Celestial Socks

I picked up a gorgeous hand dyed skein of yarn by Madeline Tosh in Toronto while travelling over the new year. It reminded me of the night sky and I knew instantly I must have it to knit some socks. The socks became my travelling project and then my handbag project to knit while I was out and about when I returned home. I like having a little project to work on while I'm out but it also means it takes much longer to finish what should be a quick little knit. Not to mention the fact that I didn't write my pattern down and messed up the stitch count on the second sock so I had to completely unravel it and make it all over again. It was very frustrating and there were definitely some lessons in there about surrendering to circumstances and maybe actually recording patterns on paper instead of just in my head.

The socks are knitted from the toe up with a simple seed stitch pattern across the top of the foot and ankle. The cuff is a 3k, 1p rib and the heel is knitted in short rows.

I'm happy to be able to put these on my feet now and start on another pair with a design I've been mulling over in my mind for a little while now.

Crochet Stone Necklace

I bought these stones 3 years ago with the intention of making them into a necklace. After a lot of procrastination and not knowing exactly how I wanted to go about it I have finally brought this idea to life. My original intention was to use macrame to wrap the stones but my macrame skills are very basic so I ended up opting to use free form crochet.

From top to bottom the stones are amazonite, chrysocolla and dumortierite. I used cotton from my grandmother-in-law's stash that she let me raid.

Open Toe Socks

During my recent art residency in Queenstown, Tasmania I had some time to collect and experiment with plant dyes from a range of plants in the area. I created a colour range inspired by the landscape as well as a couple of extra colours before I ran out of time and had to come back to the mainland. While I'm working on the shawl with the colour palette I named 'The Colours of Queenstown', I thought I'd quickly knit up some open toe socks which have been on my to-make list for quite some time.

I love having bare feet but as you would expect, my feet get cold in winter, so I envisaged making a pair of toe-less socks to wear around the house. The socks are made from wool so they are extra cozy and have the added benefit of allowing me to practice yoga without slipping around, and to easily slip my thongs on for the walk to the compost heap to empty the bucket.

The red brown yarn for these socks was dyed with eucalyptus, hawthorn berries that I gathered on a drive to Hobart, and ash and iron mordants. I wasn't quite happy with the dye I extracted from the hawthorn berries so I threw it in the dye pot again experimenting with some eucalyptus and mordants until I was happy with the colour. The lighter brown is just eucalyptus leaves, a different species however, to the red brown dye.

Experimenting with plant dye is something I've dabbled in a little over the years and feels a lot like witchcraft. Knitting socks is one of my favourite things to do, every time I turn the heel it feels like magic and I can't quite believe how simple it actually is. I enjoy connecting with these ancient crafts almost lost to industrialisation and fast fashion, and love that I can create functional art with these skills.

Stone Necklace

I bought these stones over two years ago with the intention of making them into a necklace. It took me two whole years of pondering before I knew how I wanted to go about it, but I love how it turned out so it was worth the procrastination.

I crocheted around the stones with cotton from my grandmother-in-law's yarn stash that I was lucky enough to raid when we were visiting her in America awhile ago. I hung the stones on some hand twisted string I made from lengths of chain stitch crocheted cotton and silk I picked up at a garage sale cut into strips. And finally, I added some wood buttons from an old broken bracelet as decoration and to hold the three lengths of string together. 

I'm wearing my necklace over the top of the Cowl Vest I made two years ago, it has been one of my most used cozy accessories over the past couple of years. I like the effect of the necklace layered over the top of it.

Stash Scrap Scarf

 I haven't made much for myself lately, most of my creative work has been on things like dishcloths, cute little toys and a blanket I'm making from re-purposed yarn from an installation artwork I collaborated on last year; so it has been a while since I've had anything to share.

                          

My yarn stash is full of beautiful little remnants from past projects and I've been attempting not buy much yarn until I use up more of my stash so I dug up a few colours that complemented each other and I made my first ever knitted scarf. I thought the combination of different yarns would lend itself well to using a bunch of different stitch patterns to add texture and make the project more interesting. All that yarn I used was either wool or silk/wool blends. Some of the yarn brought up beautiful memories of the lovely things I made from them originally, so this ended up being a really special little project.

