Ready, Set...Crochet!

Ready, Set...Crochet!

It's very summery here indeed. Yesterday it was 33'C. (91.4 F for you Americans)

With a warm sea-breeze. 

In the morning I often sit out on our deck at canopy level with the old Oak and Pohutakawa tree.

I enjoy the birds all around; sparrows fighting, 3 tuis competing with each other as who will get to the nectar-feeder first, bellbirds sneaking in, and waxeyes argueing in bunches. High up in the air are the swallows, and so now and then a seagull reminds me the sea is near.

 It is a bit like sitting in a huge bird park, except they are all free to come and go as they please.
My old cats don't bat an eyelid...

A cup of cinnamonny coffee, and a basket of colourful promise.

Thrifted bright yarns.

A-crocheting I will go.

All these yarns had just come in to an opshop the other day, and I immediately wanted them for some cheerful crochet bunting. After a bit of googling I found the right pattern for triangles, a granny-patch look it was going to be. These were very clear visual instructions, plus the whole free pattern again underneath all the photos. Thank you attic24 !

A coffee on a Summer morning. 

So I 've been making triangles, just for fun, with my coffee, or while watching some telly at night.

Cheerful Granny Triangles.

I've already made lots! How can you not smile when you see these in their happy colours.

Sorting wool .

In the meantime I've also sorted out bags of wool, all packed away since we moved here. I knew there was still a tea-chest full upstairs in the garage. 

Wrong, as it turned out: there were 2 tea-chests!

So I opened all the bags, examined the wool to see if no bugs had got to it, weighed everything, wrote the details of weight and sort of fibre onto the bags, and also wrote everything in a notebook.

 Then packed everything into large see-through plastic bins with lids for my storage room.

 I was pleasantly surprised, everything in good condition.

 And of course lots more ideas for both felting and spinning.

There was carded wool in sliver, mohair, alpacca. Raw wool in long staples, and some rare breed quantities as well. Quite a few kilograms of fibre.

Delicious! I can't wait to card some bats at my creative fibre club-rooms soon.

Capital and Crochet.

Crochet Fox Purse.

Before Christmas I had a small stack of magazines and 3 new books lying next to my comfy chair ; waiting for the festive days to be over and relaxing time. The anticipation is very nice!

One was a "Mollie Makes"magazine in a pack with a "Simply Crochet". Well the crochet magazine was lovely and I actually made several of the projects in it, while we were staying with our eldest in Wellington.

 I like to be able to do something with my hands while staying somewhere, and although I usually help her with chores at her student flat, she insisted this time I don't, and frankly I didn't feel like playing mother to a bunch of (young) adults.

 So I sat and crocheted from a pattern.

 Which is a challenge by itself.

The magazine has a section in the back how to do each stitch and differences between U.S.A. and U.K. names. Perfect!

Of course I had to change some things, it had sleeping eyes in the pattern. And I added fluffy yarn around the edges so the fox looked furry. 

Exactly big enough to hold my cellphone.

I also made a bracelet cuff with pink and little beads from the magazine, which I wore when going out on New Years' Eve. Our daughter took us to a bar with good live music, we played silly games while drinking gin and tonics. The bar had a retro lounge with sofas and booths to sit. It is a whole new feeling going out drinking with your daughter!

I left the bracelet for her flatmate, to say thanks for using her room, which was tidy and clean and comfy.

Treasure Hunt Showcase

Little thrifting finds from Wellington.

Not expecting to find any opshops open in Wellington around the festive days, since there is always a lack of volunteers, we were pleasantly surprised and had a good fossick around in half a dozen of them. 

We found some crochet yarns for me, a new suit for the Man(perfect fit) and a c.d.player, an illustrated Middle-Earth map and Tolkien illustrated postcards for my brother Jack ( he didn't have those yet in his collection, score!).

Above you will see a self healing cutting mat for stanley knives or rotary blades, which are not cheap when new ($1). To be used for paper cutting.

A box of mainly glass beads and retro buttons ($5). To be used for anything.

2 purple and red candle decorations ($1). To be pulled apart for miniature scenes.

2 Purple striped vintage linen napkins with embroidered black swans (50cts each). For zip pouches.

A bunch of satin and beaded flower appliques ($1). For anything.

A few metres of old red grossgrain ribbon ($0.50). For book binding or strengthening a hat edge.

