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.

Toys and more gifts!

Today was a good play day for Lief and I'd like to introduce some of his handmade toys. On the left is Oscar, one of the 'Fools Parade' animals, made by Christine and Fiona in Vancouver. I had seen the Fools Parade on display at the Circle Craft Gallery, and though I was tempted to buy one then, I never did. My Mom, Lief and I found Oscar at the Roundhouse Christmas Craft Fair in Vancouver. My Mom decided it would make a great Christmas gift for Lief, so that's how Oscar came to live with us!

Next is Kenana Zebra, knitted by rural women in Njoro, Kenya. This group of women buys homespun wool produced locally. They believe in using environmentally friendly and ecologically sustainable materials and processes to support their farming communities in Africa. This was a wonderfully thoughtful gift from one of our friends.

Then there's Pull-Raven by Sleeping Forest, from Nova Scotia, which I bought at etsy as a gift for Lief. He drags is around the house (mostly on its side...) and somehow likes to rub the coarse cord on the back of his neck. The beautiful wooden frog is another great gift from my Mom. This one is made by Melissa and Doug and it actually hops along when you pull it, his legs push his back up in the air, quite cute. And these are some wonderful felted and sewn gifts by Ella and Arlo, thank you so much! We really enjoy them, so soft. The patterns are great, one day I may even create a mobile with the birdies... Thanks again Ella, very thoughtful!

I love Yarn!

Some yummy yarns from Hands and Notions, I just couldn't resist. So far I've been enjoying their colour and texture, but waiting for a special knitting project asking for these yarns.

At the moment I'm into a 'moss' theme, working with a yarn by hobbledehoy. She created a wonderful skein that resonates the feeling of our mossy Alders and Berch. White with patches of blue grays and greens.

Jane sent me this wonderful skein of greens and browns, that will go very well with the theme, such a thoughtful and gorgeous gift.
You should check out her new Etsy store, her organic cotton wash cloths are divine, so soft.

Back home

We're back from our travels through warm and sunny Mexico... It's been wonderful, Lief turned out to be quite the little traveler, very adaptable (as all children are of course) and very social. He loved the attention from people and rewarded everyone with a warm smile.

Unfortunately we lost our digital camera after two days in Mexico, so I don't have pictures to show... But we ordered one online and found it waiting for us when we got back home. So I got to take a few pictures of Lief outside again.

We brought my Mom back from Vancouver to spend a few days with us on the island, which was wonderful. We worked on some projects, while I was knitting a couple of neckwraps she worked in crochet on a pillowcase. I also finished a bag up that was still waiting from before.

It feels good to be able to create again, I was sure missing the process. I had brought enough yarn so I could knit some caps, which was fun. I even sold three caps to a cute little store called 'Rosemary' in Sayulita, Mexico. The rest I brought back home and will go to Sitka Studio, a local gallery, or maybe I'll even start an Etsy shop for my knits and felts...