tiny happy

hellebores + podcasts

We have some hellebores in our garden but their season is ending. I love them a lot. I went to embroider some but instead the thread became something that looks more like dahlias, but that's okay because I love them too. 

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Speaking of embroidered flowers, I'm planning a small-ish shop update with a spring theme. I'm thinking early October, but I'll give an actual date in my next blog post. Thank you to everyone who has emailed to ask about this and also to those who have expressed interest in buying my work - I really appreciate it! When it comes to making and selling my work, time is not on my side during the working/school year. But I have a few things in progress and it will be fun to celebrate spring by making a small collection of work for the shop.

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This week I made a soft corduroy bear for a new baby, and wrapped it up along with a book that was a favourite when my kids were smaller - The Kuia and the Spider by Patricia Grace. The illustrations are by Robyn Kahukiwa and are really evocative, I think.

I must have made fifty of these toys over the years, for nieces, nephews, my own kids and friends. The pattern is in this book. The design is purposely simple, to allow for maximum customisation (or not). My niece Phoebe sewed some fetching linen pants for her bear and I've also seen one with a beautiful hand-knitted scarf. I usually 'under-stuff' them so they're soft and squishy and nice to hold by the hand.

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Thank you for your podcast suggestions in the last post! Here is a list of them. I also want to add one I like, it's called Art, Life, Music and it's a Radio New Zealand programme featuring interviews with artists and writers who talk about their favourite music. I especially liked listening to Dunedin artist Kushana Bush - and have you seen her paintings? Amazing. 

Here is our collaborative podcast list (please feel free to add more in the comments section):

Journalism/news/crime

Caliphate
This American Life
Teacher's Pet
My Favourite Murder
BBC World Service: Documentary and Witness
The Daily
Stay Tuned with Preet
Gone By Lunchtime
Black Hands
Dr Death

Humour/comedy

The Guilty Feminist
The Alice Fraser Trilogy 
Adrift
Answer Me This
No Such Thing as a Fish

Arts/science

On Being
Love Stories with Dolly Alderton
99 percent Invisible
Radiolab
Dispatch to a Friend
Tea and Tattle
The High Low
Dispatch to a Friend
Lost in Translation

Music

WTF with Marc Maron
Song Exploder
Desert Island Disks
NPR's Fresh Air
Art, Life, Music

Craft (most of these are on YouTube)

Pompom
Fruity Knitting
The Green Bean
Curious Handmade
Yarnchix
Yarns at Yinhoo
Kammebornia
Truly Myrtle
The Gentle Knitter (this is one of my all-time favourites!)

spring things

It's properly spring here now - the first week of September - but we've had stormy weather with bitterly cold winds along with slightly lighter mornings and evenings. I hope you've been keeping warm, wherever you are!

My newest niece M had a small party to mark her 100th day on earth last week. I knitted her a hat from some pale pink alpaca yarn I'd been hoarding for just such a thing. The pattern is a free one from Tin Can Knits, called 'Barley', and comes in every size from newborn to extra-large-headed adult. I'm really pleased with how this tiny little hat turned out. Might have to make myself one to match.

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Tom has requested a handknit jumper and on the weekend we called in to Holland Road to choose some yarn. Tash kindly popped my purchase inside this great tote bag - yarn noodles + needle chopsticks! I know it will get lots of use.

And in other yarn-related news, I bought this beautiful Norah George hand-dyed yak/silk/merino on a destash page and have just had it sitting on my desk, admiring the colour (its name is 'mustard seed', which I think is perfect) 

I'm thinking this yarn would make very lovely socks, or maybe fingerless gloves? Haven't decided yet. And besides, that man-sized sweater is going to take me a while.

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This week I finished reading The Kindness of Strangers which is a memoir by New Zealand writer Shonagh Koea. I've read all her novels because I love the unusual style of writing - but think I loved her memoir even more, as it explains the non-fiction roots to her fiction, if you know what I mean. 

And I've been listening to the excellent and beautiful album LUMP, which is Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay. Thanks to Flora for alerting me to it.