As you can see opshopping turns into a really creative experience for me: I get new ideas, by looking for new uses for an item, instead of the intended purpose.

And fossicking is totally therapeutic, not to mention a family sport...

Waiting for our pies and coffee in Island Bay, Wellington.

Of course we had plenty of coffees and lunches in cafes in our 3 days away, that is one of the delights in Wellington, and the weather was brilliant. I actually got sunburned!
It was really good to see my hard working husband just relax and go with the flow.

The old shop facades there.

The area of Island Bay was very quaint, I love the old buildings. Still with all their power lines above ground.

An old fake-marble building.

This one would have been from the early 1900's. A bit posh! With its' fake pillars. The back of the building is probably wood.

Awesome mural by BMD

And there is art everywhere. An awesome mural in a parking area. Very clever painting: the "quilted" inside of the "cat" looks like crumpled fabric and the shadow of the "worm" gives it depth.

 There are several around town by these street artists.
Always something new to see in Wellington!

Our Garden Room.

How does our garden grow?

The Real gardener playing in his room.

The garden down the stairs on our property is a utility area, it's where we grow vegetables, have a compost heap, that is where the citrus trees are, and where the washing gets dried.
No reason why it shouldn't be nice to look at.
Especially from the kitchen window, where I always stand when waiting for the kettle to boil.

Bali stepping stones.

We saw a brilliant idea in Ubud, Bali on our last holiday there( far too long ago already now).

They had pressed large leaves into a drying concrete path. They were all different and it made the concrete very organic looking.

 I reminded my Man of this idea a little while ago when he was thinking out loud about a path, and he immediately got enthusiastic. The next morning he found a metal hoop in his garage, which had come from an old wine barrel. ( honest, it's true about holding on to things "cause-it'll-come-in-handy-one-day").

The edges were a good 10 cm deep, so excellent to use as a frame for concrete stepping stones.

 Any thinner and the stepping stone wouldn't be strong enough to step on.

Our new stepping stones, homemade!

He proceeded to dig a little into the ground, and making it level, before putting the hoop in and shoveling the concrete into it.

Of course he could only make 1 step at a time, waiting till it had set before removing the hoop and doing the next one.

 It therefore took a few weeks before they were all done. So every day 1 small jobbie.

Plenty of time to start planting liriope grasses leading to the washing line to distinguish that area from the veggie patch. And some gorgeous ferns and ferntrees.

Rounded brown gravel fills up the spaces.

When the path to the washing line was finished he spread a soft brown coloured gravel around the stones, right up to the level of the steps so that if you misstep the stone you don't twist your ankle.
 Good thinking!
 He was careful too about pacing the round path stones to our own step lengths.

Spreading dark coloured bark.

He then put a few more stepping stones towards the vegetable garden, and spread dark bark on the bare soil. It adds a nice contrast and keeps weeds at bay. And it is pretty cheap too.
It will lighten up in colour eventually, due to weathering.

Nice contrasts between the different areas.

BEFORE.

This is what it looked like, when we came to this house at least 2 and a half years ago. It looks like grass, but it was just dense weeds and prickles. The small maple tree in the front got the chop fast, as it was already throwing shade onto the washing line.

AFTER.

And there we go! A Real Garden from the Real Gardener!

The Fairy Tree Book.

Book binding with beading.

A few months ago I went on schoolcamp for 3 days, and I looked after "my" special needs child, who, because of her wheelchair, was not able to do everything the other children could do.
We had our own adventures, and 1 of them was finding a hollow tree, which she proceeded to make into a Fairy Party Tree. It involved (quite magically) a native wood-pigeon dropping a wing feather just about in her lap, straight after she put up the "Welcome" invitation to the River fairies.
The afternoon storm that came later, -with wind, rain and lightning, which blew everything away, - all added up to a great story to be written in the weeks that followed at school.
I had made plenty of photos, and so I set about making an actual real book for her for Christmas, using her words ( she has great language skills at the age of 7 1/2) and my photos.

Holding the 2 covers together with sturdy fabric.

I used the cover of a vintage Readers' Digest book, cutting the spine away, measuring how thick the new book would be. Then glueing  a sturdy strip of fabric to replace the spine, with pretty braiding to hide the edges. On the inside I glued a large piece of fabric right across the 2 book covers with space in between to account for the spine. 

I then stitched the folded "signatures" in. 3 signatures of 3 to 4 pieces of folded paper each.

