tiny happy

inching towards spring

Hello there! 
It's been a while since my last post. I realised my fingers have been busy making things but I haven't been good at sharing them here on the blog. I don't like to be flippant about lockdowns because they're so hard on so many people. But one silver lining to our recent one was a bit extra time to work on projects.

In my last post I said I'd share my finished Vertices Unite shawl - and I'm happy to report it's already had a lot of wear! It's the perfect size and shape, I do love that pattern. I was quite inspired by hellebores when making this - we have a few different varieties in the garden and I tried to emulate their colour scheme. For more details about the yarns I used, and a link to the pattern, my Ravelry project page is here.

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As well as hellebores, this time of year in Wellington is all about the glorious flowering kōwhai tree. We have one in our garden and there are lots to be seen on the trip to work, too. I've always loved the outrageously cheerful nature of those flowers, hanging down like fancy earrings. I embroidered some and sewed the piece into a knitting project bag for a sweet friend of mine. 

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And the first photo in this post was taken on our first walk to the beach after a few weeks of not leaving our neighbourhood. The utter joy of those dogs meeting up wit their friends, splashing in the shallows and mucking around with sticks! I didn't want to forget them.

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morel + more

Kia ora, hello! I hope you are keeping well and safe. Crazy, heavy times in the world, eh?

The most I can offer with this blog post is some distraction in the form of handmade items and ideas... thank you for tuning in regardless. I appreciate you, dear reader!

The first thing I have to show you is a finished jumper - my late-winter pride and joy! The pattern is called the Morel Sweater, and it's by Danish designer Lærke Bishop-Larsen (FiberTales). I got drawn in to knit it the moment I first saw Lærke's version on Instagram - that honeycomb texture, the dropped sleeves and the little cherries running down each side! The actual knitting ended up taking me most of the winter. But now it's done I couldn't be happier - the fit is great and it's very lightweight yet cosy. I'm sure I'll get lots of wear out of it.

The yarn I used was hand-dyed mohair from Nikki (Dark Harbour Yarn), which I held together with some plain Holst 4ply (Danish pure wool) in the Almond colourway. My notes, including a couple of modifications and links to the yarns, can be found here on my Ravelry page.

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Since finishing the Morel, I've had a bit of time to get cracking on a shawl - I'm making another (my third) Vertices Unite by Stephen West. (Ravelry notes here). Because we're in lockdown and not able to receive mail, I've had to use what I have - but that's actually been great. I have a couple more colours to choose and hopefully, I can show you my finished shawl in the next post!

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In other making-news, I made a huge batch of orange marmalade (using this simple recipe) and have already been able to gift a few jars to friends (and eat a bit on my morning toast, too!) 

And Keira needed a new tote bag - I made her a mushroom one using this pattern - it's been on my blog for years but is still quite a handy size, I find! I only wish I'd added in some pockets to this mushroomy tote - next time I will.

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So how are you doing, lovely ones? I'd love to know what you're working on or enjoying reading these days. Take good care and see youa gain soon,

Melissa