New Zealand Fibre Swap Goodies

I was lucky enough to receive a stunning package from the fantabulous Suzie (aka Deepcreek)in the recent NZFS on Ravelry.  Suzie has been incredibly generous.

First, the coolest card that has had me cracking up!

Everything together:

We have the most divine fibre I have ever seen(MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM). Mystery wool carded with firestar (YUMMO!), and corriedale with sari silk. OMG, the photos really do not do this justice, it is just beautiful.

Corriedale


Drooling yet??

 

Mystery wool and firestar.

Cotton (How did you know I’ve been wanting some for dishcloths)
Many, many embroidery threads and holders (so scrummy!)

DMC thread holder (although I’ve been eyeing it up for needles too)
Wee childs pattern for beanie & tunic

It was all beautifully packaged in a fibreous green paper (which I’m keeping ‘cos it’s so yummy, bwaaahaahaahaahaa)

Thankyou so much Suzie, you have put a lot of thought into this and I LOVE it ))))).

Touch Yarns & Fab Fibres at Blendy’s

You know how brushing your teeth is pretty much a ‘must do’ to help you avoid those nasty cavities?  Well, Blendy’s NZ Yarn Sampler Box is a ‘must have’ if you want to avoid gaping holes in your fibre stash!!!

Belinda has sourced samples from two truly scrummy yarn suppliers: Touch Yarns & Fab Fibres.

 

Touch Yarns  offer a delicious range of yarn ..‘from the finest New Zealand Merino wool ideal for knitting, weaving, embroidery, felting and embellishment of garments.  All Touch Yarns and colours are designed by Marnie Kelly, inspired by the stark beauty of thyme fields, mountains and the historic goldfields of Central Otago in the South Island of New Zealand’.  Check out the range!  

 

How scrummy is THAT!  Not only do they offer yarn, but also Scarf & Jumper Kits, Hand Dyed Mohair & Merino Sliver (YUUUUMMMM!!!), Mohair Curls (for doll making or art yarn), Bamboo Knitting Needles,  a Selection of buttons, beads & threads, and Handwoven & Handknitted Garments & Rugs.

Touch Yarns are exported around the world, aswell as being snaffled up by eager NZ fibre enthusiasts.  Hop over to their site!

And then there’s Fab Fibres.  One look at the divine range of fibre goodness they offer and you’ll see just why they are called ‘fab’!  Their motto is “Threads with a Difference”, and just feast your eyes on this wee list:

Mixed Textural Threads
Metallics
Woolpaper

Dolls Hair
Nepalese Yarns
Treasure Packs
Freeform Knitting & Crochet Yarn Packs

Here’s a wee taster of the Nepalese Yarn: a Rich Orange hank of silks, cottons, rayons, and banana fibres.  Drooling yet?!

And just look at these Freeform Knitting & Crochet Yarn Packs.  This is the ‘Berry’ colourway.  Don’t you love the range of textures and tones here?

The most fantastic product I found on their site was the ‘Woolpaper’ – ‘Firmer and thinner than felt.  Luscious handmade sheets for embroidery, needle-felting, applique or even making small bags etc’.

 

Ahhh, couldn’t you just eat it up?

New and Old

It seems that it’s gift season at the moment.  Everyone is busily preparing for gift giving of some kind or another, whether it be Christmas, birthday, koha or swap related.  I am reminded that my latest wool dyeing efforts have eluded the camera, so I thought I should snap some piccies before they disappear.

 

I won’t go into too much detail as these are yet to be gifted, but they were dyed using my new powder dyes and were steamed on the stove top.  I’m finally getting my dyeing technique sussed, and LOVE the effect of using variable dye percentages and tones that steaming allows.

 

My new spinning buddy, Sam popped over a couple of days ago with her latest invention.  A swift case!!  She had one for me and one for herself to house her new swift when it arrives.  Thanks so much Sam, it is just perfect and makes a much nicer home than the brown paper wrapping .  Miss Sam is going into production with these I think, so support young Kiwi talent and buy one!!!  Check out her lovely blog too.

