A finished project and more underway

Well,  a combination of a wet couple of weeks and a cold going through the family means some projects have been finished and some have had to wait their turn.  I finished crocheting the ‘Granny Square ‘ blanket and sewed it up this weekend . A total of 19 balls of wool and at least 12 colours I think. It looks good on the couch in my lounge :

It’s great for snuggling up under by the fire !  When you crochet the resulting garment is twice the thickness of a knitted garment so it’s toasty warm.
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I have managed to spend a little time in my studio and made these two books from a couple of recycled whiskey bottle boxes.  They turned out quite well I think – I used my new ‘corner’ punch to round the corners of them . Each has about 30 pages of lined, graph and plain paper. Simple pamphlet binding.



Hubby  has already grabbed one – said he will use it for ‘tasting notes’  : )
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I also have made a new screen and have some fabric printing underway :

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And I found this book in a second hand shop and have ‘warped’ my loom again and am experimenting with ‘texture and pattern’ in some sample weaving :

I was really please to find this as the publishing date was 1980 and I don’t think it’s in print any more!

Hope you are keeping warm where ever you are.
R x

Bento, Weaving and more macarons…

These are Bento box lunches from last week:
The box on the left is mine and slightly smaller and the box on the right is hubby’s. They contain “Onigiri” rice balls, carrots kinpira (stir- fried carrots with sesame oil, sesame seeds and soy sauce)(hidden under the onigiri in the right hand bento box), sliced red capsicum, beaten egg with a little soy sauce, cooked then folded and sliced, and cooked prawns on lettuce. I buy the prawns already cooked and frozen and just put a few in each bento. They are thawed by lunch time. I found all the inspiration and recipes at Just Bento.
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Here is the scarf I have been weaving – I finished it at the weekend! One more to practice I think. My selvedges are nearly consistent. Weaving is kind of like knitting – the more you do the better your tension and it looks more even.

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A dear family friend who lives in Zurich sent me this link after she had read my blog post about Macarons.  Apparently they are also made in Switzerland only they are called “Luxemburgerli” over there.  They are made by a company who are related to the Lindt family chocolatiers. She told me that they have different flavours depending on what is in season. Currently ‘Strawberry and Rhubarb’ are flavour of the week!

This wonderful looking box contains 6 types of ‘Luxemburgerli’ –hazelnut, raspberry, lemon,caramel, vanilla and chocolate! Wow!
I might try and make some! Vielen Dank  fuer Ihre Email Anne : )
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This book arrived in the mail today from ‘Prints Charming’. The authors are a couple of ladies who live in Sydney and print their own fabric. When I was in Sydney last year I visited their studio and bought some of their fabric.
The book contains screen printing designs and some sewing projects using your hand printed fabric.  I thought it sounded like me.  :)
Rx

Screenprinting…

Today I printed some fabric using a screen I made from the drawing fluid and screen filler I shipped from Dick Blick Art supplies in the states:


A good first attempt I think.  Lots of design ideas in the pipe line. Watch this space!
Going to do some sewing this week I think…
R x

New Toys

I was excited last week as I got a parcel from the States with some supplies that I have been looking for for ages:

Some special drawing fluid for screen printing and some soft carving blocks for printing.
Here is my first attempt at block printing :


Tried printing some fabric but not pleased with it yet.

Working on it. Have some screens underway too. Pictures soon.
R xx