Kia ora friends, I hope you're keeping well! And if you live on Te Ika-a-Maui (our North Island) you're staying warm and dry in this cyclone.
Here are a few of the things I've been making and doing lately. First up: my finished Tegna top knitted over the course of the summer. I'm so glad to be finished with it and I love the end result - it's a nice and comfortable piece to wear! I used the Tegna pattern by Caitlin Hunter and some DMC 'Natura Linen' yarn in a muted green shade.
I made a few adjustments to this pattern, including picking up extra stitches around the armholes (I hate tight sleeves!) and blocking it very vigorously to get the fit I was after (loose and drapey). The finished garment has already been useful in my work wardrobe - I've worn it with a high-waisted bias-cut skirt and over a sleeve summer dress a few times. It's so nice to wear that I'm now thinking about a winter version (perhaps from mohair-silk and with longer sleeves and an even looser fit?) More details on this one over on my Ravelry page here.
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You'll also see above some more cyanotype printing I've been doing. This is always a good time - I never seem to get bored of planning and laying out my prints, and experimenting with different techniques. This time I used soap bubbles to create an interesting, ethereal texture to my botanical prints before I exposed them to the sun. I wrote a few notes about cyanotype in general in this post, in case you're new to it, but there are also lots of resources online.
Another project that's been completed around here is the painting of our hallway. I must give most of the credit for this to Tom, as it was 'my idea' but his hard work that made it happen. We chose a light calming green shade (actual Dulux paint name: 'Calm Green'.) Our hallway had beautiful Laura Ashley wallpaper with a frieze along the top and I loved it, but it was quite marked up and discoloured. The new look lifts it and I was so pleased with it I ordered two giant paper globe light shades (from this amazing Auckland store).
Keira is off to university soon and so we are 'looking after' her beautiful little shelf and heart-shaped mirror, both handmade by her grandad Dave over the years. They look quite lovely in the hallway - thank you Dave and Keira!
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Lastly, I just had to share my latest baking discovery (shown in the last photo above, before breaking up and pairing with cheese! I finished reading local food writer Annabel Langbein's memoir Bella last week. It was such a good read - I loved her stories and all the recipes scattered throughout! She's had a really interesting life. Upon seeing the recipe for 'sesame lavosh', I knew I had to make some. We're quite into crackers and cheese around here - sometimes for dinner, even.
I made a batch of Annabel's crackers and knew they were going to be a staple in our pantry. If you're also a cracker fan, you can find her recipe here on her website. In the book version, she has an excellent tip that isn't mentioned on the website, but I think makes a huge difference to the process. It is this:
After mixing up the sesame dough, divide it into four portions. Take a sheet of (good-quality) baking paper that fits your tray, and spoon one portion of the dough in the middle. Cut another piece of baking paper the same size, and place on top. Use a rolling pin to smooth out the mixture so it is evenly spread between the two layers. Annabel says to spread it very thinly, but I preferred it to be a bit thicker, so the resulting cracker is a bit more substantial. Slowly peel the top piece of paper off, and slide the dough, already on its paper, onto the tray for baking. Voila!
See you again soon, take care,
M
