tangent...

I stepped away from the needle and thread today, from the knitting pins and spools of wool, the reams of fabric. Today I tried something completely new.

I have been interested in working with metal for some time. More recently, I have been wowed by artisans like Jillian and Kelly and so many others. On a whim I signed up for a one day class, Metalsmith for Beginners, and showed up this morning with an eager glint in my eyes. We played with copper, bronze and silver. We learned sawing, hammering, texturing, drilling and riveting...so much to absorb. I was a little sad we didn't get to try any soldering, but understood the time and space were limiting. And I came out at the end of the day with two pieces worked from my own shaky hands, a pair of earrings and a...let's say very "organic" ring (organic means wonky and uneven, just if we're being honest). Feeling pretty happy about the day.

There are many who would argue that the last thing I need is another hobby, but I'd really like to play with this medium more, whether on its own or incorporating it into my other work. Lots to experiment with, to be sure. I'm already considering taking a private soldering lesson with the instructor. Sorry AK and Ty - yet something else to keep me from paying attention to you. ;)

Have you learned anything new recently?

making / gifting...

You've likely decided by now that I don't craft much anymore. This is partly true - I seem to have a very tenuous grasp on inspiration and motivation these days. But I'm working on it: a little winter bird has taken shape this past week and should be ready for the shop this weekend, once I have a chance to photograph it in some proper light. I am glad we are over the hump, so to speak, and returning to longer days, but so far daylight is a rare commodity. I would even venture that the sun didn't come up at all yesterday, a swirling wet squall of a day. Hopefully there will be more pieces taking shape soon too.

But! Back to the point of this post. There was some crafting in those dark December days, right before that gift-centric holiday. The last minute scurrying and bustling that makes one's fingers ache, when family members request handmade gifts without always recognizing that these things take time. But as I find it hard to say to no to a family member who actually, really, wants a handmade gift, a few things came together just in time for the big day. Two quick wooly toques for the nephews, spruced up with knitted ears for fox (for the one who likes orange) and wolf (for the littlest one who is less decided about favourite colours). A cabled toque in superwash for my other sister, the one who can't be trusted with proper washing of woolens (she knows it's true!).

And an experiment of sorts; prototypes, if you will. Inspired by other braided yarn necklaces and woven pieces I have seen online, I decided to make a few of my own to give. These pieces are woven in varying strands of cotton and wool, to add texture and dimension. Lastly I bound the blue one with a piece of navy leather, and the purple with a strip of naturally dyed silk. I may try playing around with these a bit more, trying naturally dyed yarn, longer and fewer strands, and so on. I'd definitely like to make one for myself but who knows, something may even end up in the shop. :)

Did you do any holiday gift crafting this past year?

instagram sunday...

Last night the wind came through in big, shuddering gusts, and this morning the lawn was dotted with autumn confetti, the first array of many fallen leaves to come. Today woke up grey, with a steady breeze and rain this afternoon. Nootka trip aside, I haven't seen any significant rain in our valley for a couple months, so I was glad to see it come. We'll need a bit more if there is to be hope of any mushrooms soon. It felt like a good day to get some things done around the house, and the informality of my iPhone felt like a good way to capture it.

>>The results of these dye jars was revealed, rich dark purples. They look quite dark in the photo as the fabrics were all still wet - they are drying somewhat lighter.

>> A tiny sockeye salmon took shape in linen, a meal for a planned beast yet to come to life.

>> I got some more ripe plums off the tree, in the hopes of collecting enough to make wine again this year. I also picked a lot more blackberries this weekend for the same purpose. The freezers are getting awfully full - a visit with my mom yesterday just made that worse, as I came back home loaded with other veggies, apples, herbs, plus half a sockeye and some prawns.

>> The house smells delicious after making some chocolate chip quinoa cookies, a favourite of mine. I'm following those up with some large pattypan squashes stuffed with an autumnal mixture of quinoa, mushrooms, apples & walnuts. I hardly ever get ambitious with my dinners when AK is away, but at least I'll have something good to eat for a few days in a row now.

>> With my new interest in fly fishing, it felt appropriate to do a little reading by the master, who incidentally did much of his angling on the banks of my hometown river.

>> I'm making some progress on a simple moss stitch cowl in plush grey wool. but i have a little twist planned after the knitting is complete.

Wishing you a good end to the weekend, a smile for the week ahead.

wild friday night...

yup, that's me, always the party animal. but as the starks* say, 'winter is coming' and while i'm not ready for that season anytime soon, i am definitely up for putting by some food to enjoy in the midst of it.  anyway, A is away climbing a mountain and i decided to spend a good portion of this evening in the kitchen.

on my way home i took a detour out to a local farm and filled a basket full of veggies. most will be enjoyed now, but some carrots found their way in with leeks and garlic scapes and a couple of chicken carcasses (i keep them in the freezer until i'm ready) to brew up a savoury stock. i'll freeze it in batches to make soup this fall. in case you are looking for a vegetarian stock, i should also mention i usually keep a batch of this homemade veggie bouillon in the freezer too, for flavouring soups and just about anything else.

i also brought home a 20lb box of tomatoes, and got to chopping them up to make a simple sauce to jar and freeze. i could can them, but i don't have the proper equipment and i do have the freezer space, so laziness wins! my pot fit less than half of the tomatoes in the box, so i will do another batch tomorrow, and probably also make some soup that i will eat sooner. some fresh kale and garlic scapes found their way into the food processor with walnuts, lemon and oil to make some pesto. i freeze it in meal-sized portions that i'll add parmesan and more olive oil to later.

and the last shot shows something i won't be eating, although in theory i could. some grated beeswax melted in almond oil in a bain marie, which is then whipped into water to make body lotion. i think i've mentioned it before but i use this recipe. tonight i scented it with chai tea and vanilla oil - yum.

now what am i gonna do the rest of the weekend? and how about you?

