Hello! I hope you're well, and the end of January is ticking along nicely for you. I can't quite believe that February starts tomorrow.
Despite a small 'heatwave' we're having (with apologies to those in extremely cold temperatures elsewhere!) I haven't wanted to put down my knitting needles.
I finished knitting the linen pullover I mentioned in my last post - the Nuala top. This is a pattern designed by Libby Jonson (Truly Myrtle) for linen or cotton yarn. I love my new top! It's super comfortable and it was a fun thing to knit. I'm even considering making it again but in a wool yarn for winter. I think it would be a great winter layering garment in black... You can read more about my particular version - details, yarn used, etc, here on my Ravelry page.
When it's been truly too hot to think about knitting (a rare thing here in Wellington!) I've been doing a bit of embroidery, and also working on my hand-pieced quilt top that I started last summer. I mostly forgot about this project last year, but once I'd remembered it again I couldn't stop working on it! It's a slow process, but I enjoy it, hexagon by hexagon. I'm using entirely recycled cotton fabrics for this - mostly old clothes but also off-cuts from other projects and some bedding (there are a couple of faded pillowcases and duvet covers I've cut up to use). The goal is to keep going until it is queen bed-sized.
Last week I was lucky enough to listen to Nigella Lawson speak at a live show. She was just as intelligent, funny and beautiful as you'd imagine. The experience reminded me that I adored Nigella's first book, How to Eat when I first came across it in my twenties. In fact I still think of a passage in there about marmite and butter sandwiches every morning when I eat my marmite on toast. The event also reminded me that men tend to ask more questions (and give more 'statements') during 'Q and A' sessions.
Did you notice the photo above, showing my latest garden addition? I first saw these beautiful native hibiscus flowers, called Puarangi, at Tom's aunt Fini's house over the summer. Her plant was quite large and covered in both blooming puarangi flowers and the papery capsules that encase them before blooming. The flowers are a creamy yellow with maroon centres. Fini kindly gave me seeds to try in my own garden, but then on the weekend I saw larger Puarangi plants for sale at the Paraparaumu community market so I had to buy one. I'll post a photo of the flowers as soon when they feel comfortable enough in our garden to bloom.
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If you follow members of the craft/making community on Instagram you will know about the important discussions about diversity, inclusiveness and racism in the craft world. It's wonderful to be talking about this! It's overdue. From the bottom of my heart, I thank Instagrammers sukrita, ocean_bythesea, thecolormustard, arohaknits and many others who have been doing a lot of the emotional labour in this discussion. You can click on their links to read their posts and stories, even if you're not an Instagram user. I'm sending strength and love to the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) members of our community and I hear you and thank you for sharing your stories.
This month I've been reading Sister Outsider, essays and speeches by the wonderful Audre Lorde as well as working my way through Me and White Supremacy, a resource by Layla F Saad, which can be downloaded for free or a donation here.
See you next week! I hope you have a good week with enough time for the reading, thinking and making you want to do! XX