« November 2020 | Main | January 2021 »
Here are some pictures from around the summer solstice: preparations for Christmas and our upcoming summer holiday, a few handmade gifts and of course the obligatory fruit mince pies.
I hope you and your family have a very happy year's end: whether you celebrate Christmas or not, and wherever you might be in this world.
I'm signing off for a few weeks and will look forward to posting again next year.
Lots of love,
Melissa XX
Hello! I hope you are well, dear reader, as we enter the last month of this calendar year. I must admit I'm keen for the kids to decorate the Christmas tree (it's always 'their' job) and make some fruit mince pies and start the preparations for the holidays. We're nearly there...
I received some really beautiful gifts for my birthday last month. One was a shawl knitted for me by a friend, dear Lizzie. She used a blend of alpaca, silk and wool yarns in blue, brown and cream and the Stay Soft pattern. I love it and have worn it quite a bit despite it supposedly being spring and summer since it arrived! I think shawls are wearable year-round here in Wellington. It's a pretty special thing to have a piece like this knitted especially for you. I couldn't believe my eyes when I unwrapped it!
I've been enjoying reading more lately. I find I go in phases with this - sometimes I have the energy to dive properly into one book at a time and other times I skim-read my way through a range without taking them in deeply. Anyway, last month I read This Pākehā Life by Alison Jones and found it to be an excellent read: one that takes an honest look at what it means to be a white person in Aotearoa, with all the uncertainty and uncomfortableness that comes with that. I would recommend this book to my fellow Pākehā friends.
The books on my bedside table threaten to topple over and join me in bed sometimes, so I hope to have a few more finished soon and look forward to reading time over the summer holidays.
And speaking of those, I've been slowly making a few things to give to family and friends at Christmas, including some socks for my Dad (I think I wrote about these in my last post - now they're finally finished!) For these, I used a basic 3 x 1 ribbed pattern and some self-striping Regia sock yarn. The details of both pattern and yarn can be found here on my Ravelry page.
I had thought I didn't want to knit socks again for a good while. But then I found this beautiful new pattern - it's part of the latest Knitty magazine which is free and online-only. There are lots of other issues of Knitty to explore too if you haven't already!
I've also been making some washcloths from cotton and linen yarn in my stash. For these, I've tried to work a different stitch pattern each time and it's been fun to learn a few new ones! I think my favourite is the Chinese Wave pattern (the loopy one you see on the top of the stack). The pattern I used for that can be found here.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
And lastly, here is a song introduced to me by my son Arlo. It has a beautiful melody, though perhaps a dark meaning. I hope you enjoy it too: Overlord by Dirty Projectors.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Take care, friends. See you again soon!
M