tiny happy

Kia ora, hello! It feels like a wee while since I was last here. I hope you're doing well. 
Spring is beginning to, well, spring in these parts, which is to say that just as the blossoms bravely appear on branches, they're whipped off again by the wind! That's Wellington life in September and October. It's lovely to have more light though, which makes it easier to get up and out the door on time.

I finished knitting my Felix pullover – I think I showed you an in-progress shot in my last post. Felix is a pattern by Amy Christoffers, worked in aran-weight yarn. It's quite a boxy shape, with eyelet detailing on the armhole shaping seams. I used some beautiful earthy-pink DK yarn from Wild Earth Yarns (it's super affordable – you can find it here) and to make it aran-weight (and add a bit of luxe) I held that together with a strand of silk-mohair yarn (hand-dyed a creamy colour by Miro Yarns). 

The finished garment is lovely – super warm and cosy and I know I'll get a lot of wear out of it next winter. It looks even better on Keira so part of me secretly hopes she'll get wear out of it too (she never wants me to knit her anything 'to order' these days, but quite often wears things I've made for myself…)

Last week I made a few things for my etsy shop – some botanical-embroidered pins and a few project bags. These were all made from vintage and other recycled fabrics – most of them featuring lush floral and botanical prints, paired with corduroy, linen or velveteen! Thank you very much to everyone who supported my shop and bought one! I've had a few queries about when I'll update the shop next. I am working on some things, but they take me a long time! I hope to have some new project bags and perhaps a few pins listed in there by next week.

I recently came across a beautiful Instagram account: Willow Crossley Creates. Do you know it? Willow is a florist/gardener/designer who specialises in beautiful and slightly wild arrangements. You can find little video demos on her page, here. Hope you enjoy!

Finally, and also on the botanical/spring theme, I wanted to share a beautiful and uplifting book I found at the library: On Flowers, by Amy Merrick.  It's just a beautiful collection of images and words about one of my favourite subjects: flowers! I recommend it if you're after some beauty. 

Have a lovely week, dear friends.

M

A soft and spacious wrap with green and grey triangles. That's what I was going for with my sister's birthday present. I made her a Vertices Unite shawl – the design is by Stephen West. It's one of my favourite designs – I'm tentatively thinking about casting on a third one day soon.

My sister looks beautiful in her new shawl – you can see a photo of her with it on my Ravelry page. And all the other details about the yarns I used, etc are over there too.

You can also see above the little set I recently made for my new nephew. It was such a lovely project to work on while we waited for news of his arrival. The socks are from this pattern (and made using scraps left over from some I knitted Arlo – his very big cousin!) and I found the garter stitch cross-over cardigan pattern here. It's free and very simple to knit up in a DK yarn. I adapted it a little to close with wooden buttons instead of ties. 

And the hat is another baby bear bonnet (like these ones) to match some I made for his cousins.

In the last photo you can see what I've been working on most recently – a jumper from some tweedy pink yarn and mohair held together. It's now finished and being worn! I'll take photos for my next blog post.

A new song I've fallen in love with lately: Spells by Norwegian artist Jenny Hval. I'm not sure I quite understand what's happening in the video though – I first discovered the music through my headphones. I think the first lyrics are: You are your own disco ball hovering above you like / a comforting reminder that not even you belong to you…

I hope this finds you well, dear reader. Thank you as always for visiting me here from wherever you are in the world.

X M

I'm a keen flower enthusiast, and while my gardening skills leave a lot to be desired I've loved pressing flowers and leaves since I was very young. The other day on Instagram I posted a snap of my flower press and some cards I made, and a few people asked me to share how I go about that. So here is that post.

First of all, you don't need any special materials or equipment to get started. I have a wooden flower press made by Ashford – I was lucky enough to find it in a second hand shop, but I don't think they produce them anymore. There are lots of others on the market, or you could make your own – you just need two strong pieces of wood and some screws. There's a simple tutorial here.

