Little projects

As I write this blog post I'm eating these freshly baked kiwi biscuits, which have oats and coffee in them. YUM! I'll make these again I think, although the instant coffee should really be ground up first they're a bit bitter in little bits.

This week has been full of little projects, satisfying and a bit different to what I usually do.

Spring onions sprouting from shop bought stalks

Tulips are popping up everywhere in the garden

Some kind of succulent flowering

Pretty little crawling plant, I have no idea hot it got growing in the pot, but I like it :)

Yay for hand spinning! Really enjoying the process of doing this again

And here it is dyed! Food colouring and vinegar, steamed for an hour.

Plans for that yarn are a lovely soft cowl I think. Perhaps another Inspira or a textured/cabled one.

I got sick of looking at my stained and worn out ironing board cover, so this is my new one :) Easy to re-create, just traced out the old one, took the gathering cord out and encased it in bias binding on the new one. Makes the sewing room more cheerful and makes me smile looking at it!

Malt extract for brewing, lovely sweet malty stuff

Four different types of hops, on the left, bittering ones and right the aroma hops.

Yep, we brewed some beer on Thursday, smelt divine with all those lovely hops. It's blooping behind me as I type, but only when I shake up the tub, it's like its having trouble fermenting. But it's been going for hours now, so that's a good thing. I'm thinking this beer will be a good one :)

Another project: I dyed my hair again. Look at the regowth! Shocking and quite light too.

Just realised how many freckles there are appearing on my face!

That looks better! Red again. I love henna.

Well that's it for this week, what will the next week hold in store?

Planning on helping my folks out on their block of land this weekend, digging, getting rid of gorse and planting native trees. Might camp out under the stars if the weathers alright.

Choir on Thursday and off to see the latest play at the globe!

N

Another post

I don't usually post two days in a row but I have a special picture to share :)

Me holding my little niece Eloise with Oscar in the background poking his tongue out! I don't usually make for good photos but I like this one! Even Elo is smiling which is nice :)

Anyway, today is Osk's quietest day so we are going to brew some beer again! After the last batch's failure we really want to make something good this time. So, we're making a light summery lager, simple with two tubs of amber malt (the lightest you can get) and four or so hops as well. Different hops this time... I've researched the flavours and aromas of them this time so we can create something new.

I'll take photos as we go!

N

Creativity back again!

So my parents came back from Australia on the weekend, bringing some of my crafting tools and fabrics with them. I've felt a surge of creative enthusiasm again and have been knitting, spinning and and sewing again with gusto!

What can I make with this?

Something like this.....

I made this bag... to replace my worn out handbag...

I love using up scraps of fabric, specially all the colourful bright patterned ones I have! Those butterflies are wonderful.... So it's a combination of crazy patchwork done in layered strips, with folded triangles placed in the gaps.

And here's a shot of the lining with pockets on either side...

Pretty happy with that! Sums up how I feel about spring, bright and full of life, flowers and butterflies!

The other week I also made this for when I ride my bike:

It is the brightest fabric and it hurt my eyes looking at it while I sewed it But it will certainly help me bee seen when I'm on my bike. It has two options, buttons further in when it's summer and I've got less layers on, and buttons on the edge when it's winter and I'm all rugged up in jumpers and jackets. I didn't bother hemming the edges, they are all just overlocked to keep them from fraying. It's not very stylish but it doesn't have to be really does it?

I've been spinning again because my Mum brought back some fleece for me. It's Perendale 29 micron white fleece. Lovely and soft and a dream to spin, like spinning clouds made of of wool. Funny thing is that this fleece was from NZ in the first place, I brought it back from holiday when I lived in Australia and now it's back here again! Nevermind, it's got me back into spinning again which is good :)

Spinning two different types of plies this time. Since I have more bobbins now I can ply two different bobbins together. So I'm doing a thick and thin two ply slubby yarn. possibly dyeing the strands different colours before plying them. Then a thin single chained plied, so tripled in thickness. No need to get more yarn now, I can spin plenty of it now. There's a full kilo of the stuff to spin.

And a bit of fabric to play with... All my fisherman pants need pockets so I think I'll sew patchwork pockets out of bright silk scraps.

Pretty stuff :)

Also got some old sewing patterns from my Grandma, look forward to trying them out! A pair of socks I hand knitted a few years ago... and a pair of much needed felted slippers, my other ones are completely worn out. Some silk clothing.... and overlocking thread. Overlocker thread is a rip off around here, 13 a spool at lincraft! For crappy poly thread. So white and black threads are welcome, i only have coloured threads so now having 4 in total will make it possible to overlock different things. Especially edging that will show.

I realised the other day that I have been sewing and knitting for 9 years... It feels like I've been doing it forever :) I'll be 22 in a months time or so. Everything is creeping up on me!

Here's a lovely rainbow to celebrate - I got into my Vet nursing course for next year!
Can't wait to start in February.... Only a few months...

