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Around the summer solstice: some knitting, some reading and a jar of summer flowers. I hope you have a very happy and relaxing Christmas, New Year and holiday time with your friends and family.
Thank you for reading my blog this year. See you back here in January!
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I was going to share some of the summer clothes I've made lately, but no-one's around to help me take a photo or two! Never mind, I'll get some photos over the summer holidays.
In the meantime, I thought I'd post about some of the small things made for Christmas present and end of year gifts.
As always, the kids and I have given teachers, friends and neighbours edible gifts like marmalade, fruit mince pies and cookies. I also packaged up jars of chutney with other edible things in bento wraps (from this tutorial) as reusable packaging. For the chutney, I used this recipe - couldn't be easier!
I didn't make as many gifts this year as I usually do at Christmas, choosing instead to gift books, mostly. But I did make some foraging satchels (pattern from my book) for two of my preschooler nieces, and the usual handmade soap and knitted facecloths for a few people who (I hope) like such things!
Another project finished recently was my ''garter squish'' baby blanket (started back here). We had a beautiful new niece born last week, so I was thrilled to be able to wrap up the blanket and give it to her on her birth day. To make this, I used the instructions set out in this Stephen West blanket pattern, but on a slighter smaller scale. I held together a strand of possum merino with silk yarn in various colours, knitting until the silk ran out and was replaced with another colour. My Ravelry notes are here. The resulting blanket is really soft and a little drapey from the silk content. I wouldn't mind a bigger version to put on my bed in autumn and I just might cast one on sometime soon.
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I hope you're enjoying some shopping or gift-making or not, depending on your own holiday traditions!
Here's a favourite seasonal song for you: Sufjan Stevens' Silver and Gold.
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It's been a while since I wrote anything here. I've missed it! But for some reason, I haven't felt such an interest in making things, photographing things or even talking about them, lately. Here are a few photos, regardless.
We went walking in a suburb we don't often visit (Thorndon) and admired all the artist and author quotes everywhere. Especially the one you see in the photo above, by one of my favourite NZ artists, Rita Angus. There's a new(ish) mural of Rita in the city, near where I work. I look at it every day from the bus window and she says hi to me.
Since I last wrote here, our garden has been exploding with growth. Mostly weeds, but also the most beautifully bright and papery light poppies. One morning recently I went out and the wind had knocked over most of them. So I snapped this photo to remember them by.
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With the usual December rush of work, social engagements and general last-minute life admin, I've not made as much time for making things as I would like. I'm working away (albeit slowly) on a pair of socks that I'd like to give Arlo for Christmas. I would say that project is 60% finished, so it's not looking too promising. But perhaps I'll find some extra knitting time shortly before Christmas. I've also sewn a few things for my summer wardrobe. I'll show you those in my next post.
I did make the pillowcases you can see above, for a family member's birthday gift. For these I used the nicest linen I had - a smooth medium-weight pure linen with narrow blue and cream stripes. I used the usual tutorial from my own blog (you can find it here - it's super easy and quick!) but incorporated French seams throughout - I will post another tutorial sometime with some quick steps for achieving that - if for no other reason than to help me the next time I attempt them!
I do love making linen pillowcases for gifts. I feel like they're very practical but also a bit special.
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Even though they're ''grown up teenagers'' now, the kids still enjoy a Christmassy preparation day in early December. We had one last week, where they put the 5-disc Sufjan Stevens Christmas album on the stereo (''all the childhood memories''), pulled out the Christmas ornaments and coloured lights, and helped me bake fruit mince pies. It was a truly lovely way to spend time together!
For the pies, I made my own fruit mince this year and tried a different recipe for the pastry and was really happy with both. The pastry recipe was this one and I followed this recipe for the fruit mince, though changed it up a bit to use what I had, including dried cranberries + apricots, granny smith apples, zest of several limes and lemons, cherries and orange juice. In the end, I mixed up a giant batch to keep in jars and give away. And make approx 530 pies to be eaten by teenagers.
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I've been listening to the new album by Angel Olsen, All Mirrors, which I love. This song, Lark, is a good place to start: so cinematic, with soulful strings!
And my reading for this month has been largely focused on Coventry, by Rachel Cusk. Beautiful, honest writing and the kind of essays that follow me around for days, in particular, the one about driving. This is a great review, if you're interested in finding out more.
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I hope to be back with another post or two before the summer holiday. I hope this finds you well and enjoying this last bit of the year (and decade, even...)
