tiny happy

faded hydrangea

Hello from a sunny Sunday in autumn. I hope you are doing well, wherever you are.

I thought I'd share a few of my recent projects, and some things that are bringing me happiness these days.

You might have seen the other day that I published my first knitting pattern to Ravelry - for a pair of simple fingerless gloves or hand warmers. I'm calling the design 'Seashell mitts' because the simple lace pattern is a bit shell or even wave-like to me, and because I love shells and their shapes.

I've made two pairs and for the second I used some beautiful merino-linen yarn I bought from Bonnie at Union Fibre. The colourway name was 'Limpet' but it makes me think of faded pink hydrangeas - it's very autumnal and lovely, I think.

You can find the seashell mitts pattern for free download in my previous post, and the design's page on Ravelry is here.

Other than that, I've been working on a few other projects, namely small items for expected babies, and I've also cast on something very colourful (and slightly unusual for me) as a gift for someone else. More about that in due course! 

Work on my crochet granny square blanket continues at a slow pace - I like to work a round every now and then when watching Netflix or listening to a podcast but it's nowhere near the size it needs to be for a bed! I've also found it's really yarn-hungry, so I might just keep working until I run out of the two yarns I'm using.

Over on my Instagram 'stories' I'm trying to share my non-work-related reading, as I finish books. These stories are saved as a highlight on my profile page. It's been a great way for me to keep track of the things I've read and what I thought of them. I recently finished Vesper Flights by Helen McDonald. I thought the writing was deep and beautiful and I'm still thinking about it.

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Do you like flapjacks? My Mum used to make them often when we were kids and we all loved them, but I just don't seem to be able to recreate her version, which was not too buttery or sweet, but rather dense, deep and chewy. I've made a few batches in the attempt, though, which haven't been too bad, using this recipe (simple but super sweet, and easy to over-cook!) and this one (also good but still not quite how I remember them in childhood). I need to keep practising. Please let me know if you have an excellent recipe!

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Would you like two and half minutes of mood-lifting jazzy deliciousness? I discovered this piece recently and you might like it too.

XX - Melissa

seashell mitts

I was after a new pair of fingerless gloves for the autumn and winter months, and came up with my own design - this super-simple pair with a shell pattern running down the back of the hand.

I thought it would be fun to share my pattern, in case anyone else is keen to make a pair. I've popped it up on Ravelry (you can find the pattern page here), but I know some people are struggling to use the website since its re-design, so I wanted to share it here too.

Download seashell mitts pattern (pdf)

For the grey pair, I used a stray ball of Silver Lining Lumiere 4ply yarn I found in my stash - it's lovely yarn but has been discontinued. As you can probably tell, I ran out at the end of my project - and had to use another ball of the same yarn, but a different colour, for a 'contrast stripe' at the top of each mitt.

To test my pattern, I made another pair from some very beautiful yarn hand-dyed by Bonnie of Union Fibre. The colour is 'Limpet' and the base is her Merino-Linen Singles. 

One pair of these fingerless gloves takes about 40 grams of yarn. So you can definitely make two pairs from one 100gram skein and have enough leftover for a pair of baby booties.

This pattern would be simple enough to adjust if you need a larger or smaller pair of mitts - you could knit additional or fewer repeats of the shell pattern, and knit more or less of the ribbing at the top and bottom. 

I hope you enjoy making them if you decide to! Please let me know if I've made any mistakes, or there's any useful information missing.

With thanks to my lovely friend Lizzie, for requesting the pattern, which encouraged me to write it down :)

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autumnal colours

Blues, greys, rusty pinks and green. The colours of late autumn! I thought I'd pop in today to show you some of my recent projects. I think some of my recent makes have been inspired by two titles from the 1980s I found in a second-hand bookshop: Glorious Colour and Family Album, by Kaffe Fassett. 

My mum had both of these when I was a child and I loved to look through the pages and pretend I was one of the glamourous models. My favourite was always the poppy design - coloured circles on a black or blue background. I've never made one of these designs but I still love looking through the books, and am very pleased to have my own copies. The poppy is still my favourite - I might yet make one.

I could do with some new 'everyday clothes' (i.e. suitable for wearing to work) for autumn and winter, so I'm going to have a go at making a few things over the next week or two. I started with a top, made from some beautiful viscose-twill I scored at Fabricabrac a couple of weekends back. The pattern is the Pinnacle Top from Papercut. The option I made was 'variation 2', with a round neckline, finished in bias binding, with a back opening and tie. I was really impressed with this pattern and will definitely make more. I'm thinking perhaps a drapey black version for work and I might try the jersey/sweatshirt option for winter too.

I had a couple of metres of beautiful dark rose linen waiting for its moment, too, so I cut into it to make a new dress. I mostly just self-drafted this, using a mashup of shapes from other clothes I like wearing - i.e. the skirt width and length, and pocket pieces, etc. 

I do love this one but am not 100% sold on the bodice design - it's a bit too loose-fitting to be comfortable and work well with other garments. I'm thinking I might cut it off and add a waistband instead, so I can wear the skirt portion at least.

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I do love this time of year - the golden afternoon light and hazy evenings, the smell of woodsmoke and soup on the stove. I've been reading Vesper Flights, a book of essays by Helen Macdonald, and luxuriating in its rich descriptions and explanations of the natural world. So far, the chapter about the hidden world of fungi has been my favourite; it reminds me of searching for mushrooms on the farm with my grandad - basket, or more likely, plastic bucket in hand! 

And as always at this time of year, I've pulled out my old Kate Bush records (and Spotify playlists) to listen to on my walks around the Hataitai hills. I don't know why her music and autumn are a match for me, but they are. 

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I have been working on other projects - I have a winter coat cut out but am searching for the right lining fabric - and I've been knitting a fair bit lately, too. And the granny stripe/square blanket continues! (I'm afraid you might be hearing about that one for a long time - progress is slow...)

I hope this finds you well and enjoying the slide into a new season, whether that's autumn or spring, depending on your hemisphere, and that you are finding time and space to work on your own projects. I also hope you are safe and in good spirits!