*that is a complete tangent, but i'm well into the first book right now.

gathering stones...

gentle rain was falling outside the open window when i woke this morning, snug under the covers with A asleep beside me. a quiet sunday it will be, puttering about with tasks with moments of pause. there is bread rising in a big bowl resting on the back of the couch (the heater is behind), and i'm plotting some fabric mordanting and possibly a dye pot of some sort.

the three tiny stones above were stitched last night, natural dyed silk and washing linen on small linen squares, and will be sent out this week to jude. have you heard about the magic feather project? i missed my chance to send over a stitched feather or two, so i'm glad to have a new opportunity to contribute to this lovely community project. she is gathering stones now, perhaps you want to send her some too?

>>> patrick watson always transports me to a magical place.

love on sunday

this month is of course heavy with heart imagery, and i've seen a few heart elbow patch tutorials out there too. i have been fond of elbow patches for awhile now, but had yet to incorporate them into my wardrobe. this little twist on the classic shape seemed like a fun idea, and my old forestry cardigan seemed like it could use a little sprucing up. i still get a lot of use out of it over three years later and it has held up well, although i removed the buttons because they were too heavy and now i just wear it open or occasionally belted. anyway, i cut two heart shapes out of a felted thrift store sweater and stitched them in place with a simple blanket stitch. i thought about a bright colour but ultimately i think this adds a bit of fun while still making it easy to pair this sweater with just about anything.

we just got home from breakfast out (i am so full of waffle) and a few errands. it's a rainy sunday and seems a good day to be cozy inside just the two of us, maybe watch a little homeland and do a bit of stitching. i finished a whale last night! it was so good to see something more tricky like that come together despite my slowness with the cast still on. that was a custom order, but i hope very shortly to have some new whales in the shop, along with other ideas bubbling away. happy sunday!

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plus a little public service announcement:
our government thinks that i'm a radical because i am opposed to the northern gateway pipeline project. If you are a radical too, then please got to iamaradical.ca to let the prime minister and the minister of natural resources know that all of us radicals are just ordinary concerned canadians.

traditions...

yesterday was spent in my sister's kitchen, ringing in the start of advent with traditional baking and a bit of crafting with three generations of family. for those who don't know, my parents immigrated to canada from denmark in 1970, shortly after they were married. many scandinavian traditions have always been part of my and my two sisters' lives, along with visits from our relatives who all still live in denmark, and trips there occasionally. now with my sisters both having children, it is nice to continue these traditions into the next generation. my niece especially has been learning about her family history through school activities, so when my mom and i talked about meeting up to do some holiday baking together it seemed like a good idea to include my sister and her daughter as well. fittingly, they also live halfway in between my mom and i, so their house made a good congregation point as well.

after a nice lunch prepared by my sister, and including my BIL and my nephew, the boys headed out for some exploring in the woods and we set to work. my mom brought her hefty old meat grinder with the special attachments to grind out the dough for vanillakranse, classic danish vanilla wreaths. my 8-year-old niece had great fun turning the crank of the grinder while my mom caught the long strips of dough coming out. the dough is then cut in shorter lengths and joined in a circle for baking. my niece also found room in her tummy for her fair share of raw dough and finished cookies. these are my sister's favourite, although i have always preferred the second cookies we made: brunkager (yes, that translates to brown cookie).

the closest comparison i could say for brunkager would be gingerbread, but they have citrus zest, cloves and cinnamon for spice. they are rolled out very thin and cut into shapes, and bake up nice and crispy. oh yum, just writing about them makes me want to head into the kitchen for a little snack. normally my mom makes both of these all on her own, so i hope we were a help rather than a nuisance all joining in. then again, very generously, she left us will all the cookies, insisting she would make more at home later. i hope she knows we all appreciated her spending her day with us making goodies to eat.



we also spent a little time making woven heart baskets (flettede julehjerter) - well, mostly my sister and i. hearts are a common motif in danish holiday decorating. these hearts are two halves of folded paper woven together and then a strip glued on to make a hanging basket that can be put on the tree, sometimes with a little treat inside. the trick is to make sure you weave the pieces correctly so the basket can be opened when you are done. i admit it had been a little while since i made one, and very confidently i chose the most complicated template (top heart in photo) to make. i didn't realize until i was done that i'd made a mistake halfway through, so while my sister mocked me (as sisters do) i had to take it apart again to correct it.

the weather was pretty miserable all weekend, but today the sun has peaked out. i think a walk is in order in a little bit. last night A and i went to watch lots of mountain films at the banff film festival and i am starting to get excited for snow season (the local mountain opens next weekend). a little fresh snow this week would be great, but the sunshine in the forecast is also pretty appealing.

thanks for stopping by to 'visit' and hope your week is starting well.

