Monthly Archives: February 2012

Hello 29

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I can’t believe I forgot to mention in my last post that I’ve gone back to work!

New Nut and Bee site

Yep, Nut and Bee is open again. I’ve temporarily pulled a couple of products where my production processes need an overhaul, but most things are back in the shop and I’m starting to post new drawings/prints too. I was a bit nervous because I usually find it difficult to resume drawing after a break, but it’s all gone well so far.

Our new family schedule where everyone gets up early with JSR’s alarm turned out brilliantly, as Willow has resumed afternoon naps, and I have a couple of hours of time to myself every day without relying on anyone else. That makes everything so much easier; I couldn’t have started working again otherwise. (And I’m really hoping she keep it up for a while!)

On Wednesday I couldn’t go to GUnit, as JSR had taken the car to go and goth out at a Sisters of Mercy concert. I was planning to have a quiet solo-knitting-night at home, then Rachel suggested I could Skype them instead – brilliant! After I introduced Willow and Otto to everyone they put me in the corner on a laptop and I knitted at my desk for much of the evening. I even got a tour of Rachel’s bedroom and yarn stash. THE FUTURE IS AWESOME.

Virtual GUnit
Josh, Rachel and Zeb, with me on the little screen. Sadly technology did not permit me to eat any of those delicious-looking scones. (Photo, and scones, by Clint.)

Yesterday was my birthday, celebration #4 of the month. I didn’t feel like doing much – the stress of trying to organise an event was too intimidating, plus seriously, who cares about me turning 29? Such a boring, nothing of an age. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have a good day! I ate Giapo gelato in the morning (Himalayan Salted Chocolate and White Chocolate with Chocolate & Hazelnut Cake flavours), read a lot, had a great nap in the afternoon, and went out to dinner with JSR, Willow and my parents.

I got perfect presents too – new pairs of Thunderpants, a Webs Yarn Store gift voucher to buy the last of the yarn I need to crochet my Hobbergobber Blanket, some chocolate fudge, a Farmers gift voucher, and a wee bit of cash which will probably go on groceries, but that’s fine, it’s a week of groceries I don’t have to worry about buying!

I might do something more celebratory next year, since I am rather looking forward to 30. I’m quite enjoying not being a young person any more. It seems a lot easier to be myself and not give unnecessary hoots as time goes on.

Viking Celebrations

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We’re well into our Month of Family Celebrations now – between February 14th and March 14th we have Valentine’s Day, JSR’s birthday, our wedding anniversary, my birthday, and finally Willow’s birthday.

We usually bundle the occasions into one or two dinners out and only give presents for the birthdays, so I was superbly surprised when JSR gave me a huge box of Valentine’s chocolates last Tuesday. HUGE! Like a hat box, but full of chocolate! It lasted until this morning, which tells you a lot about the heft, as I can make chocolate disappear like a magician ;)

Then came JSR’s birthday, for which I stealthily crocheted a set of father-and-daughter Viking hats.

Viking Hats

It took a couple of late nights crafting after he had gone to bed, but absolutely worthwhile. Look how great they are!

I used the Lael Viking Helmet pattern from mamachee on Etsy which has lovely built-in detailing and was a pleasure to work – full technical details are on my Ravelry project page.

Viking Hats

During the photo shoot Willow leaned in for a kiss. AW! HEART MELTING! She’s fond of kisses at the moment, usually accompanied by a long, exaggerated MMMMMMMMMMMM-WAH! noise and a very firm grip on your face. It’s darling, I can’t get enough.

Willow in W’illow

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It might be ‘just’ a baby cardigan, but this is my most complex knitting project yet, and I LOVE the result. The yarn feels beautiful, the stitch patterns and construction add texture and interest, and Willow looks so sweet in red.

Willow in W'illow

The pattern is the L’illo cardigan by Susan Power, published in Knitty, and the yarn is Merino Soft 4-ply Baby Wool from Skeinz. My Ravelry project page has details of my minor modifications.

Willow in W'illow

Willow + L’illo = W’illow!

Willow in W'illow

The construction with saddle shoulders is not one I’ve tried before.
I promise that seam is actually straight :)

Willow in W'illow
I had to hand over the lint roller to get a close-up without having the camera grabbed…

I made my own closures using i-cord, after failing to find commercial buttons I liked. Each of the buttons is a 4cm length of i-cord tied in an overhand knot and sewn down, and each loop is an 8cm length arranged in an infinity shape, sewn on one side and left free on the other. It holds together quite well and I love the look with the ribbing and the slightly raised collar.

While I had Willow corralled on the table, with a camera in my hand, I took the opportunity to cajole her into counting so I could capture her world’s-cutest pronunciation of “eleven”. Success!

I have many more videos to upload, when I get the time. Willow’s all about demonstrating her new knowledge now, and every day is a non-stop stream of numbers and letters and colours and shapes and animal noises and questions and songs. She amazes me every day with things I had no idea she knew. It’s magical, and definitely makes up for the tantrums and mischief and squashing six bananas onto the lounge floor :P

Crafty Tools Tidied

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Yesterday I made a little roll up crochet hook case – my dear hooks have been languishing in a plastic bag for too long!

