Cushioned

Yes, I could have made my way to a local home furnishing shop or browsed online stores, but instead, I made my own cushion covers. This is a much better way to work my creative glands. I found a great website called spoonflower.com that specializes in printing custom fabric (and they now do custom wallpaper too!). I chose some great prints and got them printed on linen-cotton canvas. Check them out.

How does my garden grow

My veg patch is going great guns. A couple of days ago I harvested my first ever broccoli. Needless to say I took great delight in this and have been watching the other broccoli plants with an eagle eye ready for the next chop down. The veg have been slow to grow over the cooler late winter weeks but now the weather is warming they are coming on strong. I'm so ready for a glut of vibrant organic backyard veg.

Restoration chair

A few months ago we bought a couple of beat up retro style armchairs from a recycle centre. We have successfully managed to turn one of them into a nice and clean, fully functioning, aesthetically pleasing piece of furniture. Really must get on with the next one.

After

Before

Anyone for cake?

Okay, it's not very crafty but +some+ skill is required. Today was freezing and rainy, a horrible winter backlash after days of mild weather and sunny days. Excuse enough to do some baking. This is a twist on a standard banana cake, with added lemon juice and zest, polenta for texture, and almonds on top for crunch. Yum.

Power tool Friday

The man of the house busted out his power tools today and knocked together this wooden wheelbarrow. He used wood from scavenged pallets and a few other bits of detritus knocking about the place. Recycling at its best.

Embroider me

Recently I came across an embroidery technique called 'sashiko'. I got a bit excited about this and decided to use it for purse project. Lately I've been dashing out of the house without a bag, stuffing my purse and phone into my pockets, but my purse is too big for this kind of carry on. I made this purse only slightly larger than my phone to comfortably contain phone, cash, and cards in 3 internal pockets. It's a bit rough around the edges (zipper was tricky) but it functions well. The embroidery was fun and now I'm planning more sashiko experiments...

Felt right

I have muddled through many winters promising my fella a pair of felted slippers. Now I can report I have finally delivered! I used the chunkiest wool I could lay my hands on and knitted them 25 percent larger to allow shrinkage. The washing machine did the rest of the hard work turning loose knitting into dense felt. They may be different colours (having had to rummage through my spare wool collection) but they work, and now everyone in the house has warm toasty feet. Take that, bare floorboards!

Rainy rain, rain

The rain is pelting down sideways in Newcastle today. Lucky for me I'm at home and can work on some woolly projects. Recently I finished a winter white heavy duty blanket that I use specifically for keeping warm on the couch. I knitted it in moss stitch using 20 ply wool called 'Fuel' from Morris Yarns.

I finished a quick slouchy beanie today that I knitted using some left over Alpaca yarn from Pickles. It is gorgeous, soft, and warm and was a success out in the the rain!

Winter solstice approaches

It's always a good day when I open the mail box to find a package of wool. Today I received my latest shipment from Pickles. I purchased a kit containing merino wool from a Uraguay outfit, 'Abuelita Yarns', and a pattern for a great sweater 'Good-morning sweater'. I love this, and the yellow looks sensational, though it's not a colour I could wear. I chose a more subdued violet shade (see picture). I'm so glad it's winter!

A word on the beaches...

It's hard to live in Newcastle, NSW and not enjoy going to the beach. The beaches and Lake Macquarie to the west are a major focus of the area as great places to live near or to visit often for watery fun. I've been getting out and about spending quality time in the salty air. For me the best time to be at the beach is late afternoon, with stormy rain clouds on the horizon. Makes for great photos...!

Bar Beach

Red Head

Stockton Beach

Mitten season

It's that time of year again where I become obsessed with finding a good fingerless mitten pattern. My perennial search uncovered this pattern recently, 'Camp out fingerless mitts', and I was spurred on by the photos accompanying the pattern. I used Noro Silk Garden Lite which is a combination of silk, mohair and lambswool, and comes in tempting colour spectrums. I have a bunch of it lying around from another half complete project....but that's another story.

The pattern was slightly challenging and fiddly, and my end result looked sloppy and holey compared with pictures. The thing that attracted me to this pattern was the 2 parts knitted in different orientations and grafted together. The thumb however, was lacking, and when I tried it on and imagined 5 degree temperatures, I decided a pattern with more thumb coverage would be better. A good try.

Small people knits

Finally! finished this gorgeous 'star-poncho' for my niece who is 1.5 years old. I found the pattern on pickles.no, and bought the pattern and wool as a kit. The star pattern was knew to me, but lots of fun to knit. The yarn is 100% Alpaca from Bolivia and comes in a delicious colour range. Very inspiring!

Rainy Monday

It's a rainy Monday, perfect for finishing a crochet throw I started last year. 
I used 16 ply organic wool sourced online from Australia Organic Wool. The wool is chunky which makes for relatively quick work, and it is soft and very tactile.