Holiday

It's been a gritty, grinding, soul-searching, eye-opening kind of year. I wouldn't have it any other way, it feels like the proper texture of life, but it has been exhausting. I'm taking a break to stare at the sky for a bit. I'm going to fix my house, make clothes, and read other people's blogs.

Thank you for all the comments you've left here over the past year; each and every one gives me a little thrill, and makes me feel that I'm perhaps contributing something useful to our favourite communial how-to guide. Thank you as well to everyone who bought something from my shop this year. You've helped me put food on the table, but more importantly, it's heart-warming to know that the things I've made have found their way to other people's houses all over the world.

I'll probably see you again in the new year. Happy holidays!

Inspiration

A beautiful piece of tatting from Jane, who makes me want to learn how to tat this well. A scented stamp from Pavinee, who keeps me drawing; I want to draw lines as fluid as hers.

A Good Hat

Anna Bell's Witterings hat has been on my knitting list for years; I'm onto my second one already, in black and white, and thinking that black and red stripes would also be good. Or yellow. Blue and green?


It's very easy to knit, with the only tricky bits being in the finishing. I kept losing my place on the recommended bind-off, so put alternate stitches on 2 circular needles and grafted the hem. I threaded plastic-coated laundry cord through the brim, which is perhaps a bit heavy, and will try lawn-trimmer cord on the next one. (Yes, I have a stash of that. From making circular needles. Long ago.)


On a less glamourous model, but a better shot of the colour. The green is DK cotton, the white 4-ply, but that didn't seem to affect the gauge much.

It's progress, of sorts

On a course the other day I noticed that the girl sitting next to me had a really nifty pencil case. I borrowed it and started scribbling optimistic plans. Today I tried to decode them, only to realise that I had it all wrong. It took me most of the day, and several paper models, to come up with something close to the original.


The bulk of my 'craft skills' are actually Google skills, and I'm sure there's a tutoral or a pattern for something like this out there somewhere, but today I failed. You'd think 'curved zipper pouch pattern' would do it, but no. Does anyone have any ideas?

I'm mostly happy with what I made, but I do want to be able to make a lined version, and I definitely want to have a formula for the pattern, rather than pinching fabric and guessing where the seams should go. Oh, and I really want to be able to use the length of the zip as a starting point for calculations, because trying to measure a curved seam doesn't make me happy.

Interviewed....

... on parapluies et soleil today! Hop on over there to read it, and then head to Khristian A Howell's site to bask in a shower of colour and pattern that'll do more for your mood than even the best cup of tea. (And you know how I feel about tea.)

Just add colour!

Popped in to Alexandra Hojer's gorgeous new shop today to see one of the prints I designed for her. It's fascinating to see how colour and scale can change the feel of a design.

And here it is in a soft green on white:

Laugh It Off

I have a page in the latest Laugh It Off annual, alongside amazing illustrators like Hannah Morris, Joe Daly, and Nicolene Louw! Full of good reading and great drawing - you should probably buy yourself a copy for Christmas.

Letterpress

Images from The Letterpress Company

If you've been sighing over all the letterpressed stationery available online, and thought you'd have to spend a small fortune in shipping charges before you could get your hands on some, you should know about The Letterpress Company in Cape Town.

They're having a gifting event on Wednesday the 9th at The Hall Collection, 31 De Lorentz St, Tamboerskloof, where they'll be selling note cards, writing paper sets, cotton journals and more. See their website for contact details.

(A fantasy: taking a cross-country drive, stopping at every small-town newspaper office, searching for bits and pieces of presses and plates. I was already at university when our local paper got around to throwing out printing plates, and it was a few years later that a friend picked up a box that had belonged to the Temperance Society. Not that long ago.

Of course, 20 years ago you could buy letterpress ink from these same small-town printers, and now it's looking like I'll have to order from overseas.)

Fox & Locket

Photo from Fox & Locket

It's so exciting to see my fabric made up into bags by Fox & Locket! She's used the Protea print above, and the Vintage Pattern Ladies print. See more on her blog, and buy them from her Etsy shop. (The little hip bag is so cool!)

Here I go again....

Let me be the first to point out that I'm easily distracted, and often don't finish what I start. This little pile of bowls is a good example; I just found them. By 'found' I mean that they've been in plain view for months, but somehow became invisible to me.

I've photographed and measured them, and intend to edit the photos and get them listed in my shop before the weekend. And then I'm going to go through my cupboards and see what else I can 'find'....

Bags and Baskets

My shop is filling up! I'm busy adding printed storage baskets like the one above, and I've just added some new handbags as well.


I have the Model Zero (aka the prototype) bag myself, and I've used it constantly for about six months. It's not a bulky bag, but it has loads of space inside, and it's strong! Four tins of dogfood strong.

New Book

I'm very excited to be finally be reading this, and it's even better than I expected.* Grace has done an amazing job; if you're not already making stuff, you'll be wanting to before you're even a third of the way through the book.

It's sensibly organized, funny, practical, and brimming with enthusiasm. She covers everything from packaging to dealing with customers.

And, for once, it's a book about selling crafts that isn't just for people in America - so you won't need to translate it or skip huge sections or spend hours on Google trying to figure out how to relate advice to your own experience.

*And not just because I'm in it!