tiny happy

Wishing you a very happy Christmas and new year season.

It's the end of the working year here, so I'm signing off for a few weeks. 

Thank you for visiting my blog this year. See you in 2018.

Melissa

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It feels like life has sped up over the past few weeks, and now both kids have finished school for the year and all the events that came with that are done and dusted. Hooray!

Tom planted a small native daisy when we first moved into this house, and over those years it's sat on the hillside, a small, slightly dejected-looking clump of leaves. But this week it finally seemed to come alive, and is flowering! I love these plants and am so glad to see it doing well in our garden (not many things do, unfortunately). 

I can't have been too flat out lately though because I finished knitting a pair of socks (mind you, they did take me about a month of slow knitting to complete) and I'm looking forward to wearing them when we get some cooler weather! I used Vintage Purls sock yarn in various shades of grey and blue to make these. (Ravelry notes are here).

I also binge-watched the second season of Better Things which I loved, and most of the sock knitting was done during those episodes. 

And in the last photo you can see a new top I made for myself with the thought of the hot summer ahead. I used a vintage pattern lent to me by a friend, it's Style #3896 from 1983 and includes four different top designs.

This one has dropped sleeves and quite wide facings sewn around the armholes and neckline. It's sewn from silky fabric with a watercolour-style print and little gold dots scattered over it. I actually cut the fabric from a pleated designer dress I loved but never wore because it didn't fit comfortably, and was just sitting bored in my wardrobe. I'm so pleased with the fit of the top that I bought my own copy of the pattern online and will no doubt make lots more of these.

Happy making and celebrating to you!

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Hello! It's most definitely flowering season here, but there hasn't been much rain to keep everything thriving. I hope this finds you well and keeping warm (or cool, depending on your hemisphere).

Last week I found an old wooden flower press in a second-hand shop and cleaned it up for a friend who has been on the look out for one. It had stickers on it and had seen better days, so I treated the wood with beeswax and painted some sprigs on the top over the sticker marks. It was fun to give it to L and her toddler daughter because they go for a lot of walks and foraging expeditions together.

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In other making news, I've been continuing my mission to use long-hoarded fabric and this week I made some things that had been sitting unfinished on my work table, including needle-books (some from vintage linen and some from my own embroideries) and a few more project bags. The one you see above was a tea-towel and a place-mat in its former life. 

I was inspired to make the needle-books after watching the Netflix mini-series Alias Grace. It's a beautifully told story and includes themes of hand-work – quilting and patchwork in particular. In one scene, Grace and her best friend Mary exchange Christmas gifts of embroidery and a needle case.

Apart from some late-night TV watching and a lot of work, this time of year brings with it many parties and other occasions and treats. I've discovered a love of mojitos and whiskey sours and learned to make rum balls and apricot fudge truffles (using this recipe which is not nutritious but definitely delicious and fun to serve at a Christmas party.)

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There are a few things in my etsy shop but I think I will close it for the year at the beginning of next week. I have lots of ideas and thoughts for what I might make next year, but am looking forward to having a break from my work desk for several weeks.

I hope you are enjoying this part of the year, wherever you are in the world. 

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Hi there, I hope this finds you well. It's December already!

Despite having a thousand things on my 'to-do' list this weekend, I found myself sewing together all the scraps of fabric that were stacked in piles on worktable (to be fair, 'tidy up worktable' was on my list) which took the good part of an afternoon. These particular scraps I thought looked beautiful together, so I've pinned them to the wall as a temporary installation. The fabrics are nearly all recycled from clothing or similar, and quite a few of the pieces come from the boxed corners of project bags I've made lately. Not sure what I'll do with these patched-together strips yet but have a few ideas.

I bought a box of my books earlier this year and thought it might be fun to have a half-price sale on them before Christmas. I announced it on Instagram over the weekend and wanted to say thank you for all the orders! There are still a few copies left in my etsy shop, if you're after one for a gift for someone (or yourself). It gives me joy to think of these books out in the world, being used!

Last week I visited my friend Constança who lives in a rural town a couple of hours' drive away. I've been talking about doing this for ages, so it was lovely to see where she lives and go for a walk around her community. I also got to meet her boys Rodrigo and Pedro who I adore. C loves to collect vintage linen and china, and I snapped a picture of the coffee she served after lunch to show you – check out that beautiful little espresso cup! She had a matching set of 4.

