Goodbye

I will no longer be updating this blog. Perhaps I'll start a new one in time. Perhaps not. Anyway, I can no longer operate under the pretense that there will actually be anything new on this one in the near future. Thanks to everyone who has read/commented on my blog in the past :)

Button Swap

A few days ago, I received this cute tote bag and purse, and these wonderful buttons in the mail. Thanks Claudia!

Back at last.

As I'm sure you can tell, I didn't manage to find a good way to fit in both crafting and study. And crafting, not surprisingly, was where I had to make the sacrifice. But with mid-semester break here, I've got a bit of time to catch my breath. Right now, I'm working on Knitscene's Central Park Hoodie (see the knitalong here). It took me ages to find suitable yarn. It's knitted in a weight that's fairly uncommon here in NZ, and when I did find some, it was way too expensive. The yarn I eventually chose is a much richer brown than it looks here. Something about the light in this house makes it really hard to photograph things well. And, I'm participating in the second Vintage Button Swap, organised by Sally of Shim + Sons. I'm so excited!

Where I've been...

I can't believe I haven't posted since the 8th. I have a good excuse though (see above). I was away for a week-long orientation for my course, which started this week, and I'm absolutely swamped. I'll be playing catch-up for the next week or so, but after that, I'll be posting more regularly. I can see that finding time to get any knitting or sewing done while studying is going to be a challenge. Does anyone have any tips for making time for hobbies when you have a high workload? I can see that I'll end up feeling guilty every time I do something "frivolous". Oooh, and I'm employed again, thank goodness.

Frivolity

I do plan to post something of substance later this week (a pattern for my hand warmers/fingerless mitts) but in the meantime, check out the new issue of The Anticraft. The Snatchel is my favourite.

Vintage knitting inspiration

My mum sent down a huge box of vintage knitting patterns that she found at a second hand store once. It's an amazing collection, with patterns from the thirties to the seventies. Here are a few of my favourites:


I just love this cardigan. And it's in double knit. So many of these vintage patterns are in 3 or 4 ply, and I'm just not patient enough to knit an entire sweater in such fine yarn. I'm trying to resist knitting it in grey. In case you haven't noticed, I do like grey rather a lot.


Is there anything cuter than a vest with pockets? I think I need an adult version of this one.


The stitch pattern on this twinset would be great on a pair of socks. These next ones are just here because they made me giggle. New and Nubbly??

Finished object: Knitty's Calorimetry

I finished knitty's calorimetry last night, in such a knitting frenzy that my hands really hurt today. I used 8 ply (or light worsted) yarn for mine and cast on 132 stitches. It seems to fit really well, and I like that it's less chunky than the first one I made, using the same weight yarn as the pattern uses. I used Short Row Wraps to avoid holes (except where I wanted the buttonhole to be), which worked ok, but I'm not entirely happy with that method. It doesn't look as tidy as I would like. Next time I'll try Japanese Short Rows, because apparently that method is better.

Why I love my feed reader

I didn't realise until today that most news sites publish an RSS feed. So now I've subscribed to all my favourite news sites (on Google Reader now, not Bloglines), and I can do all my reading at once. Now I'm going to be super-efficient and super-informed. And, while I'm blogging about geeky things: I finally see the appeal of "social bookmarking". Looking through the bookmarks of someone with similar interests on del.icio.us is proving to be a great way to discover new sites. Not that I actually need to find more sites to visit. Rather, I really need to get away from this computer and actually do something.

Free fingers

I've finally got some hand warmers that I actually like. These are from my own pattern, albeit a rather basic one. They have increases above the thumb, to allow for movement: I've always found hand warmers a bit restrictive and hard to type in. They're in 12 ply yarn, so they're nice and chunky, and they have a garter stitch edging. Next time I make them, though, I'll alter the placement of the increases slightly. They don't sit exactly at either side of the hand, because the thumb tends to pull the hand warmer around slightly. Once I'm happy with it, I'll post a pattern.

Links I've been meaning to share

In lieu of any finished objects to show off, here is a list of links that I've been meaning to share:

• Moira has resurrected her NZ vegan knitting blog, Fake Sheep. I'm so pleased - when I was a new knitter, this was one of my favourite blogs, and it led me to a lot of other great sites.
  
• I love this article from The Guardian: The first greenies. It's a discussion of the "make do and mend" mentality of people in the forties and fifties.
  
