magic

I'm so pleased to show you this little piece of knitting. It's the first thing I've knitted "top down" and the first time I've used a circular needle. It's the very popular "puerperium" cardigan designed by Kelly Brooker. The pattern is available here - free - in new-born size. The two great things about this cardigan is that it knits up quickly and it has no seams. So nothing to sew up and so comfortable for baby. The downside though is that those tiny sleeves are knitted in the round either on a set of double-pointed needles or using the "magic loop method" with a circular needle. I did the magic loop and, like much of knitting, it is magical. I followed this excellent youtube tutorial.

It's mid winter here so not much is happening in the garden. But I think moss is interesting and I love the earthy mustard and green colours of it so here are some mossy (or lichen covered) twigs photographed on a recent walk on a cold and blustery day.

Reading: Just kids by Patti Smith (biography about when she lived In New York City with Robert Mapplethorpe) and Everywhere I look by Helen Garner (a collection of essays).

buttons

Don't you love it when everything just comes together? I was thinking about how I could sort out my button collection that lives in a jumble in a shoe box. I seem to spend ages looking for the right buttons to finish a cardigan. Usually I find three of the 'perfect' button when I need five. I decided it would save me so much time if I were an organised person and I had them sorted into sets on cards or in little zipper bags. And while procrastinating over this enormous task I found an old (1985) gardening book, The A-Z of gardening in New Zealand, in a local book exchange. The book is full of lovely, slightly faded photographs that I thought I could use to make cards to sew my buttons onto. So I cut out some of my favourite photos, glued them onto card and stitched on the buttons using a strong top-stitching thread. I think cards like this would make a nice gift for a sewing or knitting friend.

I've been slowly working my way through my button collection. I seem to have quite a few one-offs (that's just a selection on the plate, above) and I've decided to keep the loveliest anyway as they are so ... well, lovely. So much joy in such little, everyday things.

Have a lovely weekend.

The top photo, by the way, is of Oakura beach, south of New Plymouth, taken a couple of years ago. I have it as my computer desktop so I see it almost every day. I love to see the sea.

Reading: A long way from Verona (1971) by Jane Gardam. Another of the childhood books. I'd forgotten so much of it that it was like reading it for the first time and I loved it. Another coming of age book - and Jane Gardam's first novel -  with a young (thirteen-year-old) fiesty protagonist, Jessica (aka Jessie Carr) Vye. Again set in England but this time during the second world war - rationing and air raids.

blankets

Right now I'm working to bind some woolen fabric (from my stash) to make cot blankets to donate to Little Sprouts. The mossy brown one is complete and I'm about to start on the grey. It's a pretty simple task that includes some hand stitching - which I quite like. There's a good tutorial here at Purl Soho.

I've been stitching away while watching some of my favourite films - so far, The big Lebowski, Frances Ha and Rear window. Plus the blanket is warm on my lap. We've had a few cold nights here recently.

That top photo was taken last July. It's Lake Waihola near Milton in Otago. We were passing by on our way from Dunedin to Invercargill. It was a really cold day. You can see the frost on the hills and the lake was frozen in shallow parts along the shore.

Reading: Bilgewater (1976) by Jane Gardam. Although I listed this as a childhood favourite, it's not a children's book - more suitable for "teens". I quite liked it but perhaps not as much as when I first read it. It's the coming-of-age story of Marigold Green, the daughter of a schoolmaster at a private boys' school in England. Marigold leads a quiet and solitary life until she reunites with a childhood friend.
The quote: "It must be queer not being able to do mathematics."

baby wrap

Influenced by the stash-less posts here I'm trying to use up some of my own stash of wool and fabric - especially if I can use it in a good way.  This is a merino baby wrap that I made yesterday. I spent hours researching this project as I haven't sewn knits before and don't have a serger.

I more or less followed this tutorial (you'll need to scroll down the page a bit to find it) but instead of making double folded hems I did single fold. Merino doesn't fray and I was wanting to reduce the layers of fabric at the corners so they'd be easier to sew. A single fold isn't as neat a finish as double but it worked. 

I also used the walking foot on my sewing machine for the first time (ever!) It helps glide the fabric under the needle and stops it bunching up. I love it. It made a huge difference and produced nice, non-puckered seams.

Other ways to finish a baby wrap:

use rib binding

crochet a simple edging

So, making this wrap I learned a thing or two and now there is one less piece of fabric in the cupboard. Remember that bumper sticker "She who dies with the most fabric, wins"? Are you a hoarder of fabric? Or do you buy as you go?

Reading: Through the eyes of a foster child by Daryl Brougham - NZ biography about being abandoned in infancy and living in foster care until the age of 18.

Listening: Love letter for fire by Sam Beam and Jesca Hoop.

not according to plan

First, my new favourite cookbook - A year in my real food kitchen by Emma Galloway from my darling lemon thyme. And the first recipe I made from it, Apple, lemon and thyme crumble - that I managed to burn, just a little. It still tasted good though served with custard.

And second, a little cardigan knitted in "dot stitch" for an old colleague's soon-to-arrive second child. Frustratingly the pattern had a few errors that I struggled to resolve. It's a good pattern though - knitted in one piece to the armhole so that the only seams are on the sleeves. The buttons are some "vintage" ones from my button box. I think this might be the last of the baby gifts - at least for a while.

Reading: Big magic by Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, pray, love)

Watching: Veep - from the beginning
Everything is copy - documentary about writer/filmmaker Nora Ephron who died in 2012. I loved her book of essays, Crazy salad (1975) but she's probably better known for her screenplays - Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry met Sally, Julie and Julia etc

quilt

I've discovered that the list of possible items a teddy bear might need is without limit. This time - a little (12" x 16") quilt using fabric scraps from my cupboard.
I followed this tutorial (except I hand quilted). I even made the pillow with not one but two little pillow cases.
This doll's quilt would be a great project for a keen child. It takes you through all the steps of quilt making - but at warp speed. Very satisfying. Previously I've made only two crib quilts and they took me forever to complete.

Enjoy your weekend coming up. We've got a long one here in New Zealand to celebrate (officially but not actually) the Queen of England's birthday.

Referencing: The practical guide to patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman

Reading: Aunts up the Cross by Robin Dalton - about growing up in an eccentric household in Kings Cross, Sydney in the 1920s and 30s (first published in 1965)

time was

The nightshirt is finished. It's the first garment - excluding teddy bear clothes - that I've made for a very long time. I used Simplicity pattern 1021. It's a bit of an odd birthday present as I'm three weeks late getting it done and, as it's made from a fine linen that should be nice to sleep in during the summer, winter is almost here. But I'm so pleased that I got it done and it turned out OK and it fits. I now feel emboldened to try something a little more complicated for myself. Maybe something simple from Lotta Jansdotter's new book, Everyday style.

I recently read Patti Smith's M train - a memoir in which she talks (among other things) about her favorite authors and books - including books from her childhood. A list of her favorite fifty books (including some children's titles) has been posted here on brain pickings.

M train got me thinking about some of my favourite childhood reading:

• Bristle face by Zachary Ball

• The midnight fox by Betsy Byars 
  

• Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster

• Bilgewater by Jane Gardam

Patti Smith seems to often re-read books including some of her childhood favorites. Do you ever re-read your childhood favorites? Do you enjoy them all over again? Or is it disappointing, like re-watching a favorite movie can sometimes be? And, if it is disappointing, does it somehow spoil the wonderful memory that you held for that book? Well, I'm about to find out. I've borrowed a copy of Bilgewater. I'll let you know how it goes.

Reading: The party line by Sue Orr - novel  set in 1970s rural New Zealand about collective complicity