Olallieberry

Making Morning Mossy Things

Early Morning Progress Report:

1) Rosemary Soapmaking - basic recipe found here, 2) Felted Stone Embroidery - inspiration found here, felting instructions found here, and general natural dyeing instructions found here (I used onion skins followed by a dip in an iron bath concocted from steel wool and vinegar to get that gorgeous green colour).

Also, ordered my heritage seeds this morning! We have plans for the garden this year that involve a conscious boycott on GMO and all things Monsanto.

PS - I must be yearning for summer; everything I touch is ending up some colossal shade of green! 

xox

Hot and Off the Needles

Whew, this week has flown by! I didn't even begin to touch on all of the things I was hoping to, but I did manage to finish off the tealeaves cardi (raveled here) in 32 degree celsius heat (ugh). Not exactly ideal knitting weather, but that's never stopped me before. I love this sweater, it turned out perfectly. Way too hot to wear right now even for a few brief moments, so it's tucked away to savor in a more appropriate season. 

Did I mention we have no air conditioning in our house? We had to hit several air-conditioned thrift stores, yarn shops, and fabric outlets just to escape the incessant heat (a highly unfortunate necessity, I know... that's just what the Mr said). I did manage to whip up a little summer top in between shopping trips, although I'm not altogether happy with it. I followed all sizing measurements and seam allowances, but it still turned out waaay to big. And I used store bought bias tape on the neckline and armholes, so the whole effect is a bit apronish looking. 

This is a regular problem with me and garment sewing, the way-too-big thing I mean. Is there some special top secret pattern reading technique that I don't know about? Does anyone have any insight on how to avoid this problem? I did manage to tailor it in a few spots to make it wearable, but it's still not what it should be. I'll be doing another in a smaller size and with a few other changes, more on that coming.

Now off to the lake for some desperately needed relief to finish off the week and indulge myself in some good reading. Wonderful summer wishes to you all! xoxoxo

Rain

Lots of rain always makes for good gardens, good baking, good projects, good reading, and...

...very grumpy kittens.

Spring

It's been rainy and overcast all week long. We really needed the moisture though--spring has been very late in coming and everything in the garden is waaaay behind. The bees have been foraging furiously at every pause in the rain. Yesterday the sun peeked out for a couple of hours and they immediately went into overdrive trying to catch up on lost time. Every moment counts toward building up their food stores and increasing their chance at surviving our long, cold, Canadian winter.

As for me, the rain has provided an opportunity to catch up on some of my unfinished projects, namely this little quilt. Being my very first attempt at stipple quilting and, since the thread I'm using is the same colour as the quilt top, all of the loopy goof ups and skipped stitches should go relatively unnoticed. In theory at least. Anyway, this is going to be a great summer quilt, perfect for lazy afternoon naps and leisurely outdoor reading sessions. The Mr is finally making deck plans, and I'm following suit with deck furniture. I'm thinking something loungy and poufy, something to curl up on and enjoy the summer breezes, a place to drift back and forth, in and out of reality. I am so looking forward to summer.

Thank you all so much for sharing your wonderful bee stories! I had no idea so many of you had bee interests and experiences, either personally or through someone you know. We are closer than we think :) Have a wonderful week!

xox

More Cake 'n Stuff

1) Deeeelicious bundt cake that everyone will love you for, recipe is here. 2) Comfy nightgown in softened linen that can be whipped up in no time flat, pattern and tutorial found here. xo

Winter Blues

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've last posted; life certainly does have a way of interferring with our selfish creative pursuits. Oh how I have missed this space! 

So, what's been happening on the creative front? Well, quite frankly not much. However, last night I finally managed to sneek in some "me" time and whipped up a little dress from this totally awesome pattern book. Turned out perfectly, I LOVE the fit. (Please excuse the wrinkly photo, time has really been a hot commodity around here lately.) The fabric is reminiscent of a warm summer day with lovely little lady bugs and honey bees lazily sampling the wares of the garden. Clearly I'm experiencing summer withdrawl symptoms, as winter has indisputably set in here with a solid "thump". 

How have you been managing with your autumn (or winter) routines? xox

Mystery Post

I wrote a post.

It was about how much I appreciate all of you and your kind words of support during my 'bout of the flu, which I'm absolutely certain aided in my speedy recovery. I shared about a project I've been working on--the little knitted pouches made with Noro yarn you see above, and how I've been experimenting with a felted embroidered version. I wrote about the Summer Garden Quilt and how it has been calling to me for attention.

But it's all gone now.

Upon publishing, the post was appearing oddly in my dashboard for some reason, showing up as two separate posts, exactly the same. So what did I do? Well after carefully checking the links, I deleted one of them of course, confident the other was the official published version.

I was wrong. "Poof", both versions of the entire post disappeared. And so I leave you with this.

Pathetic, isn't it?