candle making.

a few months ago now, i was very generously offered to try a candle making kit, from the crafty candle supplies company based in melbourne.



i was so excited to give it a try when it arrived, and then, of course, didn't get a good run at it for a couple of weeks.



when i finally had some time up my sleeve (thank you nap time gods!) i had such a great time! who'd have known making candles would be so easy!? and it was a bunch of fun too!
i do love to try my hand at new things, and it was so ace that the kit came with everything you needed!



now the question is... do i use my newly made candles at home? or give them away as gifts this christmas??
decisions decisions he he!



have you ever tried your hand at candle-making? what's your favourite candle fragrance?

taking stock.

now feels like a good time to touch base and take stock. here goes!

Making : progress on my knitting list. slowly.

Cooking : quite a few dinners as to plan. one or two indiscretions. but mostly to plan!

Drinking : water. well trying.

Reading : into some things a little too much. need to lighten up a little!

Trawling : is a word that reminds me of fishing.

Wanting : to get a v-log started i think... it feels like it might be a nice thing to do. but the logistics involved are kind of making me shudder.

Looking : around at toys on the floor. ag sure has mastered pulling EVERYTHING out. thankfully he's starting to learn to put things away again. kind of he he.

Deciding : what to do with the rest of the evening. more blogging, or a bit more knitting?

Wishing : for the usual, more hours in the day... would get a bit more sleep and a bit more knitting done he he.

Enjoying : having an 11 month old. except for the biting. i could do without that.

Waiting : to see what happens tomorrow... some things might be on their way to changing, but then again, maybe not. tomorrow should reveal a little.

Liking : that i got to spend a few hours today with some pals. meeting halfway is a nice place to meet.

Wondering : why my mouse key has just become so unresponsive... you don't realise how much you use something like that until it stops working well.

Loving : having the fire lit every night. so cosy!

Pondering : a capsule wardrobe type thing. reducing, refining and filling in the gaps. less brain power required on the daily sounds like a good thing to me!

Listening : to podcasts in the car. they make solo drives so much easier!

Considering : what needs to be done tomorrow... and what i can get away with not doing to fit in more knitting time!

Buying : groceries. but only once a fortnight. it's kind of wonderful.

Watching : the handmaids tale on sbs on demand. bit late on the bandwagon but thoroughly enjoying it. in a terrified way...

Hoping : i can avoid any game of thrones spoilers until tomorrow.

Marvelling : at the passage of time. how is august nearly done already? didn't winter just begin??

Cringing : at how much darning there is to do... i need to have a darning week i think. no knitting, just duplicate stitch and hole mending!

Needing : to pick up a book from the library.

Questioning : how i've neglected to share so many knitting projects over here lately! lots of things have been coming off the needles (like those socks on my feet in the background up there...) but their stories have yet to be told. i need to get to catching up!

Smelling : the hyacinth bulbs that have popped up. they were gifted to me last year and i replanted them in a pot and promptly forgot about them. such a lovely surprise!

Wearing : pyjama pants. so comfy.

Noticing : the days getting longer. it's wonderful.

Knowing : i need to create a few regularities to my days... yoga, drinking more water, more outside time and heck, even blogging! a little bit every day will no doubt make for a happier me!

Admiring : kate's beautiful socks. maybe some colourwork socks are in my future... definitely something i haven't tackled in my sock adventures this year!

Opening : that box of candle-making goodies! super excited to get busy making some beautiful candles!

Closing : the arms on my glasses, as i take them off for the night. they're filthy (all the time now thanks to baby sausage fingers) and it's easier to see without them!

Feeling : like i need to give my hair a good wash. and by wash, i mean rinse. i've gone off using shampoo as my scalp has been most unhappy when i have used it and would you know, i haven't even missed it! my hair has been happy without it!

Dreaming : about a yarny road trip, a la julie at wool on wheels. wouldn't it be nice?!

