tiny happy

late november

This last part of the calendar year is really speeding along, isn't it? The sun has been shining brightly nearly every day here in Wellington, although it's a bit cooler and cloudier today.

I thought I'd share a few pictures from this past week, or should I say, mostly show off a beautiful bunch of peonies! I bought them from Jeannie at my favourite local shop Next Stop Earth and they've been gracing the kitchen windowsill for a week now. I never tire of flower-buying, and I can't imagine ever being able to grow something like these myself.

There hasn't been much time for knitting lately, only a bit finished on car trips and while waiting for kids to finish their music lessons, etc. As you can see in the second photo above, that baby blanket I started a while back hasn't had much love, but I do hope to do some serious work on it over the summer break. 

I've also been having fun using up small pieces of long-hoarded fabric, and sewing them together into patches is especially enjoyable. These patches were made up into project bags for my etsy shop.

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Some of my embroidered work is now at Loop in London - you can see a glimpse here. I think there a still a few pieces in the Loop online shop. It's a joy to have some of my work over there even though it takes me a long time to prepare it and I never seem to have as many pieces to send as I'd like.

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In my last post, I mentioned the Soul Craft Festival in June next year and now I'm excited to share that I'll be teaching some workshops and speaking (!) at the event. If you go to the Soul Craft instagram feed you can check out some of the teachers and presenters and learn more about the festival itself. It looks like it's going to be super-inspiring and I'm thrilled to be going.

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I came across a piece of music this week that I love: Duke Ellington's Single Petal of a Rose which he recorded in 1959 as part of the 'Queen's Suite' of pieces. Thought you might like it too.

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kind of blue

Hi! Happy new week to you. 

I finished a pair of blue socks a while back but just realised I never posted them here. They're to be a gift for someone close, and I really enjoyed making them. I used beautiful hand-dyed Knitsch sock yarn and a pattern I made up as I went along, which I must admit resulted in a fair bit of unravelling and re-knitting and practising being patient (not my strong suit). There are some more notes on my Ravelry page here.

Over the past week I've also been working on some embroidered pieces, including the botanical one you see above. These are to be sent to Loop in London very soon.

And I found some embroidered bluebirds (is there anything sweeter?) tucked away which I felt had to be sewn into baby slippers for my shop - you can find them here. 

Last week I wrote about how I had (finally) discovered audiobooks from my local library. Two new favourites have been added to my list: Sweet Tooth , a spy novel by Ian McEwan which I listened to while embroidering late at night and loved, and Kate Atkinson's Behind the Scenes at the Museum which I had read years ago but was very happy to re-read, or rather, listen to. Do you have any favourites?

I hope this finds you well, dear reader, and enjoying this fresh new week.

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patchwork stars

Good morning! 

Last week I finished a knitting project that had been languishing in the basket for too long: a lovely soft possum yarn jumper for Keira. I had started it as something for myself - but realised it was going to be too small when I was about halfway through. Then it sat in the knitting basket sulking for a while (actually it was me who was sulking). But Keira loved the look of it so I adapted it to fit her. And it does, perfectly! I used this pattern and some yarn that was a gift/swap from Bonnie. Ravelry notes here.

Next year Kee starts at high school and there is no uniform to be worn, so I'm hoping she'll get lots of wear out of it next winter. She's already worn it a lot since it came off the needles, which is the best reward a knitter can have.

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My mission to use up some of my many small bits of fabric collected over the years continues... I've been making some patchwork blocks (above you can see a very wonky star made with scraps) with the idea of collecting them slowly then making a quilt or blanket of some sort. I still draw a lot of inspiration from quilts like these handmade beauties.

I've also made various pouches and sock knitting cases from recycled and vintage fabrics, and am making my way through pieces of old cotton velveteen saved up over the years. Some of these are in my etsy shop.

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My friends in Melbourne who run The Craft Sessions each spring have just launched a new festival. Soul Craft will be held for the first time in June next year and features workshops, classes, talks and lots more - you can read more about it here. Felicia is giving away a double day pass to the festival and you can enter by leaving a comment here. I think it will be a really special event.

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beginner sewing and audiobooks

Hello! Hope you've had a good weekend with some time to relax. 

This past weekend has come and gone in a flash - they do that, don't they? Keira and I had found ourselves with a free Saturday morning so we did a bit of sewing. K's keen to learn to make some clothes for herself, especially as next year she won't have to wear a uniform at her new school.

Anyway, I thought a simple boxy top would be a good thing to start with, and remembered Mum helping me to make something pretty similar when I was 12.

We used the Lou Box Top pattern and cut it down a little to fit. I've made a couple of these before (here and here) and it's a great little pattern with lots of details that are easy to adapt to your own liking. And the fabric is a dark brown drapey cotton with small pink flowers, leftover from this dress I sewed a while back.

We have foxgloves growing the garden! I remember planting the seedlings in the autumn but never really expecting they'd take off in the way they have. They're now nearly as tall as me and have opened up in the most beautiful colours: plum-purple, peachy pink and a lemon yellow. 

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An exciting thing that happened last week was that I finally worked out how to loan audiobooks from my local library.

I suspect I'm about a decade late to this party, but that only makes it a sweeter discovery. I downloaded the app 'Libby' for my phone, and listen through a little bluetooth speaker I was given for mother's day this year.

I've so far listened to Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting while planting the summer vegetable garden, and Solar by Ian McEwan while knitting and doing other work. Both are highly recommended.

Are you an audiobook fan? Any recommendations for me and other readers? XX

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