anyway.

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And last of all, here is a very New Zealand-y, feel-good song that I heard on the radio today and had to look for the video. Tell the world, by Dave Dobbyn (who has a voice inextricably linked to my childhood) plus wild coastal landscape and house-construction theme.

Happy weekend!

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mood brightener

It's hard not to feel happy looking at that bright Nani Iro print - so I decided to sew it into a new top to wear to work.

After looking through lots of different options, I ended up going back to my favourite garment pattern of all time - the Wiksten Tank - because I know it is comfortable and the fit is just how I like it (slightly fitted at the top but otherwise loose and roomy).

I think this is my third top made from this pattern and I still wear the others often, but I felt like having something bright and beautiful (the Nani Iro print) with me when I go to work will be especially cheering.

I wear these tops with black work trousers and a cardigan or light jacket, or tucked into a skirt (like this one I made), with tights and an over-top such as this one made earlier in the year.

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Here is a little musical film I enjoyed recently (it's especially nice as knitting accompaniment, in my opinion): Andrew Bird & St Vincent Soirée de Poche #9. 

Hope you're enjoying April so far!

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found treasures

Thanks for entering the giveaway for the Homegrown Kitchen cookbook. I combined the entries from here and Instagram and drew a winner at random - congratulations to Sian! I hope you'll enjoy making the recipes

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a) Protea stems on the mantelpiece, a gift from Tom's mum who visited recently. I love their pale pink and softness, almost like velvet or felt.

b) More found treasures: freshly washed and waiting-to-be-ironed fabric. The pink is a vintage cotton I found at a flea market and is still awaiting a fate, and on the right I have some beautiful Nani Iro double gauze in my favourite print ('rakuen'). I hope to make a top with it if time allows.

c) This photo could best be summed up with the caption: 'Excited by the seemingly endless possibilities of a day off work, I brought a number of books home from the library and settled down to read them, before realising it was time to make dinner.' 

I'm especially excited to read M Train as it's been on my list for a while, and I also found a couple of books about making natural dyes for fabric.

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Wishing you a happy week ahead!

long weekend greetings

I hope you're enjoying your weekend so far. It's been an autumnal one here with rain and stormy weather as well as a bit of sunshine. Easter has been celebrated with a few family and friend gatherings, which have been joyful.

We had friends over for lunch today and Keira and i organised an egg hunt for the children. It mostly involved small chocolate eggs but I also wanted to include some 'real' eggs in the hunt, so made some with pressed flowers varnished onto the shell. You can see them in the first photo above.

They were fun to make but not as popular with the kids as the chocolate eggs, which is quite fair enough of course.

Another treat I've made this weekend is chocolate and apricot fudge, another recipe from Nicola's cookbook. It's a gorgeous recipe and doesn't use involve any refined sugar or chocolate but the result is quite delicious. You can find the recipe online here.

Please do enter the giveaway for Nicola's new book (it's open for another day or so) - just click here and leave a comment.

Wishing you a peaceful weekend.

homegrown kitchen + giveaway for you

Last week I came home to a very exciting package - two copies of my friend Nicola's beautiful new cookbook, Homegrown Kitchen.

Nicola's been working on this book for quite a long time, and it shows. It's a heavy volume with a hard cover, amazing photography and pages jam-packed with recipes and information about making all sorts of things, from palak paneer to real fruit ice cream.

What I most like about this book is that while it is an essential guide to making healthy and interesting food, it's also just a collection of really good everyday recipes that don't require any unusual or difficult-to-source ingredients. Nicola has years of experience teaching cooking classes around the country and is an expert on bread making, fermented foods, and cooking for people with food intolerances.

These days I don't make time for bread baking (would rather be knitting when I'm not at work) and we don't have any food allergies but I know that I will use every recipe in the book to cook for my friends and family. And I really like knowing I have access to Nicola's sensible take on food issues, and knowledge of grains, sourdough, preserving, yoghurt making, and fermentation anytime I need it. 

I've only had this book for a week or so, but have already made four of the recipes, including the lemon loaf you see above, which is my new favourite thing to eat and make. I've also made delicious lentil dahl and berry clafouti (you can find that recipe here). 

You can buy your own copy of Homegrown Kitchen here and visit Nicola's blog, where you'll find lots of other recipes and ideas.

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One copy was kindly gifted by Nicola to one of my blog readers, so if you'd like to enter, just leave a comment below. I'll send the book to anywhere in the world because I think it's such a treasure.

I'll draw a winner early next week. Happy Easter.

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garter stitch forever

Last week my family was lucky enough to welcome the arrival of two new baby girls - my sister's, and my sister-in-law's. Suffice it to say that my baby knit list, or at least, baby knit wishlist is growing by the day.

I managed to finish this cardigan this week, so it's on its way to one of my nieces, and I'll cast on a second very soon. The pattern is this free one from Norwegian company Drops, and I used alpaca yarn. It's a cleverly constructed garment, knit from one side to the other seamlessly, and uses short rows for shaping. 

The original pattern calls for three colours to create vertical stripes which I think looks cool, but I wanted a more neutral cardigan so went for a soft grey yarn with coconut-shell buttons. Couldn't resist a bit of wool embroidery though.

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I have a very lovely book giveaway coming up, so call back later this week for that (especially if you're into delicious food, photography and gardening).

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I listened to this album a lot while knitting - it's a treasure and I recommend it to you too if you like beautiful music.

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good as gold

The light through our windows is now decidedly golden when it's not grey, and so autumn is in full swing. 

Golden yellows are all around at this time of year - pears in a bowl in the kitchen, end-of-summer flowers, and last year's winter slippers, back in service again. 

This little needlework brooch was a present from Lizzy last weekend - the tiniest little bouquet of flowers for my autumn cardigan.

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3 things I've been enjoying this weekend:

Making (and eating) this simple salad
Becoming immersed in The Secret River by Kate Grenville
Listening to the new album by Father John Misty, Pure Comedy

I hope you've had a good weekend, wherever you are in the world. 

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slow stitching in the barn

Slow Stitching in the Barn was a magical few days in Melbourne. I didn't bring my camera so have pinched the photos above from Instagram. I'll be sure to post more when I'm able to steal some from Felicia because I know she'll have some good ones.

In particular, I'd love to show some of the students' work, and the location and food, which was pretty special. You can see some of the stitching that was done by following the event's hashtag on Instagram - click here.

On the first day, I was teaching free-form embroidery along with Elizabeth Barnett who had designed a beautiful sampler pattern for her class, and then on the second day, the students chose between watercolour painting, hand-quilting with Felicia or garment embroidery. 

The location was The Estate in Trentham where we had wooden trestle tables set up in the barn. There was also a flower and herb garden for inspiration and in my class we went outside to sketch flowers and leaves before stitching them.

As always, it was the people who really made the weekend special. Working with Felicia and her team again, and getting to know Elizabeth was a real highlight for me. And the other highlight was meeting all the women who attended the event, brought together by our shared love of making.

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