Hearing : a possum on the roof, so loud!! cheeky things have been going to town on the mandarin tree, hope they leave some for us.

Celebrating : turning 29 last week. officially in my 30th year and not quite sure what to think about it he he.

Pretending : like my baby won't be one next month. how quickly has this year flown! gollllllly!

Embracing : simplicity. well trying anyway he he.

what have you been up to lately? keen to take stock too?

dyeing to knit.

the last little while, i've been playing around with a bit of yarn dyeing.
i talked about one project in this post, but since then, i've been doing even more!



i had these few vessels just slowly ticking away, doing their thing.
the pot in front, had a bath of acidified avocado pits with half a skein of bendigo bamboo sock wool, anticipating a nice light and subtle pink.
the white lidded jar, housed the other half of the skein of sock wool. after not getting a nice light pink from it after soaking it in with the avocado pits, i popped it in here with some red food dye and added some vinegar to the avocado bath to see if that changed anything...



as you can see, i didn't quite get the subtle pink i was after from the front pot, but the food dye, well it sure did the trick!
i'm knitting these two together for a hat project i'm hoping to share a little more about soon.

the orange lidded jar, well i have no results from that one as the yarn is still in there! perhaps i'll find some time over the weekend to fish out what's in there and give it a rinse.
i'm hoping for a nice green gradient for a pair of socks. we'll see what happens!

before that though, the jar housed a different dye experiment...



i put together another solar dyeing jar with walnut shells, though this time with a skein of linen, instead of woollen yarn way back in november.

after four months, the results were a little lighter than last time...



but still a nice little bit of warmth to what was a very cool skein of white...

that might be the end of my dyeing for a little while, i'm basically out of white yarns in my stash he he. plus i have plenty to knit with for now too!

have you ever tried any fiber dyeing at home?

slow fashion october - introductions.

i've decided to join in on the slow fashion october fun over on the fringe association blog and instagram.
this first week's prompt is about introductions and this post started out as an instagram post, but i found once i started writing, i couldn't stop! i thought it best to expand on my thoughts here, rather than clogging up instagram he he.

hey there, i'm nicole. i live in country victoria, australia with my husband, bb and newborn son, ag. we live on acreage with my parents which is such a blessing, having both our own space, and support incredibly close by through these tricksy first few weeks, navigating life with a newborn.

as a teenager, i used to be quite the fast fashion tragic. i would head to melbourne on road trips with girlfriends to pick up mountains of clothes that were far cheaper and more exciting than anything we could get in our rural hometown.
the trips were exhausting and the piles of clothes that came home with me, overwhelming and sometimes never worn.
growing up since then, and spending a LOT of years post-university working in retail, i realize the allure that shops and shopping centers once had is completely gone.
in fact, if there's one thing likely to make me break out in hives, it's entering a shopping center. the constant thrum of being marketed to, coupled with the artificial lighting and air is migraine inducing!

nowadays i try and be more conscious with my purchases, if something is so cheap you couldn't possibly make it yourself for the price, it's not something i want to be purchasing. the implications of this price cascade down the supply chain, the person/people making the garment couldn't have been paid a fair wage, nor could the person/people providing the raw materials.
though this stance is tested constantly with the arrival of our babe, as he will grow through things so quickly. hard to justify spending a decent amount of money on something that will only fit him for a few weeks perhaps... particularly with our current financial situation (bb having taken the year off from working)
we've been very lucky to receive a multitude of hand-me-downs for him though, which i'm thrilled to be reusing, keeping them out of landfill and saving us some coin as well.

i'm an infrequent thrifter, with quite a few pieces in my wardrobe coming from there, as well as an infrequent sewer, simple, mostly shapeless dresses being my go-to's.
oh and then there's knitting... which i've been trying to be a little more responsible about too. looking for holes in my wardrobe to fill with beautiful knitted items, rather than just making for the sake of making. as much as knitting is my therapy, having a garment or accessory that actually works in with my wardrobe at the end of the process is a big plus!
i feel like my biggest slow fashion skill however, is mending. i try not to have anything in my wardrobe that i don't love to wear, so when something is no longer wearable, i'm more than happy to go to great lengths to make it wearable once more! this goes part and parcel with my thrifty nature too. why buy something new, when you could spend a little bit of time and get more use out of something you already have?

