Wool!

This blog is turning into a yarn blog! I think this time last year i blogged about the garden more! (Its doing okay, maybe wilder than last year, yesterday I harvested carrots, cauliflower, runner beans; purple and green, zucchinni, and tomatoes). But look what  came in the mail today! The wool giveaway from Jessicah at Spinning a Yarn , dyed in the colours I suggested, PLUS, some goodies for the children, and chocolate for me (And maybe Struan, if it isnt gone before he gets home)!   i'm so blown away, thank you Jessicah!

A glove (other still to come), for Struan in some more of the wool I dyed last week, I'm very happy with it. The pattern is from stitch 'n Bitch for men . 

 In other new, we have been making some good old fashioned valentines cards for people we love, after first having read about the history of it and looking at examples of the olden days cards held at a museum (found by googling valentines cards history of).  The kids all got stuck in their own creative ways.

 it is incredibly hard to find paper doilies these days! Is anyone else going to bake off?  Sounds like fun don't you think?

wool dying

yesterday we dyed some wool with the girls while Tobin slept. It came about because Anoushka decided she didn't like the wool she was knitting with. So  I said, "do you want to make your own? " We've done this together before so they knew what was involved, and jumped at  the chance( in fact they are already designing their next yarns!) Anoushka had some white (badly) spun roving, from one of my attempts at spinning, and she will use the wool for a dolls blanket. I felted it slightly as I was rinsing the dye out after fixing and I'm quite happy with it actually. I hope she is too!

 Maaike started with some commercially spun grey wool (not sure what breed), and knew she wanted a rainbow wool. It ended up with beautiful yellows and pinks with some flecks of blue and green and orange. I like the mellow effect with the colours on the grey. Her wool will be a winter vest that I will knit for her next project.

 The light doesn't really do it justice.  I did some too, a whole lot of mellow greens/ blues /yellows on the same grey wool that maaike had, and some yellow/red/orange on some random white merino looking wool from the op shop. The white wool definately took up the colours in a brighter way!

 I felt really "present" yesterday, something I have struggled with in the past. I like playing OMA /grandma in the fantasy games if it means I can sit and knit at the same time. I have lots more projects to go.....

Another day at home (school)...

A pattern traced, cut out, fabric selection made, felt heart stitched on and mama helped with the sewing machine bit : a dress and jumper for a doll, and all before 9 am!

The finished (and blocked), homespun jacket. not too bad?

 

A silky eye pillow for a sick little Maaike,and a heart  pillow for both the girls for good measure (and hopefully to help oldest insomniac calm and settle to an anxiety free sleep). Patterns from Amanda Blake Soule's Handmade home. 

Unfortunately also lots of tv time beacuse the sick one is too sick for anything else. 

Sewing

A boat necked tshirt for a two year old's birthday, with felt squirrel hand appliqued on. T shirt fabric from op shop stash! pattern from ottobre magazine.

Textile addiction

To add to my long list of textile obsessions, I've added spinning! (i'm not very good), but I found a spinning wheel at a local op shop about 3 months ago, and now i'm finally spinning a yarn that i can knit with! Its a single ply something, which mimics a felted yarn that I love ( if anyone knows how to do that, drop me a line!). I'm using it to make Anoushka a cardigan from the latest Living Crafts mag . Now i've discovered that people sell a lot of carded wool on trade me ( new zealand's version of ebay) and i've been spending hours looking at it all....

for a friend

A dear friend from my first baby days (we were introduced by our very wise midwife) came to visit today. it is a rare occassion when friends from Auckland pop in! i made her this bag, also from carefree clothes for girls (see previous post). A doily from my collection, the outer is an old tablecloth bought yesterday from a second-hand shop, the inner, a remnant of upholstery fabric from a friend, the handles, an offcut also bought at a second store.

Carefree girls

Thanks to the generosity of a crafty friend I have been able to borrow her copy of  carefree clothes for girls , and have been inspired!  I love the aesthetic of it  but haven't got the money at the moment to go and get beautiful linens etc.  So in the spirit of use what you have I whipped up these creations, the chemise (on Anoushka, right) the blouse with crochet doily trim ( on maaike, middle ( thats my monkey son in his grubby pyjamas, I'll get around to new clothes for him later)), and the quilted bodice dress  (below).  beautiful, now to customise some of my clothing in the same vein....

The fabrics I used were old cotton sheets, scraps of pink linen from the op shop, a remnant of the princess and the pea fabric, an old  tablecloth and some doilies from  my stash. buttons , a gift from gill .