Yarn Along

Happily joining Ginny and the gang over at Small Things for this week's Yarn Along. 
Always feels great to finish something doesn't it? Just in time for Spring, I've been really enjoying wearing these. They put me in mind of another era : )
You may remember the first pair I made from this pattern. I made even more changes this time, especially with the shaping and they fit great. Slowly but surely I think I'm learning some things about how crochet really works. The learning is absolutely in the doing. I'm realising now that yes, it's really important to learn how to follow patterns, but just as important to learn to think independently about the project and be able to design a piece as you go and to understand how to make that happen. I think I need to keep a crochet project on the go now no matter what else I'm working on, just to keep those skills alive and fresh in my mind, as I seem to have a hard time retaining things, yikes!

It's been another couple of weeks where reading feels like a luxury! But I just spotted a copy of Jane Eyre in a charity shop and the wonderful painting on the cover called me ; ) So, looking forward to losing myself in that soon.
 Thank you for visiting.

Seven times around the sun

Feel like I've lost my moorings a little! January and February turned out to be unexpectedly busy. Lots of important things that needed attention have taken me away. Thank goodness for small projects for I have been beavering away through trips and hecticness. This morning, home again and  faced with having fallen way behind on the domestic front, I decided(as I am wont to do) that all that could wait, and instead I needed to come here to share some of the special happenings from these past weeks : )


Something about painting came up in conversation recently with smallie, and he said 'I never paint, you don't let me'. Gulp. While pondering whether this was true, instant inspiration came as to what to give him for his upcoming birthday. I'm not a huge fan of kids paints I've got to say, or kids brushes, or the massive clean up job afterwards. I passed that aisle in our local arts supplies shop and headed for the artists paintboxes, brushes and watercolor pads, not so expensive after all.

The morning of his birthday, not yet dressed for the day, with breakfast barely over and his packages just opened, he began to paint. There was something wonderful in the air around it.
 We are both loving this little set, easily packed in his small backpack to Nana and Papa's last weekend and its getting daily, totally independent use. Sometimes we paint together. That this little prince of my heart would be the hand that beckons me finally back to painting seems precious and only in-keeping with the quiet magic he has always brought.

He wished for a cycling day to a special, favourite spot with a castle for his birthday. 
A single rotation of my bicycle wheel under the canopy of trees and I instantly felt revived, we all did. 
 The problem with all this crafting I've been focused on is it has me firmly planted on my derriere. Not good.
I was also reminded of how I miss the movement and air of my pre-driving days.
For smallie and his dear friend that day was all about the bikes and balloons, binoculars and bubbles and perhaps most exciting of all... doing skids ; )

 By the end of that day I also realised that ouch, I so need to felt me a saddle cover!


A lovely friend and fellow fibre-artist Linda Grant came to visit, always a lively exchange of ideas and enthusiasm between us. She'd been telling me about Peg looms and the lovely rhythmical nature of the craft for students. Hearing her tell of it inspired me get a simple one for the handwork room at school and she kindly walked me through the basics. I've been reading in a Steiner publication that the gesture of weaving is akin to breathing... Love that.

 I (happily) seem to be surrounded by people whom when I say 'I'd really like to get one of those', respond with 'you could easily make one of those' or 'I could make that' and I often end up grumbling under my breath. Because...really? We simply can't make everything, not with all the other things we need to do on the average day. And yes, I too cherish the idea of settling into a handmade chair with a handstitched blanket and drinking out of our own pottery mugs. Yet ultimately I'm a realist, with my feet on the ground and I'm ever more aware of time and what we can honestly and fairly expect to do and get done while also working (some of us two jobs!) outside the home. 
All this, a pre amble to what smallie did when he noticed me trying my hand at weaving on the new loom. Without saying a word, he dug out a block of wood he's held onto for a long time. Found some discarded colouring pencils that were surplus to requirements and on their way out, in a charity bag by the door.
I said nothing... just quietly reached for my camera and watched.

He set to work, weaving away beside me. Just. Like. That.


...These are the things I want to remember : )

Yarn Along

Writing this on Valentines day, allow me to get carried away..?