• Darwin Bell's amazing polaroid art. I want this on my wall.
  
• Futuregirl has created this great tutorial for hand-sewing felt.

Now I'd better rescue my poor pot plant, which is being devoured by Alice.

Happy cats and an afternoon tipple.

Here is Alice with the catwarming set that Dairne made for me. They are clearly a hit. And such stylish colours too. Much nicer than the usual garish cat toy colours. Thanks Dairne!

Now I'm off to watch Martha Stewart, with a nice pink (non-virgin) drink in my hand. Somthing like this one, in one of our new vintage tumblers. I just love these glasses.

Lifehacker. It has taken me too long to discover this site.

Rather ironically, through my timewasting, inefficient blog trawling, I discovered this fabulous site: Lifehacker. It "recommends the software downloads and web sites that actually save time". Bloglines, and more recently del.icio.us (which manages your bookmarks) really have made my life so much better. So I can't even imagine what a super-efficient machine I will become once I implement all the tools that Lifehacker recommends. I know that plenty of people have know about this site for ages. But it's new and exciting for me.

While I'm rambling about websites that I like, did I mention how much I love The Worsted Witch? She has so many great tips for living a greener, more ethical life.

And, completely off topic: I made the best gluten free bread EVER yesterday. It actually tastes like bread, because it uses tapioca, corn and chick pea flour instead of the usual rice flour. I substituted the eggs for "vegan eggs" made from ground up flax seeds blended with water. It was so good that I actually ate a piece with just margarine on it. And anyone who eats gluten free bread will know that it's got to be pretty good for you to want to do that.

Baby Mary Janes

knitted baby mary janes
Originally uploaded by bessie s..

These are on their way to my friends in Wellington, who have just had a baby girl. I was so excited to find out that the baby was a girl, because I've been dying to make these booties. The pattern was in one of my Mum's old knitting books. And now I have to cut this post short, because I have a kitten hanging off me, tearing my clothes to shreds.

I feel a little stupid.

I've just realised that I had my comments set to "people with blogger accounts only". Oops. And I wondered why I didn't get many comments on my blog. Now I'm not surprised! It has been fixed, and now "other" and "anonymous" comments are allowed. I'm not very clever, am I?

Meet Alice...

We went to the SPCA today, and somehow came home with this sweet little kitten. Hopefully Mollly will like her new little sister.

Knitting needle case

My knitting needles finally have a home. This is loosely based on the knitting needle case in the Stitch 'n Bitch book, but I started from scratch with the pattern, because I'd heard that the SnB one was pretty big. The outside is thrifted red wool and the inside is red polka dot cotton fabric. Next time, I think I'll make a fold over flap instead of sewing a separate flap on, because with the thick wool fabric it was a bit cumbersome to sew. I'm really pleased with the structure that the wool fabric gives it, even with hardly any needles in it.

Thrifty.

I'm so excited about this lamp. We found it for $2 at a second hand shop. Katie managed to replace the broken switch, so it's good as new. What a bargain! I'm not sure how old it is, but it was made in Wellington, and the sticker looks sixties-ish. It's so satisfying to find something that someone else has thrown out, and bring it back to life.

I'm also excited about the vegan wedges that we had for lunch, with tofu "sour cream". It's actually made using a vegan mayonnaise recipe, but Katie figured out that if you add extra lemon juice, it tastes more like plain yoghurt or sour cream. Delicious.

A new year! I'm excited! (Really!)

I have to confess that I really like the idea of new year's resolutions. I'm the kind of person who prefers to start things on Mondays. And the new year is like the biggest Monday ever. I find the idea of a "fresh start" very seductive.

I do realise that publishing my resolutions will mean that I can now be held to account, but here goes:

1. Become a better blogger. Granted, this is a craft blog, so clever writing is not obligatory (although I will concede that the content here could be better: more effort needed.) But I'll at least try to post more regularly.
   
2. Read less blogs. Maybe then I'd have time to actually do some crafting, and subsequently update my blog. That said, my rather late discovery of Bloglines has streamlined my blog-reading somewhat.
3. Finish one craft project before I start (even thinking) about another. My problem lately has been that I have so many ideas that I don't get anything started.
4. Start a Stitch 'n Bitch, or some other alterna-crafty circle in Dunedin. I desperately need one. Oooh, and maybe Craftwerk Dunedin a little further down the line. Now that would be fabulous.
5. Become a better housekeeper. Seeing as it's now my primary occupation, I really should get better at keeping things in order (that is, until I start studying, and then it all goes out the window). The "just do whatever you can in 15 minutes" trick is working well for me so far. Slowly but surely, things actually get done.
   
