Search Results for: weaving

Welcome to the jungle!

My husband took some photos of our backyard from the roof.

Having a wet summer has done amazing things for the garden.

When we moved here 5 and a half years ago this was an empty, barren space. We are surrounded by other houses and had no privacy in our yard.

Now it is green and beautiful every direction you look. My husband has worked very hard to make our unattractive suburban block into something a bit more special. It is a truly wonderful thing.

We recently harvested 6.5 kilograms of pinkeye potatoes from the garden which is our biggest haul yet. A really beautiful potato too and organic of course. Here is what I did with one batch and yes – they are as good as they look!

Clean your potatoes but leave the skin on. Cut into thin chips. Place into a hot frying pan coated with olive oil (much healthier than deep frying and you get to taste the chip more than the oil!)

Leave to fry on one side until really sizzling and browning, then flip over roughly. Be careful – they spit!

Keep cooking and turning until all chips are browned. We like ours a bit crispy, but you choose how done you want yours.

Tip onto paper towel and salt to your liking. Make as many batches as you need.

Let cool slightly and eat!

On embroidery, business and list writing

by Kelly 6 Comments

So I didn’t get time to stitch lastnight as I’d hoped but I thought I’d share one of the embroidery projects I have on the go. One of my Mother-in-law’s oldies that was never started, a printed linen table cloth. I was really unsure of colourways but eventually decided on a fresh and modern take, so nice and vibrant but harmonious colours.

I was more than a little excited to open a little box of my very first business cards! Surely someone will take me seriously now? (Total tongue in cheek). At least I don’t have to hastily scrawl down my details when someone is interested in my work now, and these certainly look better than my handwriting!

Now for the list writing. Last year when I was homeschooling with a baby and life was mostly an insane and hardly bearable chaotic rush I let a lot of things slip – including the writing of lists. I’m determined to start afresh and make this year different.
Yesterday I crossed off 8 items out of 11 – pretty good for me! What wasn’t completed yesterday transfers to today’s list. This is so important for my organisation, crossing items off my list makes me feel in control and makes a sometimes overwhelming day of tasks achievable. (I can just imagine Posie nodding emphatically!)
If you feel snowed under try writing lists – even if you only get one thing crossed off it is a way of laying out your tasks so that rather than feeling that you’re drowning in work you can have a detached sense of what you have to do.
Once you have a basic daily list you will probably find yourself writing a list for everything – goals (short and long term), shopping, trips away, purchases needing to be made, schedules….

Some wee waldorf dolls

by Kelly 7 Comments

The winner of my Christmas giveaway was Tas and she requested some wee waldorf dolls for her daughter. They are only 6 inches (15cm) tall. I can show them here now because they have been (well) received.

Her daughter loves pink and is warming to red, so the dress colours were chosen accordingly. The blondie has mohair yarn for hair and the brunette has curly dyed mohair (one of my favourite materials ever!)

Plenty on the “to do” list today but unfortunately no crafting on the agenda, too much “important stuff” to be done.
Perhaps I could sneak in a few minutes of hand embroidery tonight?…..

Mandala toddler skirt

by Kelly 3 Comments

Oh so cute! I cut out the skirt then folded, tied and dyed in a mandala.

The colours are so vibrant. Most astonishingly it wasn’t too difficult to get some good photos of my 18 month old model.

This skirt is available in my shop now.

Now that grabs your attention!

by Kelly 3 Comments

I’ve been experimenting with the shibori technique which is really fun and interesting. I was quite surprised when I unwrapped this yesterday after leaving it for hours in plastic in the hot baking sun.

I didn’t exactly get the fine lines I wanted but it certainly doesn’t lack for brightness! I’ll see how it looks as a skirt.

Another spiral skirt

by Kelly 4 Comments

This time I used really strong fuschia and turquoise to spiral dye this circle skirt.

To fit ages 5 -6 (more measurement details in the Etsy shop listing)

The last one sold within half an hour so I’m hoping for a similar outcome! I hope to stock my shop with lots of these and my market stall (if and when that happens!)

Aren’t I lucky to have such an obliging little model?

Sunflowers!

by Kelly 5 Comments

The very first sunflower of summer. The bees love them too!

This one hasn’t bloomed yet but is absolutely giant. I had to take this picture lying down on the path to fit it on the screen! The kids can’t wait until the seeds are ready to feast on.

My husband has quite a cactus collection, some in pots and some planted into the garden. This is the first time this one has flowered. The blooms usually last one to two days only. The scent is like freshly cut melon – beautiful!

A little secret for those who are unaware. Don’t waste your money on packets of sunflowers from a seed producer – you can get marvellous and massive blooms (like ours) from the supermarket by buying a bag of bird feed! Naturally, you want a bag with only sunflower seeds. I got hundreds of seeds for roughly $4 and planted them everywhere.

Easy peasy apricot jam

by Kelly 2 Comments

I’m so pleased with the amount of apricots we got from our tree this year – however, the birds and insects (consequences of an organic garden) left me with a lot of partially damaged fruit. What to do? Make jam of course!

Start by cutting up your apricots and de-stoning them. Weigh your cut up fruit. This determines your sugar quantity. Say I had 300grams of cut up fruit, then I would use 300 grams white sugar.

The juice of half a lemon, or thereabouts.

Place fruit, sugar and lemon juice on a low heat in a saucepan. Add a couple of tablespoons of water if it seems a little dry as the sugar starts to dissolve. Stir fairly often while it’s dissolving.

Leave on a lowish heat, it will start to simmer and bubble, then eventually foam. Stir occasionally and watch that it doesn’t foam over.

When the foam starts to subside and the jam looks glossier, do the saucer test.

What is the saucer test? Place a small amount of the liquid from the pot onto a saucer and pop in the fridge for a minute or two. If the liquid “sets” or is nice and thick and gloopy when you take it out then you’re ready to jar.

Have your sterilised jars ready. That means washed in hot soapy water and placed in a low oven (leave the door ajar) on newspaper to dry and sterilise.

While the jars are still hot, ladle your hot jam into them carefully and seal. I just use plastic jam covers as I’ve found them to be the most mold resistant.

With a recipe like this you can make huge or tiny quantities.