In the comments section of my last post, Deb asked if I knew of any good podcasts at the moment. I'm afraid I'm not much of a podcast listener, because I like audiobooks if I ever have time to listen quietly, and music when there's no time or space to concentrate on a story. But I have enjoyed the Guilty Feminist and Tom is currently listening to one called Teacher's Pet. And I hear The Alice Fraser Trilogy podcast is good.

Do you have any suggestions for Deb? Please leave any recommendations in the comment section. Thank you in advance!

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in the slow lane

This week I finished a knitting project that I've been working on for months. I'm quite a slow knitter! But I'm very happy with my new cardigan, which I made from this alpaca and merino yarn in a darkish shade of silvery-grey. The pattern is designed by Joji Locatelli and is called 'Lanes'. It appears in the very first issue of Laine magazine. I hope to make my way through more Laine patterns eventually, as they're all very beautiful! Maybe I will within the next 20 years...

You can find a link to the pattern, yarn, and other details on my Ravelry page here.

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Another very small project: a pair of earrings, made by taking apart an old necklace and a broken pair of earrings. It couldn't have been a simpler or speedier project (quite the contrast from the cardigan), but I love wearing them.

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This week, Tom and I stayed up way too late watching the latest season of Orange is The New Black, which I think is such an excellent show. I found it really laugh-out-loud funny and cry-spontaneously sad at the same time. I really hope they make another season, so we see some kind of new resolution for the characters (especially, my favourite, Taystee!)

And I've been listening to an old song: The Rip, by Portishead. It's ten years old now, but just as good now in my opinion.

Have a lovely week ahead, and thank you as always for visiting here. X X X X X

rare and exotic

The clematis that grows in our back fence has burst into flower this week, which is a very promising sign that winter is on its way out. The Māori name for this plant is Puawhananga, or 'flower of the skies' which I think is more beautiful than 'clematis.'

I hope you are well and keeping warm, wherever you are in the world. 

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This week I finished a pair of socks that I had been working on for quite a long time. The yarn is from Dark Harbour Yarns and the colourway name is the rather glorious 'Rare and Exotic Beast - grey with bits.' I've made this pattern lots of times and I love the design - it stays up, keeps its shape, and is nice and simple too. But I might try a different pattern next time. I'd love to master 2-at-a-time socks.

I do like to have a sock project in progress at all times though, as it's the perfect thing to fit in my work satchel for the odd bus knitting session or when I'm waiting to collect kids from somewhere.

This pair is a gift for a sweet friend of mine.

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This week I read a very small book: Notes of a Bag Lady by Margaret Mahy, a favourite NZ writer who died in 2012. In this essay, she describes how writing has given her many different ways of seeing the world and trying out different personas, from a detective to an adventurer, a princess and a witch. She eventually trained and worked as a librarian before writing full-time. 

Notes of a Bag Lady is a very funny piece of writing but, being a devout librarian fan, I particularly loved what she had to say about her profession and thought you might too:

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...I saw a picture in which the prim austerity of a female character was emphasised by the fact she was a librarian. Over the years librarians have been given a repressive image. Time and again they are shown as humourless women who, being largely sexless, have never escaped into the halcyon work of housekeeping and hanging out napkins.

Of course many people are unaware that Casanova was not only sexually prodigious but also progressed to become librarian for Count von Waldstein in Bohemia for 13 years, though admittedly this was towards the end of his career. We have no evidence that he progressed to be an efficient cataloguer.

Casanova to one side, I am here to assert that librarians stand dancing and pivoting on the tenuous ridge that separates chaos from order. That dancing librarian makes so much of the world accessible to others.

- Margaret Mahy (a small extract from NOABL, Four Winds Press, 2003.)

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the biscuit tin

Hello! Signs of spring are starting to appear here. I love these little blue flowers, the names of which I always forget. They don't seem to mind though and cheerfully come out of their bulbs regardless. The days are getting a little longer too, and the general bite of winter is not so sharp. 

