Search Results for: weaving

DIY natural hand softener

Do you ever have problems with dry hands that become rough?

Gardeners are very familiar with this issue, but it can also happen if you frequently use soap for hand washing or are often in a heated environment.

If you work with your hands, dry skin can be frustrating – you will have threads catching on rough skin and if it gets bad enough it may become painful to use and wash your hands – not nice!

*This post contains affiliate links. For further information, please see my disclosure policy.

So today I am sharing with you an old embroiderer’s trick to smooth and silky hands in no time, using natural ingredients that most of you should have in your pantry. And, it really works!

2 tablespoons white, granulated sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Yep, that’s it!

If you want to really treat yourself, you could add a drop or two of essential oil. I use oils from Eco Modern Essentials and my personal favourites to use are lavender, peppermint or rose.

Mush the two ingredients together in a bowl until it comes together. Now, with both hands, rub the mixture all over the fronts and backs of your hands. There is not set time for the rubbing, but if you do it too long it may over exfoliate and start to hurt – less is probably more!

Wash your hands in warm water (you may need just a little soap or wipe on a paper towel or similar to help dissolve the excess oil). Pat your hands dry with a nice soft towel.

Follow up with a moisturiser if you wish, though I don’t find it necessary. Enjoy your soft and silky hands!

P.S. This towel is the underside of one of my hand woven Lux Hand Towels, the pattern is available in my Etsy shop.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Easy, frugal, bread, onion and tomato bake

by Kelly 1 Comment

This is such an easy and economical dish and had the added bonus of using up some ingredients that might be past their best.

There is no need to be exact with quantities either, it’s that sort of dish.

I started with some thick slices of homemade bread that was slightly stale and buttered each slice lightly. Cut into cubes.

I chopped 1/2 a red onion.

I chopped roughly 10 tomatoes that were getting a bit old but still perfectly useable.

All this goes into a bowl together and drizzled with some olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic salt if desired and season with pepper.

I tipped all this into a baking dish and sprinkled with a little parmesan, then grated tasty cheese.

Pop into a hot oven (about 180 degrees C or 350 F) until golden brown on top.

Serve!

Taking each day as it comes

by Kelly 1 Comment

Life can be so up and down, constantly changing, imperfect.

This week, we started back homeschooling. Traditionally, Australians take a longer break over Summer but considering our disrupted year last year and the girls needing a solid routine, we decided to start back early. We had some new books to start on, the girls were excited about that too.

I did a lot of pre planning again, hours of work actually, so I felt confident to start the new year. The first day went fairly smoothly apart from one girl needing an attitude adjustment (this is something we are consistently working on with this child). My youngest girl surprised me by getting stuck into her work with gusto and really enjoying it.

Fast forward to Friday morning and, following a social engagement yesterday, the girls were late to wake and get started. After a fair bit of pushing on my part, we started our homeschool morning. It wasn’t very long before there was a complete meltdown and tears from the little one. I was disappointed, I had lessons prepared. However, experience has taught me that there is no point in making an overtired, unreasonable child sit and the table and work, so it was back to bed with her, and there she stayed for the whole morning reading. The upside is she finished one novel she hadn’t completed last year and got through another short novel. She was still learning, it was ok. I was able to continue the planned lesson with the other girls.

Plan A is a beautiful thing to the eyes of a homeschool Mum who has spent the time preparing, planning and researching. But, very often, plan B just has to do, and usually it is enough if we accept it as such. It’s not easy to let go of hopes, but often it’s the only solution.

Running a business has been very much the same. Last week was huge, I released a new pattern, there was a huge amount of activity in my online weaving school, it was all very busy and exciting. This week, the complete opposite with practically no sales, very little activity and even social media has been very quiet. A newly released Youtube video has received very little attention.

Plan A for the business is that I can make a living doing this, that all the hours I put in will finally be worth it. The reality (plan B) is, I have to keep pushing on and endure the good times with the bad and keep hoping.

Many times I have wanted to give up on things that seemed too hard – whether it’s homeschooling or my business or something else. But every time I want to throw the towel in I say to myself “wait until tomorrow”. When tomorrow comes, I’m usually good to go again, the new day gives new perspective.

I love the words of one of my favourite saints, Padre Pio –

“Pray, hope and don’t worry”.

New Year, new pattern!

by Kelly 2 Comments

Happy New Year to you all! What an exciting time to be alive 🙂
Although I spent New Year’s Eve in bed with a stomach upset, today I feel well and reinvigorated.

Today I launched a new Etsy pattern and thought I would share some details of the process for you.

I started out with some gorgeous Australian Merino from Bendigo Woollen Mills and dyed it with Landscape dyes. I had a vision of the colour I wanted and it was almost spot on. It’s a very hard colour to photograph though, it’s not as dark as it appears here. I planned on having the colours split in the dye pot to give a subtle variation in colour and it worked out beautifully.