While stitching the middle signature I added bright sparkly beads on the outside of the spine.

Rooming in the Party Tree.

Here she is carefully placing the things we found at camp, bright coloured leaves and flowers, berries, acorn cups, even a birds' nest, inside the tree hollow.

It occupied her for a good hour, and a little friend helped her as well.

Part of the story she wrote.

The hardest and most complicated part of the book was working out how to print the story and leave pages for the photos, so that it followed in order. But I worked it out in the end. 

I read it aloud in front of the class, and she was thrilled. So were her parents!

Very satisfying!

Christmas Children and Wise Men.

Needle-felted Wizard by Elmtree.

Just before Christmas I finished and delivered my last orders. Amongst them my very first handpuppet, that you have seen before, but now with hands. He went to a good home, and will be used by a drama teacher for story telling. Awesome!

The Wily Wizard of the Woods.

A new Trike for Christmas.

The child I look after at school, who has special needs, had a wonderful last assembly. She was presented with a new trike; the money was partly raised by school with a sausage sizzle, and the rest came from the Halberg Sports Trust . Absolutely Fantastic Day!

I found this little Xmas childrens story made by the Auckland St.Pauls church. Very cleverly done.

Summer Christmas dinner with lobster!

Christmas day for our family was a nice low-key affair, our youngest divided her time between her house, with boyfriend and son and all her "-in-laws" and us and her work residents. Our eldest came up from Wellington and it was so nice to see her. We spent the afternoon at my brothers' household, and were truly spoilt with a sumptious summer feast.

Cooking scallops to perfection.

These men knew just what to do in the kitchen and everything was delicious.
I like a man in a floral shirt!
Christmas hats are compulsory in this house hold, and we all miraculously pulled one out of our crackers that went with our outfits!

The first spoon breaking into the 6-layered jelly.

And of course the desert table was a triumph, as only my sister-in-law can do. It was served after a nice walk and some strenuous games of badminton. The weather was mild and the forecasted rain stayed away after all.

We got that rain today in stead. Never mind!Hope you had a relaxed Christmas yourselves!

Needle-felted Lady, and a lunch at a lake.

Deer-Princess eye.

Recently a new puppet was started. I wanted it to be a Princess character. I also wanted her to have a long shaped face with a tiny chin. But she had to be kind. Not cold.

After I found a book on good and bad fairies by Brian Froud, I got lots of visual ideas for face shapes.

 Her mouth became quite small, but with a hint of large front teeth. The space between mouth and nose puffed out like a grazing animal.

Not quite human.

Her eyes turned out just as I wanted: large, expressive and alert.

Then I knew who she was, my Princess was a deer princess! A kind doe. She only speaks quietly and thoughtfully.

Some Brian Froud inspiration.

I'll show more of her, when she is properly finished. She needs some ears now you see. And hair.

Lake Rotorua.

A little road-trip was called for when we bought a new coffee table. Which was in Rotorua.

Lunch at the Lake.

So we went for a day trip, 5 and a half hours there and back. With lovely stops in Taupo for great coffee and morning tea. The weather was lovely and spring like. Lake Rotorua smooth and even the usual sulphur smell there, was not too over whelming. 

Sometimes you just have to get out of the house!

Black swan and signets. 

Agriculture and Pastoral Show 2013.

Teaching spinning to my Nephew A.

Every year in the spring, in the long weekend of Labour day and Hawkes' bay Anniversary day combined, it is also time for the annual A.&P. Show.

This day really shows what is going on in the region in the rural communities. Over 3 days there are competitions in horse riding. Showing cattle, sheep and alpacca, and their fibre. A childrens' petting zoo, new tractors and farm tools, a fairground with exciting rides, much to eat and drink, woodchopping competitions, sheepdog trials, even country womens' institute knitting, sewing and jam making prizes.

The local spinning clubs, of which there are a good handful around here, organize shifts of spinners and weavers to educate the public and promote our national society. I was asked again this year too, and I took along my star pupil Olga, whom I taught spinning in 3 lessons this year. 

At the show I usually teach kids spinning, and often their mums as well. Especially those women that seem to dawdle, and stay longer than others. 

Very often I also manage to convince tourists to have a go.

I usually do the treadling, and guide their hands, while speaking the 3 magic words ; Pinch, Pull, Slide.