Crochet case

The fabric is a remnant from one of the skirts I made, and I think the ribbon came from some gift wrapping? In any case, all the materials were already in my craft box :)

I didn’t use any pattern or reference for the construction, just thought about what I wanted and folded up a scrap piece of paper to make sure all the seams would end up enclosed. I figured out how to do it with one rectangle of fabric and one seam down each side! Then I sewed the pockets and it was done. I made spaces for all my current hooks, plus three extra – two smaller ones for regular size hooks, and one big fellow over on the right, since I’m interested in the concept of making a rag rug one day out of t-shirt strips and might need a giant broomstick of a hook.

Crochet case

To close, you fold the top flap down, roll and tie. My one problem was making the ribbons a bit too short, so making a bow is tricky – I’m thinking of replacing them with a loop of elastic and a button.

While photographing I pulled out my freshly arranged knitting tool and amigurumi supply cases too. These are both flat plastic boxes from $3-Japan shops, perfect for keeping everything sorted but accessible at a moment’s notice.

Knitting Tool Box

The knitting case has (top to bottom, left to right):

  • T-pins for blocking – most currently in use
  • Safety pins
  • Stitch markers
  • Row counter, yarn guide, thimble for sore fingers
  • Magnifier, clip and rubber band for general securing
  • Smooth cotton yarn for lifelines, provisional cast-ons and holding stitches
  • Scissors, cable needles
  • Thread conditioner, knitter’s hand cream
  • Measuring tape
  • Sewing needle assortment
  • Pens, ruler, chopstick for poking stuffing into small spaces, pliers for pulling needles through thick materials – more important than you may think, I have a chipped front tooth from doing this idiotically!

I’ve still got several empty spots for more tools, though one thing I like about yarn crafting is that you really don’t need much equipment.

Amigurumi box

The amigurumi case is mostly safety eyes of different colours and sizes, plus some DMC perle cotton for embroidering noses and mouths, and invisible mending thread for joining delicate parts. The front row of eyes are clear, which is my preference, as you can paint the back with acrylic paint in any colour you like – they came from excellent Etsy seller 6060. I wouldn’t buy any other kind these days, but as you can see I have plenty of older coloured ones from Spotlight to use up.

That just leaves knitting needles. I have two interchangeable sets, each of which came in their own cases – a metal Hiya Hiya set with sizes 2-8 which I use for almost everything, and a plastic Denise set with sizes 5-15. The Denise set isn’t great to knit with, but I keep it around because I do need one of those larger sizes occasionally.

Mmmmmmm, the joy of having tidy things!

Garden Growing

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I threw a little bit of a tizz on Twitter about our garden a few days ago – why am I doing this, I don’t like the sun, I don’t like heavy lifting, I have delicate internet-user’s hands, I should plant ground covers in the beds and give up, that sort of thing. But really I was just frustrated because I wasn’t turning over the lawn in the new bed I’m trying to establish quickly enough, and all the grass grew back before I could finish and mulch over it, so now I’ll have to start again. (I might be lazy this time and pin down some plastic sheets to kill the grass, then lift them up and mulch, instead of trying to dig the grass in which apparently I am too pathetic to do. That will work, right?)

In reality, I might not be very good at the hard digging bits, but you don’t have to do that very often, and I do really enjoy the regular watering and weeding and wandering around at least once a day checking up on all my plants. The bed next to the deck that I planted last year is starting to look quite decent. It’s still rather bare at the barbecue end, since I only have the budget for small specimens, some of which need a lot of space around them because they will eventually grow quite large, but I keep it tidy and it’s filling in more all the time. Speaking of budget, I’ve been getting into free plants even more lately – starting cuttings from friends’ gardens, splitting up prolific plants and spreading them out, and transplanting bits and pieces that self-seed in other parts of the property. It’s quite fun to see what I can get for nothing! Another example of limitations breeding creativity…

Garden, Feb 2012

Garden, Feb 2012

The cabbage-tree-cordyline-ish-things and palms were all there when we moved in, though they were all barely knee high at the time, hard to believe now. I planted everything else. There’s a few fruits and herbs, and the rest are perennials which would have nice flowers if Willow didn’t pick them all. Can’t be mad at her when she runs up with a big smile saying “fluuur, mummy, fluuur!” though. And yeah, it all needs re-mulching… soon…

Mon-pot

While I was outside taking pictures I found The Mon curled up in a large pot. Luckily I’m not actually growing anything in there at the moment, except for a weed or two…

Mon-pot
Hey, quit it, I am trying to nap here!

One of the things I like about the area we live in are all the established trees. Our neighbourhood was largely established in the 50s and 60s so there’s decades of growth, which is so much more interesting than those horridly bare new subdivisions. I’ll take shabbier houses with a bit of character any day.

Neighbourhood Pines

These pine trees aren’t on our property, they’re several doors away, but they are so big they still tower over our yard and look particularly beautiful in the late evening as the sun sets. There used to be a larger stand, but some were cut down recently. When the tree surgeons were working I was nervous that they would all be felled, and I was very pleased when these two stayed. After all, if we were to have a neighbourhood Totoro, I think this would be a very likely place to find him!