Right now....

Watching ...Oscar playing a racing game on the computer, he is very pleased and keeps on punching the air when he wins!

Reading ...Lately I've been reading books about animals and veterinary care. One about treating various wild animals in zoos and in the wild was really interesting. I learnt several things, one is that you can anaesthetise frogs by combining anaesthetic and petroleum jelly and spreading it on their skin because they breathe through their skin.

Knitting ... A thousand splendid suns, a cowl with a lovely stitch pattern. At the moment I'm using a blank that I dyed with a navy blue wool. I'll have to change the colourway soon when I run out, so some different colours soon... I'll wear it next year, too warm for scarves now!

Dreading ... Not much right now :)

Listening to ...Harry potter and the Philosopher's stone read by Stephen Fry, Brilliant stuff!

Thinking about ... Planes and flying.... and vet nursing....

Celebrating ... My parents returning from overseas tonight, and they'll be celebrating too, keen to be home from Australia. A place we really don't enjoy anymore... Glad to be in NZ these days.

Planning ...Going busking in the next few weeks again as a band now that my dad is back now.
Looking forward to playing again, singing in the street and making a bit of pocket money.

Itching to ...Enrol in my course, I've been waiting for my mum to return with my documents so I can send them in.

Drinking ... Flat lemonade... If it was a Saturday night I'd be drinking our delicious chocolate stout, like last night :)

Needing to ... Make some more bread or it's cereal again for brekkie

Organizing ... Costume for the current play, pretty much done. Just need to attend the dress rehearsal to make sure it all runs smoothly.

Inspired by ... Blogs that I've been reading lately... so many beautiful projects out there!

Delighted by ...The recent rain, it hasn't rained properly for weeks and the air was very full of pollen and dust. Nice and fresh now. Just how we like it.

Perhaps I'll be back soon with project updates?

90's and spring 2014

I've been quilting again! I Now have 6 segments which just fit together when stretched so when they are ironed out they'll be perfect. Woollen fabric is forgiving stuff. My original plan was to have 8 segments to create a 8 pointed star but that didn't work out. It looks quite nice on the bed and it will definitely be a full sized quilt. I'm not sure right now what fabric to use for the outside shapes.. It could be different solid colours, or perhaps it would be best all the same colour. When I bind it I plan to use all different coloured bias binding to match the random colours of the star.

Another recent project is a blazer/jacket made from an extra large shirt. The black velvety fabric (stretchy too) is lovely and soft. I'd like to use more of it. The shirt was big enough that I could cut a whole jacket pattern out of it to fit me. Fudged a lot of it, and it completely sewn using the over locker. I'm pretty happy with the result. Black is an unusual colour for me. I usually struggle to find enough black clothes to wear for a choir concert which is always in all black. It's rather hard for me to take photos of my clothing on me! I need Osk to take some proper photos for me.

And batik fisherman pants! Need a proper photo of these too... just glimpses right now. I'm mad about fisherman pants, they are comfortable, funky, easy to make and are lovely to wear now that weather is above single digits. I wear them with leggings underneath for warmth. I made another pair of leggings and new fisherman pants today so I'd have a few more of them in my wardrobe. Oscar loves them too. I should make some more for him too. They do need pockets though, but I can easily add those.

I went on a relaxing walk today and took some snaps. It's very grey today, nothing like the sunny warm days we've had lately. So these photos might seem dull, but they're still showing the first signs of spring. I love those green buds! That tree lost it's leaves in march and now seems to have awoken with a lot of enthusiasm!

A local kids drawings, lovely and I have to say quite good.

Kowhai! Back again everywhere now. Beautiful flowers and last years seed pods still hanging around.

No parking... narrow streets around here... with plenty of lichen.

I've been watching this show:

God knows why I like it, it's about teenagers! EEEK! But somehow it's addictive and it's helping me style the current play which is set in 1994 as well. Makes me glad not to be a teen anymore.... Shame there is only one series to watch! It reminds me of degrassi except that it's not set in the 80's and is American instead of Canadian. Quite a few similar themes in the stories though.

Lately, every time I see a cat, or a dog, or animal of any kind I keep thinking about what I'll be studying next year, it's quite exciting! I guess when I study I'll have less time for crafting, but I am looking forward to it so much. It'll make my crafting time all the more special. I'm really looking forward to meeting people who love animals just as much as I do and have in common a concern for their welfare. It's going to be so very different to what I've done before. Bring on Feb '15!

Off now to make dinner for a tired Osk who has been working all day. Veggie lentil soup and garlic bread I think. Thinking of going on another nice walk this weekend, but not quite sure where yet. Then it's choir practise with potluck. A good weekend ahead!

N

This week?

So where have I been?

Not much crafting has been done this week... a bit of knitting and tiny bit of sewing. But mainly going into town and organising documents and bits and pieces for enrolling in Vet Nursing. Looking forward to having it all sorted soon! Went to visit a friend... did a lot of walking... did some singing at choir.... costume research etc...