  

I finally finished spinning my first attempt at sock weight yarn.  This was the chocolate and neopolitan roving that I bought a couple of months ago from Vintage Purls.  I’m happy with it now that I have it on the needles, it’s lovely to knit with and is shaping up to be a scrummy little pair of socks.  The pattern is Up, Up and Away by Megan S. Wright.  Thanks to Kristy who gifted it to me in our latest Naki yarn swap .  Ooh, and I have finished my Opal socks too.  Thank goodness.  Note to self; NEVER knit a pair of plain knit socks EVER again.  B.O.R.I.N.G!!  I’ll take some piccies sometime .

We have finally got most of our ‘junk’ out of Mum and Dad’s garage now that we are in a larger house.  Here’s some little treasures I found amongst my folders of work from Uni days.  They are by no means the best of work, but they are nice to have around.  It’s rather strange looking back, that seems like a lifetime ago.  Those of you with children will understand what I mean.  I love being a Mum, but I should really get back into illustration and life drawing in particular.  I miss charcoal and oils and the freedom and endless possibilities that they allow.  One day.

Lots of growth

It seems there’s a lot happening around the place at the moment.  New hobbies, new nappies, new growth in the garden (and that includes the weeds!) and new yarn swaps.

My Naki knitting girls and I decided to share in a ‘Kiwiana’ yarn swap.  Here’s the parcel I prepared for Angela.  I named it ‘Wave Waltz’ after the scrummy hand dyed roving I bought, which I used to spin the thick & thin single. 

 

The contents were: 1 hank of handspun ‘Wave Waltz’ wool, a ‘Wave Waltz’ nappy kit in a recycled jar, a pair of handpainted Bib and Tucker breastpads, a handmade felt hairclip, and a wee handmade ‘shrinky dink’ brooch.

BREASTPADS

 

HAIRCLIP                                                                                BROOCH

 

And here’s what I received from the talented Kristy……………(this is SO cool)……………….

Kristy chose a pukeko theme and hand dyed the 4ply yarn to match the colours of the pukeko.  She also included a block of fair trade chocolate, a really cute book for the girls, a wee pukeko notebook, and an awesome sock pattern to match.  WOW!!  How lucky am I?  She even presented it all in a pukeko blue box, with pukeko red ribbon and a little pukeko card.  Thankyou Kristy, I really love it .  I’m being very diligent and am finishing off the current pair of socks before I start the new pair (It’s taking some serious restraint though!).

Check out our resident Naki photographers (Sheryl, Hannah,  and Sam’s )sites for more detailed piccies of the evening.

We have a new visitor at our house.  He’s made himself quite at home.  He visits every afternoon just after lunch, in time to finish off the bits and bobs that the kids discard.  Here we have ‘baby hedgehog’.  Isn’t he squishy?!!!  We are calling him ‘Mr Hedgehog’ as the original Mr Hedgehog decided to depart this world last week .  Our new Mr Hedgehog is very tame, he is quite happy for us to sit next to him while he eats.  You should see his little teeth and tongue.  So cute!

I’ve been busy making custom orders this week, so there won’t be an update this Monday.  But, here’s a wee peek at one of the OOAK nappies I’ve just finished for a customer.  This will be winging its way overseas for an international nappy swap.

Don’t forget to enter this weeks ‘Freebie Monday draw.  I’ll be back on Monday with the winner and piccies of next weeks prize.  See you then!

Kate

New addition to the family :-)

I have been very bad, and bought a secondhand (but new condition as it wasn’t used) Ashford Joy spinning wheel.  WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!  Here she is in all her glory .  She is beautiful, and very well designed and spins sock/lace weight beautifully.  But, we are having some teething issues when it comes to spinning anything heavier than about 8ply .  As it is a small wheel, one needs to treadle reasonably quickly (well compared to the traditional I’ve been using).  Also, if you slow your treadling down, the weighted pedal turns counterclockwise, which is not a hot look!  Even with the wheel on the slowest setting for bulky yarns, and the tension as loose as possible so as not to over twist, I’m ending up with little rats tails, blerk.  I have played around with the tension, a. lot.  Hmm, We might be taking a wee visit to one of the spinning ladies houses soon I think!  How embarassing.