But actually I think flowers press just as well in a heavy book – the only thing is that you might forget which book is holding your precious plants, and discover them when you open the book much later. Which is not necessarily a bad thing – it's a lovely surprise to find summer flowers from the past, preserved and waiting for you.

Here is my method, which couldn't be simpler:

– First, gather your plants. It's best to press them when they're freshly picked, but not damp or wet, so I think sometime in the afternoon is a good gathering time. Some flowers work best if you deconstruct them – hydrangeas being an obvious example. I have tried pressing whole (small) rose buds but have much better results when I separate the petals and leaves. 

You don't need to have a fabulous garden to press flowers – grasses, ferns and leaves are fun to experiment with and often have excellent graphic shapes and colours. Many wildflowers and weeds, gathered from the side of road or a park, are also beautiful when pressed. The golden rule is to ask permission before gathering plants from a public place or someone else's garden (obviously) and not to take too many cuttings – especially if the plants are rare ones.

Some flowers press better – retaining their colour and shape – than others. The results might surprise you, so experiment with things that grow in your community.

– Pick your plant specimens when they're dry and bring them inside. If there is a little dew on them, you can lay them on a paper towel in a warm place to dry out for a short time. Also check they are free from little bugs and insects.

– Place them, with a little space around each cutting, on a piece of paper (waxed or baking paper is best) and lay another piece of paper on top. Place these in your wooden press or between the pages of your book (note that some plants can stain the pages of your book if you're not placing them between thick paper.) I've found it works best when I group together plants of a similar thickness or type, i.e. a page with only ferns, and another with petals, etc).

If you're using a purpose-built press, you can add layers of cardboard (corrugated card works well) between the paper and plant layers. When you've stacked all your plants, screw down the top of your press tightly and place somewhere cool and dark for at least a couple of weeks, but a month is best. If your book you're using is not a super heavy one, stack more books on top and leave somewhere for at least two weeks.

Making cards

I usually use my pressed flowers, ferns and leaves to make notecards and tags. To do this, I arrange the plants on pieces of card (usually black, brown or white) in pleasing arrangements. You might find it helpful to use tweezers to adjust the petals and leaves just so, before covering.

I carefully cover the arrangements with clear book seal (cut a little bigger than needed to make the whole process easier). At first, you might capture some air bubbles but you can usually carefully peel the plastic back and try again, or smooth the bubbles out with your fingernail.

You can also use a glue stick to secure the plants onto the card before you cover them. They have a tendency to lift off the card and stick to the seal as you are lowering it on, which can be annoying! 

Trim the excess seal from around the card, and punch a hole in the top if you are making a gift tag.

You can also use this method for envelopes, small artworks, postcards, placeholder cards, bookmarks, and anything else you can think of!

Other ideas

You can also microwave your flowers to dry them and I've heard of an ironing method too, but I've not tried either of these. There's more info about both those methods here.

Mod-podge, or another type of clear glue seal, can be brushed over your pressed flowers to decorate candles, glass votive holders or lanterns.

In this sweet Instagram video, florist Willow Crossley talks about pressing flowers and shares inspiration for what to do with them (including spelling out someone's name or initials – I love that idea!)

For some serious inspiration, this book is a bit amazing: The Art of Pressed Flowers, by Jenny Ashmore.

There are lots of other ways to use and display your pressed flowers, of course. I've included a picture of some decorative Easter eggs I made a few years back (read more here) and sun-catchers I've made (inspired by Extra Curricular magazine and Isabella from Hydrangea Ranger – read more here.) Next on my list is a botanical phone case for my battered mobile!

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I hope you'll give it a go and join me in my never ending love of gathering and preserving flowers. 🌿🌿🌿

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Is there anything nicer than a fresh stack of library books waiting on the bedside table? As if i needed an excuse to go to bed early with a cup of tea. 

I spent last Sunday afternoon at the library, and when I got home I realised all the books I'd borrowed featured plants, trees and flowers of some sort. It must nearly be spring! I've started reading Sleeping Letters and Losing Eden: Why Our Minds Need the Wild – both good reads so far!

