Tag Archives: craft

Lily’s February sweater

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Well, I finally finished Lily’s February girl sweater!

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hooray! my most complex and challenging knitting project so far.

I learnt so much with this project, practically and internally

so much required from me

including patience

persistance

invention

commitment

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persistance

imagination

bravery

overcoming tedium

presence

attention

there are alot of p words aren’t there?

one last one…

pride!

beautiful aint it!

IMG_4683it’s the February pattern from Elizabeth Zimmerman’s book, The Knitter’s Almanac

adapted to big girl size with lots of trial and error! remember this...

an excellent, amusing guide to knitting projects throughout a year.

you can see my ravelry notes for the February girl Sweater/cardigan here…

Are you still knitting this late in the year if you are in the southern hemisphere?

and what are you starting to warm yourself in the coming months if you are in the north?

happy clicketty clacking

R

Paper pentagon star lantern

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A traveling craft lesson
Some coming in time
Some quiet respite from windy seaside
Some beautiful adornment
For our housebus
A wish fulfilled

I’ve wanted to make one of these pentagon star lanterns for a long time.
Today it came about easily
Already we had been making little paper stars
So our hands where warmed and the star theme moved us.
Most lanterns I’ve seen are made with watercolor paper
We improvised with what we had
As we often do for these spontaneous craftings
(when we get home we will paint thick watercolor paper and make some for candles)
Today it was
One colored side origami papers
A rough pentagon template
Scissors and glue
An Online tutorial
Children sharing scissors and paper hooray!
Cedar chopped minuscule pieces which went everywhere, then he was happy to sweep it all up, hooray again!
It was a bit awkward gluing the last pentagons in place.
Easier next time for sure.
Lily hung the delicate lantern over a down light and even though it was not yet dusk we enjoyed the colorful cheering glow during our evening meal.
These small moments of creation and togetherness hearten me immensely.
This lantern shining spurred the first talks of the coming advent and queries of would we make our advent candles again? And where is the candle windmill? And where is baby Jesus? Can we fill star lanterns with advent biscuits to give our friends…
It was beautiful to realize how the ritual of advent has become a part of our family life and memories and is anticipated by L.
Blessings on our home and hands
Blessings upon yours too
Have you made these lanterns before?
Are you going to now?
Do you celebrate advent?
Did your family of origin have traditions for advent?
May each of our beautiful inner lights shine brightly
X

gardening with a paper bag

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a weekend holiday

some happy hours in the northbank community gardens

children wandering and gathering

mama weeding and dreaming of how her seedlings bought today will grow

{and realising i won’t be here to see them grow}

but enjoying my gardening all the same…

flavoursome leaves and a few asparagus stalks

chicken friends and chicken squawks

blossoms and seeds

ladybirds and weeds

chickens want holding

and a little paper bag folding

peace, rhymes, being together outside on a tired day

 

 

this garden is an amazing resource for the community

abounding gratitude to the committed crew who keep it growing well

and accessible to us all*

make a paper bag…

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on a cold and rainy day

we had school at home

after songs and circle games

for morning tea some nuts where cracked to accompany our fruit

our morning craft lesson was making origami paper bags from an old phone book

then a ‘shop’ game evolved between the children

go get yourself a piece of paper, any size will do, try newspaper or an old telephone bill…

here comes the method to make a handy paper container to use for a multitude of purposes

including gift wrapping, games, shopping, seed saving, storage, envelopes and and and…

{hover your mouse over the images and the written instructions will magically appear}

lay out your paper in the landscape position

i just think that’s a great re-use of our waste paper!

Lily made a bunch of little sacks to package little craft items in for the school stall.

today i feel like making a big sack to put over my head…

 

with giggles

R

ps let me know what you use your paper bags for

 

 

 

a little mending…

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how to love mending as much as the making

i’ve been working on this and in the last weeks

gathered in the holey things and begun

wow! i’ve let them go a long time and some holes have grown noticeably

but here i go with my needle and thread and a little stillness

and a lot of enjoyment of handling these beautiful things again

and knowing i am giving them a new burst of life

Lily is not feeling well

as i wrapped her in her baby blanket {with big girl extensions}

i noticed those holes

so with children at one end and me at the other

i got to my task

feeling the texture and weight of this beautiful crotcheted blanket

how quickly it warmed my legs and memory

i was pregnant with my first big belly

traveling in a beautiful old yellow kombi van

Jesse and I on our first adventure together

i gathered yarn from my family and friends

along the way i gathered more

and as we drove often i had my basket of yarn at my feet and

this growing blanket on my growing belly

i wove into it all my wondering of who and when and how

all those pre mama feelings

who would i be bundling in this wool one day soon?