 

Freebie thoughts for next week…..

With us nearing the end of the week, I have been pondering what to create for next weeks ‘Freebie Monday’.  I’ve gone back and forth between some handspun wool, and a ‘Bib and Tucker’ nappy.  Soooooo, I’m going to ask my lovely readers to decide!  What would you like to win this coming week?  Let me know by Saturday and I’ll whip it up over the weekend.

Kate

Freebie Monday!!!

Yipeeeeee, it’s Bib and Tucker ‘Freebie Monday’ folks . 

Here’s what’s on offer for all you lovely crafters this week……..

It started life as this:

The bowl of goodies before spinning.............

And spun into:

'Cupcakes and Fairy Sprinkles' Art Yarns

Detail

Detail 2

 Cupcakes and Fairy Sprinkles: A 70gm hank of hand spun funky art yarn

I’ve used a range of blue/purple/pink/white merino blends, that have been core spun onto a magenta boucle yarn to create an energetic thick & thin yarn.  This is super bulky, so would be suited to being used as an embelishment for a crafty project or knitted using a simple knit pattern.

How do I enter?  Just leave a comment below, and if you mention my blog or link to me on your website, you receive an additional entry .  I’ll leave each weeks freebie draw open until the following Monday, when I’ll announce the winner!  I’m happy to post overseas, so pop in and say hi.

Kate

Monday Madness!!!

Hi all

I’m just popping in to remind you to check back at 5pm tomorrow for ‘Bib and Tucker’ Monday Madness.  I’ll be releasing the first colourway in my new hand illustrated Designer Nappy Collection, AND there will be freebies.  Oh yes, it’s the start of  ’Bib and Tucker’ Freebie Monday tomorrow, so I’ll be loading piccies of what’s up for offer this week.

See you tomorrow!  Kate

Spinning and Socks

I have finished my first handspun hanks of wool.  Yipeeeeeeeee!!!  One is natural, the other pot dyed.  The colours are actually a little more intense than the photos show, but you get the idea . 

'Ocean' Handspun

 

'Ocean' Handspun detail

 

'Ocean' Handspun detail 2

 

'Natural' Handspun

 I went a bit overboard and ordered a selection of carded fleece from Trademe.   Amongst the selection is a kilo(tee hee) of white Polwarth fleece which is apparently lovely to spin with, and reasonably priced. 

Polwarth Roving

And some coloured fleece may have been looking for a new home too .  Tee hee.

Merino & Silk Sliver

Tencel

'Earth' Merino

'Wave Waltz' Merino

The sock knitting is going well also.  I can see why people become obsessed with it.  I love anything miniature, and seeing the pattern appear as you knit is very motivating!  I’m using Opal sock yarn and the new Knit Pick cable I got from Vintage Purls.  The pattern is ‘Beginner Socks, Magic Loop Variation’ published in Liat Knits.

First pair of socks

Rainy days

The weather today has been rather feisty, and the tins have been looking a bit bare after the last batch of cupcakes was snaffled, so Dd and I decided that the best solution was a little bit of baking.  What to make?  CUPCAKES of course.  This time I used the lemon cupcake recipe, leaving out the lemon rind and adding lots of cocoa, tee hee.

These are the easiest little treat to make with a simple flower tip on the icing bag and a few fairy sprinkles.  Dd decided that she wanted to decorate hers with a mixture of sweet decorations.

I plyed my first attempt at spinning last night.   The result is hmmmmmmmmmm, interesting.  The fibre (which we are not sure what it is) was very harsh to ply.  There was another wee bundle of roving in the same bag that I was given to spin with, which is so much easier to work with.  A lot softer, and easy to get a reasonably fine ply.  I’m popping these first attempts on here, feel free to laugh!!  They are just so I have a record of how this new obsession started.  I promise to improve.