I'm lucky enough to have four beautiful hellebore plants in our small flower bed. This is their month to shine! Unlike most plants, they seem to enjoy living our garden – perhaps they can tolerate the wind better than most, and they don't seem to mind benign neglect either! 

I wanted to show you my Virginia sweater – a project I finished a couple of months ago but realised I never wrote about here. Virginia is a pattern from an older issue of Laine magazine, and I knitted my version from some yarn I hand-dyed with my Mum over the summer holiday. We were just playing with colour, really, and ended up with this beautiful mottled plum juice/earthy colour with lots of variegation. 

I like my finished jumper but regret not making a slightly larger size – I didn't want to run out of yarn so picked the smallest size I thought I could fit – and the boat neckline is not my absolute favourite. But it's a nice light layer and I enjoy wearing the rich colour. There are some more details about it on my Ravelry project page here.

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Do you like lemon shortcake? I love it. Recently, my boss, who is very generous and a wonderful baker, brought in a batch of her lemon shortcake for morning tea. I asked her for the recipe and had to make it immediately! It's an Alison Holst recipe, with a soft shortcake base, lemony custard and then a sort of crumble topping made from the base mixture baked on top. You can find it online here, if you fancy making some too.

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Something else you might like (while eating lemon cake and sipping coffee, perhaps?) is this online exhibition of 'craftivist' art, taken from a recent Australian exhibition. From the intro:

Craft is often dismissed as low art, a hobby or women’s work. But across the centuries, even before the term craftivism was given in 2003 to the practice of using traditional handicrafts for political purposes, the assumptions about its benign and gendered nature have been subverted and challenged by makers in all mediums. Craftivism is just one element of She Persists, the National Gallery of Victoria’s new project exploring the intersections of art, gender and protest. A book and online audiovisual experience, She Persists showcases women’s contribution to art and design from the 17th to 21st centuries.

I hope you have a lovely week ahead. See you again soon,
M

I have some handmade clothes to share with you this week. In truth, most of these things were finished a little while ago, but I don't think I recorded them here at the time.

I do love to make my own clothes. Over the lockdown period, I became aware of how many clothes I really own, almost without realising it. When you can't leave the house except for a daily walk, you don't need clothing for different occasions – just comfortable layers and a raincoat, really.

I made a simple top and a pair of pants at the end of lockdown, when I knew I'd be going back to work in the city. I think the act of cutting and sewing them together helped me prepare for the change of lifestyle (until then I'd been working from the kitchen table, like so many others, and like I know my overseas friends still are!)

The top was cut from the most beautiful hand block-printed Indian cotton. I ordered it from Miss Maude, an excellent craft supply store in Wairarapa). I just drafted a simple pattern myself – it's nothing fancy or complicated. To finish the neckline, I used a narrow green bias tape and hand stitched it in place.

The pants are also really simple – they're medium-weight black linen (from The Fabric Store) and made using the Merchant & Mills Eve Trousers pattern. They're quite loose fitting, 7/8ths length, with a folded cuff and a side zip. Super comfy and nice for wearing to work!

I also knitted a beret using some leftover merino and mohair yarn held together. The Bisbis Beret pattern is by Sari Nordland and is a lovely shape – I recommend it! Here are my project notes on Ravelry.

I have lots of other sewing projects and ideas waiting in the wings but I haven't felt very inspired lately to get all my sewing gear unpacked. I think it's a wintry thing – it's just much cosier to be knitting by the fire in the evenings! Some things I'd like to make when the weather warms up include this dress from Papercut Patterns and this haori jacket for spring.

I thought you might smile when you see the fortune tucked inside our latest pack of Good Fortune Coffee beans – kind of appropriate for renovating but also for sewing, don't you think?
I've also included a photo of a little shrine for spring – candles in glass holders, dried summer strawflowers and the all important sprigs of daphne are currently in pride of place on the kitchen table. Welcome in, spring! 

