tiny happy

bus-stop crochet + other stories

Happy solstice - summer or winter! And mānawatia a Matariki! This post is coming to you from a cosy spot by the fire close to the shortest day of the year. It was dark by 5pm today, and cold, too, but I love this time of year. Everything outside is fresh and damp, and the smell of rain and wood smoke is everywhere.

With the shorter days and a generally busier schedule than usual, I've not found as much time for my usual favourites like knitting and sewing. I've started taking a bit of crochet with me on the bus and it's amazing how much I can get in little increments - waiting for the bus, sitting on the bus, zooming home after work. I'm making a granny square blanket from 4ply leftovers - more info in my Ravelry project page here. I think this is going to be an extremely long-term project for obvious reasons! I do enjoy using up my leftover yarns and choosing the colours for each round of each square.

In my last post i wrote about sun prints and how I've had a fair few 'failures' along the way. I've started to use watercolours on some of the less than crisp prints and it's such an enjoyable process, to sit down and hand-colour the prints to make cards and other things. I've included a picture above - the plants used here were (clockwise from top left) kōwhai and clover, hellebore leaf, kawakawa and pink hibiscus.

It's made me think about how I might manipulate the cyanotype process further in order to combine other mediums in these pieces. So far, watercolour has worked best and it's especially pleasing because I use watercolour paper to make the prints.

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I realised I never shared here my fluffy pink sweater! I knitting this in the autumn and held together a strand of possum-merino DK yarn on a cone that I've had for a long time, and a strand of cream mohair/silk yarn. The design is called 'Magnolia Bloom' by Camilla Vad. You can click here to see my Ravelry project page for more info, including a picture of me wearing it!

It's a lovely chunky garment- very warm and soft as you might imagine! We're definitely entering sweater season now, so I'm grateful to have it.

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I've just finished reading So far, for now, which is a collection of memoir essays by an author local to me, Fiona Kidman. She's one of my favourite NZ authors, and I really enjoyed these beautiful essays, which touch on lots of different aspects of her life, from childhood, her father, the death of her beloved husband, and their political activism and community work. 

Through the headphones, I've been enjoying so many new-to-me songs lately - including some by Thundercat, Kendrick Lamar, Jay Som, Aldous Harding and Khruangbin.

Here's a song that is especially dear to me this winter: Holding Hands, by Magic Lantern.

So much love to you, wherever you might be,

M X

 

conjuring warmth

Even though winter has officially just begun, the short days and general grey-ness has really settled in and the shortest day is near. Looking at these recent projects, I realise I must be trying to conjure up some warmth and light!

A rather joyful discovery in my life has been cyanotype printing. I had tried this before, years ago, with a kit I bought from a science materials-type store. But after watching a few online tutorials and reading a bit on the subject, I bought some bottles of Jacquard printing solution (like this) and have been experimenting with this fun and rather old technique. If it's new to you, here's a good explanation.

I must admit I've had more failures than successes. I've used the wrong type of paper, over-exposing, and under-exposing, not securing my printed matter properly and the wind moving it around, and more! But like with everything I try, it's an extended process of trial and error! I'm still not completely certain about the best length of time to leave my prints in the sun, but I have created some lovely little postcards and prints I'm happy with to send to friends and save up for future correspondence. 

The things I have learned about the process are:

• a rougher watercolour paper is best in nearly every case. It holds up to the process and the texture helps with clarity of prints
• it's simpler to make a print with pre-pressed plants, leaves and ferns
• clothes pegs are great for securing the layers of board, paper, plants and glass
• it's tempting to wash and wash the finished print but that can damage the finished piece, so a quick rinse or soak is enough.

I will no doubt keep practising. I'd love to make layered prints and also to print on fabric, but have so far found that to be a trickier process. I might need to wait until spring for some decent sunlight!

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I'm lucky enough to have a subscription to Skillshare, which is an online programme packed with video classes and talks from all sorts of people around the world. I stumbled upon a class by Penny Dean about creating a custom watercolour palette.

After coveting a special watercolour travel set, I realised I could make my own by buying an empty folding palette and adding in watercolour pigments from tubes I already had. I made a little chart to remind me which colour is where. The method for creating your own set is pretty simple. You lightly scour the plastic before squeezing in pigment, then let it dry for a couple of days. It's quite a thrill to have this custom set. The first thing I did was try a bit of 'negative painting' of plants.

Then a quick painting of Paekakariki beach, from a photo I took a few weeks ago when Tom and I headed over to Kapiti for the weekend. It's such a beautiful spot at dusk, with the wet sand glistening and Kapiti Island quietly watching over everything. 

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Finally in this post, I've included my latest knitting project - a pair of socks for Tom. He is very knit worthy and loves to wear handknit socks. but it's been a couple of years since I made him any. His old ones had worn through. For these, I used some sturdy grey Regia sock yarn and colour-blocked that with dark green, mustard yellow and navy sock yarn left over from other projects. My Ravelry notes are here (including a link to the free pattern I used).

It's great that my favourite musician of all time Kate Bush is back in the news/charts since her song Running Up That Hill featured in a Stranger Things episode. It reminded me that her album The Sensual World is my favourite winter-weather soundtrack. I recommend playing it through your headphones on a wild Wellington windswept walk... it doesn't have to up a hill but it probably will be! 

Take care,
M XX