Then after a meter or so of yarn I stop and pull out what they have spun, let it ply on itself and tell them with much praise; "Now you have spun yarn , like people have been doing for thousands of years!"

I usually then wrap it around their wrist, like a rainbow coloured bracelet. 

And after a hurried 'thank you' they run off to show their parent.

We hope that those 10 minutes of using their own hands touching the soft fluff, and magically transforming it themselves, will stick in their minds for later.

I was busy non-stop with this for 4 hours!

And some children told me that they had tried this last year too!

A sheep gets shorn for us, and that wool is used, while the poor embarrassed creature lies somewhere close by, chewing hay, and feeling naked.

However when I teach kids I like to use multi coloured clean carded wool. Far more exciting to show your friends!

No, we don't charge money at all!

And weaving. That mum would love to have a go I think.

We had many interested men as well, who wanted to know lots of technical stuff about our instruments, especially my different looking wheel. And who were surprised to hear that new models with improved features are still being developed and sold around the world.

When you tell boys that it is a machine that doesn't need electricity, you have them hooked straight away.

Super Cute alpacca.

These were irresistible! They make  the cutest noises too, like overgrown guinea pigs. 

And they have such dainty little feet!

Which can really kick another alpacca that they don't like the smell of. Not so cuty-cuty...

Alpacca winning prizes.

Some of their owners give them kisses and hugs, when they win a ribbon.

Their gorgeously soft fibre comes in a range of colours, and lengths, like the near dreadlocks of the suri alpacca.

Prize winning fleeces.

Olga and I went for a good look around when our shift was over. We admired some of the champion fleeces on display.

Champion coloured wool fleeces.

Marveled over the amount of ribbons awarded to a fibre friend of ours, who specializes in Gotland sheep.

The finest fibres.

Had a touch and a feel of course.

The crimp so fine it looked like smoke.

And enjoyed the special smell and greasy-ness of a clean fleece.

A lacemaker with all her tools.

Also saw another ancient textile technique, lacemaking.

A very friendly lady gave us all sorts of information about her chosen passion.

And she sure knew what to do. All those gorgeously beaded bobbins. I marveled how she knew which one did what....

Her fingers made those lace bobbins fly.

Retro Childhood Drawings and a New Nuno Felted Wrap.

Eden girl with mandoline.

So here a flashback to when I was a little girl. I recently found these pictures on the amazing interweb by an artist called Eden. This artist made quite a few paintings like it, but these 2 I had hanging in my bedroom. I love the pigtails.

Eden girl in harlequin diamonds.

 I wore pigtails myself through most of the late sixties and seventies. With super cool, brightly coloured plastic baubles on elastic hair-ties. I had a small box full of them. And little clips with cute things on the ends.

G.M-M.1971

Every morning my Mum would tie up my hair, and we would both dread the terrible knots in my hair. Here she is with pigtails as well. 

I remember that handbag well, cream linen with brown leather straps. She is wearing a black velvet ribbon around her neck with a pendant hanging off it.

I like to remember her like this, happy being a busy mum of 3, enjoying outings. Showing us a bird nest, or pointing out running horses in the distance. 

Not how she went, so ill. I woke up with that image first thing every morning for a year afterwards.

I don't want the word cancer and mum to be linked in my head. 

It wasn't her, and she wasn't the disease.

I rather remember how we argued together, or delighted in finding a treasure in an opshop.

Nuno felted wrap in reds.

I've recently made another wrap. I used a large piece of tie-dyed silk fabric, in soft pink and a simple dark red pattern. On the other side I laid down fine merino in bright reds, and feathery white plucks of silk fibre.

Same nuno-felted wrap, but the other side.

 So it has become a reversible wrap, light and draping, perfect for summer evenings.

Nuno felt just holding together.

Above you can see the un-felted piece, wet and just stuck onto the silk fabric with soapy water.

Nuno felt after felting process.

An hour or so later it has shrunk to this size, with much rolling, rubbing and throwing.

The edges are now uneven, something which I love the look of.

Deliciously crinkled nuno felt surface.

 The silk fabric is grabbed by the wool fibre, which shrinks. The fabric does not shrink, and starts to crinkle up, causing the wonderfully tactile surface which typifies nuno-felt.

Merino wool and white silk fibres.

The shiny white flashes of silk fibre add a luxurious touch to the other side. The whole thing only weighs 155 grams.

I am very happy with this wrap!