tiny happy

miniature roses + hand-printing

It's been quite a beautiful spring here so far, with some typical wild wind racing through, but also some calm warm days. And of course all the best flowers are out - blossoms, poppies, and roses. The roses in the top picture are growing in a wild tangle up a trellis beside our front door. They were a gift from Tom's mum Clare, who is the queen of roses - she must have known how well they'd do in that particular spot.

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I recently had a change of job - no more editing and publishing work for me, but I'm going to try freelance writing for a while. This means I have a little more flexibility with my time and frees me up to do creative work too. I'm excited to try out some ideas and have time to do textile work that's always in the back of my mind but not quite able to be completed.

One thing I've had in mind is project bags for knitting. Above you can see my latest design, which I made from different types of linen (in a dark green, charcoal and mauve/grey), paired with natural linen that I stamped with wood blocks.

They're the perfect size for a pair of socks-in-progress or a larger project, or anything else really. I have a few in my etsy shop and hope to add more over the next couple of weeks.

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I've been enjoying the British TV series Mum - have you seen it? It's quite funny and thoughtful. A quiet sort of watch - perfect for knitting along to late at night. And of course, the latest Outlander season as well, which has all the beautiful costumes and glory of the first two. Have you been watching anything good lately?

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buttercup cup

I wanted to show you some of the treasures that came home with me from our recent trip away. As you know I love to check out second-hand and antique shops, especially in small towns. The kids don't love it so much - but they had books and their phones, so didn't seem to mind waiting around for me.

In a small East Coast town I found the a copy of The Loving Stitch which is all about the history of knitting in NZ. It's a great read - the author has a good sense of humour and there are lots of beautiful old photos of garments, trends and the people involved. My favourite page features the Silver Ferns (our national netball team) knitting mohair jumpers together between games in the 1990's.

In the same part of the country I also found some beautiful printed linen and a little coffee mug which is now known as my 'butter cup cup.'

As we neared Napier I remembered about the knitting shop Skeinz, and while I was deliberating on what to buy, Tom bought me a wooden swift and ball winder set for my birthday, which was a few days later. Such a treat! I feel like I might nearly be a proper knitter soon. I'm also hoping my neighbouring knitting friends will come over to use it so we can drink coffee and chat about our projects.

And lastly, you can see some yarn I bought from Skeinz, which is such a good little shop, by the way. It stocks a lot of NZ yarn and some from Europe too. I bought some 'orb DK' which is a high-twist merino and very soft. I'm working on a simple bias baby blanket (similar to this one I made last year) for a friend who is expecting a baby. It made the perfect car-knitting project on the way home, too.

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roadside lilies

 
These pictures were taken on a little trip we took last week with the kids.

We hadn't travelled much in the central North Island of our country, so we decided to make our way to some new-to-us towns and stay in some different places. We visited tiny churches and expansive beaches, and explored geothermal pools and a wide range of cafes and tearooms. 

In the first picture, you can see the wild arum lilies that seemed to be growing along most roadsides and even the edge of beaches. These are quite a pest because they smother native plant seedlings, and are poisonous to animals, but they are quite pretty en masse... 

Another highlight was visiting the St Mary's church in the little town of Tikitiki. The church was built in 1926 as a memorial to Ngāti Porou soldiers who fought and died in WW1. The church has beautiful carved and woven panels and stained glass windows that mimic the woven Māori designs. And on the church pews there were lovingly made cushions in all different colours and sizes, crocheted, knitted and patchworked. Most were embroidered with family names - it was pretty lovely.

I found some treasures on my travels (luckily my family tolerates stopping at secondhand shops ;) that I'll put in my next post. 

Hope this finds you well, lovely reader! 

sea-colour socks

I think I'm turning into one of those people who is always knitting socks - not that that's a bad thing! I love to always have a pair in progress and begin them as something to do in the car or on the bus. But then I get completely obsessed with finishing them, and find myself working on them in every spare moment.

This latest pair is for Keira - I knitted them from some beautiful hand-dyed yarn that was a gift from my mother-in-law Clare. She chose it from the yarn store Cruella's, which is a little knitting haven in Nelson. When I un-twisted the skein to wind it into balls, K loved the tie-dye style (she has a duvet cover that is quite similar) and so I had to get started on a pair right away.

I have now properly committed to using the magic-loop method for socks, which I find much faster and simpler. Not sure why I put off practising it for so long - I could have many more socks finished by now...! 

And finally, I just wanted to show you this little enamel pin I bought myself yesterday, from the Sew Indie NZ stand at Fabricabrac (I also have plans to visit the S.I online shop - she stocks heaps of brilliant patterns as well)

I know these as un-pickers, but our school sewing teacher always called them 'quick-unpick'. I also think this would make a great tattoo.