I absolutely love lace knitting and wanted to create something similar on the loom. A scarf that was light and airy with a pretty pattern and warmth and softness for wearing.

I wanted all the finished details to tie in well with the design of the scarf, so the hemstitching was pulled extra tight to create space and the fringe was twisted. (See how different the colour looks here to the first photo!)

The end result is so beautiful! I was admiring myself wearing it in the mirror until my daughter came along and asked to try it. Well, it looks sensational on her, just the perfect colour, so she may get to keep it.

The PDF pattern for the scarf is now available in my Etsy shop, ready for you to download and start weaving!

CONGRATULATIONS!

by Kelly 1 Comment

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I had a beautiful, quiet and relaxing day with my family.

Thank you to all who entered the giveaway, there were just over 1000 entries and if I could, I would give each and every one of you a prize, but then that would place me in bankruptcy, so I’m obligated to stick with just one winner!

A big congratulations to Christine Rose, who won the Ashford Rigid Heddle loom and a one year subscription to my Online Weaving School. I’ve been in touch with Christine and she is just thrilled to be the winner.

Playing Santa Claus was fun, I hope I can do it again sometime!

10,000 subscribers giveaway!

by Kelly 161 Comments

Welcome to this very special giveaway! To celebrate 10,000 subscribers on Youtube I have the pleasure of giving away to one of you lucky people, an Ashford 40cm Rigid Heddle loom along with a one year subscription to my Online Weaving School. How exciting!

To enter, use the Rafflecopter widget below. You can choose the number of entries you get by completing the tasks – the number you complete is up to you.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway will be drawn on December 26th 2017. Best of luck to you!

The point at which it gets really hard

by Kelly 8 Comments

It was really hard seeing our normally healthy 17 year old son rushed into the resuscitation unit in a medically induced coma.
It was hard having him transferred to intensive care.
It was really hard when he deteriorated and was placed in a medically induced coma.
It was hard seeing him come out of that coma days later.
It was hard watching as he was transferred out of ICU into the respiratory ward, but didn’t improve as expected.
It was awfully hard signing the consent for surgery to remove fluid from around his lungs.
It was hard seeing him experience the pain and discomfort of having a drainage tube in his back.
It was hard seeing him deteriorate again with fevers and low blood pressure and a high heart rate and having 2 larger tubes inserted in his side.
Today was a really hard day. Waiting for another, more major surgery to remove fluid again, followed by an epidural to numb his body for days (therefore numbing the pain) and then being told at the end of the day that the surgery was postponed to Monday.
Now we wait out the weekend, knowing that surgery is coming.

But you know what? I think all this has been harder on us than on him. Because he is a champion. He has endured countless procedures, needles, drugs, ups and downs without complaint. He always has a cheerful smile for us and looks forward to our visiting. He is resigned and accepting of his situation. His faith in God is strong and simple.
I think I have a lot to learn from this boy.

Please pray for the complete recovery of our son. Thank you to all those who have been praying, messaging and sending cards and parcels. We so appreciate your concern.

I’ve also set up a Gofundme campaign as a special surprise for when he can finally come home. Any donation is greatly appreciated.

Calculating warp for the rigid heddle loom

by Kelly 2 Comments

At a request from a student, I have put together a warp calculations sheet and a companion video. Both are available here. You do need to sign in to access the materials, but I have made these completely free for your benefit. The video can be viewed on Youtube if you prefer.
The printable PDF includes a sample sheet and in the video I take you through another sample, just to make sure you “get it”!
I have already had a huge amount of positive feedback from students who have found these useful, so please take a look if it’s of interest to you.
Happy Weaving!

Three Heddle Adventures!

by Kelly Leave a Comment

I am so pleased to announce that my first stand alone, feature class is now available to purchase!

This is the biggest class yet and involved a whole lot of work. I’m so excited to be able to share it with you now.

This course is a comprehensive introduction to weaving with three heddles. This is an amazing tool to know, as it extends the humble little rigid heddle loom to really show it’s capabilities.

We start with a straight draw twill sampler and progress to the project, which is a beautiful scarf.

I really hope you can join me on this adventure!

For more information click here.

Shop update

by Kelly 2 Comments

I don’t get much time to update my little Etsy shop these days, and I must admit, it’s not my favourite task and gets put off a fair bit. But today I have some new items and they are all beautiful, so please take a moment to browse!

My favourite first – my newest silk scarf, oh boy, do I love this one! A blend of 60/2 silk in purple, fuchsia and orange woven in an undulating twill. Pure luxury!

Next up, hand dyed tencel (you have my permission to drool) combined with mercerised cotton in advancing twill.

Love the colours, love the sheen.

Another scarf, this time in cotton and a beautiful diamond twill variation.

This beauty was a labour of love – woven from my hand dyed, hand spun local Australian merino. The colours remind me of Monet’s Garden.

Is that enough to whet your appetite for now? There are more than what is pictured here, you will have to visit my Etsy shop to see the rest!