tiny happy

last week in june

If it's the last week in June, the days must be slowly stretching out again. I hope you've been keeping warm and well, wherever you are.

I've found this month to be particularly packed with things happening, all in a good way really, just life stuff. You know.

Arlo turned 16, which necessitated several parties and dinners and other marking-points (we like to celebrate things) and we've had an exchange student, V, from Argentina staying with us, which has been fun. It's nearly the end of the school term so the days seems shorter and busier for all of us (and technically, I guess they are shorter.)

Anyway, here are some things from my work table from the past couple of weeks. I've also been knitting away on my Birkin Sweater, though it's rather slow going! I hope to have some progress to show soon. Hopefully I can finish it before summer arrives again.

::: Some punch-needle work, using mostly undyed and naturally-dyed yarn. The pink was from avocado stones that I used to dye some threads and wool last summer. I might turn this piece into a cushion sometime soon.

X X X Chocolate-chip cookies. Just because, we have lots of hungry kids in our house these days. I used this trusty recipe (the trick is getting them out of the oven at exactly the right time to create a chewy and soft texture). It's always a bit hit and miss for me! But they seem to get eaten regardless.

>/>/> A new book of poems by Vana Manasiadis, I was sent to read for work. I'm really enjoying it (and isn't the cover beautiful).

::: Some project bags I made recently for my etsy shop. They've all been sent to new destinations now, but I plan to make some more soon. The fabrics are mostly prints i bought in Osaka in March, teamed with linen and cotton fabrics I already had.

X X X A walk to the top of a hill near our house, with the winter sunshine weak and low like a reading lamp. It was a beautiful day to show our exchange student our small city.

>/>/> A spot of free-form embroidery, and a cup of tea. One of my favourite ways to pass an afternoon!

See you next week.

soft + warm things

I realised I hadn't yet blogged about a jumper I finished knitting in May so I've included some pictures of it here. One with the garment sitting neatly on the windowsill, and the other showing it worn, with the afternoon sun shining directly in my face.

To make this I used the Ranunculus pattern and held two strands of yarn together while knitting: some fine wool/cotton in a light grey colour, and some super-luxurious mohair/silk in a dark grey colour. The effect is a slighty-marled, super soft and warm dream of a thing to wear!  The beautiful mohair was a birthday gift from my friend Nikki - she hand-dyes very gorgeous yarns just up the road from where I live. Thank you Nikki, and thank you to the designer of this pattern, Midori Hirose. This was my second iteration of this design (you can see my first one here) I'm sure I will knit it again one day soon.

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I found this bouquet of beautiful autumnal-wintry branches and flowers at a grocery shop in town last week and since I was on my way to visit a friend I couldn't help buying them to bring along with me! Also couldn't resist taking a quick snap of the colours against concrete. 

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A small project worked on this week was a stack of hot water bottle covers. It's that time of the year all right although it hasn't been terribly cold yet. But enough to wear coats and fill up a hot water bottle for the bed.

A few years ago, I made lots of these but they needed replacing when I pulled them out of the cupboard last week. I love to recycle wool garments that have been moth-eaten or otherwise worn out. The kids handed over some jumpers they'd grown out of, complete with holey elbows. It's satisfying to make something useful from something past its usefulness!

I wrote up a super simple pattern/tutorial for these a few years ago - you can find it here, in case you're in the mood for a quick and easy upcycling project...

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With hot water bottle weather comes the delicious chance to spend more time in bed generally - earlier nights, longer (weekend) mornings, and the odd post-work-before-cooking-dinner lie down. I've been reading a collection of essays by Zadie Smith, Feel Free, which I really like. Also a book of poems about the Whanganui River, Flow, by Airini Beautrais and a collection of stories, Black Marks on the White Page, edited by Tina Makereti and Witi Ihimaera. All three of these volumes contain small pieces of writing - essays, poems, short stories, which are perfect for small snatched reading times.

And because I outed myself as a keen TV watcher in my last post, I wanted to add that I've watched the newest additions to the Black Mirror series and have just begun Fleabag. Both very good!

I hope you have a lovely week with lots of time to do the things you want to do. 

a sunday in june

I braved the cold and did some gardening this weekend. Our poor little garden is mostly starved of attention at this time of year, mostly because of the weather, busy life reasons, and daylight hours (or lack thereof). But I should make the effort to dig in the dirt more often and weed around the plants more often. It really makes me happy! I planted some winter herbs and salad greens, silverbeet, spring onions, and sugar snap peas. I also uncovered a sweet white cyclamen that had been hiding out under some weeds. Isn't it beautiful?

Inspired by plants (spring flowers in particular - though it's much too early to be thinking about them), I made something new to wear to work. It's a camisole-top top, made from drapey black rayon-crepe fabric, and embroidered around the neckline with plants like lily-of-the-valley and leafy branches. To make the top, I used the Ogden Cami pattern, which I've used a few times, it's a good one! I'm hoping to wear this over long-sleeved tops for the office. I have a black and white striped merino top that I think will be a good match. 

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Another finished project from last month was this little hat that I knitted for my baby niece. She turned one and I wanted to include something handmade in her birthday gift. I used the Beloved Aran pattern (free on Ravelry) and held together a strand of grey angora rabbit yarn with pale pink Rowan Kidsilk Haze. The result was a super lightweight and soft fabric. The colour is a bit like the inside of a sea shell. I made the pom pom from some yarn I dyed with avocado in the summer. My Ravelry notes are here (and here - for when I made two hats from this pattern last winter).

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I have some ambitious making plans for this winter, but I'm not sure I'll be able to fit everything in! On my wish-list is a linen dress, a Birkin Sweater (I'm currently about 1/8th of the way through), some hot water bottle covers, slippers and some embroidered project bags. I also have half a punch-needle piece to complete. If only the days and nights were a little longer! 

As well as knitting and sitting by the fire, this time of year is perfect for watching something good on TV, don't you think? Tom, the kids and I have just finished watching the newish mini-series of Les Miserables together. So sad but quite excellent, I thought! We also saw the James Acaster Netflix special together, which we found to be brilliant, and now often-quoted in our house. ('Too good for a free banana' is a particular favourite.) I also watched the NZ show The Casketeers while doing some late-knitting over a week or so. I absolutely loved it.