thanks to slow fashion october, i'm really starting to think about and ask questions of the supply lines and back stories of the clothing that i intend to purchase and am getting my research on before handing over any money!
for example, post-birth, i've realised that all of my underwear really needs replacing... my current baggy and saggy, ill-fitting underwear is driving me crazy! rather than just popping down to the local big box store and stocking up on some multipacks of underwear to replace what i have, i started researching...
i've found a company that is fair trade certified, uses organic materials and is based in melbourne too! happy days!

i still feel like i have a ways to go, in many aspects of my life, rather than just my wardrobe, in living a slower and more sustainable life. but reading and following along with initiatives such as slow fashion october, listening to podcasts about slow living and crafting, reading books and other blogs as well as just embracing the country life we are now living... well they're all getting me inspired and motivated to keep things slow!

phew, i'm feeling very well introduced now, and need to get myself through the shower before our little man is awake and after food once more.

are you joining in with slow fashion october too? what are your thoughts on slow fashion?

fifth.

over the weekend, i finished up my fifth finish for the year.
and the second to last on the to-finish list i began at the start of the year.



i'd been working on this for quite a while... it being a souvenir that my folks brought home for me from their trip to the states, nearly THREE years ago! phew!

i had the frame for it for at least a year, making me think i've been working on this one for at least two...



very happy to get it done, pressed and framed. and now i only have one wee thing left on my little list of unfinished projects, yahoo!

part three - wedding celebration.

today's instalment of photos shares a little about our wedding celebration, the big party we had on the saturday following our little ceremony and celebration lunch during the week.

our original plan was to have this wedding celebration on my parent's property, and we had started looking into marquee hire and the like, when bb and i attended an event at an absolutely amazing little place...



the archies creek hall.
a super adorable little country hall, that had everything we had been looking at having to hire for our shin-dig, at a MUCH lower price tag. plus with a much cuter vintage spin to boot!

we invited everyone to arrive nice and early...



picking somewhere to sit, and settling in with a drink, to watch a little video from our special day that my father in law had edited together.

we then made a grand entrance...



dancing in for our 'first dance', right over to our wedding 'cake'



being that bb isn't a big cake person, we opted for cheese! because who doesn't love cheese?

i was super grateful to my mother in law for putting this together, it looked so fantastic with all of the beautiful pieces of greenery and the crocheted band too!



we got the 'cake' cutting side of things out of the way too and while speeches were being made, our 'cake' was sliced up and served up for everyone to munch on as an entree.



the cheese was served up onto boards that my dad and mum helped me to put together from giant lengths of oregon i picked up at a recycled timber yard.



i think they sat well on the tables among greenery picked on my parent's property earlier in the day.

oh and amongst the vintage crockery that came with the hall. a definite drawcard when it came to making my mind up about whether the hall was the right choice for us.



oh and the beautiful fish-bowl champagne glasses were a bit lovely too!

along with the cheese, we had a fabulous buffet-style dinner of roasted meats, vegetables and salads AND an amazing dessert buffet too!

and for entertainment, there was plenty of dancing...



nutbush is always a favourite.

and our awesome photographer luke (who, again, took all of these pictures!) hooked us up with a photobooth too.
it was SO much fun!



the booth printed out picture strips for everyone to take home, and we got digital copies too. i think i might definitely need to share some of them in another post as they were just so cool!
for more details, check out the boothalicious site.

and finally, as our guests were on their way out, we encouraged them to take a plant...



roses that were propagated earlier in the year, from the yellow rose in our front yard in blackburn (i've shared it lots here on the blog!) but also, from the roses in my grandmothers garden.

