Kelly Casanova Weaving Lessons

Kelly

New woven garments

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One of my new favourite pieces, this wrap just wove up beautifully. I used Australian 3ply merino and dyed a gradient of blues and purples for the warp.

Then a lovely teal-ish green for the weft.


This is the first time I’ve woven with 3ply and won’t be the last! It worked up into this most beautiful, soft and light piece of cloth, I love it! 

And this one – a 1/3 warp float pattern using a pastel gradient and a commercial grey merino, both in 4 ply.
The reverse side.

The front. I’ve also been putting my new fringe twister to work and have a video in the editing process on using a fringe twister, so look out for that one if that interests you.

Both of these pieces are available now in my Etsy shop. By the way, I am very blessed to have 99 sales in the shop now – I think hitting 100 will be a cause for celebration, perhaps a special giveaway?


This morning I dropped off this scarf to be judged for the Melbourne Show in the spinning and weaving scarf category. It’s the first time I’ve entered my weaving into anything, so a bit nervous, but it’s a good way to challenge myself.

Hope you’re having a great week, if you’re enjoying sunny weather and blue skies where you are, please send some here, Melbourne hasn’t realised it’s Spring yet!

Linking up with Yarn Along!

The week that went so fast…

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The word “busy” is a bit overused these days I reckon, but I will admit that it was a very “full and varied” week for us! I was looking forward to today and thinking of the sewing I need to do, that great looking cook book I got from the library I haven’t had time to browse, and of course, I could warp up the loom ready for a new project. The reality of the day has been taxiing my son to kung fu, walking the dog (well that was relaxing at least!), shopping, laundry work and cooking up huge batches of bolognaise and stew for next week, which also promises to be very “full”.


I started to reflect, in my tired and slightly overworked state, that I didn’t give enough time to the kids this week, I didn’t get to help my son with that maths he’s been asking me about, didn’t get time for much reading with the girls, didn’t get to do much preparation for my daughter’s up and coming First Holy Communion… 

But then I had a little reality check, that is that God was so good to tap me on the shoulder and say “wake up and check the facts”. I was really busy this week, it’s true, but what was it that kept me so occupied? 
My vocation of course!
A wife, a mother, this is my vocation and this is what I do. I may not have been able to do everything that I thought was necessary, but it was because I was actively caring for my family and home, something that takes a lot of time and work. 
I thought of my future self, when the children are grown and making their own way in the world. Will they say “Mum, thank you for making us study so hard, I feel so much smarter for it”. Is that what I want to hear?
Or would something like: “Mum, thank you for your constant love, care and sacrifice. Thank you for letting us be children, for enriching our lives, for being fun, for passing on our beautiful faith by your example” be more pleasing to my ageing ears?

Bring on next week!

Gallipoli study

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We’ve been studying Gallipoli all together over the last week or two. I was never interested in Australian History at school (oh, those boring text books!!) but now, not only do I find it very interesting, I think that, as an Australian, it’s my duty to know the history of this great country.

The Australian War Memorial website has some great information and in particular, this page about the food that soldiers would have eaten at Gallipoli provided us with inspiration to hold our own Gallipoli lunch.

As you can see, the younger ones weren’t too pleased with my soldier’s meal of rice, Spam, hard tack and jam. For drinks we had the choice of water, milk, cocoa and tea – all with powdered, not fresh milk. My littlest one declared that she definitely does not like soldier’s food!

But they were pretty good sports about the whole thing (except aforementioned little one) and ate their soldier’s meals. We imagined how grateful the troops would have been for a meal like this after a hard day of battle and misery.

In addition to researching with some library books we also watched a Gallipoli documentary on Youtube which was informative. Please note, there are images of corpses on the battlefield in this video – although they are in black and white and not too graphic they could be upsetting to some viewers.

I call our study a complete success and appropriate for each of us, regardless of age. My next topic idea is the Early Settlers with a bit of a focus on the gold rush. If it all goes well I plan to surprise the children with a visit to Sovereign Hill as none of them have been there before.


If you’re looking for ideas for study topics or ideas to share with your children I highly recommend you head over to Sue’s blog- Stories of an Unschooling Family where you will find a plethora of blog posts and many podcasts related to unschooling. Sue’s blog is a real inspiration to me.

Cauliflower muffins

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They’re not actually muffins, but I don’t know what else to call them. They were a happy accident. I was steaming cauliflower with the intention of crumbing and baking. But I had too many things going at once and oversteamed it so it was soft. Wondering what to do, I tried this experiment and it worked! 


