Kelly Casanova Weaving Lessons

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Charity auction

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As I mentioned in this post, one of my aims for this year is to have a monthly charity handmade auction. I’m pleased to announce that my first auction will be at 8pm tomorrow night on Facebook.

I’ll be auctioning 3x 100g skeins of this gorgeously subtle blue BFL (blue face leicester) 8ply superwash. I really love the soft and squishy factor of BFL!
I hope you will be able to make it to my first ever charity auction! My Facebook page is here. or you can click on the link in the sidebar to get there.

Always making

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It’s true, I’m always making something and more often than not I’m making many things! Here are a few of my recent and current projects:

I’m quite in love with this Primrose already, lots of knitting to go but I’m enjoying every stitch. I dyed the yarn especially for this dress and it looks better than I envisioned. It’s going to be for my littlest woolly lover, she is a most grateful recipient of anything knitted.

Always dyeing yarn….sales have dropped off a little but it’s only natural considering it’s Summer here. Anyway, my Etsy shop is stocked with plenty of yarn at the moment.

I have tea towels on the loom and things are going pretty slowly. I’m hemstitching them on the loom which always adds a bit of time and I’m also using 4ply cotton, so the weaving is not quick. These are my first tea towels so I hope they are a success after this time investment!

I dyed and made a top for me – it didn’t suit me at all so I cut the main part down to make a top for my eldest girl along with some Euro fabrics from my stash and one of my favourite top patterns for my girls – CZM Mareen. This girl just won’t stop growing!
As usual I have about 1000 ideas for things I “must do” but don’t have the time or money for, but they keep me ticking and I’m grateful to the time that I currently have to be creative. I have a couple of exciting happenings cooking up in my mind for this month, so stay tuned for those!
God bless you all šŸ™‚

Fig balls paleo style

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I really don’t subscribe to any particular style of eating or diet, but these balls I made today seemed best described as “Paleo style”.
I’m constantly endeavouring to come up with healthy treats for the kids (and for their sweet tooth Mum too!) The more lollies that make their way into our home, the more determined I become to steer away from them in favour of REAL food! 
For this recipe I have used nearly 100% organic ingredients and with a family of 6 this sort of food is a real treat, as it’s not cheap. However, if eating more treats like these sees you eliminating unhealthy treats, perhaps it will work out economically anyway?
12 organic dried figs
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons organic, raw, cold pressed coconut oil
2 teaspoons organic cacao powder
4 tablespoons organic desiccated coconut, with extra for rolling.
Chop figs into slices and place into food processor with all the other ingredients. Process until smooth, roll into balls and roll in coconut. Hide them in the fridge, as once discovered they won’t last long!
*As many people ask where these ingredients can be obtained I am happy to share my supplier. I am not affiliated with this company and receive no payment or benefits for recommendation. I buy from Bulk Whole Foods and find their products and service very good.

Caring for knitted garments

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Today I am very happy to welcome Natalie of Aunty Nat’s Knits to talk about how to care for knitted wool pieces. I asked Natalie to write for my readers knowing that she has plenty of experience! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us Natalie.



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Mention knitted clothing to some people and the first thing they say is ‘They’re so hard to care for!’


They’re not really you know. Wool being a natural anti bacterial means that your woollies only need to be washed when they get dirty, as dirty woollies attract pests, or they start to smell a bit.


And washing is easy.  This is how I take care of mine. Depending on how many you’ve got to wash you can either use the laundry tub or a bucket.  Try to wash ‘like’ colours together just in case of any excess dye run – you wouldn’t want your favourite baby cardigan to end up a different colour.  
I usually use a bucket for mine so here’s what I do. Simply fill your bucket with warm water, not so hot that you can’t put your hand in it – and the wool wash of your choice; my favourite is Soak, available in a number of different scents and also scentless.  Check the instructions on your wool wash as to whether you need to rinse your garment once it has been washed – with Soak, you don’t need to rinse.  Make sure you have enough water in your bucket so that your woollies will be fully submersed. Place them in the water and hold under the water until air bubbles stop coming to the top – this way your woollies will stay under the water.





How long you leave them in there is up to you but I like to leave mine in for at least half an hour, but its usually longer as I forget about them!  
Once they’ve soaked for long enough, prepare your drying station. You’ll need at leat one, if not 2, towels. Lift your woollie garment out of your bucket, supporting as much of it as you can in your hands so that it’s not hanging down, reducing the risk of stretching. SQUEEZE as much water out of your garment as possible – DO NOT WRING as this can cause felting and runs the risk of ruining your garment.. Once you’ve squeezed as much water as you can out, lay it down on a towel – I use a towel folded in half.  Smooth your garment so that it is fairly flat and then roll your towel, with your woollie garment inside, squeezing as you go to get as much excess moisture out as possible.  Again, do not WRING the towel.  You may need to use a 2nd towel if the first one becomes too wet. Once you’ve squeezed as much water out as you can, it’s time to lay your garment out to dry. A clothes airer is perfect if you have one as it lets the air circulate all around.  You may like to lay a towel under the garment to stop it from slipping through the gaps in the airer.  Most of the time I use cake racks – living in an apartment I don’t have room for a clothes airer inside and these are the same concept. I have 3 that I bought from KMart that are specifically  for drying woollies. I also have a couple of rubber camping floor mats for items that need to be blocked, such as items with lace. 