it's been lovely having folks share how their little wee roses have been growing, some are getting quite big already!
i can't wait until they start blooming as there were lots of different roses that were propagated from my ma's garden. it's lovely to think that there are lots of little pieces of her garden out in the world.

i think i still have one or two more instalments to share... stay tuned ha ha!

a roadside find.

a while ago, i picked up this little gem on the side of the road. it was destined for the rubbish tip but i just couldn't go past it...



it took me a little while to get myself together but once i got it cleaned up, sanded back and started on the painting, it came together really quickly!
it might have been helped along by that fact my mum popped a few coats on while we were holidaying in new zealand...



it was super well received by our nephew!
once he realised what it was, and that it was his to play with, it was hard to get him away from it!

hopefully he keeps loving it for many years to come!

having a crack.

yesterday i woke up feeling tetchy.
and the longer i was awake, the tetchier i felt. checking social media and emails. having a shower.
in my tetchy state, i flopped back onto the bed, checked social media and email again, and began playing a game on my phone.

now the real reason for my tetchiness? i was stroppy as i felt that i hadn't had a chance to do anything i really wanted to get done this month... working full time these past couple of weeks, coupled with my days off being quite warm had left me ridiculously pooped!
yet here i was, with time to spare, playing a game on my phone?? how ridiculous!

i dragged my butt off the bed, chucked on some clothes and got to work. tidying the kitchen and bedroom a little, watering the plants in preparation for another hot one, AND something i've been thinking about since the weekend...
solar dyeing.



on saturday morning, i picked up a veggie box from rohan, aka wholelarderlove and inside was a generous handful of walnuts. still in their shells! once i got into work, i hunted down a hammer, and got to cracking, revealing the delicious nut inside. but what to do with the shells?
i contemplated taking them home for the worm farm, but then remembered back to all of the instagram pictures i've been seeing the last couple of months of folks using natural dyeing ingredients and the heat of the sun in a jar to get some awesome dyed yarn and fabric!



so back to yesterday morning, and after doing those few chores, i set to setting up the dye jar above.
winding off my ball of yarn into a skein, giving it a good soak, and layering the walnut shells above and below it in the jar, topping it off with water and setting it in a nice sunny spot on the front doorstep.

now, will i have the patience to wait a while longer before pulling it all apart to see the results? hopefully!
though after the stinker of a hot day we had yesterday, the yarn is already looking quite a bit darker than it was when i took these pictures yesterday morning... will definitely be posting an update when it's ready!

oh and i guess i should share some technical details? or as many as i have... the yarn i used was leftover 4ply shilasdair from this hat in colourway 'fleece cloud', a non-dyed yarn. there was probably about 15-20g of yarn left from the 50g skein.
i used approximately the same weight of walnut shells, and tried to bash them up relatively small.
i didn't premordant or anything, other than soaking the skein in water. hopefully that doesn't mean all of the beautiful colour will run out when i rinse it!
this is a one litre jar and everything fit pretty perfectly...

have you tried natural dyeing before? or gotten one of Ro's veggie boxes? what do you do with walnut shells?

the craft sessions 2015.

quite a few weekends ago now, i packed up my suitcase and headed off to the yarra valley for the third year of the craft sessions.
i was really REALLY excited to be heading there, a) because i missed out last year, and b) because of the family stuff i had going on at the time.
knowing what i knew about the weekend from my last visit, it would be the perfect remedy for my scattered and grief-stricken brain.
and it did NOT disappoint.



the food, the accommodation, the refreshments, the atmosphere, the PEOPLE!

i feel this year, more so than the first, i got to know a lot more people, a lot better.
there were faces i recognised from year one, and from the past 10 months working in the wool shop, that i connected with a little better, and i tried very hard to not be so painfully shy. quite difficult for a total introvert!

the other reason i was super excited to be heading to the craft sessions was obviously, the workshops!
i picked the most perfect list of workshops this year and was very keen to get stuck in!