Right now I've just come back from a long walk up on Signal hill, it was lovely. Such a perfect sunny day for it. Mainly walked up mountain bike tracks, which is not really a good idea as they can come whizzing down the hill at you. That didn't happen though :) So much pine pollen everywhere, it got on our shoes. You could see it falling through the air. Lucky we aren't allergic. I would love to go for a walk like this in the bush every weekend in a different place. I feel so blissed out now,tired but content and very relaxed. Everyone should do this at least once a week!

Found this band which is brilliant:

Grizzly bear - Veckatimest

Plenty of dreamy harmonies to sing along with... 

Have also been listening to the new Goldfrapp album - Tales of us

Have really needed some new music for a while now, this is quite good. Especially the song 'two weeks'.

Been looking at 90's fashion for an upcoming play I'm costuming for. It almost makes me nostalgic, but I was too young to really remember what it was like!

Although I remember how popular these were:

Righto well I feel too sleepy now to write anymore... time for a nap I think.

Back again soon with more craftiness :)

N

What I'm doing now

Hello!

Looks a bit like a polaroid photo doesn't it?

Today I got the urge to do some dyeing, and boy am I pleased with the results! This is cotton thread my mum bought me while in Thailand. The dye is Procion MX, a dye I've often had trouble with. However this fibre really took the colour well, and is lovely and vibrant. Reminds me of inks I used to play with as a kid, especially the bright lobster red colour. The purple colour separated somehow into a semi solid, but that's fine by me. More interest that way. I intend to weave them on my inkle loom to make belts, straps and laces for clothing.

 They got a bit tangled as you can see, I should have tied them up more thoroughly... but rinsing them in water got most of the tangles out and the long strands looked amazing full of water, like liquid silk.
I also dyed some of my socks in these same colours. Cheerful things they are.

I am addicted to colour aren't I?! This is the star quilt in progress, I just had enough diamonds to make them all 5x5 segments. I'm feeling a bit lazy about sewing all those pieces together however, I think I need to be in the right mood. It'll be fantastic when it's done though, it's a bit of guess as to how it will look though! I haven't the space to lie them all out together, so I've only seen one segment at a time. But the random look is what I'm going for anyway.

See those ridges? My favourite bit. Nice texture but it stretches vertically a bit too much!

This bag I am rather pleased with. Maybe not the shape so much, but the colours rock! Hence the change of blog colours to match. I'll line it with some stiff fabric and hope that it becomes a better shape.

Certainly not modern, but full of classics. Someone really liked cliff richard!

Learning accordion songs! My busking gets a bit boring when I only know 6 songs solo on accordion, so I'm learning some new ones to improve my repertoire. I'm learning 'somewhere my love' from  Dr Zhivago and the Doctor who theme too of course. It's hard to find songs to play on the accordion... My bass clef reading skills are improving though, and I've learnt a new oomp pah pah technique which is getting my fingers in a muddle, but it sounds great!

Cables, short rows, lace, ladders, stripes...

And machine knitting, getting back into this again too now! Given up on the double bed knitting, it never worked properly... but trying out some new pattern techniques and trying to use up some scraps of lace weight yarn. It seems to produce the best fabric when you use two strands together. Everytime I drop stitches, there is much swearing! The book makes it look so easy to get them back on the hook, but in reality they tend to unravel before you get the pick up tool in them. Hand knitting is easier in that respect. But I'm enjoying doing another craft, it's good fun. If I use up all my scraps of yarn, that is all my yarn, can I buy some new stuff with my saved busking money?? Please?

So that's what I'm up to lately... off to the theatre tomorrow to sort out some more costumes which will be good. I think I will even ride there, the weather is meant to be nice. If I get into Polytech next year I think I'll set up my bike properly. Get a bike pump, wet weather gear, flashing light, fluoro vest etc. I think I might even sew some waterproof saddlebags for it.

Need to henna my hair again too.. there is about an inch of regrowth and it looks a bit worn out. I cut my hair recently too! Had a bit of crazy moment and cut 3 or so inches off it! Like the new look, less tangles, shorter drying time etc.

Felted slippers have offically died, and I have no replacement! Feet are cold... no felt-able yarn around, unless I unravel something... I could... I've got an old worn out hot water bottle which I could use as soles this time and avoid the dreaded unravelling! Thank god it's nearly spring, can't survive without those slippers...

That was a good amount of random musings wasn't it? I need something to get me out of the house I think... Get involved in some group or something. I hear there is a home brew club at the uni, I could certainly join that! Was looking forward to hosting a party this weekend, but not enough people have said they'll come. They miss out! On home brew and delicious home-made pizza. Which we will enjoy anyway :)

Listening to this song, always make me smile:

Tere Bina - Nusrat fateh ali khan

Think I will get the fire ready, it's getting a bit chilly!

N