Knits and wool stash

This week has been slow for projects. I did finish a pair of small pants though with handsandnotions yarn. I'm pretty happy how they turned out, though I wonder a bit about the thickness of the wool and comfort for a little one. I may need to take it out again to knit them on larger needles. It seems just a little stiff, but I'll see.


My stash of wool doesn't seem to shrink, though I try hard, as it means I'm allowed to re-stock right?!!

Contrast

What a contrast, a couple of days ago it was warm and sunny, felt really like Spring. Now there's been snow for a couple of days!! Lief doesn't seem to mind too much as long as he can go outside. Bundled up in one of Jane's Elfin hats and a scarf knitted by his mom, he's ready for anything. On the go...

Late afternoon walk

Such a gorgeous afternoon, after an early dinner Lief indicated he wanted to go for a walk to the beach. Amazing sunlight came through after several wet snowy rain storms today, this was just perfect to end the day.

We explored rocks and puddles, testing the water and taking samples. We found soaked feathers, slimy seaweed and little shells.



We continued our walk into the forest along the path where Lief called out to the Raven. He replied. They exchanged thoughts and I'm pretty sure they understood each other quite well.

Then we ended up back home where the Hellebores are flowering bravely in the shade.

Such a lovely way to end our day.

Sewing and Knitting

Some new projects this week. Sewing bags, knitting neck warmers and new wrist warmers. Lot's of fun, and I'm loving the materials.

A new neck warmer with custom yarn by Moonrover (find her at moonrover.etsy.com). The button is bone and found it at Maiwa in Vancouver.

Fabric for this bag comes from Chintz in Vancouver, it's heavy duty upholstery.





And a blue ceramic button by local potter Nancy Hett.






Flowering Moss wrist warmer, detail. (look at my flickr website for more pics, the link you can find in the column on the right)

Moss and Ferns

At this time of year, just before the trees start to show their buds, the forest is rich with greens from the moss and ferns. It is gorgeous, and inspiring friends as well as myself. Jane has been taking beautiful photographs of her finds in the forest.

I asked Liz to spin a yarn that would evoke the flaky white bark of Birch and Alder, with patches of moss. This resulted in this seamless round knitted scarf.

Last week I started felting again, inspired by the ferns this shoulder bag came out.

Back to work

This week Tracy went back to work, after two luxurious months of having him around it's a bit of a wake-up call. Full on back into motherhood. No back up, no sweet sharing in spending time with our little one. These are long days, for all of us. The first couple of days Tracy left before Lief got up and didn't get back until he was asleep. Lief would walk around the house inquiring where 'papa' went. Standing at the door, calling outside. Checking the woodshed, as he was sure he'd be somewhere chopping wood...

Yesterday a friend inquired about the felt baby jackets and was wondering which ones I still have. I had to take some new pictures and Lief enjoyed modeling them for me.

Such a gorgeous day, we spent quite a bit of time playing on the beach and in the forest. Spring seems to be arriving, we heard many birds whistling and chattering!

My new Etsy store

So today it finally came together, I opened an online Etsy store for my knits, felts and sewn items! It looks so easy, but those first uploads took me hours! Not even considering the time to get all the pictures done, or the time to create the pieces in the first place...

Tracy was wondering why I didn't just drive up to Tlell, to drop the items off with the local gallery where I sell my work... Ehm... Well, I told him there's several reasons to put my work at Etsy.com:

1. First, I just want to try out a different way of displaying my work
2. Be part of the online community of more than 100,000 crafty sellers who all make handmade items! And who knows how many buyers.
3. Be able to show friends and family my work, whether they're in the Netherlands, Vancouver, Blue River, Victoria, Whitehorse, etc...
4. Receive feedback on my work, I hope
5. Be inspired to create more work

There's probably a lot more reasons, but these come first to my tired computer mind. I have uploaded a 'widget' on this blog, so you can directly see what's in my store. Just one click away! Enjoy.