I hope you are well, dear reader? Thank you for the lovely comments on my last post. Interesting that knitted rabbits are on your mind, too. I have started work on my angora version and will report back soon.

I also made the kimono jacket I mentioned in my last post. I used the Kochi Kimono design by Papercut Patterns and some drapey linen and it's already proven to be a useful garment to wear to work.

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This week I've re-discovered some music I hadn't heard in a long time: Joanna Newsom's Divers. I love this album, and was very pleased to find the entire thing online as I seem to have lost all the music I purchased on i-tunes a few years ago. 

I'm reading Women in Clothes by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits and Leanne Shapton partly because of the beautiful cover design and the fact I love hearing about other people's clothes, and partly because of a terrible Guardian review that made this book compelling reading for me. 

Do bad reviews tempt you to read or listen to something, too? I'm not sure if this is a normal reaction.

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I wanted to tell you about some very simple, but delicious biscuits. I recently found a copy of this book that I thought I had lost. It's filled with recipes from old community cookbooks from around New Zealand. The recipes are lovely, and remind me so much of my paternal grandmother, who was a proper old-school Kiwi baker. But the scanned pages of old books, and historical insights are what make Ladies, A Plate extra special.

Anyway, I made some 'coconut whispers' from it which are very simple little cookies, a bit like macaroons. You can find a very similar recipe here. I flavoured mine with the scrapings of a vanilla bean. But you could use anything - almond extract or lemon or maybe rosewater? You can see them above in a great old biscuit tin that my friend Anna gave to me. Old-fashioned biscuits in a proper old tin. Must be time to put the kettle on.

midwinter dispatch

Hello! I feel like I haven't been here in ages. I've had a small, unintentional break from my usual weekly blog routine that can be pinned down to a general midwinter murk and lack of non-working time. I hope this finds you well, dear reader!

I've also found myself losing my usual verve when it comes to making, which has been a bit sad and strange. Doesn't often happen to me! No matter how busy I am, I still dream of projects and keep my sketchbook around. But not this winter, for some reason. 

Here are some photos from the past few weeks:

A crisp early evening from our front door step, with a pearl moon out early.

A batch of crumpets made on a quiet Saturday morning (so yum toasted with butter and with a cup of tea alongside... I used the recipe from a book I mentioned in this post, The Little Library Cookbook by Kate Young).

A stack of new linen in berry colours, sent by Susan of Loop for some new project bags to send to London in the spring. And a very sweet little pair of Japanese scissors for my embroidery toolbox, she sent as a gift. I love these! Very, very small but also sharp. And with a leather pouch to keep them in.

Other things I've been doing lately have included reading: I finished Motherhood by Sheila Heti which I really enjoyed. It explores the deepest thinking about the meaning of being a mother, or not having children, as the case may be.

Knitting: still working on the same slow projects (could these be the source of my dampened enthusiasm with making? Hmm). Hope to finish both garments soon, and move onto new things.

Projects planned for spring:

+ One of these Kochi Kimono jackets, in a fine black linen (I think it would be a very useful work garment, or to wear while lounging around anywhere else! 
+ A couple of tops like this one, for the warmer weather (do you like how I'm writing as though winter is almost over? It's not even close!)
+ Knitted rabbits. I have some soft natural angora yarn and would love to knit up a couple of soft rabbits for my baby nieces, but I haven't found a pattern like the idea I have in mind. I am going to try to make my own.

What about you? How are you feeling these days, and what projects are you planning?
Thank you for visiting, as always.

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topographical flow

Last weekend Tom and I took a small trip out of town, with our warmest clothes, a big stack of library books, a bottle of wine and some craft projects (me). Whanganui's Sargeant Gallery has always been one of my favourites so we visited the Edith Collier exhibition (look at these beautiful paintings!) and the Maureen Lander's Flatpack Whakapapa weavings.

On Saturday the winter sun was shining brightly on the Whanganui River and we went kayaking for a bit and for a walk along a wild surf beach thick with driftwood that led to a cafe and garden filled with giant succulents and cacti.

Did you know that last year, in a world first, the Whanganui River was granted the status of legal personhood?