The original wool colour.  I’ve dyed one hank and left one natural.

More super scummy yarn.  This is one of the latest colourways from Vintage Purls.  Colour:  Cabaret.  Oh my, I don’t know if I can unwind the hank.  I keep stroking it and staring longingly into the strands to study the dyeing.  Divine, divine, divine.  If you haven’t got any, you must.  I also purchased a few circulars, so the sock knitting shall begin (again).  Note: NEVER use dpns to knit socks.  It WILL end in tears.

And the seed raising continues.  This is very exciting stuff.  Really.  We now have many tomato plants, a few lettuce popping through, cucumber, beans plus a garden full of about 40 odd cauliflower and broccoli (I got a bit carried away at the market), beans, silverbeet, buttercrunch lettuce, bok choy, mesculun, chives, parsley, celery, strawberries, potatoes and lots of weeds.  Still to plant: potatoes, carrots, spring onion and tomatoes to re-pot.  I think that’s it??

An interesting few days

Lots of exciting things have happened this week……

Dd1 and Mummy Dd2

The lovely Hannah surprised the girls and I with some birthday slippers .  They are the snuggliest, most comfortable wee slippers I have worn.  Dd1 LOVES hers, and Dd2 looks so cute in her weeny little pair.  THANKYOU HANNAH.  You are very generous.  Now go and knit something for yourself!!

 

I have managed to mutilate the Cadence Rose Sundress I am currently knitting.  Hmm, the lace looks very strange doesn’t it?  I think I’ve skipped part of a row somewhere and the pattern has jumped .  Ummmmm, Sheeeerrrrryyyllll, guess what I’ll be turning up with on Tues?!!  (Sheryl is our little Tues knitting group’s beloved knitting surgeon!).  Here’s the progress anyway.  In the meantime, I’m onto knitting socks, bwaa haa haa haa haa.

Cadence Rose Sundress

 

Lizzie and I have been dabbling in a little seed raising.  Soooo much fun!  If you haven’t build up the courage to try it, just give it a go.  It is extremely easy, kid friendly and really exciting seeing little plants sprout.  The growth over the past few days has been amazing.  I must admit that I have been wandering out to the glasshouse several times a day to see what has come up.  There is an abundence of tomatoes, a few purple dwarf beans, a couple of cucumber and a few lettuce.  There are still quite a few little seeds that need to pop through, so we’ll see if anything arises over the next few days.

First Attempt at Seed Raising

 

I met the most lovely lady yesterday.  She was the contact person for spinning on the local arts council website that I first phoned on Weds.
She invited me to a spinning evening next week, and then phoned yesterday and offered to come and introduce me to spinning!  How nice is that?!!
She was here from 1.30 until 4.30 (yay, Dd had a sleep too:-) ), and I learnt to spin!  The first lot is rather amusing, but the second bobbin is a lot more even.

Spinning Setup

 

And, more cupcake making.  I had a good reason this time (besides the fact that they are just the yummiest, most delicious little parcels of sugary goodness).  It was Mum’s birthday on Thursday.   As we couldn’t make it then, we had a little afternoon tea today.  I made double chocolate and the trusted lemon butterfly cupcake recipe out of my new cucake recipe book that me ol’ mate Rachael gave me for my birthday.  The lemon cupcakes are fabulous, the chocolate are like little rock cakes, tee hee, boo hoo, hoooooooo.  Oh well, they are still sort of edible given that I overcompensated and smothered them with chocolate frosting and fairy sprinkles.

Double Choccy & Lemon Butterfly Cupcakes

 

Finally for this evening, our beloved wee tomato plants that have been lovingly cared for on the windowsill are venturing out into the glasshouse for the first time tonight.  Grow strong.  I promise to buy you some tomato food this week .

Beloved wee tomato plants