thousands of stitches thousands of kilometres and thousands of blessings.

from my reverie i glance up

and here is my daughter

bigger than ever

as i mended we talked about her birth

she and Cedar chatted and played

and i cherished this gift i made

once upon a time for a wee babe

a little sewing…

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borrowed a vintage cadillac of a sewing machine

{dear stitcher, i have missed you immensely in my life these last 6 months…}

finished the job at hand then

treated myself to a tiny playful sewing make i had seen

on another funky mama

patch together scraps of this and that

make a long snake for the characterless camera strap.

then had fun taking snaps in the mirror for you

go on make one too. it’s fun for you or someone you look at….

i love bringing handmade to the pieces of modern technology in my life

and seeing what others do to theirs…

 

 

what do you think?

are you going to make something to brighten up one of your gadgets?

xx

for practical directions

the dimensions of  my patches for my canon strap {4cm wide}

i made a patchwork strip of 10cm by 90cm

folded in half, right sides together and stitched long seam

rolled right side out

and slipped over the strap..

tutorial ~ make a pocket gnome

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assemble materials

  • cut yourself a pattern of the square body {6cm}  and cap  {5×2.5cm} has come curvature to it
  • two colors wool felt fabric
  • a wooden bead for the head 12mm or so
  • thread and needle {if child is making it, be kind and use bigger needle and thread/embroidery floss}
  • scissors
  • fluff to stuff {wool or cotton wool}
  • craft glue

 

cut pattern pieces

1x square for body

1x cap in matching color

1x square for pocket

1x triangle for pocket front

 

mark centre of doll’s body and firmly attach wooden bead head upright

use a dab of non toxic craft glue to secure the thread in the position of the ear line

stitch seam of the cap {i prefer blanket stitch, but over stitch is equally good and easier for children who are at the beginning of their crafting life}

insert a finger into the cap to open it out in readiness for the head bead

use a dab of glue to secure the cap on gnomes head ensuring you cover the strings

begin at one hand and stitch around the body two thirds of the way to the other hand

stuff your gnomes body with fluff

continue to stitch to other hand and bind off

tie off hands at the wrist with a little string

your gnome is complete,  Yay for you!!

decorate if you wish

to make the pocket lay your triangle piece over the diamond piece and stitch the two outer sides

decorate with fancy stitchin if you wish {stars, flowers, colorful lines, beautiful embroidery etc}

{children can do ‘dolphin stitch’ simple in and out stitch in a line, like a dolphin diving up and down for decoration}

then pop your little gnome into bed!

too cute!

very sweet gifts, children’s activity, stocking fillers and a friend for special times

in a childs {inner children too}  life when they need a comfort in their pocket

 

Crafting glimpses

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Crafting glimpses

A gallery of crafting moments from my WA visit

centred on wool craft

I got my sister started on her felting journey

it was delightful to share some of my skills

we made her baby a playmat and some funny mutant animals

like the wombat sheep

inspired by the book

A Felt Farm

I made Cedar a playmat with roads on it for this wheel obsessed boy

a success and great for travelling

meanwhile other children getting soapy

and happy making colored balls

{a great place to start wet felting for yourself and kids}

and having nests made for small toys

on lemons this time

children weaving on braiding discs

and needle felting dolls and butterflies

and little fingers doing fine embroidery

and turning it into pincushions

and little animals cut out of fabric and made into 3d toys

and more

and sewing and having a sister for guidance and support just like when we where younger

and more

and knitting like crazy and discovering the ease and fun and singing

with the windy wool thing {umbrella swift and winder}

which takes your big skein and makes wonderful neat balls

I honestly could not figure out how Godmother wound such neat balls by hand!

der…

and this moment which cracks me up because i am so happy with this funny gadget

and have a vine wrapped around my head and giant mongolian slippers on

and I’ve just been singing with my four year old niece while she winds the winder

and looks up at me with fun in her eyes

thankyou mama for bringing me up in a crafty home

now i can make my own crafty home

**