I'm happily joining Ginny and the gang over at Small Things for this week's Yarn Along.

I've been crocheting cords for these heart necklaces, trying them out before making them with the children at school, a simple project to introduce them to the notion of stuffing and sewing, we put lavender inside with the fleece, they love the smell : )

 I've also been looking at heart and flower patterns trying to find simple ones, to use for decorating hats and other accessories...more on this later.

I was looking in the library some weeks ago for a novel to get stuck into, knowing I had a couple of trips coming up. I loved Anne Tyler's 'Breathing Lessons', so thought I'd try another by her. This one is The Amateur Marriage. Always refreshing to read a candid portrait of a long-term relationship. Loving the recurring  image at the beginning of this book, of the striking young woman in the red coat in the otherwise grey world of the Polish quarter of Baltimore...

Thank you for stopping by, I look forward to checking out your reads and your stitching : ) M

Yarn Along

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

So, making Granny Squares is a great way to get back in to crochet, right? But the mere thought of making a blanket right now or heck, even a cushion cover is more than I can bear ; )

So pin cushions it is. For now.

Small is Beautiful these days.


I'm reading Barbara Kingsolver's collection of stories Homeland. I loved reading her novels; The bean trees, Pigs in Heaven and Prodigal Summer when I was younger. I was curious to see what her short stories were like. I just read one called Quality Time....I do love stories about the real life experience of motherhood. 
The mama in this story is thinking back over the idealistic ideas and intentions she held about parenting when she was pregnant. This line has stayed with me:
 ' Now she understands. Parenting is something that happens mostly while you're thinking of something else.' 
...Love the honesty in her storytelling : )


Looking forward to seeing what y'all are stitching and reading out there. Great to have you stopping by. M x

Yarn Along

Happily joining Ginny and the gang over at Small things for this weeks Yarn along.

I talked about this pattern in last week's Yarn along post. Having burned a hole in my pocket with such luxurious yarn, I'm on the far more sensible cotton version now ; ) I'm just having fun with these really, they're for me so I can play a little. I wanted something lightweight enough to wear indoors, especially with three-quarter length sleeves which I seem to have a lot of. Doing a bit of my own research, I want to see how the cotton will wear and hold up over time.

The pattern works in straight edges from the bottom up, this time around I wanted shaping so I started at the wrist and worked into both sides of the chain. I just kept trying it on and the increases for the hand came very easily. It's good for me to have to figure these things out as I go, I guess that's how you move on when you learn a new skill, and I've been really wanting to move on : ) It fits me very well, so I hope I can remember what I did for the second one!

This week I'm leafing through Heal Your Body  A-Z, the mental causes for physical illness and the way to overcome them by Louise L. Hay. It's a reference guide to the possible mental patterns behind health and well-being issues. Her earlier book 'You can heal your Life' was quite a ground-breaking study for me when in my twenties and grappling with many things. I haven't used affirmations for many a long day now and I'm not at all sure about her approach any more either. I don't see things in such a simplistic way, I think there are probably many many reasons why our health falters at particular times, some of them complex. Still its interesting to dip into and see what resonates, and some of the affirmations really spark nostalgia, take me back to that other time. I'd definitely rather be here, that's for sure!

Thanking you for visiting this week, and for all your lovely feedback last week : )

Looking forward to seeing what you've been working on and reading, M

the fabric of our lives

I swear I really am going to take the Christmas decorations down after this weekend ; )
You see a certain small someone turns seven tomorrow(what? that can't be!) and wanted to keep them up for this one last event. 'Suits me' I found myself saying.
Truth is, this year was the first that I really entered in to the Christmas tree tradition in my own home.
I can't bear the getting up in the dark of these early Winter mornings and find myself wanting to turn the tree lights on as I'm going through the motions of making smallie's porridge, makes it easier somehow, warmer. And I find myself getting attached to our little collection of decorations, especially the handmade ones.
My lovely Aunt in Kerry has a personal tradition where she writes a little note when its time to take the decorations down (usually the 6th of January in Ireland) recording current family news, what all her children are up to at this time, and what she hopes for them all in the coming year...then she slips it into the box as the decorations get tucked away for yet another year. She mentioned this simple ritual in passing, and I was really struck by it. When she takes her decorations out of storage next December the note will fondly be found and read.