Inspired by that trip, and a recent book of poetry I've been reading called Flow, which charts human settlement in this part of NZ, I've been working on some small stitched pieces that are a bit topographical in nature. 

cake stall baking and other treats

Keira made some delicious ginger crunch for a school cake stall, and since then we've had to ask her to make it for us a few times, too. This recipe is here, and it's very delicious. Although we reduce the sugar by quite a bit and it still works fine. The perfect treat to go with coffee on a cold afternoon.

Aren't those skeins of yarn so pretty? I did a swap with Deb of Revive Designs yarn and she sent me these hand-dyed yarns in soft pinks and greys, which make up a kit for a Juniper shawl. The pattern is by Libby of Truly Myrtle. I really like it but I am such a slow knitter, it might not even get started for a few months. 

My knitting life seems to be focused on simple and quick projects most of the time, I think because by the time I get home from work at night my brain isn't up to much. Also because my family love their handknit hats and accessories during the winter. This week I finished this hat for Tom in a navy blue merino. The pattern is 'Windschief' by Stephen West. You can find the details (yarn, pattern link, etc) here on Ravelry.

Last night I went to the launch of Tayi Tibble's first poetry collection Poūkahangatus. Tayi and I work together and she is an inspiring woman. Reading her poems feel like a bit of a punch in the heart but they are also funny and very clever. This morning there's an interview with her on The Spinoff - if you like poetry, and/or lipgloss (she includes some good tips towards the end) you should check it out.

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Have a lovely weekend!

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midwinter days

Hello! I hope you're keeping well and warm on these midwinter days. I thought I'd share some photos from my week. This is pretty much what I've been up to: admiring the first daphne blooms, sewing, embroidery and quite a lot of work, but I don't have a pretty image for that. 

Have you heard of Plastic Free July? I wanted to get involved by making lots of shopping bags from recycled fabrics, and maybe doing some giveaways on here. It might all have been a pipe dream though, as I've found myself a bit busy of late.

Never too busy to go plastic-free though... and I did find the time to make myself a new shopping bag. This is made from striped denim and lined in vintage cotton cut from an old curtain. I used this pattern from my blog - maybe you feel like making one too?

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Tomorrow a friend and I will be heading along to Capital Fibre Fest in Upper Hutt. It promises to be a fun event with heaps of spinning, weaving, knitting and, of course, yarn shopping. You should check it out if you're free tomorrow in the capital.

The other thing I wanted to tell you about was Nanette by Hannah Gadsby (on Netflix). You've probably already seen it by now. Or, at least, heard all about it. I watched it last week and found it really did live up to the critical praise - I thought it was amazing. Moving and funny and intense. I think you will like it.

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street flowers

Street Flowers by Richard Mabey is a beautiful book from 1976 and was gifted to me this week by my friend Helen. It's about the devices used by plants to survive in difficult surroundings: mass production and distribution of seeds, extra-fast growth and killing off of other nearby plants. It's really interesting and the illustrations, by Sarah Kensington, are really beautiful. Lots of inspiration for sketching, gardening and stitching! (If plants can grow in an urban environment, they might be able to survive our place!)

Also this week, I finished a hat for Arlo - it's just a simple watchman-style cap in navy blue. I used this pattern from Purl Soho. Have you seen how many amazing (free) knitting and sewing patterns they have these days? 

Things I would love to make: this diagonal slip-stitch throw, a double-knit blanket, classic cardigan in cotton or alpaca, boot socks (Keira has requested a pair of these to wear with her Doc boots) and baby fair-isle cardigans (for my nieces).
My mum has made this wrap, (in minty-green cashmere) and it's so beautiful - it's on my dream-knit list!
I also love this optic throw, but can't see myself ever finishing something so ambitious. What a beautiful piece though.

I rediscovered my headphones recently and have been enjoying listening to the new Father John Misty album through them on my walks around the city. This is another beautiful song I love at the moment - and I'm going to see her live on the weekend - lucky me!

Hope you have a relaxing one. XX