I've been thinking about making some soft toys for Christmas presents- for both of my babies plus my three little nieces and friends' babies. I think (if I can do a good job on them) it would be nice to make something distinctive, that couldn't be bought in a shop...
But, I'm wondering what, exactly, to make. Does anyone have any ideas, on good patterns they know, or what they've found fairly easy to make? (My sewing skills are average, and time is precious, so I hope to be able to use an existing pattern on idea from a book.) My absolute favourite toys at the moment are these I saw on Mollychicken. Aren't they amazing? I think she is a genius.
I'll let you know if I come up with something, but right now a grizzly toddler is getting bored with me being on the computer!

I haven't touched my spinning wheel in a long time. Two winters ago, I didn't spend an evening without producing a skein of handspun wool, and I would knit almost exclusively with it. But then I had a break, and then I lost my confidence, and now I'm too nervous to try spinning again in case I can't do it properly.
Then yesterday, at Arlo's and my regular Sunday outing, I found this jacket at the second-hand market. It's a short-sleeved pink-y purpley cropped jacket with little wooden toggle buttons.
It's handspun, handwoven (I think) and almost definitely hand-dyed wool, and I love it, but when I tried it on at home Tom laughed and said it was twenty years too old for me. And something a Nelson potter might have worn in their 1978 heyday.
While I suppose it does bring the bran muffin eater out in me, I don't care, and will still wear it.
And it's inspired me to do some spinning again. I even got out my "New Zealand Woolcraft" book and had a wee look at the natural plant dye section.
And then some friends came around for dinner, and my brother turned up just before we were about to eat, with a surprise delivery from my mum- a new spinning wheel!
Well, it's actually really old and she bought it in the seventies. But she's downsizing her collection of three. When my sister Tamsin comes down to Nelson over Christmas I'll see if she'd like my old Ashford I learned to spin on, so she can learn too.
A little while ago, a friend who had been living in working for a couple of years in downtown London asked me why I loved to spin and knit. I think it's mostly because it of the slow-ness of it. I could easily go and buy some fake-fur type wool for a couple of dollars down at the Warehouse, but to me, hand spinning just makes the whole craft of knitting more special. It takes a really long time, especially to get the yarn just as you want it, and to feel comfortable with your wheel. I like the peacefulness of the fibre running through my fingers, and the whirring of the wheel. (Admittedly, it's not always peaceful when something goes wrong, or for that matter, when I was learning how to spin. I was ridiculously impatient.) I also think of it as a feminist act. I'm sure a lot of women don't think of knitting and spinning as being particularly liberating, but the idea of continuing a particular set of skills and knowledge about something practical- how to make a piece of fabric for warmth, for example, is something I consider very important. Being self-sufficient; knowing you don't need to rely on industry and technology although it's very helpful if you have it- is an empowering thing. Ghandi set a good example!

Our 'sewing night' didn't really happen this week, due to sickness and busy-ness of most us- but Jasmine and Rhiannon did come, and it was really nice. Hopefully people will come next Tuesday, so we don't eat all the baking ourselves, and also so Rhiannon doesn't think this 'group' I talk about is actually imaginary!
She's moving house in the next couple of weeks, and brought me a present- three huge bags of fabric pieces! I've chosen some for a cot quilt already; the rest of the craft supplies will be great for everyone to share on Tuesday nights... thank you Rhiannon!

I tried out this montage website last night- it's lots of fun. Especially when you put your name in!

As you can see, not a lot to talk about today. Keira is suffering badly from her second tooth coming through, and I'm finding the lack of sleep a bit crazy- strange, I don't remember Arlo's teeth coming through at all (don't worry, he does have a full set, so they must have at some point!) Perhaps I don't remember because the sleep-deprived days went by in a blur? I guess it's all part of that 'forget the bad stuff so you'll want another baby straight away' trap that I fell into big time. Not that I'd change a thing, I just wish she could sleep properly again!

Here's a picture I've been meaning to post for a long time- Arlo wearing the red Spanish dress sent by our friend Carthew, who recently travelled to Europe. Isn't it fabulous?! I think it was really intended for Keira, but because she's a bit small for it, and it looks so pretty on Arlo... at first he was a little unsure, but he soon got into the spirit of it!

I'm thinking about Carthew today because tonight his documentary will be screened (TV2, 11.25pm) and Tom and I are really looking forward to seeing it. Carthew lived here with us last summer, while he was shooting a good part of the film, and we feel like we have invested interest! So if you're going to be up around then, make sure you check it out! (We actually had a sneak preview, and it was a really interesting and emotional piece of film-making). Kia kaha, Carthew!

 

This arrived in the mail from Kylie, Craig and Isaac. A wee Hone Tuwhare. My favourite NZ poet- thank you and I can't wait for you to update your blog (hint, hint.) But I do love the picture of Ike!

 

I took Arlo for a walk around the Sunday market yesterday and we had some good finds. It's a good thing to do with him on Sunday mornings, while Keira's sleeping, because Tom can have a quiet morning reading and Arlo and I do 'treasure hunting' then go and see the ducks at the park afterwards. Yesterday I found this big bag of fabric, which cost me a whole 50 cents. There were some great vintage pieces in there, and some that will make good bags and purses. Arlo found a Hairy Maclary book and an original 70s shirt complete with those pearl dome buttons. (Okay, so the shirt was found with help from me!) I'll post a picture of him wearing it soon because it's so cute!
Here's some of the fabric after washing and ironing: (grrr, had to remove this picture, because not enough space!)



