tiny happy

quilts + cats

Hello!

It's still hand-knit sock season here. I haven't felt like knitting any lately, but I have been wearing them, even to the office! I snapped the third photo above on my lunch break the other day. I realised I was wearing wool at every level - these socks, woolen trousers, hand-knit sweater, shawl and hat! Everything was knitted when I was feeling excited about the winter ahead, the way you do sometimes towards the end of summer. But now I'm very ready for the cold to fade away. 

A very small project I completed this week was the little cat you can see at the top of this page. I made it for Tom's cousin Becky who had a birthday recently. She liked this wee cat I made last year, and so I made a note to make her one. I used the same pattern - ''Fern the Cat'' by Erika Barrett, in Making Magazine (Issue 4: Lines)

Other projects on the go include the baby quilts i mentioned in my previous post - I'm not quite ready to show those yet, but they are in progress! I'm also knitting a hot water bottle cover, which seems to be taking longer than I thought it would, and a sweater in dark green merino and mohair - one strand of each, held together. That's another one making slow progress. I don't really mind though.

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Last weekend Keira and I headed to a big annual second-hand book fair in the city and had a great time digging through the boxes of sheet music, vinyl, magazines and poetry, especially. In the ''lifestyle'' section, I found a brand new copy of a hardcover book called Nebraska Quilts and Quiltmakers by Patricia Cox Crews and Ronald Clinton Naugle.

I'm thrilled to have this in my collection- it's a beauty. A selection of antique handmade quilts are featured, along with an essay about the person who made it, and their family background in the state of Nebraska. My favourite is a hand-embroidered and appliqued piece made from different wool fabrics in 1864 by a Mrs Schacht from Westphalia, Germany, and brough to Cook, Otoe County in the 1870s. The wool panels feature different birds, animals and plants in greens, pinks and browns. I also love the ''Lone Star Variation'' design you can see above. 

I couldn't find a picture of the German quilt online, so I'll include a photo in my next blog post.

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In other book news, I've been helping to organise an author event happening this week (this one, if you're in Wellington, and feel like joining us!) and so have been reading through the Telesā series of books by Samoan writer Lani Wendt Young. I haven't read much romance, but these books are sometimes described as ''a Pasifika Twilight'' and I've been enjoying them! 

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Through the headphones: I've been listening to the new album by Bon Iver, called i,i. Perfect for the bus journey home from work on a cold dark night. Here's just one of the songs, in case you're after a small taste.

I hope you have a lovely week. See you very soon.

lately

Hello! I hope this dispatch finds you well, wherever you are.

I've been feeling slightly lazy about writing here... so I thought I'd just upload some pictures instead, while I wait for my words to come back. Here are a few things I've been doing lately, from top to bottom:

= = Tom brought me back this copy of Hounds of Love on vinyl after a trip away recently. It's probably my favourite Kate Bush album, so a bit of a treat to add to my collection. (And I had to pose with it in the wintry rainy garden, in my favourite wildflowers dress, for full effect ;)

+ + This is a bit of embroidery I started in a class at Craft Camp (I wrote more about that in my previous post) and finished when I got home. It's quite satisfying to stitch in wool yarn! Here I used some leftovers from a knitting project (I'll show you the finished jumper in my next post) on a medium-weight grey/mauve linen. Not sure what I'll do with it yet.

- - - It's midwinter and we've had a good dose of rain lately. But all in all, it's been a mild season, and the jasmine outside our kitchen seems to be quite happy.

= = This is a beautiful little dish made by my friend Lizzie. She sent it to me recently and it's the perfect thing for my everyday earrings. (Lizzie's exhibition ''Nature Table'' has just opened in Sydney!)

+ + Here's a bit of recent work done on my slowest project of all time - the hand-stitched hexagon quilt. I'm making this from old clothes and bedding cotton. I don't often get it out (because I resent having to put it away again) but I do hope to make some more progress on it soon. 

In other news, Tom and I have been watching the final season of Orange is The New Black, very slowly, in order to make it last longer. I've found this series a rather moving and important one over the years. I'll miss it! Also, the second season of Australian show The Let Down which takes me back to those early parenting days.

- - - Did you see this article on the Guardian, A stitch in time: how craftivists found their voice? If not, you should have a read. My favourite quote, from Sarah Corbett of the Craftivist Collective, whose work is featured:

“Punk means different bands to different people in the same way craftivism does,” explains Corbett. “And my approach is not aggressive or loud, it’s gentle protest – and I mean that in a non-fluffy sense. It’s not impassive or weak. It’s bloody hard to be gentle in your approach as an activist, to have self-control when you’re angry. It’s about being tough of mind and kind in heart.”

It's given me lots to think about.

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As for books, I've been reading Wild Honey, which is a beautiful new book about NZ women's poetry. And thinking a lot about patchwork, for some reason! Could be that the lid on my box of fabric off-cuts can no longer be closed, so I need to do something with 200 small pieces of fabric. At the same time, there are some new babies-in-progress in my family and friend-circle, who might just be in the market for a cot quilt one day soon. I'll keep you posted.

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