Kelly Casanova Weaving Lessons

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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.

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.

Rock cakes

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These are a firm favourite in our family, a recipe that I come back to over and over. They are quick to make, use relatively few ingredients and are pretty healthy. They could be made healthier with wholemeal flour and a sugar substitute, but I’m happy to serve these to my kids as they are, knowing that they are fresh, home baked with no additives or preservatives šŸ™‚

Our kids love to eat them warm from the oven, tops sliced off and spread with butter that melts in. They also love to top them with jam and cream (especially if the jam is home made!)

Here is the recipe for you to try, the kids like to help make them too.

Makes about 9 large rock cakes.

2 cups SR flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice (or you can use your favourite spices e.g. a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove)
90grams butter
1/3 cup sugar of substitute
1/2 cup dried fruit (I used a mix of raisins, sultanas and currants)
1 egg
Milk to mix to a thick batter (around 1/2 cup?)
Raw sugar to top (optional)

Preheat oven to 190C and prepare a muffin tin with muffin patty pans. It helps to grease the top of the tray very lightly to prevent sticking. 
Sift flour, salt and spices into a large bowl. Add the chopped butter and rub into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. This step can be done in a food processor if you’re feeling lazy (but then you have to wash the food processor bowl, so not worth the trouble to me!) Stir in the sugar and dried fruits. 
Add the egg and some of your milk and start mixing. You’re going for a very thick, sticky batter, not dry at all. 
When thoroughly mixed, spoon the batter into the patty pans, filling about 3/4 of the way. This will give you a large cake that doesn’t spill over the edge of the tin too much.
Sprinkle the tops of the batter with raw sugar (this is optional). 
Bake for around 18 minutes or until the tops are golden.
Turn out of tin onto a baking tray and watch them disappear!

Scarf off the loom

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Another week, another item off the loom! This one took a little longer (a lot longer) than I had envisioned, but I’m overjoyed with the result and that is what is important.
I started with some 4ply merino that I had dyed in a rainbow gradient for the warp and teamed it with grey merino for the weft.

The pattern is 3/1 weft float, which was easy to work but was a significant time investment. This is the back side of the scarf (remember, when weaving patterns you get the additional surprise of seeing a different pattern on the underside!)

And this is the top side. See all those little grey floats?


I love the scarf and the colour arrangement has given me ideas of using a tencel or silk yarn for a real shimmer.
Available for sale in my Etsy shop now.

So, next project? You bet I have one planned already, in fact, I have a whole queue of them! Towels. Experimental towels. Stay tuned šŸ™‚

Comfort food

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I’ve been looking though some of my blog posts and am surprised how many recipes I’ve posted! 


We’re in for a cold snap this week so it’s the perfect time for some hot comfort food.


Here is a list for you to check out from my kitchen:


*Home made sausage rolls


*Silverbeet and ricotta pie


*Everyday bread


*Cheese and bacon scrolls


*Apple cinnamon porridge


*Coconut rice pudding


*Rhubarb and custard crumble


*Roasted pumpkin soup


*Homemade potato chips


*Pork and pepper casserole (not my recipe, but very awesome!)


*Home made pasta


*Cornflake slice


Hope you’re keeping warm!

My favourite place at home

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Rhonda from the Down to Earth blog has been showing her favourite place at her home and has invited readers to do the same, so I thought I would join in!

This is what I call my studio, but in reality is a corner of our second  living room. We are very blessed to have two living rooms. It is right next to a large window, which is important because it’s a darkish room. 

This little space houses my sewing machines, weaving loom and spinning wheel as well as a lot of odds and ends that are regularly used. The less regularly used things are put away in various hidey holes around the house.

What I love about this space is that it’s mine! That’s not to say that the table is not a dumping ground for all things that “need fixing” (oh, so many!) but generally the space is reserved exclusively for my creative work. It’s also a functional and versatile space. I couldn’t list the number of things that I do here, but with my love of fibre and textile arts, you can probably use your imagination šŸ™‚

Yes, I dream of having a larger space or a proper studio one day (there is the issue of where my next loom is going to go!) but I am so grateful to have a dedicated space where I can find what I need and don’t have to move things around too much. 

I’m looking forward to seeing your favourite spaces too. I must confess, Rhonda’s front verandah looks like a dream come true! 

Black and white photography

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Black and white photography is, to me, the most captivating photography. 

Stripped back and pared down the image speaks volumes.

When I first learned photography at the age of 16, I developed my photos only in black and white.

Perhaps this explains my attachment and love for black and white. Watching images appear on the photo paper as I worked through the developing process was really quite magical.

I love colour too, but sometimes these days we are a little over saturated with it and can’t appreciate the message or feel of an image because it screams at our senses.

A black and white image is quiet, unobtrusive and gentle.

It invites the eye to take it’s time, to drink in the image and all it contains.


The classic timelessness of a black and white will never cease to appeal to me. 

I haven’t been picking up the camera a great deal lately, the cold weather begs me to stay indoors at the loom or the wheel (and fibre is so warm!) But I have been going over some older images and re-editing in black and white. I’m really enjoying the process and seeing the images from a completely different aspect.

How about you? Do you like black and white too? What do you like (or not like so much) about it? 

Hand woven shawl, poncho, wrap???

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I had this fabric sitting around and wasn’t sure what to do with it. Yesterday, inspiration struck, I tried some pinning, then some sewing and finished up with a beautiful, warm and drapey garment that I’m quite taken with!

Here is the back view.

I said to my husband “if I was thinner I could wear it with a belt”. He said “wear the belt anyway”. Awesome husband šŸ™‚ 

It’s a versatile piece – it can be a wrap, a poncho, a shawl, it’s pretty cool!

And what would a photo shoot be without Lou (aka Noodleberry).

I posted the garment on Facebook and a lot of people want details, so I will try to recall what I can!

The cloth: Woven in 2 panels 140cm x 50cm (one panel was slightly longer)
Both panels were hemstitched on the loom.
I used 4ply merino (grey) and my hand dyed handspun in the warp for the stripes.
I used a 10 dent heddle on my rigid heddle loom.

The construction: I lay one panel on top of the other. Taking the top panel, I made a full twist in it (like a mobius scarf). Woven fabric is reversible, so both sides look good, major bonus šŸ˜‰
Leaving a neck hole, I pinned the panels so that they would be joined for 24cm. I tried it on numerous times, adjusting the pins to get a good fit. Then I sewed the panels together on the sewing machine, pressed the seams open, then topstitched the seams down to strengthen them. 
Apart from wet finishing the fabric and cutting the fringe straight with a rotary cutter, that’s about it.

If you have more questions, ask away!