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Over the past week, I read Written on the Body, an older novel by Jeanette Winterson. I think I read it as a student because it was vaguely familiar, but totally worth the re-read.

Tom and I just finished watching Stateless, an Australian miniseries produced by Cate Blanchett and focused on four strangers in a detention centre in the desert. I found it really compelling. And heartbreaking. 

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

I worked on this free-form embroidery slowly, over the past couple of weeks. I'd not done any stitching in ages, but listening to podcasts and radio news and finding some moments for thinking gave me the chance to make something from my heart, like this.

The phrase no justice no peace can be traced back to the 1986 murder of Michael Griffith in NYC but it's still equally relevant in Aotearoa as much as anywhere else. I'm not sure what I'll do with this piece of embroidery – maybe put it up on the kitchen wall.

You can also see, in the fourth picture above, I'm nearly finished making that second Vertice Unite shawl I wrote about in my previous post. It's one for my sister Tamsin, and she said she'd love it in shades of green and grey. It feels like it's been a long, cold winter (and we're only halfway through, truth be told), but working on this project before going to bed has been a daily bright spot for me. 

In less happy news, I lost my own Vertices Unite (you can see it on Ravelry here) one afternoon last week and have unfortunately been unable to track it down. I think it dropped out of my bag or the car near the Dowse Art Museum in Lower Hutt. I'm still holding out hope that it finds its way back to me, because I loved that shawl. 

I've found comfort in some familiar things, lately: re-reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, re-watching The Flight of the Conchords with the kids and listening to Bill Callahan's Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle, this song, in particular.

And because I just love marigolds, I've included a photo of one in a ferny damp corner of our garden. I think this variety is called 'French Vanilla' or something like that.

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Last week Tom, Keira and I went out on a stormy night to hear the NZ Symphony Orchestra play a Beethoven piano concerto ('The Emperor'), which was a beautiful experience. Towards the end I looked across at some of the strangers in our row of seats and saw a middle-aged man with tears quietly streaming down his face. The concert was streamed live to the world, you can listen to it here if you need a bit of epic pastoral music in your life right now.

Things are really hard in nearly every place on earth right now. I wish you all the very best, wherever you are,
M

Hello from deepest winter! As I type, cold rain is tapping on the glass of the windows and what is probably a wind straight from Antarctica is whistling through. I hope this finds you well and warm.

Thought I'd share some of the things I've been doing this week. Snuggling under the new quilt reading, late at night. I've also been watching the miniseries Olive Kitteridge which I love. I know I'm terribly slow to both the book and adaptation. As usual! I'll get stuck into the book, which is by Elizabeth Strout, next.

My eldest, Arlo, turned 17! How can this be. We had a lovely midwinter celebration with family and he'll have a party with his friends soon. He was nearly born on the shortest day of the year, so even though I'm not keen on winter, Matariki will always be a very special time of the year for me.

It was also my sister's birthday and I've had a grand plan of knitting her a nice cosy shawl. Dreaming about it, even! But in the meantime, I made her a hat and posted it along with some ceramic earrings (from this lovely Golden Bay maker).

The hat was knitted from some soft blue Katia Concept yarn and this pattern from Espace Tricot which is free, quick and easy! I definitely recommend it. There's even a matching cowl – one day I might make a set. Both patterns can be downloaded here, (along with a good selection of others!) and my Ravelry notes are here. 

In the last photo above you can see the yarns I've chosen for the aforementioned shawl. I want to make another Vertices Unite design because I love wearing my first one so much. It might be one of my favourite projects ever. I checked in with my sister and she said yes please, and that greys and greens would be her colour preference. I just happened to have these colours in my stash, so it's obviously meant to be. I hope to report back with some progress in my next post.

The blackboard you can see above was one I walked past the other day outside this lovely homewares shop. I decided to take it as a sign that i should just keep knitting, and not get discouraged by how long my dream projects take to complete. But ''more persistence'' is meaningful in many other ways, of course.

