tiny happy

muesli + other autumnal delights

I can't stop thinking about Tokyo since our time there last month, and so I've started to investigate books I can read this winter to explore it further. First up: Territory of Light by Yuko Tsushima which has just arrived in my letterbox. I'm hoping to start it this weekend. 

It's about the experiences of a single mother in 1970s Tokyo, and has been translated into English by a New Zealand author, Geraldine Harcourt, which is how I first discovered it. In the photo above you can see it alongside one of my current craft projects: a ribbed hat (this free pattern) in lovely dark green DK. It's a slow knit, that one! Should be nice when it's done though.

Do you enjoy video podcasts about crafts? I've recently discovered The Crimson Stitchery podcast, where Anushka shows her projects and talks about mending, vintage clothes, her PhD studies, and more. It's a lovely watch if (like me) you share these interests. In her latest video, Anushka reads the poem 'The Woman in the Moon' by Carol Ann Duffy, which reminded me how much I love that poem. You can read it here.

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I snapped a quick photo of Keira on her way to last week's Extinction Rebellion march here in Wellington. I'm so proud of her and her friends, and it's inspiring to watch them grow in awareness, commitment and action for this world that will soon be theirs.

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Last week I wrote about muesli my sister Tamsin had made, but would you believe the batch she made has been finished already? It's not surprising really, because Arlo eats it several times a day. So I've made a second lot, trying to remember exactly how she made it because it was delicious! Also: here's a tip if you have hungry teenagers like mine: place a jar of cornflakes or other cereal alongside the muesli jar, so the muesli stretches a little further.

Anyway, I thought I'd share our recipe in case you are in the mood for muesli-making too. And of course 'recipe' is rather a formal word for what follows - it's more of a guideline. 

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TOASTED MUESLI

Into a deep baking tray (I used an enamel roasting dish) place 500 grams of wholegrain oats and 500 grams of rolled oats, a large handful of sunflower or pumpkin seeds and the same quantity of chopped nuts (I used walnuts and almonds, because that's what I had in the cupboard.) At this point i also threw in a handful of chia seeds and another of LSA mix (linseed, sunflower seeds and almond).

Toast slowly in the oven on a low heat such as 100 degrees Celsius, for around 45 minutes or so, but take it out every 15 minutes to stir and check that the ingredients are being toasted evenly.

in a small saucepan, melt together 1/3 cup vegetable oil and a good drizzle of maple syrup (or a couple of spoonfuls of honey) until liquid and combined. Then stir this mixture through the toasted grains until they are all coated and there are no big clumps of muesli present. Return to the oven for another half an hour, stirring and checking regularly.

Cool the muesli then stir through some chopped dried fruit if you like - I added 250 grams of chopped dried apricots to mine.
Because of the oat blend and addition of chia seeds, this muesli is best when it's been allowed to soak in milk or water for a little while before eating with yoghurt and stewed fruit. In my opinion, at least!

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odds and ends

The season of golden light is here properly now, and I'm trying to remember to find a patch of the syrupy sun to sit in each day while it lasts. How is it where you are? I hope you've had a good week. 

On the weekend my sister Tamsin and niece came to stay with us. It was a cold weekend and we filled in the days mooching around town, drinking coffee, sitting around the fire knitting, cooking and baking. T makes excellent muesli, and she made a big batch for our pantry and it's delicious. We also went for a walk where she picked an autumnal bouquet of leaves, berries and seed-heads. A dried-out leftover of summer.

I finished a project that had been on the needles for a while: a pair of socks for me. I started these on the plane on the way home from Japan. I had brought some some balls of leftover sock yarn for just this purpose, knowing it would take my mind off the long flight. As it happened I only knit about a quarter of one sock, despite the hours on the plane. But they've been good company in the evenings since. 

I love using up odds and ends to make something new! For these I used scraps from socks I've knitted over the past few years. The pattern is a free one you can find online: Wise Hilda's Basic Ribbed Socks. I use this pattern nearly every time - it always fits perfectly and is easy to customise if you feel inspired to do so. Sometimes I use a different heel or stitch pattern than that given, and for this pair, did a bit of 1x1 ribbing at the top of each sock. You can find more details about this project here on Ravelry.

Also pictured: the book I'm reading right now, Blue Self-Portrait, by Noémi Lefebvre, which is translated from the original French and about music, specifically, the work of composer Arnold Schoenberg and is clever and interesting.

And also in music news: the highlight of my week was buying a gift for myself: PJ Harvey's album Let England Shake on vinyl. I'm afraid of playing it too often, and being banned by my family to put it on the turntable so will save it for whenever they go out. I do love this album deeply, and it feels timely right now: (autumn, Brexit, Anzac Day, Cyclone Idai, climate change, everything...) This one is my favourite song from it.

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anzac bars and april things

In April I get inspired to do things like bottling and baking, and cast on knitted hats.

