Merry Christmas!

With mittens made from this book.

Seeking revenge, I presume

Tortuga

Now that we live in a house with a garden, we get to meet new friends:

Spinning and boxes

With all the packing that is going on, I achieved to finish spinning some yarn that I started while looking for new fibres to work with.

Merino was my go-to fibre in my debut times, but in recent days, I surprised myself by finding it annoying to spin with this easy fibre. There is no resistance when you draft it while spinning, a fact that made me un-appreciate silk after loving it for the fine singles I was able to work from it.

So I purchased a variety of sheep hair to get to know other qualities. Part of it was some Spunky Eclectic Targhee in the Tie Dye colourway. It’s a rather long fibre, which opposes a little more character while being drafted. To this I added Spunky Club from March 2011, Organic Merino in Little Periwinkle and a simple all black merino. The club fibre was purchased at a destash on Ravelry, at the moment I’m just member of the weaving club.

The yarn reminds me of church windows, so I called it “Vitrail”, which is french for “stained glass window”. Even my husband thought of it, too, when he saw it for the first time.

 

 

I count the tours I wind on the Niddy Noddy and then mark it on a plastic crochet ring, attaching the latter to the skein. After the bath I check the skein’s perimetre and calculate the yardage. I’ve got three skeins with roughly 600m of yarn. It’ll have to wait until autumn before being used, I think.

My most important WIP: boxes. (I’m at number 39 with boxes marked “books”. And it’s not finished yet )

Pompon disaster

Never, ever, put a (handmade) pompon in the washing machine.

If, by now, you have the irresistible urge to do it, because that’s how we function, do it with panache and use the longest spinning cycle.

It’s so worth it.

Psst

After a week of flu, sneezing, coughing and general not-well-being my children are back to school, my husband is back to work and it is raining. I love this ambiance, in my region in France it does not rain very very often, so I am in osmosis with a time which seems to be suspended, a certain melancholy is floating in the air, I’m listening to Chaz Knapp, someone I discovered via PostSecret, his music was used for the video.

These are moments most precious for me, because, as an introvert, this is my plug to regain energy, to calm down after hectic days. And it is always followed by regained inspiration for creation.

GOOSE BUMPS

Ever once in a while a new song enters my life, and I become the instrument, physically living those notes and guitar riffs. Those are moments when I feel completely understood because someone transcribed feelings impossible to express in some simple rhythms. I’m someone who loves music for its melodies; the lyrics are a bonus for me.

Discovered on Deezer today:

Fever Ray – Keep The Streets Empty For Me

I MIGHT BE BACK

Well, after a major concert in cough major, with many staccato, crescendo and repetitions, I am back I think (generosity is a virtue, but I’d rather not share my children’s cold…)

Some spinning took place, I managed to finish plying the January-Spunky-club-wool before the february arrival, and I even got to knit the front and back of a snug cabled sweater. Photos to come.

I had a nice occasion to present my jewellery in a public library and was quite fond of the showcase:

I did not make a fortune though

And then I saw something on the etsy-frontpage I absolutely had to have:

Butterfly- and bug-decals. From WilsonGraphics on Etsy. Very good service and quality. Now that made my day!

THE STORY BEHIND THE TREE

Last year I stumbled upon one great example of craftsmanship. A (great-) grandmother decorated an entire christmas tree with Octophrost, Santa of the Sea, one  felt stuffy for each and every of her (great-) grandchildren. There are almost one hundred Octophrosts, each one taking approximately eight hours to complete.

Alice, from futuregirl, created this great pattern. When I discoverd her Supercute Sea Creatures at the end of the year, and as Christmas was approaching, I thought of this tree, combined everything, and the idea for our marine christmas theme was born. We added some of our own designs, and voilà, Santa Claus had to swap the reindeers for mermaids.

We went for a white tree, as to let pop out the vivid colours. Some of the decorations are stuffed, some are just cut from 3mm felt.

Enjoy!

With an octopus from my son's stuffy collection

Sewn by my eight-year-old daughter

Hear those two notes? Accelerating?

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?

There will be:

Beading (and jewellery I try to sell )
Knitting (a lot)
Crochet (a few)
Cross Stitch (UFOs I want to finish)
Photography (something I want to get better at)
Thoughts (random)

And the occasional delirium:

Our christmas tree this year

Details (and credits) to come.

P.S. The first comment on my first post from one of my favourite bloggers. There could be no better karma to this