Knitting for Gretel

The Hoola household has a new family member, whom is already the proud wearer of many a Mama knitted sweater.

This is Gretel, an 8 week old Chihuahua X Jack Russell terrier, finally a new friendly for Mr Pip (he has been lonely since we lost Nala this summer).

Mr Pip does love her so. Gretel spends most of her day trying to chew off his face and he really is so gentle with her.

Weighing just 465g (thats less than a bag of sugar!), the vet said she is the smallest puppy she has ever seen. This is wonderful news, because a sweater for a puppy this size takes just a couple of hours to slide off the needles.

Needless to say, Little Gretel is not short of cuddles. Bear is somewhat wary of her puppy sharp teeth, and enters a room with great trepidation, all the while growling in his gruff little Bear voice "Don't bite me Gwetel!", otherwise, she has been very well received. No less by myself, I tuck her into my own sweater and carry her around with me all day like a mama kangaroo, much to the amusement of passing strangers (of which thankfully there are not many in these parts).

I feel like I have barely paused to breath since leaving France, so I am taking leave from work for an indefinite amount of time, need to recharge the batteries a little. It has been almost 4 years since I had a decent break, and in that time I have had 2 babies!

Although I am not sure break is the right word. I am not good at being idle, and already have a list as long as my arm of things (mostly crafty!) I must do, Christmas making, yes! Also decor, quite a lot of that!

I will be catching up with comments, emails and your own sweet wee bloglings soon, and of course the thread swap foolery, temporarily delayed but soon will be on track, so do sign up if you have not already! (link is on the right).

A merry day to you all <3

Roll Up, Roll Up

I am going to be partnering swappers after the weekend, so get yourselves signed up for some thread swap foolery already!

Hit the button on the right, the one about odd swappery, and leave a comment on that post. Come on, do it now, go on, go on!

To use the button on your own blog, you will need to copy and paste the code below on to your post or sidebar.

Autumn Broth

As the weather turns, I get a hankering for soup. I love making soup, the delicate warmth and simplicity of an autumn broth makes my heart sing. A splendid way to warm the cockles on a blustery day.

My favourite is chicken broth, I prepare my chicken stock over two days, simmering the carcass of a leftover roast chicken and chicken thighs, with nothing more than a whole bulb of garlic, celeriac and an onion. The longer you simmer it, the deeper the colour and the richer the taste.

I then strain it all in a collander, return the stock to the heat, chop some celery and onion, add more garlic (we love garlic) and continue to heat gently, whilst I pick all the chicken from the collander, it falls off the bones, and melts into the broth.

A sprinkling of chopped parsley, a splash of cream, and some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and I am all aglow with the wonder of it all. The children, thankfully, are as enamoured with broth as I am, sometimes we add pearl barley, or lentils, or yellow split peas. However it is made, it is always served with hunks of wholewheat bread, fresh from the oven, and made by my very own Amber's hands (for she is the chief maker of bread in this house).

There is lots of knitting and stitching going on over here, I will be posting more of that soon, in the meantime, I am supping on my Autumn Broth, picking apples, planting Bluebell bulbs, making jam, and enjoying the low autumn sun, whilst it lasts.

A Cardigan for Bear

I have been working on this a while, it is the first garment I have knit and I am so stupidly proud of myself!

My little Bear man loves it, and the yarn is gorgeous, 100% merino by Amy Butler. My Ravelry notes are here. I am totally loving Ravelry, and knitting! Have you joined in the thread swap foolery yet? The link is at the top of my side bar, hurry hurry!

Trance

I have been gathering my naturally dyed cloth all summer. Old sheeting and pillowcase's have languished in jars with leaves, berries, petals and what not. Some have been boiled, soaked, tied or bundled.

As summer draws to a close and the autumn chill seeps into my bones, I decided it was time. I gathered my fragments of cloth, and finally, they became one.

It isn't square, it doesn't matter. I will stitch it at night, whilst the babe's sleep, it is large, maybe queen size. Draped over my lap as I stitch it, it will keep me warm. I am a little overwhelmed by it's size. It will take many months and I do not yet know how it will look when it is completed, I think this is, in part, the point.

It has a hole, this excite's me, I wish I had made more holes. I will start with the hole.

After much consideration, I decided to name it Trance, being as this is what stitching is all about for me.

Trance [trans, trahns] noun, verb

1. a half-conscious state, seemingly between sleeping and waking, in which ability to function voluntarily may be suspended.

2. a dazed or bewildered condition.

3. a state of complete mental absorption or deep musing.

4. an unconscious, cataleptic, or hypnotic condition.

