tiny happy

Thank you for your comments and emails about my latest post.

I can't tell you how lovely it was to read those. And there were so many projects I wanted to start – what an industrious and creative group of people you are!

I haven't always found it easy to keep this blog going. Sometimes I can't think of anything to write and nor do I feel like working on projects. Over the years I've wondered whether it was worth writing the blog if I wasn't going to be a full-time maker and crafts-person (I've been studying and working in an office as a writer for nearly four years). And blogs seem almost old-fashioned now when most people are using Instagram, Twitter, etc.

But I'm pleased that I've been able to keep it ticking along, albeit in a small and modest way, because making things and taking photos brings me a lot of joy.

Thank you for following all this time, and welcome if you are a new reader. There's still time to enter the giveaway if you'd like to – I'll draw some winners this weekend.

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I finished knitting another pair of slippers last week. I used this free pattern and highly recommend it, especially if you live in an old Wellington house like ours.

They're easy to knit and you could use up random balls of wool you have lying around – for this pair I used some vintage cream worsted-weight wool and a strand of yellow mohair/silk yarn held double and I love the marled effect of that. It's definitely better to aim for a sturdy knitted fabric, rather than a soft one, so the slippers last longer and keep their shape.

The tones of the yarn reminded me of a recent family walk. When we reached the top of the hill, the bright blue of the Cook Strait was framed by golden gorse in flower.

This online journal is ten years old! I find it hard to believe.

Yet in some ways it feels like I've been writing about my projects here forever. 

Thank you for dropping by and reading. Thank you for your emails and comments over the years. It's been a lot of fun. I don't know what the future holds for 'tiny happy' – whether I'll keep on writing here or not. I'll just keep going until I get tired of it.

So to celebrate this blog milestone (a decade..!!) I wanted to have a giveaway, because that's always fun.

I have three parcels to send to you, dear readers, to thank you for being part of my blog family. I'll draw three separate winners – they can be from anywhere in the world – and we can work out which is the best parcel for which winner.

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a) knitting parcel – this includes a bento bag I've made from hand-printed linen (it's the perfect size for socks-in-progress), a skein of beautiful hand-dyed merino yarn (handspun and dyed by my Mum) and two balls of one of my favourite local yarns, Silver Lining merino DK (knits up like this)

b) sewing parcel – this has a length of beautiful vintage cotton fabric, some hand-dyed embroidery threads and a sampler needlebook

c) making for children parcel – a new signed copy of my book and half a metre of 'planting seeds' fabric I designed (it's nice for lining bonnets, baby shoes, etc and you can find the patterns for these in the book)

If you're not really a making-things type of person, I also have some nature badges and postcard sets I can send should your name be drawn.

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To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment below telling me what you're currently working on – whether it's something you're making or cooking or a book you're reading.

XX Melissa XX

I've always loved Japanese bento bags and furoshiki-style gift wrapping, and so I decided to try making some from that hand-printed linen in this post.

I had to stare for a long time at an existing bag and employ some (ok, a lot of) trial-and-error in coming up with the method for these but I'm really happy with them – and I have made a couple for gifts as well. And two are now keeping my knitting projects in order.

The striped linen bento bag in the top photo above is quite large- it would fit a cardigan or jersey-in-progress so I've listed it, along with some other things, in my etsy shop.

I hope you're having a lovely week, dear reader.

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I'm celebrating a big blog-milestone this month, so I have a special giveaway planned in a few days' time.

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Tom went to a Māori teachers' conference, and he brought me back this putiputi harakeke (flax flower) made by a colleague. 

I was taught to make these as a child, but my finished putiputi were much smaller and inclined to fall apart. I love this one though – it's strongly-woven and smells earthy and comforting.

If you're interested in seeing more of these, you can click here. This is a good description of the work that goes into preparing the harakeke for weaving.

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The second photo above is a snapshot of what the kitchen table looks like when Tom is away. (Not that he minds, but rather that I feel some obligation to keep my crafting chaos to a minimum with other adults around).

At least, this was half of the table – the other half being covered in the kids' papers and art supplies. Happiness!

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Further on my Aotearoa-theme, this new song (and rather fabulous video) is a beauty.

