22 today, well yesterday..

I'm back!

Yesterday was my 22nd birthday and the day before that my partner Oscar's 22nd birthday as well. What a fun two days we've had! I'm tired now... We went out for dinner on the 21st and went to a nice Italian place. Hadn't been before but enjoyed it :) I had a beer from the Invercargill brewery which was called wasp and was a honey beer. You could just taste a slight honey note and certainly smell the honey too. It would be interesting to try honey in our beer too. It was Kamahi honey from the Catlins, I've had that honey before and could taste the particular flavour. Delicious Pav for desert... then I felt ill! Too much rich food like at Xmas...

Mmmm my favourite! Stramberries and grapes a bit of a treat too.

 I made Oscar two hand crafted presents...

A magic the gathering playing mat:

It's a bit creased from being folded up when wrapped but you get the idea. I had fun dyeing the different sections, painting the food dye and vinegar mixture on by hand and drying and setting the dye with a steaming iron. Then I stitched the five elements of magic on with the sewing machine. I did a rough outline of each symbol with pencil or tailors chalk and stitched around the lines twice. The hardest was the yellow sun. The flame one is hard to see, I probably should have chosen another colour, but oh well it was an experiment the whole thing! I had no idea what it would turn out like, but I'm happy with it and Oscar loves it! He was awestruck when he saw it! The top fabric is silk so that the cards will move easily when you turn them or pick them up. The bottom is a light woollen fabric and the inner is some flannel cotton. 

I quite like the swamp symbol :) Kind of cute in a dark way.

 

The sun looks the best I think, but was tricky to draw. I had to divide the circle into eights to get the even spokes (what word would you use?!) on it.

We tried it out by playing a game, it seemed to word well! Really need a table that allows us to sit opposite each other though. Playing on a corner doesn't work so well.

Pretty flowers from the garden, brighten up the table a bit. The lavender smells amazing.

I've been knitting a bit lately, on socks of all things! I knit the heel of these at the fair last weekend and since then couldn't stop. I'm now nearly up to the knee. Sort of a combination of other patterns and my own invention :)

Toe up obviously so I can use all my yarn. It's working out at being 3 balls for each sock which is perfect, that's how much I have to spare.

I'll leave you now with some pics of me when I was little. Aren't I funny! Especially the one with the coat and hat, I look so very sinister... 

I'm still dressing up in crazy costumes and loving animals :)

N

Keeping busy!

Hmm.. I haven't blogged for more than a week have I?

Well I haven't done much crafting, in fact I only got into my sewing room yesterday and got things organised and did a bit of sewing! I've been keeping myself busy with different things :) I'm having driving lessons at the moment so I can get my restricted license before my course starts. I rode into town on Monday and went costume material shopping. I should really share what I got that day! I'm finding that if I go out at least once a day to do something I'm less frustrated and happier. If I can keep myself busy this way till February the time will pass much more quickly. I'm volunteering my gardening skills tomorrow and helping organise a fete for Saturday. So the next few weeks are nice and full :) And our birthdays are next week too! I'm working on a wonderful surprise present for Oscar... photos of that soon...

The weather is lovely and warm these days, I'm loving it! I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt on Monday, any hotter and it would have been to hot. We made a beer on the weekend - a stout of our own using dark amber malt, several hops and chocolate roasted malt. Looking forward to that one! The most recent batch we bottled is nice, but needs more ageing to get a proper taste to it. Oscar got a new super duper computer so we've been setting it up and playing Skyrim again! I'm enjoying it but finding the quests a bit boring as I have done them before. But there must be more that I haven't done already, it's such a big world! I'm an Argonian mage who specialises in illusion magic and sneaking. Before my character was a Khajit who used war axes and healing spells, so it's good to try something different.

I don't really have any pictures this week! I will take some photos on Saturday of the fete and what I'm currently knitting and sewing. I'm sure I'll get plenty of time to knit as I man a stall.

Well right then, I'm off to make some fudge and knit the heel or my current sock. I think knitting with a poly thread might help it hold together. I wear my hand knit heels out very quickly!

N

Silk! Colour! Pretty!

So today I planned to go into town and do some random fun things like go to the library, buy fabric and play around with costumes... but the weather is rank. So I'm at home again today, itching to go outside but put off by the nasty weather. The weather keeps changing from Winter to spring to winter to spring with a little summer chucked in. Spring is mental! Tomorrow is set to be warmer, calmer and drier than today.

Anyway, I got around to finally dyeing that silk I bought I while back and the results are incredible!

Started off by tying many rubber bands around in circle patterns... I wanted to get an all over kind of design.

It helps to soak the fibre before adding the dye, it helps the fibres soak them up more easily. I mixed up three different combinations of food dye mixed with vinegar, bluey green, purple and plain blue. Set up the steamer and placed the silk tie side up in a glass dish. I really wanted the colours to blend together so started by randomly dyeing different points with the three different colours and then started to fill in the gaps and overlap them. Then to avoid getting a murky colour underneath I let the fabric drip into the dish and poured the extra liquid out. I think that really helped.

Before steaming:

 
I steamed it on low for about and hour, that usually does the trick. Rinsed in cold water and un tied all the rubber bands. Every one was a new surprise! One final rinse and.......