Lastly, if you fancy something thought-provoking to read, I liked this recent piece by my friend Felicia Semple: Choosing Better Projects in Tricky Times. Felicia writes about how when we work on our craft with intention and consideration, we can help boost our wellbeing and connection with others. 

I also loved this piece on Vox: an interview with an author I deeply admire: Ta-Nehisi Coates. “I can’t believe I’m gonna say this,” he says, “but I see hope. I see progress right now.” In the piece, he asks the question: what would it mean to build the state around principles of nonviolence, rather than reserving that exacting standard for those harmed by the state?

It's a good read, and i'm still thinking about it.

Take care friends, and see you soon. 

X X X

Kia ora. How are you? I'm sending some hexagon-shaped hearts to you today, wherever you are.

A couple of weekends ago I finished a long-term project: my hand-stitched hexagon quilt. I've documented this piece of work here from time to time, so it might look familiar if you've been visiting here for a while. After two and a half years in the making, I sewed the last stitches of the binding, took a few quick photos before it got too dark, and threw it over our bed! It's a great feeling to finally sleep under it, and I love it.

To sew the patches I used the English Paper Piecing method and completely recycled or scrap cotton fabrics. Some of these were cut from pillowcases and old duvet covers but most were cotton clothing that had worn out in places, such as shirts and blouses. A few pieces were leftover scraps from other projects.

I did purchase some new fabric for the borders of the quilt, because I didn't have anything quite big enough. I also wanted to be sure the the border fabric would be strong and long-lasting. I bought a couple of metres of pale grey linen for that job, and hand-appliqued the finished hexagon edges to the border all the way around. I used a lightweight cotton/wool blend batting for the inside layer.

For the backing fabric, I sewed together some of my most previous and long-hoarded fabric pieces together. The piece with tiny coral flowers on a cream background is actually a fine wool fabric that I bought from Cloth House in London the last time I was there – 10 years ago! It's so good to have all my favourite fabrics gathered together in one finished piece. To quilt, I just hand-stitched some horizontal lines at various intervals.

For the quilt binding, I used one of Tom's favourite work shirts that had mostly worn out and found that I was able to make nearly enough binding for the whole quilt by sewing carefully-cut strips together. I used some leftover border fabric o make up the required length of binding.

One concern I had about this project was the longevity of the quilt top, considering it's constructed entirely from pre-used and washed fabrics. I am worried that they could tear or wear out over time. I could probably replace any damaged hexagons easily enough, though. And the softness of the finished quilt makes up for it!

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The sunset photo was taken at 5pm the other day, shortly after meeting some friends for an evening drink. Isn't the sky at Lyall Bay a beauty? What you can't see in my photo is what seemed like 100 surfers bravely waiting in the water for the perfect wave. 

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I'm sure I'm the last person in the world to come around to making bliss balls. There's probably nothing new about this quick improvised recipe I came up with yesterday, but they're quite delicious and very easy to make, so I thought I'd share my method here:

Quick energy balls

1 heaped cup dates
1/2 cup dried coconut
2 heaped tablespoons cocoa
pinch of sea salt

Soak the dates in boiling water for about 20 minutes. Then remove them from the water and place in a food processor with the other ingredients. Blend until the mixture is smooth.
Roll into small balls, roll again in desiccated coconut and refrigerate until firm. 

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What are you reading or watching at the moment? I haven't watched anything for a few weeks, but have just started re-reading Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and have also downloaded Angela Davis' Are Prisons Obsolete? (2003) to read this week. (You can find a copy here). I need to keep reading and thinking about oppression. Even though it's hard.

It's been wonderful to see so many book lists (such as this one) being shared during this time, which feels a bit hopeful, and like some real change might be coming soon. I hope so.

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This week brought such heavy news – on top of the coronavirus continuing to cause suffering and death in almost every country in the world, my heart is breaking for the United States and its most recent incidence of state-sanctioned violence and murder.

