tiny happy

The other day when I got out of bed the skyline was glowing. What a beautiful time of year this is, all crisp air and honey light.

And I got around to making something with this lovely fabric from a few weeks ago – a new set of pillowcases for our bed. These have some floral cotton lawn on the back and Nani Iro double-gauze ('Melody Sketch' design) on the front. Here is the 'recipe' for these in case you need some too.

Mostly unrelated to beds and sunrises: there is a moving new PJ Harvey song + video to be heard here. Those flocks of birds, children and men…

Hello! Hope you are having a good weekend so far. We all went away for a week over the Easter break, to attend a friend's wedding and catch up with family.

The second photo above shows the riot of Japanese anemones in my mum's garden. Aren't they beautiful? Slightly refined and crazy at the same time.

There are quite a few new babies being born in my circle of friends and family. Project-wise, I have some baby gifts in progress and this morning I finished making some small knitted animals – like the ones I made here.

The original idea and pattern for these can be found here (thank you Rachel!) but I've changed them up a bit.

I love making these – and an extra benefit is that I can use small balls of yarn leftover from other projects.These particular animals are made from 4 ply scraps, including sock yarn, handspun silk and merino, and the leftover yarn from this cowl project.

Before sending these characters off to their new homes, I hope to make some little cases like these with embroidered initials.

Here's a favourite song for your Saturday: A little lost. 
See you again soon!

Wishing you a peaceful and happy Easter weekend, if you celebrate it where you are. 

This week I learned that Rachel Bush had passed away. She was a celebrated writer who had published a number of poetry collections, but also an English teacher at my former high school.

I remember greatly looking forward to a lunchtime 'writer's group' she arranged at our school, where we could share our own poems and stories and she would encourage us to write more. She really took us seriously, and opened up a world of creative writing for me.

Here is one of her recent poems: All my thoughts would have been of common things.

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Here are some pages from my latest book purchase: Everyday Style by Lotta Jansdotter. I saw it in the bookshop near my work and couldn't resist the beautiful Scandinavian styling. Over the years I've bought most of Lotta's books and I love her friendly tone and style.

I think this is my favourite yet though – it's truly beautiful and inspiring to look at but also practical and I know I will make most of the patterns. There are patterns for some basic clothing (pants, dress, top, jacket, skirt) interspersed with other projects (bags, jewellery, etc.) But what I like best is that the clothes are made up in different fabrics and then shown on different women in the author's life: some younger, some older. The clothes are modelled by these real people, along with a little story about them.

I do recommend the book if you like sewing clothing, or are interested in getting started. I've been collecting fabrics (you can see them in the first photo above) to use with these patterns and can't wait to get started.

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I'd been dreaming about this dress long before it was made. I knew it had to be linen – black or maybe in dark blue like the juice of blackberries which are growing high above our road, unreachable and dusty.

The plan for the dress was to make it quite long – about halfway between my knees and ankles. I was thinking of the upcoming winter, and imagining how warm and comforting it would be to wear with tights, cardigan, etc.

The bodice is lined with cotton lawn – the kind that I might have had a dress from as a small girl – and the pockets are too. I do rather like making my own clothes, and choosing all the details like that.

In the middle picture you can see it billowing around in the Wellington wind. 

For the pattern, I adapted a commercial one I had (New Look #6223), the lining is from The Fabric Store here in Wellington, and I bought the linen from here.

Speaking of making clothes, I recently acquired the new Lotta Jansdotter book Everyday Style, and that has inspired me to make some clothes to wear to work. I'll share that book with you next time…

Keira turned 11 the other day and when I asked her what she'd like for her birthday, she said 'a kid's bus pass with a string attached so it can go around my neck, and a pair of socks knitted by you.'

Despite this reasonable-sounding request, I didn't manage to get the socks done in time, but they are finished now and she seems pretty pleased with them. She did however receive the bus pass, as well as books, clothes, a party with her friends and some other things that make an 11 year old happy.

The socks were fun to knit, although they took forever because I mistakenly used a needle that was 2 sizes too small. On the other hand, they should be stronger and warmer for this 11 year old's feet, which are always freezing cold in winter. The yarn is Rowan 'fine art' sock in the colourway Chiff-Chaff (colours are smoky greys, and purples.) The pattern is just a basic sock pattern I've had typed on a piece of paper for years – I think it's this one from Ashford.

I took the photo of the gorse bushes adorned with spider nests ('spider nurseries' we used to call them as kids) a few Marches ago – to me it is such an autumnal image, and is accompanied by a crisp sweet smell and maybe a tinge of woodsmoke.

When Keira was born there were marigolds, blackberries and monarch butterflies in the garden.

Last week I had the amazing luck of coming across a metre of Nani Iro at the op shop for a few dollars -and it has the sweet name of Melody Sketch. The fabric was rolled up and fastened with string and I had no idea it was lovely double-gauze until I got home.

I'm thinking of using it to make some pillowcases (maybe like these or this one) when the weekend arrives. 

And even though I have three unfinished projects in my knitting basket I had to cast on another: this is the first bit of a blanket I'm making from the 'freeform knitted throw' pattern in Lena Corwin's Made by Hand. I thought it could be a nice long-term project to utilise all the yarn leftovers I can find around the place. And seed stitch with big straight needles is quite possibly the most enjoyable knitting there is.

I've been enjoying this favourite album on the headphones lately: Two Suns by Bat for Lashes (especially love this track). Perfect for walking to work through the streets of Wellington in the cool autumn air.

A sprig of end-of-summer flowers and some embroidery to accompany it, both from the weekend. I was trying to capture those little white daisies with slightly pink-ish tips, like a minor blush. We have lots of them growing between the concrete steps up to the house.

Hope you had a lovely weekend, dear readers.

Here's a song that Sufjan Stevens played (as part of the encore) in last week's concert, perfectly autumnal: Heirloom.

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I've been working on a number of 'special orders' lately and one was a request for an eye pillow – the type you might use after yoga or just when having a lie-down. 

After making one, I decided I really needed one too (my eyes get so tired after a day at work on the computer) and I'm so thrilled with this seemingly simple but lovely thing to have. I've also made a few for friends with new babies and my shop. 

The pillows are made from linen (some are embroidered and some not) with soft cotton lawn on the bottom. Inside this outer layer there is another pouch made from silk, which I've filled with a mixture of flax seeds for weight, and dried lavender, for scent. 

The double layer is so that the outer part can be removed for washing, or to add fresh lavender or more seeds, as desired. I've also tried popping mine in the freezer before using (like a cold compress) and I guess you could do the same with a microwave.

Incidentally, I've been drying lavender from the garden though I use purchased (Marlborough) lavender in the pillows. Is there any better scent?

I made this blanket for my friend L who is expecting her first baby in a few weeks. It was such a joy to knit – I really enjoyed working on it and thinking of the new baby soon to arrive. The pattern is from the Purl Bee and just involves a simple diagonal garter stitch knit – the best thing while on the bus, the ferry, or watching episodes of Horace and Pete, I found.

I knew the mustard yellow was a favourite colour for my friend, so I started with that yarn, and then gradually found more as I went.

I was vaguely thinking of this painting, when considering the colour scheme but a muted version I guess. All up, the blanket took 9 balls of DK yarn, and I used a variety of different kinds, including alpaca, merino, and possum fibre – all the details are here on Ravelry.

In other news – my little Japanese anemone is ready to flower any day. It must officially be late summer.

Also, we went to see this concert last night. It was truly beautiful.