spring toque

This simple hat was made from a mash-up of 5 or 6 different handspun/handdyed yarns, some of them being mash-up yarns to begin with! Grey and yellow is one of my favourite colour combinations, and I humbly think that the bits of blue and green mixed in here are just lovely. There are fuzzy angora and mohair bits as well as some silk, but mostly this hat is corriedale wool.
The hat is a no-pattern slouchy affair, worked in the round, and took only a few hours to complete.
Who says wool should be confined to winter?

silkscreening time

I like to think of myself as a multi-crafter. Whether it's sewing, knitting, pottery, toymaking, bookbinding, spinning, dyeing, felting...my, how the list goes on! I really do get a kick out of making things. So, when my dear friends in Sheesham and Lotus needed some t-shirts made, I offered to do the silkscreening for them, as my father was a master screen printer, and I was lucky enough to learn the basics from him a number of years ago at his shop outside of Toronto. The artwork is from the cover of their new album.


Here is a blurry action shot of me in process.

and some of the finished product!

this moment

{this moment}- A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.
Inspired by the lovely SouleMama.

belated holiday show and tell

One of my favourite gift-giving projects from the holidays were these simple bookplates. This was a collaboration between my daughters and I. First, Azzurra drew the image, I transferred it to some easy carving rubber matting, and we took turns with carving, although I probably did the majority.



We had an assembly line going when it came time to print, and fun was had by all.

2010 in photos

January 2010


February 2010


March 2010


April 2010


May 2010


June 2010


July 2010


August 2010


September 2010


October 2010


November 2010


December 2010

Happy New Year!

At the end of this busy season, this busy year, I would like to take a moment to quietly thank all the people around me who make every day special.

Hope 2011 is good to all of you, readers.

thirty-one

today. thanks to everyone who has made it a great 31 years thus far.

Three

3 years ago today we welcomed our son, Basil into the world.




Today, he is a sweet, adventurous, thoughtful, daring, all-around lovely little guy.
Happy Birthday Basil, we're so glad you've come!

Pumpkinfest

We went to the Wolfe Island Pumpkinfest yesterday, and both Azzurra and Sonika carved their own pumpkins for the contest. I'm proud to say that my youngest darling, Sonika, got first prize, with her big sister Azzurra taking second prize. Sonika did the "Princess" pumpkin, and Azzurra did the cat.
And yes, there are about a hundred kfc bags behind them, and yes, those were the prizes. Not much of a prize really, but the girls savoured their glory.

Happy Pumpkin season to all of you!!

To Make

After seeing so many lovely star lanterns around I searched and searched for an online tutorial. It seems the couple of free ones that used to be around have been taken down, so I ordered one as a PDF from Syrendell.
I can't wait to get started.

Photo courtesy of SimpleMama. I hope mine turn out this nice!

this moment

{this moment}- A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.
Inspired by the lovely SouleMama.

Kingston Yarn Bombing

I am a little late with this, but it tickles me so, and better late than never, right? A group called the Outlaw Wool Lovers has knit and crocheted a cozy for the McBurney (skeleton) Park cannon!
It wasn't there for long, but it got covered in the papers and make lots of people smile. Hope you enjoy.
The photo below is lifted from this blog post.

what fall looks like

 

Honeybees! We found this colony busy with their hive in an apple tree on our property. A local beekeeper helped us get them into the hive box, so next summer we will have our very own honey!

 

An acorn cake made with freshly collected Wolfe Island Red Oak Acorns.

 

Our very own sun dried tomatoes in olive oil.

 

Some great knit and crochet art seen at Nuit Blanche Toronto.

 

Experimental guitar love with Lee Ranaldo, also at Nuit Blanche.

 

Sonika showing off some fresh fall veggies.

 

Azzurra leaping at Big Sandy Bay.

{this moment}

{this moment}- A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. Inspired by the lovely SouleMama.

Hans In Luck

I love making items for the lovely School that my children attend, Mulberry Waldorf School , and was asked by Azzurra's second grade teacher to create a fairy tale mobile for the class reading nook. Hans in Luck is one of the stories the children will be hearing this year, so I decided to make the little mobile below based on the one in this book



I love making these types of delicate and lovely woolen mobiles, and see many more in the near future.

supersized starburst

Azzurra and I saw this project over at The Crafty Crow and decided to make our own extra-large version. Azzurra did all the weaving once it was set up to go, although I did give her some help when it was time to switch colours. It now occupies a place of honour near the wood stove in our family room.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. Inspired by the lovely SouleMama.

Wishing you a sunny weekend!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Camp!

I had the joy and honour to be an instructor at the Blue Skies in the Community Kids Day Camp this past week.
What a great week! I had three fibre arts groups, with kids ranging in age from 7 to 13, and had so much fun with them! Not to mention the great times after camp with friends new and, well, less new!
Thanks to all the great kids, families, friends, director, instructors and support staff!!!

Hope to see you all again next year!


Roan doing his arial hoop routine at the big last day show


Exotic Azzurra with pagri and gourd banjo.


Some felt-in-progress from one of my students


Goldenrod dye pot


clowning Neal


The post-camp glow

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.