Gently push your woollie garment into shape to dry. Be sure that you garment is not in direct sunlight as this can cause the wool fibres to deteriorate over time.  Leave to dry, which depending on where you live and what season it is, could be overnight (as it is sometimes here in Brisbane) or a day or 2.   Once dry, either fold and put away until the cool weather comes or put on straight away and enjoy! 
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All the beautiful garments you see above are currently for sale in Natalie’s Handmade shop.
You can also find her on her busy Facebook page.

Positive change

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Rather than New Year’s resolutions, which are always all the rage at this time of year, I prefer to think about positive changes I can make for the coming year. This time last year I wrote about how God was helping me to see clearly and that my focus for the year was to “listen and obey”. This has helped me immensely during the year to be calmer and more grateful.

I started wondering a couple of weeks ago whether God was going to give me another nudge to step things up or move in new directions. I waited, nothing. I prayed, still nothing. Then He hit me with it.
“Give more”. Good, I can do that, I love to give and I can always give more!
Then He helped me to hatch a plan.

Some time ago my Mum in Law told me about an organisation called Mary’s Meals. In a simple form, they distribute meals to disadvantaged and impoverished children at school. This works so well because the children come for the food and stay for the education, no child can learn effectively on a painfully empty stomach. It is a simple plan, but life changing.

If you follow the link there is a video to watch and lots more information about the organisation.

I’m hoping I can use my skills and talents to make regular donations.

My (loose) plan at the moment is to hold a monthly auction for some of my handmade goods. I’ll try to make something special and probably hold the auctions on my Facebook page where people can bid in real time. I’m not always great at following through with ideas, but with God’s help I hope it will be a huge success.

I’ll let you all know when the first auction will be held šŸ™‚

Now, onto another matter. I want to thank you all for your support this year. I have been so overjoyed with the interest shown towards my work and this Christmas period has been my busiest in the 5 years I’ve been a handmade artisan. It brings me so much joy to know the things I make are loved and valued.

Thank you! I wish you all so much grace for a truly blessed year!

No stress this Christmas.

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As we have been going about our regular errands and appointments I’ve noticed a change in my relatively busy outer city suburb. This change happens about this time every year. It starts with rushing, pained expressions, the inability to obtain a car park and by this time next week will have worked itself into a frenzy. Yes, it’s Christmas.

The junk mail piles up almost daily in my letterbox, the traffic is terrible and people are stressed. People are pre-occupied with who is coming, how many to feed, what gifts to buy on credit to increase their debt just that little bit more.

That is how “the world” celebrates Christmas. But we do not need to be part of that, and that is not part of us. We celebrate Christmas because we love Jesus, and this is his birthday. It is also a time for relaxing, enjoying family and a few treats. What is so stressful about that?!

This year my husband is working right through the Christmas period so we have decided to keep things as simple as possible. Latin Mass on Christmas Eve, a few presents for the children on Christmas morning before husband leaves for work, plenty of fresh fruit, a few special food treats, our traditional fruit punch and a pudding of some sort. When husband returns home we can have our usual Christmas concert (sharing of poems, songs, plays and talents) and just enjoy being together.

If you are feeling stressed or anxious about Christmas I ask you to dig deep and ask yourself why. Because the most important thing about this Christmas is that your words and actions bring glory to He who is the reason for the day itself – Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

“Adoration of the Shepherds” by Gerard van Honthorst, 1622

Healthy chocolate

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There are a lot of recipes for healthy chocolate now and the ingredients vary, usually according to the “type of eating” you’re subscribed to. I’m just trying to be healthier, so here is my version of healthy chocolate.

3 tablespoons virgin organic, cold pressed coconut oil 
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons of honey
2 teaspoons of desiccated coconut (optional)

Melt the coconut oil with the honey and stir to combine thoroughly. Stir in the cocoa powder, then the desiccated coconut. When combined, pour out into chocolate moulds. If you don’t have moulds you can pour into a container with sides, then cut into chunks when it’s set.
Place in the freezer, unmould when totally set. Store either in the fridge or freezer – I store in the freezer so I can grab one in the evening when my tastebuds are crying out for something sweet šŸ™‚
Enjoy!

Girl’s dress recon

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We have some kind neighbours who often give children’s clothes they no longer need (they have 3 girls so it works out well!) I loved the fabric and full skirt of this Pumpkin Patch dress but the halter neck was a little too lacking in modesty for my taste.
A pair of sharp scissors, a sewing machine and 30 minutes later… it’s a skirt! I have had such precious little time to sew lately and this was such an easy alteration to make, it’s even lined. The cost of the elastic and thread come to about $1, what a bargain šŸ™‚
And most importantly, it passes the twirl factor!