Our house has been a work- in-progress for some time now, ever since we moved in here two and a half years ago and so I never quite felt comfortable having people over. Either there were power tools permanently plugged in to charge and I worried about visiting children or there were mice, never ending dust and areas of chaos that I preferred not to share. Finally last summer after all this work, time, and expense we arrived somewhere, phew! It's far from finished still, but feels like a home.. after Christmas it was a joy to have some very special friends over with thier children to share a meal and just be together. Particularly special as the Mamas all share my passion for handwork and we've all worked together at one time or another in workshop situations, sometimes in the role of mentor, sometimes student... kindred spirits to treasure surely : )

Little Christmas gifts from my woolly friends, they know what a girl really needs ; )

And around that time, two lovely musicians in Oregon chose one of my Christmas illustrations for the cover of their CD. We've been happily listening to it : )

I love the optimism, hope and faith that people seem to so easily hold at the beginning of a brand new year. I loved seeing all the texts and posts on facebook saying, 'I know this years going to be a good one'. Reminds me of the resilience of humankind. The feeling that things do keep on deepening and progressing, despite difficult times.
And I too feel there is So so much to look forward to. and to feel blessed for.

I was driving down our road today thinking of when I used to travel a lot, and ended up moving quite regularly... and lived a life of relative freedom, though I had no idea of that at all at the time. Man, I do now. I think I used to feel that if I had to get up at the same time every morning, five days a week and drive down the same road, five days a week, I'd go insane. Guess what? I'm doing it and have consistently been doing it now for all of  2.5 years and it ain't so bad! Last time I checked I was feeling more solid and more myself than perhaps ever : )

The lads meanwhile, just planted 78 garlic cloves in the polytunnel, a year's worth apparently.
So, no matter what else fails, there will be pesto!

Thank you for reading, M

Yarn Along

Happily joining Ginny and the gang over at Small Things for this weeks Yarn Along.

 I got an order for a pair of gold arm-warmers. With all the patterns out there, it always amazes how hard it is still to find a really appealing crochet pattern! I wasn't inspired by many of the patterns that I trawled through, that's why I hold tight when I find one, and file it away for another incarnation of it, at another time. The ones you know you'll come back to when you find a yarn you just love, or when the birthday of a dear friend rolls around. This is one of those : )


I bought this pattern from an Etsy shop I stumbled upon. It's ultra clear and really well written, and easy. Oh the joy and satisfaction of being able to follow patterns now : ) I just made a couple of minor changes to it and added the shell edging at the top in bamboo.

Arm warmers were not something I ever wore or thought of before learning to follow crochet patterns. I've come to really love them now and when I end up going out without them at this time of year, I miss them ; )

This yarn's 35% silk, 65% baby alpaca, warm and soft. I got into silk when I started to explore nuno felting, got completely fascinated by the cocoons, its qualities, its creative potential  and the whole thing really. Then I started to crave silk, to work with, to wear and to watch it shimmer behind smallie when he runs up the garden in his play cloak. I sourced most of it from charity shops. I uncharacteristically put a silk pillowcase on my wishlist this Christmas(being usually very practical). I dream on it these nights and it is indeed very lovely.

Drawn to its presence in yarn too, I'm curious to see how it wears over time. Still very much learning about the different fibres and their qualities in a knit or crochet fabric. 

 Friends, can any of you tell me if you think mercerised cotton DK would work for such a project and purpose..? That's what I'd like to try it in next, the pattern is designed for a fine yarn so its not the weight I'm concerned about but the elasticity, or lack thereof...whether it would hold it's original shape? I'd love your thoughts on it please : )

Nollaig na mban which we celebrated recently, inspired me to re-visit this book Woman: a celebration . Amazing collection of photographs in this beautiful cloth-bound book, all black and white with the exception of one. I always marvel at the resilience, strength and courage of women. Basically, I think we rock! 


As always I look forward to checking out what ye are making and reading out there.
Thank you for reading. M