6. Stop drinking on weeknights. Now, I'm not entirely to blame for this problem. Over winter, I developed a taste for Australian shiraz. Which, due to overproduction, is ridiculously cheap. So my wallet could no longer curb my taste for wine. Thus far, I've failed on this resolution.
   
7. Cook more food from scratch. There are no excuses for using canned cooked beans instead of dried beans. I just have to be more organised. Which brings me to number 8.
   
8. Be more organised. Stop storing "to do" lists in my head. It just doesn't work.
9. Stop drinking coffee. I've lost count of how many times I've failed on this one.
   
10. See more "adult" movies. Note: I do not mean what you think I mean. Let me explain. My preferred movies are those aimed at pre-teen girls. If it is set in a high school, or has Lindsay Lohan in it, I've probably seen it. Movies like that are the ultimate in relaxation. Nothing stressful ever happens in them. But this year, I'm going to watch more "grown up" movies. In my defense, I do read grown-up books. I'm reading "Unspeak" at the moment, which is about the subtle persuasion of political language. Very interesting.
    

And just to prove that I have been doing something, here is the start of my scarf, made from wool I picked up in Arrowtown. It's actually bright red, not pink. I'm knitting it on 8mm needles so that you can still see the texture of the wool. The other picture is a vintage tablecloth, also from Arrowtown. I just love the fabric.

Whew, that's the longest post I've ever written. That's what a good night's sleep does for you.

Baby Sling

I've just finished this baby sling for my friends. This one was my second attempt - the first one felt so flimsy that I wouldn't even carry my groceries in it, let alone a baby. It's a bit hard to see what it's really like, with these bad photos (it's not easy to take a photo of yourself in an empty baby sling). I'll try to get some photos with baby in it, once baby actually arrives.

On a completely different note, why am I wearing thermal socks in December? Lately I've been spending a lot of time fantasising about moving to Australia. I think a big glass of shiraz would be perfect to take the edge off the cold. Not yet, of course. It's only 4.35pm. I'm not there yet.

Bird Hoodie

Katie bought a hoodie and wanted some embroidery on it. So I finally had a chance to try out a Sublime Stitching pattern that I've had for ages. I would have put some red on it too, but I didn't really get a say in that, since I won't actually be wearing it. The all-grey embroidery is nice and subtle, though. I'm a bit jealous, and might have to have one for myself.

Summer is here!

It's actually warm outside today. A little windy, but I'll take what I can get. We've just had a cat door put in, so Molly is desperate to go outside. She's been giving me a nasty look all day. It's just so hard to let your baby go outside in an unfamiliar neighbourhood, with lots of other cats around.

And now I'm going to shamelessly brag about our new art deco drinks cabinet. It even has all the original handles. We had to buy some gin and vodka to go in the cabinet, of course. And we've started a mini wine cellar in the bottom cupboard. I'm so obsessed with art deco furniture. And mirrors. Is it possible to ever have enough art deco mirrors?

The freedom...

I can't believe that it has taken me this long to discover Bloglines. I have been freed from hours of trawling through my bookmarks to find the blogs I like to read. I had a feeling that it wasn't the most efficient way. And I was right.

Back in action.

We are finally settled in Dunedin. We've moved into a cute little cottage, and the unpacking is almost finished. Dunedin has the most fabulous second hand stores. Hence all these new buttons. My favourites are the glass art deco buttons, especially the red ones. More photos on my flickr site. I found the blue and beige fabric at Modern Miss, a wonderful vintage store here in Dunedin. I think it's fifties, although I'm not really sure. I think it will become a bag.

The last photos are of a zippered purse with a flap that I've just finished. I always thought that adding a flap to a zippered purse would be too hard, but it turns out that it's pretty simple. Next time I'll make the flap slightly wider, and the pleats a little more obvious. The flap doesn't sit quite as nicely as I would like - I think it would be better with two buttons, to hold it down a bit more firmly.

Soon to come: photos off all the art deco furniture and mirrors we've been buying!