It turns out that playing around with stamps and ink is a very relaxing activity. 

I pulled out some of hand-carved stamps (some I carved myself, some Indian woodblock stamps), textile ink and best grey linen and did some making the other day: a new case for keeping projects in, and some things for the etsy shop.

Here's a pretty song for this grey winter day: Stay Alive, José González

Wishing you a happy week.

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I found a few treasures at a recent Fabricabrac I attended with Constança and Nikki – we had such a lot of fun rummaging through the buttons and fabrics. 

Anyway, I made a dress from one of the pieces I bought, which is chocolate brown rayon-cotton with a small floral print. I used the 'Esme' pattern from Lotta Jansdotter's Everyday Style book, because I love the first one I made and wear it to work all the time.

The same modifications were made to this dress as last time – I sewed the neckline facings by hand, and lengthened both the hem and sleeves a bit.

And I also wanted to put some glorious sunshine on this page… enter wildflowers picked from the side of the road near our house (in mid-winter..?!) and another pair of these (everyone in the family wants some) for which I'm using two strands of yarn at once for maximum warmth and happiness.

I hope you are having a good weekend, dear readers.

Last month I did a little swap with my friend Amiria who just happens to be a very talented musician.

I knitted her a hat for the South Island winter and she sent me some new music - her latest album Autumn and a recording of her duo The Swan Sisters. Amiria has a beautiful voice and I love her songs – you can find her on Bandcamp here.

(There's also a great feature about her music on Radio NZ which you can find here).

Amiria chose the yarn from a photo of what I had in my knitting basket – and the 'Jul' pattern, which is now my all-time favourite hat to knit. (Here are my Ravelry notes.)

Amiria lives in Lyttelton but used to live near me in Wellington. When I was doing my journalism training a few years ago, she kindly let me practice my (rather fledgling) interview, shorthand and feature-writing skills on her. She was patient and open-hearted.

Despite it being midwinter, the nasturtiums are growing in full force along our street – I had to take a photo of their glossy green glory when I was waiting for the bus the other day.

And in somewhat unrelated news, I wanted to show you these slippers I made. Each one took an evening – and they're very warm and cosy. They're for Keira, and tomorrow i plan to attach some leather scraps to the sole, for non-slipperiness and longevity. She's also gently suggested that colourful pom poms would be a stylish addition.

I used this free and fantastic pattern, along with a ball of alpaca yarn I found at the op-shop.

A friend in Norway had a basket of these in her house for visitors to wear, so now of course I want to do the same…

 We've been having some beautiful light shining through the windows these days. It's of the weak midwinter variety, but still very much appreciated on these cold July mornings.

I sat in a sunny spot this morning and finally finished a little project I've been working on for ages (months even perhaps!) My idea was to make needlebooks from all the scraps of linen leftover from other things, and I lined them with leftover bits and pieces too. Even the buttons that secure them once lived on a work shirt of Tom's. 

Making rows of simple stitches on striped linen is a very pleasant activity. I thought that having one of these sampler needlebooks nearby might encourage a new but keen embroiderer to have a go and copy the stitches.

A couple are for gifts and 3 have gone into my etsy shop along with a few other things.

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There's a new Bat for Lashes album out – she's a favourite of mine. This song is a great one to blast through the headphones when walking up hills.

Hope you've had a relaxing weekend.

Here are some pictures from mine:

a) a new tote bag, screen-printed by my friend Richard – I bought it as part of a special sale of his work for a fundraiser and am so glad I did – now I can carry the sun's rays around with me.

b) some embroidery-in-progress for a new batch of project bags for Loop London.

c) sweet and tiny little flowers outside the front door. The only flowers growing in our garden these days, with the exception of dandelions, who continue to appear everywhere with brazen steadfastness.

And in other weekend news, I baked this lemony loaf for some vitamin c goodness, 

Tom and I finished the latest season of Orange is the New Black (after binge-watching the lot on Netflix) – what an amazing show – so funny and tragic and moving,

And I discovered this very sweet Swedish knitting podcast – it involves philosophical discussions, coffee, biscuits, and colourful hand-knits. I had it playing on the laptop while finishing a couple of projects - and highly recommend it to you if this kind of thing is your cup of tea.