tiny happy

autumn makes

I recently finished making a fresh batch of project bags to send to Loop, which is a beautiful knitting shop in London. These are made from washed Swedish linen in soft berry tones, sourced by Susan at Loop and sent across the world for me to embroider and construct. Each bag is different, and lined in vintage prints or fine cotton lawn fabric.

I try to send sets of these to Loop as often as I can but sadly that's not as often as I'd like for various reasons. Mostly these reasons are time and eyesight related (meaning I like to work on the embroidery during the day rather than with a lamp at night).

Anyway, I enjoyed working on these and it's fun to think about the interesting future knitting projects they might one day contain.

+ - + - + - + -

Another finished object this week was this very simple hat for Arlo. We have a basket of hand-knits in the porch near our front door and every morning we gauge the general climate and choose something to wear. The kids are always stealing my knits to wear before I can get to them, so I decided some new hats were in order this year. 

This was made using a free pattern called the 'Skyping Beanie' and it's a nice simple and quick knit (more details, including yarn, etc). Arlo has worn this to school every day since it came off the needles, and i don't think he's just humouring me, so I guess that's a good sign.

+ - + - + - + -

I really like the blog Fox's Lane and have been meaning to mention it on here for ages. If you like knitting (and other crafts such as wood-turning), orchards and gardening I think you will love it. Kate posts on Fridays and always has something interesting and comforting to say.

+ - + - + - + -

Happy weekend to you!

slow stitching reflections

Saturday morning table set-up

Some freeform stitching by Mandy

Welcome bubbles and choosing fabric

All photos by Felicia Semple.

A collection of photos was recently posted by The Craft Sessions' Felicia and I don't think she'll mind if I re-post some here. These were all taken at Slow Stitching in the Barn, a very special March weekend in Trentham, near Melbourne.

I particularly wanted to show you how beautiful the setting was - an historic barn with big wooden tables and whitewashed walls, big windows and plants drying from the rafters. And show some of the students' work - as you can see, there was a lot of stitching (and painting, and hand-quilting) going on, as well as the eating of delicious food and the making of new friends. A very special time altogether.

You can see more images from the event here at the The Craft Sessions blog.

My unruly collection of embroidery threads

Setting the tables for dinner on Friday night

Martine serving up dessert on the first evening (all of the gorgeous food was made by Julie Monk)


Free-form work by Raina

knitting, pressing, weaving

My Dad liked these socks I knitted for Tom last year, so I said I'd make him a pair, too. Unfortunately it took me a good few months - I'm a very slow knitter! But now they're finally finished, so I hope they'll keep his feet warm for winter which is just starting properly now.

Dad mostly works outside, so I wanted to make sure I used a sturdy yarn (Vintage Purls, which is hand-dyed in Dunedin) and this trusty ribbed pattern that doesn't fall down. He's been wearing hand-knitted socks for years, made by my Mum, so I'm happy to be able to contribute a pair for him this winter.

 

+ - + - + - + - 

The other day I took a break with my workmate and we snuck out of the office and into the second-hand shop across the road. I wasn't looking for anything in particular but then I came across this beautiful flower press, still in its original box. I didn't know that Ashford made these, or used to, but I will be able to give it a very good home and keep it in constant pressing service.

+ - + - + - + -

My friend Kylie sent me this link: The life-saving weaving of Bolivia's indigenous women - an amazing clip about the life-saving work being done by combining medical technology with traditional handcraft.

- + - + - + - +

soup season

I finished knitting a little wrap top for my newest niece I.M.J. This was done using my all-time favourite baby pattern, the 'garter stitch wrap top' by Erika Knight (a design from this book).

I've used this trusty pattern many times and I still love it for its simplicity and sweetness. You can find more details about the pattern, yarn I used, etc here on Ravelry.

This morning I had to take a photo of the coriander plant in the vege patch - it's finally gone to flower and is looking so delicate. But I'll have to pull it out later on today and dig over to plant some winter greens.

+ + + + + + + + 

I hope you are well? Winter is sliding into Wellington properly now - we've been lighting the fire in the evening and cooking lots of vegetable soup. I bought some small thermos/flasks for the kids so they can take hot soup or dahl with them to school on cold days. Can't believe I hadn't done it earlier! This trusty soup recipe remains a favourite in our household.

Would love to know if you have a favourite soup - feel free to leave a link (or rough recipe!) below in the comments.

+ + + + + + + +  

A beautiful calming song I've been listening to a lot lately is this one by M Ward ccalled Clean Slate and I thought you might like it too.

+ + + + + + + +

morning scenes

We're a family that likes a bit of a lie-in on Sunday mornings (Tom and I read and drink coffee in bed and Arlo's starting to learn the ways of the teenage sleep-in) but Keira likes to be up and about bright and early, even on the weekend.

Usually by the time the rest of us are up she has been working on something for an hour or two, and this morning it was this painting of an imaginary landscape. She kindly let me photograph it for my blog. I really like the colours and I think it shows her joy for drawing and painting.

I like the idea of getting up early with her and working on a project before breakfast - I could some good knitting or writing done in that time - so I will aim for that next weekend.

+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - 

I got some new cards printed for my etsy shop - I have them in there as sets but also I like to send one out with each order. This card has been printed with a photo I've called 'morning scene', some knitting on the windowsill one day in the late summer.

And also for my shop, I made a few cases for keeping things in (probably projects but not exclusively of course) including the one you see above, which was hand-printed with ferns. 

+ - + - + - + - + - + - +

I hope you are having a lovely weekend and finding some time for the things you love to do.

cake + coffee

Some embroidery I've been working on, in peachy tones...

+ + + + + + +  

And a very seasonal cake. The children went to Nelson to visit their grandparents and came back with a bag of feijoas from my parents' orchard. I had to make an obligatory cake with some of them - this is very lovely as a dessert with natural yoghurt (or cold, with coffee - obviously there are lots of ways to eat cake.)

The recipe is this favourite old one, posted years ago here on the blog. It's great because it makes two (one for you and one for a friend) and you can substitute any fruit you happen to have in season where you live.

 

+ + + + + + + +