Ingredients
1 cauliflower, broken into florets and steamed until fairly soft

2 eggs
3 rashers of bacon, chopped into small pieces
parmesan cheese – the amount varies to taste, but 1/4 to 1/2 cup roughly
Breadcrumbs to top
salt and pepper


Preheat oven to 180 degrees (C). Grease a 12 capacity muffin tin with oil or butter.


Steam the cauliflower and mash with a potato masher. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Stir in the bacon, cheese, salt and pepper to taste and beaten eggs. Mix thoroughly.


Fill each muffin cavity with the mixture and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Place in the oven until golden brown, around 25 – 30 minutes.


Ease each “muffin” out of the tin with a spoon and serve 🙂 They make a great accompaniment to any meal.

Another video tutorial

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This video is all about achieving neat edges while weaving, I hope it helps someone out there.

It’s a long time since I bought new fabric and Spotlight was having a 30% off sale so I couldn’t resist! My eldest daughter has a birthday in a few weeks, so I have plans 😉

This is my current weaving WIP – a merino scarf with a pastel gradient warp and solid grey weft. I started out weaving in plain weave with black yarn but hated the result, so I “unwove” and restarted with the grey and a warp float pattern – so much better! 




Emma

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It’s hard to believe it’s a year since my beautiful niece was born sleeping. I’m not much of a writer but here is my tribute.


Ten perfect fingers, ten perfect toes
Sweet, downy hair
The softest skin,


Dainty and lovely
Heart meltingly beautiful
Eyes gently closed,


Seemingly sleeping
But peacefully gone
She was not to wake in this world,


So sadly missed
Longingly yearned for
Eternally treasured,


Emma

Hand woven hand towel sets

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These are what has been keeping my loom busy recently. Quite a lot of work, but worth the trouble!


Each set is woven with Australian cotton and included a hand towel and face washer.

I had the idea of doing gift sets for a while but wasn’t sure about the execution. I wanted them to be lofty and luxurious, so I doubled the warp threads for the towels and it worked a treat!
I wove mostly in waffle weave, adding the texture and aesthetic appeal I was hoping for. I have a tutorial for working waffle weave here.  This tutorial is now also on Rigid Heddle Weaving.com

These are a few extra face washers and teapot rests, I just love the colours and textures.


The towel sets are available in my Etsy shop now.

My first video tutorials!

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I’ve taken the plunge and made a couple of video tutorials. I get so many questions related to the rigid heddle loom, I thought it easier to show rather than tell. Yes, I cringe a little at my own voice and despite my best efforts, I do seem to sound rather “school teacherish” but hopefully the videos will be helpful to someone.

Debt free habits

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I love being debt free. I really do. I also love to help and inspire others to become debt free or at least to change their financial situation for the better. 


I have plenty of other posts here filed under frugal living but here are a few more thoughts and recommendations:


Stop spending so much on what you can’t see.  
Electricity, gas, and water may be essentials of daily life, but because we don’t really see what we’re spending until we’re hit with the nasty bill, it’s easy to let this area slip. Longer showers, leaving the heating or cooling on longer than is necessary, not bothering to make an effort to water save – all these things can end up costing hundreds of dollars more than you need to every year.

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Have a plan. 
Write it down. Know what you want your finances to look like and what you need to do to achieve it. Make it realistic and achievable. Then stick to it.


De clutter. 
This is a very valuable activity – not only does it make your home tidier and more spacious, it also shows you how much you spend on what you don’t need. Once you have seriously decluttered, make a commitment to not buy rubbish you don’t need!


Change your mindset. 
You don’t have to give expensive birthday gifts, you don’t have to have the best or the latest, you don’t need every gadget. If you are not prepared to simply stop buying, at least change the way you buy. Give handmade gifts instead or buy at sales. 

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Set yourself apart. 
You don’t have to keep up with anyone or prove yourself through the things you buy. Sure, the guy who drives past in his shiny red Ferrari looks impressive, but he should be pitied, can you imagine the level of his debt? Just because you’re a woman doesn’t mean you need lots of shoes or handbags or the latest fashion. Set your own standards and forget the rest.


Reality check. 
The end. You can’t take stuff with you when you die. 


You may be gone, but your debt carries on. Who is going to pay off your credit card in the event of your death? How big is your mortgage and who will that fall to when you’re gone? You are responsible for your spending but the consequences of your debt can affect others in a major way.