Croquembouche!

I invited two friends over to do a trial run on a dessert for the Ladies' Designer Dessert & Decor evening.  Since none of us have ever tried this dessert before, we had to try different methods to stick or stack the profiteroles (choux pastry) to make a cone shape.  After googling "croquembouche" images, I was a little intimidated by the sheer grandeur of the dessert so I decided that a trial would help us avoid any pitfalls on the day.  Here is our first effort with 4 batches of profiteroles.  We learned that royal icing and whipping cream don't mix! A paper mache cone is not the best.  Spotlight had sold out of poly styrene cones so I had to improvise by ripping the wings off of an angel!  I think toothpicks is better than royal icing and Bakels chocolate truffle is the perfect drizzle.

Calico Christmas

Loved the upholtery!

Sunday was a blissful day with friends.  We headed to the show in Albany and went straight up to the cafe to get some coffee.  Funny enough, we encountered our first temptation at a table of quilts made by the ladies of the Auckland Quilt Guild.  After pouring over the beautiful quilts, all three of us bought one.  I had to fight for mine as an American tourist had it first but I knew that the moment she put it down, I was going to buy it. But she wouldn't put it down! It might have had something to do with my hovering? So she then decided to put it on hold for 15 minutes while she looked at the other quilts. So my friends needed to be dragged from the cafe on level 3 to go down to the real show! I checked back an hour or so later and the quilt was still on hold!  So I bought it.

Since Suzanne had never been to this quilt show, I knew she would be in for a treat. It was amazing walking around all the beautiful quilts and the vendors were oozing goodies and books and fabric.  It was candy in a candy store.  OK, lollies in a lollie shoppe (I do live down under). Here are some of my purchases.  

For a French Blue Quilt

I will have to post a photo of the quilt once I get it off my son.  I bought it for Nick who was very pleased especially with the back which had Coca-Cola bottles all over it. 

I discovered the perfect quilt for my next project. It's French Blues and white with some chocolate. This pattern was available as a kit which I might be tempted to buy from Patchwork Passion in Onehunga.   Here's a picture of the quilt that I plan to make with some of my own touches.

Housework

I've been Spring cleaning lately.  It's amazing what you find under the bed! And in closets... I've been finding more UFO's in more bags than you can imagine! One wonderful craft that I did back in Canada was rug hooking. Not latch hook but old fashioned folk art rug hooking from North America.  I am researching a little about the history of this artform. I remember that it was a necessary part of keeping the wind out of the house by hanging rugs on the log cabin walls.  The women cut small strips of woven wool scraps from clothing and blankets.  They ranged from 2mm to 1cm in width and were pulled through a burlap or linen cloth using a hook with a wooden handle.  Today, the wool is felted and dyed to create colourful rugs, hotmats, table runners, chair pads, and wall art. Take a look at this Canadian website from my favourite Vancouver Island studio, Sage House in Chemainus.  I have made a few of Colleen Wike's kits. She is a very talented woman and has a beautiful gallery.
I made the dove circular mat featured in her kits section. I'll post one of my UFO's tomorrow.

Knitting forever, housework whenever!

This was the motto from my favourite West Vancouver knitting shop, Knit & Stitch.  I haven't been there since I moved to New Zealand 6 years ago. It was my most inspirational place to be. When my kids were little they used to help put away stray balls of yarn and organize the shelves while I sat on the couch with the other knitters and learned to knit. They catered to all skill levels and had plenty of wonderful projects on the walls. Best of all, I belonged and was welcome. I was always inspired, I learned and I grew.

A lovely baby set by Cathy B.

We all need a place like that. Today, I went to the Botanical Gardens to meet my knitting friends for our monthly coffee. It reminded me of Knit & Stitch. We laughed and talked all at once and, yes, we knitted. Passersby stop and ask us what we are about. We have coffee or smoothies and dream about winning the Lotto so we can buy a knitting shop or have a standing order with our favorite knitting store so we can knit forever. 

Hand dyed yarn by Nicky. Hand knitted hangers by Mandy.

I pulled out UFO #2 and obeyed my trusted friend, Nicky, who suggested I frog (that's "ribbit" or "rip") the front to just above the armhole to begin the v-neck. It's great having someone you can trust sitting beside you when you are frogging that beautiful cable sweater that's been hiding away in your knitting bag.  Since my confession of my UFO's to the world, I challenged my mother to reveal hers. You see, I come by it honestly.  I told her that I would post another 4 UFO's just as soon as she lists 4 of hers on Ravelry. If I want to reduce my UFO list, I just frog. It's simple and no one gets hurt.

Natural Dyeing

I've been intrigued by the recent dyeing posts on Struan Farm's blogspot which discussed the use of Kool Aid and Greigs Gelatin to dye wool. I'm dyeing to try it! My mother used to dye fabric for quilting and sewing.  She also had a small factory where she designed and manufactured intimate apparel.  I remember the dyes in our sink as she experimented with dyeing lace to match silks and cottons.  The laces were from Belgium and came white or cream.  So we often saw mom's hands bright blue or pink.  She always had an array of colours in a stainless steel milking bucket with fabric and lace on a timer.

I found a book on mom's shelf one day (which I borrowed for a very long time).  It's all about natural dyeing using fruit, roots, hulls, nuts, bark, flowers, leaves and stems.  In some cases, you can use the whole plant.  This book seems to be unique to North America and specifically dyeing wool.  It suggests fresh use of collected plants and instructions on when to collect for best colour.  For example, early Spring is the best time to collect and use bark when the trees are being pruned.

I stumbled on a blogging community of natural dyers.  Check out http://naturallydyeing.blogspot.com/.  Textiles take dyes in various degrees of intensity. I love how this blogger phtographs thread, lace, fabric, etc. to show the varying intensity of colour.  She gives the Greek and Latin names and a little history lesson on how they used the dye in the past.  Apparently, they used to dye hair blond using Xanthium Strumarium!

A Day Off

Oh, what a lovely term... A day off! I took a whole day off to get ready for my dad and his wife's arrival.  They have been on a ship for a month from Vancouver to Auckland, stopping in the South Pacific at ports like Vanuatu, New Caledonia, American Samoa, Hawaii, and Fiji.  I will hear all about it at dinner, I'm sure.

Today was pure bliss. I didn't spend it slaving over a hot stove. No, I through a roast in the oven with all the trimmings and then spent the afternoon in my lovely craft room!  What a wonderful afternoon it was. Here is what I have to show for it.

Pre-felting and stuffing

Felted with stuffing

I made two cards for a workshop on the weekend and I finished my felted Christmas ornament.  Here is a picture of it with the average size ornament next to it so you can see how enormous it is.  The little blue and white one in front is a needle felted ornament that I received as a gift from my friend in Port Alice, Leslie Blagdon. 

Eiffel Tour

Reindeer Card

Christmas Ornaments

I am really excited about Christmas.  I usually have one or two events to prepare for and this year Christmas starts November 13th at the Harvest Women's Night.  With the help of a group of women, we made these invitations (96 in all).

I started to knit an ornament from a free pattern on Lion which turned out larger than I anticipated due to this gorgeous Manos Wool Classica and size 6.5mm needles.  I will probably save it for my staff Christmas party at my home.  Here is the work in progress.  Thanks to Karen from Struan Farm, I have enough yarn to complete the enormous knitted ball.  To felt or not to felt?

Watch for the feather wreath coming soon...