The first of these came off the needles while we were travelling in Japan. I amused myself on the plane by knitting on a grey Roku hat for Arlo, albeit slightly clumsily due to the wooden double-pointed needles (I'm usually more of a magic loop knitter). I do love the Roku pattern - it has a nice crown decrease and works up quickly in aran-weight yarn. You can find a link to the pattern and other details here on my Ravelry page.

(Also on the plane I watched the film The Favourite, which I found quite interesting - have you seen it?)

Marmalade is one of my favourite foods (or at least, toast-spreads) and last week I found myself with a bowl of ageing oranges, bought from the Newtown market the week before with delusions of establishing an orange-for-breakfast habit. That didn't happen. But I can still have them each morning, just on my toast instead. To make this marmalade, I used a formula much like this one, except I didn't mash the fruit after cooking. There's something comforting about a late-night marmalade session, especially when you see the jars of gleaming jam on the windowsill the next morning.

The other thing about April in the kitchen is the tradition of making Anzac biscuits. You can read a bit about the history of them here.

The combination of oats, coconut and golden syrup has always been synonymous with autumn for me, but they are also just a useful thing to keep in the cake tin to have with a cup of tea or pop in the kids' school lunchboxes.

Lately I've been making Anzac bars instead of the traditional cookies. You can see them in the first photo above. The mixture is basically the same, but it's a bit quicker and simpler to make, because you just press it into a shallow tin to bake for 10 minutes or so. Here is my recipe. You can add in other things if you like, such as sunflower seeds or dried fruit - anything you have, really. I like to throw in a handful of pumpkin seeds and some currants because they always seem to be waiting there in the cupboard.

ANZAC BARS

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
1 cup rolled outs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or other nuts
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup currants
1/2 cup soft brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Mix these ingredients together in a big bowl. Then, in a saucepan, melt together:

100 grams butter
2 Tbs golden syrup

until combined and starting to simmer. Then stir in 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. The mixture will froth (and smell delicious).

Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. Bake in a shallow slice tin lined with baking paper for around 15 minutes or until golden. Let the slice cool completely (it will become more firm after half an hour or so) before removing from the tin and cutting into bars.

in search of japanese textiles

I wanted to share some of my textile-hunting adventures in Japan, which were probably more wide-ranging than these photos suggest. I found that sometimes I got so excited by what I was doing and seeing on my travels that I forgot to document with my camera! But that doesn't matter at all, really.

I've admired the work of Naomi Ito (Nani Iro) ever since coming across it online perhaps twelve years ago now. It wasn't until i was in Osaka, and wearing one of my tops made from her fabric, that I realised I might seek out her studio. Travel is so much easier now we have Google Maps and all manner of online resources, and I even found these detailed directions to help me. In the end I went a different way, but was thrilled to find her studio on my own without too many problems. 

It's a special place because not only are the most recent Nani Iro fabrics on display and for sale, but you can also find lots of fabrics from past seasons for sale, both by the metre and in pre-cut pieces. I bought a few pieces (you can see my purchases in the second photo above) that I absolutely adore, and of course I rather wish I'd bought more, now. But I was trying not to be too acquisitive and I knew I'd have to carry them around in my small suitcase for the rest of the trip! I also bought a special book with sewing patterns for a range of clothes using Nani Iro fabric.

The women at the shop were very kind and gave me another book, with poems written by Naomi and accompanying photographs that inspired the most recent textile collection.

Nani Iro fabrics have a beautiful artistic vibe, and the designs are painted with watercolour before they are printed. I like this quote from the artist herself (taken from an interview) 

I paint to spin a tale that portrays a kind of comfort, that makes people happy when they feel it on their skin. I paint in the hope that each textile will be like a single poem, a single letter.

You can buy Nani Iro fabrics online, and read a rare interview with Naomi Ito here.

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As well as some exhibitions, galleries with handmade items, a flea market and other stores, I also visited WALNUT, a sweet little knitting shop in Tokyo. There's also a store in Kyoto, but it was closed when we were there. It reminded me a lot of our own local beauty Holland Road Yarns, with many of the same products for sale. WALNUT is where the magazine Amirisu is produced and they also produce their own hand-dyed yarn which is called Parade. I had to buy two skeins in that glorious dusky pink shade, which I entirely blame on the blossom season outside the window.

Japan is well known for its craft and dressmaking fabrics. I managed to visit one fabric store while I was in Osaka: Toraya, in Shinsaibashi.
There are several floors of sample fabrics on display, and if you want to buy something you tell an attendant who takes your order. After a ten minute wait, you can collect your order at the counter. So much better than lugging around giant rolls of fabric, like we do here!

At Toraya I ordered a few pieces of cotton and linen (my plan for these is knitting project bags for my etsy shop... hopefully soon!), and also bought a length of chirimen fabric (you can see that above, alongside the yarn). I wanted to get something authentically Japanese. Chirimen is a silky crepe fabric with a lot of drape, often used to make kimono and furoshiki wrapping. With this I hope to make a simple top or jacket for work. 

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I feel so lucky to have been able to explore this beautiful country, even if just for a couple of weeks. I'm dreaming of going back for a longer trip one day. In the meantime, I have plenty of making and remembering to do.

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