I ordered some photo calendars as gifts for family, and snuck in an order for these cards with one of my embroideries while I was at it. I love having nice notecards to send off with orders and mail to friends. Viva la snail mail!

Hope you have a lovely week.

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This last part of the calendar year is really speeding along, isn't it? The sun has been shining brightly nearly every day here in Wellington, although it's a bit cooler and cloudier today.

I thought I'd share a few pictures from this past week, or should I say, mostly show off a beautiful bunch of peonies! I bought them from Jeannie at my favourite local shop Next Stop Earth and they've been gracing the kitchen windowsill for a week now. I never tire of flower-buying, and I can't imagine ever being able to grow something like these myself.

There hasn't been much time for knitting lately, only a bit finished on car trips and while waiting for kids to finish their music lessons, etc. As you can see in the second photo above, that baby blanket I started a while back hasn't had much love, but I do hope to do some serious work on it over the summer break. 

I've also been having fun using up small pieces of long-hoarded fabric, and sewing them together into patches is especially enjoyable. These patches were made up into project bags for my etsy shop.

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Some of my embroidered work is now at Loop in London – you can see a glimpse here. I think there a still a few pieces in the Loop online shop. It's a joy to have some of my work over there even though it takes me a long time to prepare it and I never seem to have as many pieces to send as I'd like.

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In my last post, I mentioned the Soul Craft Festival in June next year and now I'm excited to share that I'll be teaching some workshops and speaking (!) at the event. If you go to the Soul Craft instagram feed you can check out some of the teachers and presenters and learn more about the festival itself. It looks like it's going to be super-inspiring and I'm thrilled to be going.

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I came across a piece of music this week that I love: Duke Ellington's Single Petal of a Rose which he recorded in 1959 as part of the 'Queen's Suite' of pieces. Thought you might like it too.

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Hi! Happy new week to you. 

I finished a pair of blue socks a while back but just realised I never posted them here. They're to be a gift for someone close, and I really enjoyed making them. I used beautiful hand-dyed Knitsch sock yarn and a pattern I made up as I went along, which I must admit resulted in a fair bit of unravelling and re-knitting and practising being patient (not my strong suit). There are some more notes on my Ravelry page here.

Over the past week I've also been working on some embroidered pieces, including the botanical one you see above. These are to be sent to Loop in London very soon.

And I found some embroidered bluebirds (is there anything sweeter?) tucked away which I felt had to be sewn into baby slippers for my shop – you can find them here. 

Last week I wrote about how I had (finally) discovered audiobooks from my local library. Two new favourites have been added to my list: Sweet Tooth , a spy novel by Ian McEwan which I listened to while embroidering late at night and loved, and Kate Atkinson's Behind the Scenes at the Museum which I had read years ago but was very happy to re-read, or rather, listen to. Do you have any favourites?

I hope this finds you well, dear reader, and enjoying this fresh new week.

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Good morning! 

Last week I finished a knitting project that had been languishing in the basket for too long: a lovely soft possum yarn jumper for Keira. I had started it as something for myself – but realised it was going to be too small when I was about halfway through. Then it sat in the knitting basket sulking for a while (actually it was me who was sulking). But Keira loved the look of it so I adapted it to fit her. And it does, perfectly! I used this pattern and some yarn that was a gift/swap from Bonnie. Ravelry notes here.

Next year Kee starts at high school and there is no uniform to be worn, so I'm hoping she'll get lots of wear out of it next winter. She's already worn it a lot since it came off the needles, which is the best reward a knitter can have.

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My mission to use up some of my many small bits of fabric collected over the years continues… I've been making some patchwork blocks (above you can see a very wonky star made with scraps) with the idea of collecting them slowly then making a quilt or blanket of some sort. I still draw a lot of inspiration from quilts like these handmade beauties.

I've also made various pouches and sock knitting cases from recycled and vintage fabrics, and am making my way through pieces of old cotton velveteen saved up over the years. Some of these are in my etsy shop.

