Yarn Along

Happily joining Ginny and the gang over at Small things for this week's Yarn Along.

I've been holding on to a lot our glass jars from the kitchen to re-use for storage in the studio and handwork room at school. Upcycling is an idea I love playing with these days. I couldn't find a pattern for a jar cover that I loved, so thought I'd try my hand at making it up as I went. Thinking it would be a great project for the children at school to store their crochet hooks and pencils and all. I don't know why this colour combination captivates me so, I love the retro feel of it.

I finished reading The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood. I've mixed feelings about it... the idea of a contemporary story that has the act of knitting as its centre thrills me, and the belief that knitting can be a healing practise, I love all that. The story did have glimmers of honesty and authenticity but overall I found it very contrived. Definitely an easy read though.

What's in your work basket this week..? I look forward to browsing through. Thanks for stopping by : ) x M

Yarn Along

Happily joining Ginny and the gang over at Small Things for this week's Yarn Along, having taken a little breather from my computer ; ) badly needed every now and then, no?

This was the first knitting project I did with class 1 when they'd just learned to knit.

Inspired by Linda's pattern over at the lovely Natural Suburbia.

The children were very proud indeed of their sewing books and could hardly wait to take them home to share : )

I finished reading The Horse Whisperer...such an engaging story.

Though I had a hard time with the ending, I found myself having grown very attached to the characters and their fate : )

I look forward to checking out all your knits and your reads. And for the Yarn Alongers who wanted to see the painted bellycast I've been busy finishing, you'll see it in my previous post. Thanks for all the lovely comments on that and for stopping by today x M

Bellycast Painting

This is a commission I've been working on ...it's out of the studio now and safely delivered to the golden-haired mama : )

                                                                                                     Photo by Henneke 

                                                                                                                                                           Photo by Henneke 

Yarn Along

We had a sweet Easter this year...hope you did too.
 I immersed myself in the spirit of it, colouring lots of eggs with the children, and getting in a bit of crochet. You'll find lots more about our onion skin-dyed eggs in my previous post here.

These crochet eggs were fun to make, this is a nice easy pattern. 
Boy, this nest was a workout for the fingers! in pure hemp cord. You'll find the pattern here.

Some of the small people I am auntie to seem to be growing more craft hungry as they get bigger, and I was amazed with all the finger crochet they asked to do. Lucky for us we found a bag of bright yarn stashed in the bottom of Nana's hot press : )

And spent one fine sunny evening out on the lawn turning this finger crocheted rope, as the bigger boys took turns skipping and jumping. 

Happily joining Ginny and the gang over at Small Things for this week's Yarn Along.
Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to checking out your easter makings x M

Easter Antics



There are no less than nineteen of us gathered at my parents house over these few days...the entire family under one roof!

 Blessed by mild weather we have feasted and frolicked. And lucky for me there's been much creativity : ) in the great company of my nieces and nephews..

I was inspired by the children's eggs at kindergarten to colour these eggs with the smallies, using wet crepe paper. So simple and fun for even the smallest of hands.

But this year I have surely found my all-time favourite way of colouring eggs.
With onion skins : ) 

I've really enjoyed dyeing fleece and silk this way in this past. But doing this with the bigger children and the excitement and mystery of seeing the lovely results, really lit up my little world this Easter Sunday.

We gathered flowers and foliage from Nana & Papa's garden  and made little egg parcels to cook, using both white and red onion skins. Inspired by this tutorial over at Ulicam. I can certainly imagine this becoming an annual ritual now. The only shame was that I could not find any white eggs...on which the effect of both of these projects would have been far greater.

 I'm very in love with these little nature paintings : )

I will be back in a few days 

with more makings and doings from our stay ; )

I hope you've had a wonderful Eastertime x M

Easter babes

I can feel the anticipation grow in my small boy, as we pack up the car and head to our Easter family gathering : )

We're looking forward to decorating eggs with all the cousins and as we gather the supplies, we got to thinking of the woolly eggs we made last year.

You can see the full post about them here, with lots of other Spring makings too.

Wishing you and your families a happy, fun Eastertime x M

Yarn Along

Happily joining Ginny and the gang over at Small things for this weeks Yarn Along.
I had fun working out this square, it's for a group project to mark a special occasion, a secret for now ; ) 
How to turn a circle into a square...another crochet mystery solved!
The pattern ended before my square was big enough so I had to improvise on the last few rows and make up the increases which I'd say are not perfect but I am learning, learning. 
I've become such a slacker when it comes to blocking.

But thinking how lovely it would be to make a small blanket or throw from these squares and what fun to be had playing with the colours... the best part : )




Still reading this Carol Shield's novel, and so far despite the wonderful cover art, I'm just not feeling it!


Thanks so much for visiting and for all your lovely comments on last week's post which I so appreciate. 
Look forward to seeing what you're working on x M