5. Spiritualism . a temporary state in which a medium, with suspension of personal consciousness, is controlled by an intelligence from without and used as a means of communication, as from the dead.

I hope that the pale tones of mother nature, will give way to a rhapsody of colour in stitch, it will need careful balance I think, to keep it all in synch. I am ready to be lost in cloth. Skitchbook at the ready.

What are you stitching lately? Have you joined in the thread swap yet? Please do!

Thread Swap, who's in?

I am sorting through my embroidery threads, in preparation for a project - more about that tomorrow... Anyways, I am a big fan of hand dyed threads, I buy most of mine from here.

I thought it would be a splendid idea to do a little hand dyed thread swapping. They are super lightweight, so cheap enough to post, and you can raid your own stash, rather than having to buy in. The only must, is that they are hand dyed, by you or someone else.

Hopefully, it will be a nice way to boost your stash with some hand dyed goodness from all over the world... who's in?

I am thinking maybe sending 4 skeins each, to two swap partners. This ensures you will get a good selection of threads from two different locations, and I will try and pair everyone with partners from opposite ends of the globe where possible. Though if you would prefer to post locally to keep costs down, let me know, and I will try and accomodate that too.

I am already a little weak at the knee's in anticipation, my mother said this makes me quite odd, and that I really ought to get a life. I replied, rather indignantly I must add, that I am quite happy with my odd one, thank you muchly.

So, if you are a splendidly odd, thread loving (and proud) lass (or gent), then leave a wee comment, being sure you pass through your email address, and I will get a list going, with a view to selecting swap partners in a couple of weeks, to give everyone time to spread the word, you can use the wee button below on your own blog, so you can tell all your bloggy friends, the more the merrier, three cheers for thread swappery!

To use the button on your own blog, you will need to copy and paste the code below on to your post or sidebar.

And the winner is....

Comment number 11 -
Little Dotty Bird10 September 2012 20:30
"oh beautiful sketchy skitchiness! Just found you through Chloe at under a gibbous moon blog. I'll pin ya and give ya a mention over at my Dotty blog. A very generous and lovely giveaway indeedio.
Dotty x"

Congrats Dotty Bird! Drop me an email with your address, and your skitchbook will arrive soon :) TallulahMaggs at hotmail dot co dot uk

Thank you to everyone that took part :)

Last of the Summer Sun

The day's are getting shorter, there is a crispness in the air that wasn't there before, and yet it's balmy, and we have had no rain. Today there was a lovely warm breeze and sunshine all day, so we all trooped outside to bask in it, whilst it lasts.

I am drawing a winner for the Skitchbook tomorrow, so get your name in the hat and leave a comment, if you haven't already.
Happy weekending to you :)

Going in

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." ~John Muir

It has been a long while since life really slowed down, for more than a few moments, and in day light. Work and children, joyous as they are, are constant. We snatch sweet moments here or there, like hanging out the laundry, when everyone else is inside, for a moment there is just you, the blue sky, the birds, hopefully a ray of sunshine and phew, breathe.

Anyhow, our long while was up. We packed the car, dropped all four children at their grandparents (thanks goodness for grandparents!) and headed for the hills, quite literally.





No lights, no phones, no television, no computer, no people. Just shelter, earth, fire, air, water.
Simon fished, I stitched (the skitchbook!) and foraged.

















We made wild mushroom risotto, something I rarely cook because the children loathe it, so it was a special camp fire treat.





And our sleeping arrangements were delightfully comfortable (thank goodness for grandparents AND airbed's!), resplendant with jolly vintage bed linen, the bed and it's layers are my camping indulgence, and yes, I confess, that is a rug on the floor of my tent, what can I say? It folds up real small...



John Muir was a clever old boy, wasn't he?

Skitchbook Tutorial & Giveaway

Do you remember the skitchbook I made?



Well, I did say I would do a tutorial....

This is the first time I have ever written a full blown tutorial, and well, my making is a bit wonky donkey, a little bit, um, shall we say... homespun?
So, if you are to make yourself a sweet little skitchbook of your own (and I do so recommend that you do), I apologise in advance if my instructions are somewhat higgledy piggledy. If you are confuddled at any point, do drop me a wee message, and I will be sure you get back to you.

skitch·book
[skich-book]
noun
1.
Also, skitchpad. a fabric book or pad of felt sheets for stashing of needles, scissors and other notions, and for stitched sketches [skitches].
2.
a book of textile sketches.









My first Skitchbook was born out of necessity, I needed a needle book to keep in my handbag, and I thought it would be a fine idea to add pages and a pocket, to store other notions and small projects which I could Sew on the Go.







The monster pocket happenned entirely by accident, it holds my scissors, which are attached to the inside of the pocket, by a long scrap of fabric, so they always stay with my skitchbook, and I always have scissors, perfect!