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My friends in Melbourne who run The Craft Sessions each spring have just launched a new festival. Soul Craft will be held for the first time in June next year and features workshops, classes, talks and lots more – you can read more about it here. Felicia is giving away a double day pass to the festival and you can enter by leaving a comment here. I think it will be a really special event.

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Hello! Hope you've had a good weekend with some time to relax. 

This past weekend has come and gone in a flash – they do that, don't they? Keira and I had found ourselves with a free Saturday morning so we did a bit of sewing. K's keen to learn to make some clothes for herself, especially as next year she won't have to wear a uniform at her new school.

Anyway, I thought a simple boxy top would be a good thing to start with, and remembered Mum helping me to make something pretty similar when I was 12.

We used the Lou Box Top pattern and cut it down a little to fit. I've made a couple of these before (here and here) and it's a great little pattern with lots of details that are easy to adapt to your own liking. And the fabric is a dark brown drapey cotton with small pink flowers, leftover from this dress I sewed a while back.

We have foxgloves growing the garden! I remember planting the seedlings in the autumn but never really expecting they'd take off in the way they have. They're now nearly as tall as me and have opened up in the most beautiful colours: plum-purple, peachy pink and a lemon yellow. 

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An exciting thing that happened last week was that I finally worked out how to loan audiobooks from my local library.

I suspect I'm about a decade late to this party, but that only makes it a sweeter discovery. I downloaded the app 'Libby' for my phone, and listen through a little bluetooth speaker I was given for mother's day this year.

I've so far listened to Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting while planting the summer vegetable garden, and Solar by Ian McEwan while knitting and doing other work. Both are highly recommended.

Are you an audiobook fan? Any recommendations for me and other readers? XX

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It's been quite a beautiful spring here so far, with some typical wild wind racing through, but also some calm warm days. And of course all the best flowers are out – blossoms, poppies, and roses. The roses in the top picture are growing in a wild tangle up a trellis beside our front door. They were a gift from Tom's mum Clare, who is the queen of roses – she must have known how well they'd do in that particular spot.

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I recently had a change of job – no more editing and publishing work for me, but I'm going to try freelance writing for a while. This means I have a little more flexibility with my time and frees me up to do creative work too. I'm excited to try out some ideas and have time to do textile work that's always in the back of my mind but not quite able to be completed.

One thing I've had in mind is project bags for knitting. Above you can see my latest design, which I made from different types of linen (in a dark green, charcoal and mauve/grey), paired with natural linen that I stamped with wood blocks.

They're the perfect size for a pair of socks-in-progress or a larger project, or anything else really. I have a few in my etsy shop and hope to add more over the next couple of weeks.

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I've been enjoying the British TV series Mum – have you seen it? It's quite funny and thoughtful. A quiet sort of watch – perfect for knitting along to late at night. And of course, the latest Outlander season as well, which has all the beautiful costumes and glory of the first two. Have you been watching anything good lately?

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I wanted to show you some of the treasures that came home with me from our recent trip away. As you know I love to check out second-hand and antique shops, especially in small towns. The kids don't love it so much – but they had books and their phones, so didn't seem to mind waiting around for me.

In a small East Coast town I found the a copy of The Loving Stitch which is all about the history of knitting in NZ. It's a great read – the author has a good sense of humour and there are lots of beautiful old photos of garments, trends and the people involved. My favourite page features the Silver Ferns (our national netball team) knitting mohair jumpers together between games in the 1990's.

In the same part of the country I also found some beautiful printed linen and a little coffee mug which is now known as my 'butter cup cup.'

As we neared Napier I remembered about the knitting shop Skeinz, and while I was deliberating on what to buy, Tom bought me a wooden swift and ball winder set for my birthday, which was a few days later. Such a treat! I feel like I might nearly be a proper knitter soon. I'm also hoping my neighbouring knitting friends will come over to use it so we can drink coffee and chat about our projects.

And lastly, you can see some yarn I bought from Skeinz, which is such a good little shop, by the way. It stocks a lot of NZ yarn and some from Europe too. I bought some 'orb DK' which is a high-twist merino and very soft. I'm working on a simple bias baby blanket (similar to this one I made last year) for a friend who is expecting a baby. It made the perfect car-knitting project on the way home, too.

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