The Handmade Library Showcase

I'm participating in The Handmade Library Showcase for the first time tonight! The showcase runs on Facebook and features many talented handmakers. The theme is "Something Old, Something New".

Here is my "Something New" - a scarf I wove from my hand dyed 8ply merino. The colourways I used are "Bougainvillea" and "Pink Princess".

And my "Something Old" - a silk children's cape made from my hand dyed silk and silk ribbon.

Both are up for grabs at 8pm tonight, hope you can make it :)

Pink Peacock and Soft Coral and a cardigan to be!

Some new colourways from me. Technically, Pink Peacock isn't "new" - I've dyed it before, but now it's available in my shop and as a custom order.

Some pastels...

And some rather strong pink for my youngest girl's new cardigan to be, just cast on tonight. She has outgrown her old cardigan and is my little woolly girl - she loves to wear hand knitted clothes.

Silk scarf

I bought some silk yarn a while ago and I was scared to dye it - it's expensive and I hadn't dyed it before. So, I worked up the courage to dye it and I liked the blue but wasn't thrilled with the pink/green.  It sat around for a while and I tried to decide what to do with it.

I was itching to get something on the loom, so I warped with the blue without thinking about it too much.

Then I wove with the pink/green. And I was pleased. As I wove I saw the potential and the beautiful sheen and I felt happy!

Off the loom, a wash and a dry and WOW! You just can't photograph something that is shimmery, but this is so shimmery and the colours set each other off beautifully!

Sometimes I take a chance when I make something and it turns out badly. But then sometimes it turns out brilliantly and that is such a joyful feeling.

I'm putting the scarf in my Etsy shop for now and we'll see if anyone else likes it as much as I do :)

Making something just because

Sometimes I like to make some extra time to design and make something just because I feel like it. I made this little rabbit from wool felt and hand stitched the body.

She got some cute stripy socks and a lovely frock, both sewn on the machine.

I don't often take the time to hand stitch something anymore but some things are worth slowing down for :)

Bougainvillea, Boysenberry, Princesses and Indigo

My newest colourways are available now! These are all on an 8ply superwash merino base. All colours are customisable. Isn't that a cool word? Customisable :)

Where was I? So these are available to purchase now, either here or on my Facebook page.

I must say, I'm pretty partial to the "Boysenberry Swirl" which was inspired by my all time favourite ice cream flavour. Which colourway do you like the most?

Alpaca scarf off the loom

This scarf was partly experimental and I found after starting to warp that my mental calculations were not sufficient - I ended up using twice the amount of yarn for the warp than I thought. But that's ok, these things happen :)

I wove with 4 colours - logwood brown, purple and pink/green using alpaca 8ply.

The scarf turned out very long and wide, almost shawl proportions. Perfect for Winter (not so perfect for modelling on a hot Autumn day!)

This is how the warp looked on the loom.

I'm going to make this my next charity auction item, starting on Friday at 2pm. The auction will be on my Facebook page with all proceeds going to Mary's Meals.

Linking up with Creative Friday and Fibre Arts Friday.

But that's not learning!

February has been a good month for us. My husband has been on leave from work and we have travelled interstate twice to favourite beach locations to stay. 

We made a conscious decision to change our way of homeschooling this year, for many reasons but mostly because leaning strongly towards an unschooling approach felt right. One of the major concerns people have about unschooling is how on earth children are going to learn if they are not immersed in daily. formal lessons. I haven't quite figured that out yet either, but I do know one thing - the children are learning. Constantly, in so many ways. Lets have a look at some of the learning opportunities they have had over the last month.

When we were on our beach holidays they observed the tides daily, saw a goanna dragging a shark head up the beach and into the bush (now that was cool!), learned more about petrol and mileage in our extensive car travels, witnessed the arranging and paying of accommodation, noted gardens and the different varieties of plants that grow in coastal regions, went fishing and walking. A visit to a local library presented us with storybooks by aboriginals and gave us more insight into their culture. Our oldest son was able to navigate one of the towns on his own - something he is never able to do here in suburbia due to safety issues. All these experiences instigated much discussion and dialogue.

At home, one daughter was painting a lion on a large piece of paper using the easel. She called me over to show that she had been mixing colours on the palette. I marvelled that she had made such a beautiful bright purple without the use of blue. This led to a discussion about colour theory.

Another daughter spends hours a day reading, writing stories and drawing - these are her passions. She can write for hours on her own, calling out occasionally to check the spelling or meaning of a word.

We have a new puppy! This has inspired lots of internet searching and video watching on animal care, handling and training.

I've been suffering with back pain more than usual, requiring a lot of rest time. For the children this has meant more input into running the house and helping.

We have also been preparing for Lent which starts tomorrow. Lent themed colouring sheets and activities as well as discussions and plans for all of us have been common.

2 of the children have been seized with garden fever, and with no help or input from adults, they have potted seeds and marked out small plots in our garden for themselves for experimentation.

I could easily go on and on about what the children do each day but really there is too much to document and every thing they do teaches them something.  Learning opportunities are endless when your life is not filled up with unnecessary stuff - time and freedom are on your side and there is so, so many possibilities!

Yarn stocking

Holidays are inspiring, so many colours to bring home!

I totally love the Woolganics organic merino, it's so soft and squishy and dyes up beautifully!

These are all for sale on my Facebook page or you can leave a comment here.

Apple choc cake recipe

This is my 8 year old daughter's first recipe and she wanted to share it with you all. It is a seriously delicious and moist cake!

1 cup of SR flour, sifted

120 grams butter, melted

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup whole milk

2 eggs, whisked

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons desiccated coconut

1/4 cup choc dots (white or brown)

1/2 apple, diced

Pre heat oven to 170 degrees (C). Place flour, sugar and coconut in a bowl. Add milk, eggs and vanilla, whisk until smooth. Place rest of ingredients in the same bowl and stir. Place in a greased cake tin (use baking paper on the bottom to prevent sticking). Put in oven for about 40 minutes, check the middle with a skewer for doneness.

 Gem says you can eat it either iced or un-iced, we have had it both ways and it's great with or without! Enjoy!

"Can you find Saints" book review

I purchased this book by Philip D. Gallery recently after reading about it on Catholic Icing. I wasn't sure what to expect other than a "Where's Wally" style fun book.

But it's much more than that.

Not just a fun book but an educational tool that doesn't feel like education. It's a chance to reinforce the saints you already know and read small snippets of those you may not know so well. The short readings on the saints to be found really make this a multi age book. For younger children, you can read briefly to them about each saint before they get to spot them in the pictures. For middle children who can read, it can be read together and the saints can be found together. And for older kids, it's a brief, fun picture book that teaches them something. Each of my children (aged 4, 6, 8 and 13) enjoyed this book and are asking for the other books in the series.

Something I like about the book is that it can be used as a tool for further discussion and research. Besides the saints who are described and that you search for, there are many, many other saints in every picture and they are labelled with their names (there a quite a few that I haven't heard of!) There are also optional extras to find on each page for children who really like to search and find.

As my husband pointed out to me, when you look at the "Where's Wally" books, although they are clever and entertaining, they often make light (a mockery even?) of horrific historical events. It is refreshing to find a book that is completely good for a child, faith enriching, educational and fun! 

I highly recommend this book for children of all ages :)

If you click on this link to purchase the book you will be blessing me and my family with a small percentage of the total sale, thank you.

Blues, purples, pinks, mmmmmm

My newest yarns are available to purchase now.

If you're interested, just comment here as I haven't uploaded them to my Etsy store yet :)

Have a happy and blessed weekend!