I am going to take you through the motions of how I made mine. It should be noted, that mine is entirely made by hand, and this makes this a slow project. As you can see, I am not inclined towards neat stitching, but if you prefer a cleaner look, you can use a sewing machine, this will likely be much quicker too!

What you will need :)

8-10 pieces of Square Felt/boiled wool fabric (mine are 5"x5" for the small skitchbook and 8"x8" for the larger)
Scraps of fabric and felt
Various embroidery threads & needles
Embroidered fabric squares for front and back, the same size as your felt squares

Make the front and back covers-

To decorate your front and back covers, you will need some embroidery on fabric or felt, this could be anything you have to hand. For the smaller skitchbook I used a couple of woven fabric samplers I made, and for the larger - the front cover is a piece of old hand dyed linen, which I kantha stitched teardrop shaped scraps to. I didn't have a suitable piece for the reverse, so I stitched lengths of scrap fabric to the actual felt square. What you choose to use for the cover decoration is entirely up to you.



Once you have chosen your decorative piece, you need to baste them to the two pieces of felt you have allocated for the front and back cover, and quilt them all over, this is to give them structure, so they don't go all floppity flop on you, more book like, if you will :)



When both your front and back are quilted to the felt pieces, you must now cover the reverse of each piece with another square of felt, pin in place, leaving a gap at the right centre middle, this is where you will insert your ties.



Take two long lengths of scrap fabric or ribbon, 1" or so wide, and insert them between the layer of each cover, centred on the right side, pin in place.
Now whip stitch all the way around the edge of each cover until you reach the tie, then back stitch the tie in place.
Set your covers aside.

To make the pocket -

The monster pocket is one long piece of scrap felt, folded in half, leaving 3 sides open. Stitch up both long sides, to form a pocket. The open width will be tucked into the binding of your skitchbook, so you must now cut a slash in your pocket about 2/3 away down, to form an opening (the monsters mouth).

Now whipstitch tightly all the way around the edge of your pockets mouth, preferably in a splendid lip colour.







Cut eyes from scrap felt and stitch them above the mouth, they can be any shape you like. Feel free to add any quirky details, like a moustache or teeth.

Putting it all together -

Now layer everything up in the order that you want it, don't worry if the inner squares don't line up perfectly, you can trim them later if you need to, but you must make sure the left edges are lined up well, including your pocket, as this is the side you are going to bind to form the spine of your skitchbook.



Baste the left edge in place, and then whipstitch it firmly up and down the length of the spine until it is firm, and all the layers are tightly in place.



Now your skitchbook is assembled and almost complete, you just need to add the needle stop and scissors.
The needle stop is pretty self explanatory, it stops your needles from sliding out of your book. Cut a strip of scrap felt, and roll it up, then stitch it down on the inner cover of your skitchbook.





To attach the scissors, get another long strip of fabric, being mindful of how far you will need your scissors to stretch from the book. Attach one of the of the fabric scrap to the inside seam of your monster pocket, and tie the other end to your scissors, pull them out of the pocket opening and note how the fabric strip looks like a great lolloping monster tongue, and ta-daaaa! You have your very own Skitchbook!

Would you be so kind as to make sure you do not sell or use my skitchbook pattern and design for commercial purposes? Thank you sweetly!



If all of that sounds like too much hard work, then leave a wee comment on this post, and you can win the one I made above :)
If you follow, tweet, pin, facebook or blog about my tutorial and giveaway, you can have a second entry.

I will announce a winner on Sunday the 16th of September, hurrah!
Please note, the needles will not be included.

If you do make one, I would love to see!

Hazel's Budget Bedroom Makeover

At last, I have taken some photo's of the Hoozel's bedroom makeover.

Hazel was very clear about what she wanted, Cath Kidston prints, vintage inspired decorations, lots of handmade goodness... my budget couldn't stretch to the former, but I did have some Cath inspired curtains, which we dolled up with some polka dot tie backs, hung high like the bow on a little girl's dress.

The floors were painted white, quite hastily I might add, add's to the rustic charm?

The sewing machine has hardly been out of action, I made most all of the cushions, the bunting, the lampshade, the polka dot pen pot, the drawstring bags, all in pretty fabrics from my stash, chosen by Hazel.





The Ikea malm chest had it's drawers covered with pretty fabric's, and the wardrobe was a lucky find on ebay.















I picked up a plain drum lampshade at a carboot sale, and covered it in patchwork squares and hung beaded dangles all the way around, before attaching a poom pom trim. All the beads are glass and each dangle is different, it took a long time!





The Hoozel is most delighted with her new space!