first cab off the rank was darning with jules.
i took one of her workshops at the first retreat and loved her manner of teaching, so knew this would be a workshop i would get a whole lot out of.



jules showed us a whole range of darning techniques, to fix a whole range of issues.
strengthening areas of knitting, repairing holes or nicks, even fixing pulled threads. all covered!



being woefully unprepared for my classes, i didn't have the requisite swatches knitted to darn on, so i brought along a couple of pairs of socks that desperately needed some repairs done.
though it made my job a little harder, bb now has a much more functional pair of socks, yippee!

the next workshop i had scheduled was the spinning class on saturday morning.
spinning is something i've been thinking and thinking about, ever since i was gifted a spindle (almost two years ago! eep!) but was always a little too scared to take the plunge.


cheers to karen for this picture.


plunge taken. in safe and guiding hands.
kate and judy were our guides into the world of spinning and provided a whole lot of information on preparing fleece, the best fibers for spinning and how to actually get going and get some yarn spun. they were both absolute vaults of knowledge and i could have sat all day flicking locks of goat fleece and listening to them talk on a subject that they were both clearly very passionate about.

saturday afternoon was free time, with little demonstrations being held on a whole range of topics, as well as a mini-market running with a few stalls.

i quickly drove into the nearest town after lunch to pick up some fabric for my class on sunday (WOEFULLY unprepared!) and hurried back to check out a demonstration of some spoon carving.



i've been completely fascinated with spoon carving ever since kate started posting about it, and am trying to convince bb to give it a go. he's not so keen, but maybe i could squeeze in another hobby myself... nope!

i also popped by the mini-market and picked myself up some goodies...



a couple of skeins of wool (ironically, from the shop that i work in) as well as a GORGEOUS harris tweed pouch from jules (she sells them, and other pretties online here).
the yarn is the same that i used for my featherweight cardigan and i have been swooning over this green colour for months. i don't have a pattern in mind, but i envisage it as something beautiful and drapy, perhaps a shawl of some description...

sunday saw an all-day screen-printing workshop happening with leslie.
again, i had taken a workshop (or two) with leslie on my last visit to the craft sessions, so knew i was in for an excellent day with a lady who knew her stuff!

leslie took us through a multitude of techniques that are used for screenprinting, and then brought it back to home. as in, screenprinting that you can do AT home, using inexpensive and simple items to achieve excellent results.



i had a little trouble at the start of this class as i hadn't thought a lot about what i wanted to print, pattern or design wise...
most of what i came up with was way too complex for the process, so after playing around a little with this simple stencil (above) that lorelei designed and cut, i got into my groove.

we both realised we had loved ones who adored all things star wars, so got to cutting out darth vader motifs. you can see the final results of mine here.

after a break for lunch, i really got into things, cutting out and printing (and printing, and printing) a super secret squirrel wedding project. i was one of the last ones printing at the end of the day ha ha!

everyone gathered for a quick bite of afternoon tea, a few photographs and some sad farewells, and then everyone was on their way, back to reality once more.

is it wrong to be looking forward to next year's retreat already?

a big thank you has to go out to felicia and her ace gang of helpers, anna, claire, jen and martine without whom the event would NOT happen.
they do such an ace job and the whole weekend is an absolutely blissful experience.

have you attended the craft sessions too? or something like it in your neck of the woods?

100 days of creativity - week 3.

days 15-21 saw me getting in some colouring (you can too here), as well as knitting a bit more on the purple baby blankie i started last week, and working on a couple of beanies.



ooh there was also a little bit of swatching for a new product that we started stocking in the yarn shop that i work now.
one of the big changes i anticipated happening this year was doing a couple of days work a week in a yarn shop! it is really just as excellent as it sounds. talking about yarn and knitting and crochet all day is an absolute dream.

what have you been creating this week? do you have a local yarn shop you frequent?