Clay and Cotton and Cups of Tea!

What are the elements of a fabulous weekend?

How about clay, cotton and cups of tea?

I know, weird and a tad confusing right? I have a tendency to come across that way ... 

... a lot!

But this weekend I was fortunate enough to take a marvellous clay button making class with Gail Woodhouse (who is amazing!) with an equally fabulous group of ladies!

... and came up with a board full of these, all ready for their first firing through the kiln.

Some of these will be pendants, some buttons and others will be my latest knitted owls button eyes! 

Then I finally found some time to try making some cotton yarn for the crochet basket idea from theredthreadblog.com which I was so eager to try!

... and  which also may be the basket that holds my finished buttons once they are done :)

But the best part was the cups of tea and a long overdue visit with my favourite cousin whom I love with all my heart!

We got to catch up and reminisce and just settle in to enjoying one another's company - she is so dear to me - and we spent a wonderful afternoon together :)

So it makes sense now right? Clay, cotton and cups of tea ... and a weekend to really count my blessings  

... because I truly have a lot of them :)

Here's hoping your weekend was filled with all sorts of wonderful things as well!

xo nikki

Monday morning coffee break crochet ... 

In Five Easy Steps ...

Ok, I'm the first to admit - I am hideously guilty of this - seeing a project on some social media platform with three or four glossy photos and I think ... 

"That looks super fast and easy to do!"

And ... it's not.

Turns out making your own homemade roasted beet pasta is NOT something you can accomplish in an hour or so in the kitchen while your hungry kiddies look on ...

... or handwash a dirty sheep's fleece in the evening before bedtime ... (my poor Mr.)

... regardless of the 3 to 5 pretty pictures that show you step by step how fast and easy it is.

Don't get me wrong, it's always worth the effort in the end but I am constantly getting bamboozled by the pictures - even though my Mr. keeps warning me it may take more time that I actually have ... 

... I like the product at the end -

and I'm a slow learner apparently :)

So, with all that in mind I wanted to show you the making of the bunny yarn that will soon be knitted up - hopefully before Easter! (cross fingers)

But be warned - this took a LOT longer than it looks!

Trust me!

Happy Spinning!

xo nikki

Making Fabric Yarn!

xo nikki

Owls and Monsters and Whales ... oh my!

Thanks to the lovely creations of Nan-C of www.nancdesigns.ca (I love her bunnies and playscapes!) ...

I was distracted, I mean inspired! again ...

this time with Needle Felting - it's rather addictive and super fun (though at times also pretty ouchy!)

  

These are my critter creations from last night ... ran out of time before midnight so the wee sheep isn't quite finished yet ... 

Want to play some more tonight!

Better get some more band-aids on the way home :)

xo nikki 

Squeezed in some Fibre Fun this Weekend ...

It started with Fibres West on Saturday ... 

Some of my lovely fibre loot - super soft Shetland roving (the brown ball), BFL in Peashoot from Sweet Georgia Yarns (bottom left), some delicious BFL in Pretty as a Peacock from Ancient Fibre Arts (top roving) and lastly a cone of bamboo for plying from Jane Stafford Textiles ... oh! the possibilities!

Then on to Sunday when I finished the Bunny dress and pinned and blocked it up.

And taught my oldest to knit! Here's his first completely solo effort!

I am so proud!

Pretty great weekend for me - how was yours?

More on the "Bunny stuff" in my next post ... 

xo nikki

Lovely Cotton Yarn from Intwined Fibre Arts!

Lovely cotton yarn from Althea's shop 

Intwined Fibre Arts!

... that is knitting up like a dream! 

May have to treat myself to the other lovely colours she had in this yarn ;)

xo nikki

Coffee Break Sweater Knitting

both large and "bunny-sized" :)

xo nikki

SoulFibre Studio Gallery/Studio Open House!!

Check out my friend, the amazing Melissa Nasby! at her Studio Opening this Saturday!!

xo nikki

Fibre Fun on the Weekend!

Had some seriously lovely fun on the weekend with all my fibre friends - the Harmonious Homestead Fleece & Fibre Festival was fantastic! 

Thank you Clare & Rob!

I even got to continue the fun into Sunday by doing some impromptu Spinning & Plying 101 with my friend Katie who was gifted an antique spinning wheel which she lovingly glued back together and brought over so that we could get it running again after 30 years!

Brand new to spinning & plying but look at her go! Well done Katie!

This is her first plyed yarn - baby alpaca and some hand-painted boucle - lovely!

Completely bitten by the spinning bug (as we all are!) she later sent me this - her second plyed yarn!

After a coat of oil this morning she looks as good as new - a local wheel made years ago in Armstrong, British Columbia!



She spins like a little dream again :)

And what have I been up to?

Well, I tested my Wee Hoot pattern to see if I could use the exact same directions and make a Grande Hoot and ...

... it worked!



Grande Hoot was knit on 8mm DPN's using a bulky yarn that I hand-dyed in the crock pot with pencil rovings and them felted into yarn (easy to do if you yank it out of the hot crock pot and plunge it into cold water to rinse - only be careful not to felt the strands together in the process!)

The top and ears was some leftover bulky yarn  called "Grouse" from Sweet Georgia Yarns and some hand-dyed yarn from Nickelbee Studios for the beak.

I am quite happy with how he turned out and was about to add him to the Festival sale pile when ...



... someone fell in love with him :)

So Grande Hoot will be staying at our home but is easily made with the Wee Hoot pattern and some bigger yarn and needles :)

Happy Fibre-ing Everyone!

xo nikki

Fleece and Fibre Festival this Saturday!!

This is the show I'll be at this Saturday - pop by and say hello if you can :)

xo nikki

Coffee Break Owl Factory

Just working away in my Owl Factory on coffee break ... lol!

Getting ready for an upcoming show ... 

xo nikki