 Isn't it beautiful? The camera doesn't quite capture it's beauty, but you get the idea. It looks particularly good held up to the light! I love how the colours blended and especially like the purple spots, they seemed to have the most contrast. It's almost organic really... could be more so if I had made the shapes a bit more meandering rather than so circular. I have another piece of fabric, so expect more dyed fabric soon. Not sure if I should hand paint or do more tie dyeing... Tie Dyeing tens to be more reliable I think because it fits better in the steaming dish. A big piece of fabric folded over itself would just bleed colours and become a mess. So perhaps just stick with the tie dyeing for the moment. But some different colours perhaps.

And here are some flowers (I can't remember what they are called, but I've seen them before in the Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne) and they grow like weeds here. Such vibrant colours! Similar to the dyeing in fact...

Well right now seems like a good time to go for a walk, the sun is out, so I think I'll make some lunch and head out while I can. Then it's knitting time! I would really like to finish a knitting project.. I have 6 on the go at the moment...

N

My knitting history

Bold the stuff you’ve done, italicize the ones you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff I’m not planning on doing/don’t know what it is yet.

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffitti knitting: knitting items on, or to be left on the street
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (love)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
Knitting to make money (or yarn)
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Household items: dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…
knitting socks- or other small tubular items- on two circulars
Dyeing with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dyeing yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Crafting with determination!

Finished today! Made completely on the over locker it took about 30 min to whip up from design to cutting to sewing. The fabric really looks it's best when it has a lighter fabric underneath. Made this because I realise I need more exciting shirts that I can layer with. I love how ethereal this fabric is.

What to make with scraps of silk? These pieces of silk are too special to throw away :) I'm making a small purse with silk flowers on the outside. It'll be a riot of colour!

Cast off my machine knitting project, think I will make it into leg warmers. Really feel like experimenting with the possibilities of the machine and seeing what weird and wonderful designs I can come up with.

Starting to make Christmas gifts already... All secret till after xmas however! Wish I could share them. Although most will be home brew! Have to start saving some from each batch now... the current beer is still blooping, which doesn't seem right... Hoping to bottle it soon but don't want exploding bottles...

Weekend! Looking forward to spending some time with Oscar and my parents, busking, bottling, baking, etc...

Going to make beetroot and chickpea hummus again soon.. And Oscar bought duck eggs, would love to see what we can make with them.

Oh yes!

We went to see Sirocco the Kakapo!

Here is the one photo I managed to get of him that is any good. We couldn't use flash photography (which I hate anyway) because it would hurt his eyes. There was a special sort of lighting that he could withstand (being a nocturnal bird) that made for good viewing but not photos. Anyway, he was amazing! The way he moved! He climbs very well with his beak and large gripping claws. He was very curious about his visitors, what a delight to see him!

We got the chance to feel some of his feathers which they had collected, so very soft and light. The ends were strong and sturdy and the inner part soft, fluffy and downy. Very warm! They smelt like pine needles. They even had a sample of his poo! Which smelt like, well earthy stuff. Not a bad smell though. I envy the guy who gets to take care of him. He was of course behind a perspex screen.

Glad I got the chance to see him :) Probably the only chance I'll get unless I go and volunteer at Codfish island. Which I may do, it does sound good.

Okie doke then, have a good weekend!

N
 

Knitting and spinning

 It's October! My favourite month because of the lovely weather and my birthday :)

I haven't made much this last week, I haven't really felt like sewing much and knitting doesn't seem to get a look in either! I'm sort of stuck between projects with sewing and at a lull with knitting. One project is a bit of a hassle, one is too easy and therefore boring and another I've lost track of where I am in the pattern. I have a great longing to do knitting though, which is crazy! I did made this little coaster a week ago though. I searched for something interesting and this one caught my eye. Probably because it has fun surface stitching. I love it when crochet defies the rules that knitting so often follows. I love crocheting something that is 3D or you have to turn things around strangely. It often confuses me to despair, but there are always good diagrams or tutorials around to help. I'm going to make more of these. Not because I like coasters but because our landlady likes us to use place mats or something under our plates. So this is my cheerful solution!

I've been doing a lot of spinning in preparation for this lovely jumper:

It's from this book:

  

Really exciting and original projects in this book! The jumper is constructed by starting in the round at the cuff and knitting up the sleeve, then increases in a circular fashion to make front and backs. You knit two of these to make two shapes that look a bit like elephant heads, then you seam them together at the back. That's the only sewing up that you have to do! Brilliant!

The yarn I'm spinning is more of that lovely soft, lofty perendale fleece. I've spun four skeins up and plan to use up the rest of the fleece I have so I'll have enough. I'm waiting till I've spun all my wool before I dye it. That way I can be more sure that the colours similar enough to each other so I can knit continuously.

The yarn is pretty straight forward. Spun one way at a medium thickness and the plied the other way with a thinner strand, spun as I go. It's kind of kinked so will have a nice texture I think. Once this wool is all spun I think I'll do more with other fleece, spinning is so relaxing but at the same time, it's like the fleece is begging me to spin it up into yarn to be used!

We're off to see a Kakapo tonight! Exciting as I never thought I would get the chance to see one :) I'm also after some magic cards this evening, looking for legendary creatures to make a new EDH deck with. Then Saturday it's bottling beer and busking. Hoping that we'll do better then last time, last time we barely made 4 dollars each! It seems that people who go to the farmers market are a bit stingy, but we also had a fair amount of competition from other buskers.

N