Also in the weekend I had a busy night sewing for a possible Saturday market stall, while Tom watched an action film on T.V. (I'd love to employ him as my assistant, but so far I don't think he's very keen. Imagine how much faster my wee production line would be!) I'm still a bit unsure as to how I'll organise it, but I've been thinking for a while about having one to sell some knitted children's clothes and things I've sewn, all from recycled and vintage fabrics. I've made some tops and jumpers so far, and had a lot of fun choosing fabrics for these lined purses:


I had quite a big collection of really old zips from antique and second-hand shops which I used to make these. I love those old-fashioned zips with the metal handle bits (is there a name for those?) and the worn easiness of them. Some of these are just little, to be used for coins or button collections, and others are wide enough for pencils and pens.
Another exciting thing about the stall idea is that I've recently met a couple of people who are interested in sharing one with me... which means we'd all be able to share the workload, such as the setting up and running of the stall on Saturdays. I don't want to jinx it with too many details though!

 

Today I took the babies to visit my Mum. She's having her house renovated and had collected a few things to pass down to me. As well as scoring a food processor (easier baby food!) and a glass blender (smoothies!) she handed me this box containing some old Nelson pottery and... this gigantic orange tupperware bowl! (Isn't it great that I now have bakeware to match my formica kitchen bench? When we first moved here, I never thought I'd be able to say that!)


The best thing about this bowl are the memories. Mum always made her Christmas cakes in it. And being an early devotee of baking, I would do the mixing, clinging on tight to it's plasticky goodness. My little sister Tamsin made Anzac biscuits all the time in it. (All recipes were doubled, because there were seven people to eat the baking in my family.) Hence such a large bowl I suppose. Sometimes Tamsin's mixtures went slightly off course, and we'd take the orange bowl up to the hen-house to feed them the uncooked mixture. (Sorry Tamsin! Your baking is amazing now!)


Mum also gave me these dressing table-type pieces that used to belong to my grandmother, Joan. The china cups belonged to her mother-in-law, but there's no date stamp on them so noone knows how old they really are. Mum and Dad found them about ten years ago in a boarded-up cupboard in their home. I love holding them and thinking about all the Victorian tea parties they attended.

This morning I made a new friend- a fellow Nelson blogger! Rhiannon and her beautiful son Aesop met us at Smalltime, a pre-schooler's programme at our public library, and then we had chai at Yaza cafe - while Arlo chatted to our new friends incessantly. And drank his 'fluffy' of course.
So Rhiannon is going to come along to our Tuesday Stitch n' Bitch which is exciting news- I can't wait to see some of her work in person! You can also find some for sale on the aforementioned Etsy site right here.

I've been getting a really overwhelmed feeling lately when searching the internet. There's SO much I love, so much to get inspiration from and so many bits that lead to a trillion other interesting bits...
That's why I almost laughed when I came upon this

Perhaps I'll have to start a notebook where I write down all the ideas and beautiful things I see. Or maybe I could just record some of them here.
Just two for today. I'm sure i'm the last person that likes craft who has discovered Etsy. Man. I just love the idea that (if I had a credit card), I could purchase any of these artworks easy as pie. A spot of craft-market shopping anytime of the day, right from this desk while the babies are asleep, for example.
And then I found The K Bear and fell in love with those illustrations and their amazing use of colour.

But my favourite piece of crafting today has to be these embroidered political portraits (scroll down a little) by Georgia at On My Mind. So inspiring... now I just have to think of who my New Zealand political hero is, so I can create a local version. Hmmmm.

I've recently had a telling-off about not drinking enough milk. I've been pretty slack about my diet since having Keira- the whole eating-for-breastfeeding thing doesn't really cross my mind most days (please don't tell me I'm alone here?) and so, today I decided to make a big batch of muesli. Having this around means milk-intake in the mornings so at least one meal a day is healthy!
I thought I'd include my recipe in case you don't have one. It's quite a fun thing to make, and fills the house with a comforting smell...

Quiet Cricket Muesli

 

Really it's just a set of rough amounts of ingredients, and you can totally change it to your taste... such as more/different nuts, dried fruit and grains...

1.5 kgs rolled oats
4 cups coconut
1 cup wheatgerm
1 cup chopped peanuts
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 cup sunflower seeds
2 cups bran flakes
(if you have wee ones, adding 5 or 6 crushed Weetbix along with these ingredients makes the cereal go all sort of mushy when the milk is added, and in my experience, they really like that!)
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable or grapeseed oil
2 cups sultanas, chopped
1 cup chopped, dried apricots
1 cup yoghurt-covered raisins

Spread the oats, coconut, grains and nuts into two large roasting pans and roast at 100 degrees C, stirring often, for about 1/2 an hour or until brown and toasted.
Turn off the oven.
Combine honey and oil in a small saucepan and heat gently until both liquid and runny.
Divide evenly between the two pans and stir each mixture well until all the grains are covered in the honey mixture.
Put back in the warm oven for half an hour or so, until the oven has cooled.
Add the chopped dried fruit then the yoghurt raisins when it is completely cold. Store in an airtight jar.