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• have you seen the growing indigo blog? so much gorgeousness.

light and dark...

i think most of the time i'm pretty good at getting my exposures in the right range; maybe not perfect, but not bad. 90% of the time i am in full manual mode too, and i am settling in to the particular sweet spots of my current camera. but nonetheless, sometimes i am not paying attention or playing around, and i come home with a couple shots like the ones above, the first so very overexposed, and the second under (not helped by shooting directly at the sun). and i love them both! the top photo is so dreamily bleached out, faded and washed like a bright prairie afternoon - perfect for the colourless simplicity i'm liking right now. and the second, almost like a dark moonlit night through the grasses, over saturated blue sky and silhouettes. anyway, sometimes things work out when you step outside the "correct" exposure. happy accidents.



and i'm finally making some strides on my sketchbook. a bit of stitching and a lot of pencil drawing. i'm not sure about colour or ink yet - i cling comfortably to pencil when drawing, unlike all the colours i embrace when doing other crafts - but i imagine there will still be some additional work on this page. however, i'm on to the next while i think about it. back to it now, as a matter of fact...

for my favourite girl...

with three nephews, there is no picking favourites. but i have just one niece, so it is easy to call her my favourite girl. a couple weeks ago she celebrated her eighth birthday, so how could i not make her something ridiculously pinky-purple? i made this tote bag with some leftover fabrics from the quilt i made her last year, plus a sturdy pink linen for the bottom and straps. it is lined with bamboo batting for extra structure and then white cotton inside, plus a purple double pocket to store smaller items. i think it will work well for carrying her dance gear to and from class.



she has also been admiring my dreamcatchers, so i made a small one for her with purple yarn. i tried something different on this one by making the hoop out of cedar cordage, and i really like the look of it. i think i will try that again for future ones - maybe some for the shop?



while i was out taking photos of her present, i spotted this little fellow on my front mat. there are a couple steps down to the front door for our suite, and it seems that salamanders get stuck down there regularly. i rarely see them alive though - they seem to find their way into the house and then disappear, until i am cleaning under the stove or behind the recycling bins, and find their dried bodies. ewww. anyway, i was happy to rescue this guy and send him back out on the lawn - much better than coming inside!

the wind seems to be picking up outside and i think rain might soon follow. i think i'll head out for a woodsy walk before it gets much later in the afternoon. then back home to make some pumpkin soup, and curl up for a cozy evening with A, maybe watch a movie. what are you up to today?

treasure pouch...

i mentioned nearly a week ago that i was playing around with something new. a little patchwork pouch, stitched up with natural dyed silks and linens and strips of cedar bark, hanging from a length of cordage from more cedar bark and a few lengths of super soft merino wool. while i love to make stitched creatures and hanging art pieces, there is something about handmade items you can wear and keep close that really appeals to me. i have been making clothing for many years, but i've only tried ornamental pieces here and there. i know it is something i will continue to experiment with.

up early tomorrow morning to head south, so i will wish you a happy weekend now. hope the shortening autumn days still allow you to get out for a bit of fresh air and exploring the beauty of the season!

dreamcatcher

sometimes a new perspective helps change the flow, offer a break from the lull of everyday, freshen things up. jennifer, lena and a few others have been making dreamcatchers lately, and i was inspired to try my own last night. it was a quiet evening and A was out, and it seemed like a perfect summer activity with little commitment needed.



there are so many tall cedar trees in our yard it was easy to find one (or maybe hundreds) of fallen twigs on the ground, supple for the task of being bent into a circle. i scavenged through the yarn stash and came out with some beautiful purpley malabrigo sock yarn, that was thin but had good strength for this project. from the tutorials i found online - there are many, i used this one - i learned a bead is typically strung on somewhere to symbolize the spider on this "web", but i thought this little limpet shell i had with a small hole already in it worked perfectly.



i tied some feathers on the end, combed from the high tide line on one of my walks, and a leafy hornmouth shell that had a large hole through it which made it easy to hang. lastly i wrapped a small piece of natural dyed wool around the feather tops. tada! dreamweaver. you should try one - they are really quite straightforward once you get into it. (seriously: A came home from his evening out and saw what i had made, said 'i didn't know you knew how to do those', 'i didn't', said i. 'only learned just this evening'.) i'm thinking to make a few more, they seem like great little gifts.



the sun is beautifully shining today. i'm watching the cherry tree out the window, which is heavy with *almost* ready fruit. it's a waiting game how long i leave them there to ripen, and risk the birds that invade and steal my treats. i may bring some nearly ready cherries inside in a bowl, as i found out last year they will ripen after picked, like tomatoes.

tomorrow i am headed down island to the big city (very relative term), where i haven't been in at least a year or so. but my friend is visiting all the way from kuwait, so it is a perfect time to go. wishing you all a great weekend!