Crochet Triangle Scarf

After inheriting entire yarn stashes from a few people my stash has grown to almost ridiculous proportions. Although one can never have too much yarn I have decided to try to work on a few stash busting projects to get my collection under control.

I'm a little obsessed with triangles at the moment so a dug through my stash to find a few colours that I had enough of to make a big triangle scarf. The simple crochet pattern worked up quickly and has made these winter days just a little bit warmer.

Peacock Knickers and a Charcoal Shrug

I have been pretty quiet in the blogging world for a while now so I thought it was time I shared a couple of things I made in 2016. 

 Late Autumn I designed a shrug that is small enough to fit in a handbag but cozy enough to keep you warm if it gets a bit chilly while you are out, making it perfect for an evening out or cool mornings. It has proven very useful and I'm excited to play with similar designs and different colours.

Needing an outfit for Jungle Love festival a few months back I decided to modify the Dot Stitch Bamboo Knickers that I knitted a few years ago. Being inspired by peacocks I used yarn from my ever growing stash to create a gorgeous swishy outfit perfect for the most amazing party in the jungle.

 

Hand Painted Winter Skirt

The cold Melbourne winter has brought with it a desire for cozy knits and faux fur. My inspiration for this project was around winter warriors so I designed a tribal influenced pattern and hand painted it onto linen fabric. Lining the skirt with faux fur I salvaged from a remnants bin gave the skirt volume and a super cozy feel, so warm in fact that I may not take it off until spring! 

Knitted Cowl Vest

I had a hooded scarf that I crocheted but it never quite fit right. It was one of those things I made in the early days and I could never quite bring myself to give it away or pull it apart to make something else. I'd look at it with all my other scarfs and cozy winter things every time I opened the draw and then it hit me that I'd been holding onto something that I never wear for over 10 years. That realisation was exactly what I needed to pull it out and undo it. With all my balls of freshly unraveled yarn I wanted to make a kind of cowl vest, I like cropped sweaters and cowls so it's kind of a combination of both. I'm in love with how warm it is and that I still have left over yarn to make something else with.

Crochet Tablecloth Dress

I found a tablecloth in an op-shop and because I have a slight obsession with doilies I had to get it. For months it sat hanging over my clothes rack (looking pretty) while I thought about how I want to put it to use. I often picked it up and draped it around myself to see how it sat and to figure out if I could actually bring myself to cut it up. In the end I only cut a small hole for my waist and gathered  parts of the fabric to give it body and make it a little less see through. I made the top of the dress from a stretch linen blend which enabled me to avoid cutting the tablecloth further to put a zip in.

  

Indigo Skirt

 

Knitted with wool yarn on sale from a closing down craft shop and dyed with natural indigo dye. I think this skirt pairs beautifully with a cute tutu which gives it volume and shows the free form hole pattern nicely.

Indigo Socks

I love the colour blue and I love even more that nature can produce this colour dye. I finally got around to dying some of my knitted pieces that I had made specifically to be dyed with indigo and I was so happy with the results that I kept digging through my draws to find other clothes to dye with the left over dye in the vat. The left over dye was a great way to freshen up some faded harem pants of mine as well as some slightly stained white clothes. I love the idea of breathing new life into clothing rather than sending it off to the op-shop or the rag bag.

Here's a pair of socks I knitted with some wool yarn I bought on sale when the craft shop in the city was closing down. I bought white yarn knowing that I would figure out something to make that I could then throw into a natural dye bath. The dye is a little darker in some spots but I like imperfections so I'm happy with it.

Dyeing with indigo is like pure magic. The fabric comes out of the pot green and when exposed to oxygen turns blue right before your eyes. I'm excited to play with indigo some more and experiment with shibori, I could very easily end up with an entirely blue wardrobe so maybe I'll look into madder and other plant dyes first.

My socks pair beautifully with stockings and my new Indigo Skirt.