One small thing i can do is donate money to organisations that contribute to change and I'll be doing that. My fellow citizens of Aotearoa: we can also write to the police and have our say on the recent Armed Response Team trial here, letting them know that we don't support the arming of our police force.

This evening, a Black Lives Matter vigil will be held in Wellington and another in Auckland, I believe – more info here. Black lives matter. George Floyd's life matters. Diversity in our own political representatives matters, too. It seems this is to be an ongoing struggle and i want to be part of the fight.

For the next couple of days, a knitwear designer I love, Nat Raedwulf, is donating 100% of all proceeds from sales of her patterns to organisations working towards social justice in the USA. You can find her patterns here. (A couple of years ago I knit this one and I love her work).

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In this post, I wanted to show you my latest finished piece of work – a colourful shawl I knit from Stephen West's Vertices Unite design. I loved working on this and surprised myself by finishing it within a few weeks – I put that down to having more time during lockdown life, and enjoying the interesting design and wanting to get to the next section all the time.

I used a range of yarns that I've had for ages – mostly all 4 ply merino-silk, and together they work to create a lovely soft and drapey shawl. I wanted to cast on another immediately (and still might). My sister's birthday is coming up, and I'd love to make one for her. Here are my Ravelry notes, in case you're interested in the specific colours I used and a link to the pattern.

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Last weekend we celebrated my niece's 2nd birthday, and i wanted to knit her a little hat with ears. I thought that even if she doesn't want to wear it to keep her warm through winter, it could be a fun dress-up piece. And it looked unbelievably cute on her too.

Her's is the pale pink one – and I made a matching grey one for her baby sister. These were really fun to knit and quick too. The design is clever – the back is shaped with short rows and edged with an i-cord that extends into the bonnet ties. I held one strand of mohair-silk together with merino-silk (incidentally, leftovers from my Vertices shawl!)

The pattern is called Baby Bear Bonnet and is by a Danish designer Pernille Larsen.

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It's the first day of winter. Tom and I have just finished watching the TV adaptation of Eleanor Catton's The Luminaries which I enjoyed – such beautiful aesthetics in that production and even though it describes a dark and grim place I found myself wanting to visit the South Island's West Coast again.

Music-wise, I'm still listening often to this album, Out of my Province, by Nadia Reid, hearing something new each time. And everything by Anderson .Paak – especially his album Oxnard and this Tiny Desk concert of his.

See you again soon, lovely friends.

It feels like deepest autumn: a turning point before winter properly sets in. I hope you're keeping warm and well, wherever you are!

Here are a few images from the past fortnight here at my place. Our restrictions are being lifted and we're able to see small friends and wider family again. It's lovely to see faces and remember what it's like to have dinner with people outside of our immediate bubble. Hard to imagine we'll take it for granted for a while.

I've been gradually tidying things up in the garden, with the idea of 'putting it to rest' over the wintertime. I do hope to plant rocket, silverbeet, spring onions and some other salad greens in the sunniest spot to keep us in some fresh things over winter. I quite enjoy the autumnal jobs in the garden: trimming away spent plants and sweeping, washing out terracotta pots and stacking them in the shed until spring.

My friend Beth came to visit and she brought with her a giant bundle of bay leaves. They're so pretty, hanging up to dry. 

I ordered a copy of Bernadine Evaristo's Girl, Woman, Other (along with a good number of children's books as gifts for my small nieces) and it's the perfect autumn read so far.

My autumnal music of choice this week is the new album by Sufjan Stevens: Aporia (made with Lowell Brams). Ever-shifting and dancing soundscapes, a sonic tonic.

Next week I'll move my home office set-up to the actual office, in the city. I've been thinking about making a few new office clothes and started with a couple of tops from the Wiksten Shift Dress pattern. It's a great design – and so easy to make! It's also comfortable and loose-fitting, which is how I like my clothes for the most part.

Above you can see one of the tops I made, which I cut from a light brown seersucker cotton. I also made one from dark green linen. I plan to wear them with these Merchant & Mills pants (on my sewing list for this weekend – will report back!)

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