I’ve decided to move Spinning a Yarn to Blogger, which is more user friendly for my limited Design skills. Things have been languising a bit here, and I want to make it a more welcoming place to come and visit!

I hope you will join me at http://www.spinningayarnblog.blogspot.com

See you there!

I participated in the Christmas Ornament Swap organised by Louise. These are the ornaments I made- not really traditional or Christmassy- except they remind me of summer, the sun and long hots days (we’re having planty of them!) Also, I’m a little obsessed with this fabric. What can I say?

And this is the cherry tree in our new garden. I’m watching them like a hawk, ready to get to them before the birds. I may have to climb a tree, something I haven’t done in a while!!

I had fun choosing all the matching threads for a piece of fabric I’m using as part of a gift, and winding them onto the little cards, even if I won’t use all the colours in the finished piece!

My friend Penny is on her O.E. in Scotland, experiencing the coldest winter of her life.

A little freezer paper, some scraps of black merino, and an hour.

The great thing about merino knit is you can get away with just using a zig-zag stitch, and not finishing the raw edges!

Because you are craft bloggers too I know you can appreciate how hard it is to take a photo of both your hands. Yes, that is the top of the t.v.

Hopefully these will keep Penny’s hands snuggly warm through the winter.

One of the perks of Auckland is the strawberries- sweet and juicy, cheap and in bigger punnets (“chips”) than the South Island. I made strawberry jam today (I think it was the hottest day we’ve had yet- a perfect day to stand over a hot stove!) to give as Christmas gifts. My Grandad Don told me that strawberrys make a nice jam. You know what he’s getting!

 I took a few photos of the process.

I think this last photo is my favourite!

I get alot of search hits for the above keywords, and after my review here I scanned and sent my manual to a couple of people, as it’s non existent on the interwebs. I’m a bit reluctant to post it on the sidebar- not sure about copyright issues, but if you’re after a copy leave me a comment and I’ll email it to you.

Happy stitching!!

ETA I have set up a page for you to download this directly. Please see my new blog for details.

Busy crafting for the Christmas Ornament Swap Louise has organised. A sneak preview- hopefully I’ll get them finished and in the mail tomorrow, so I can get going on the gifts on my list!!

I spent an hour under the guise of looking for this issue of ‘Your Home and Garden’ (August ‘08) flicking through my magazine collection, only to disregard most of the instructions. A good excuse for unpacking them I guess. My naked ironing board has been wearing a towel and a piece of tye-dye for way too long!

 I used a sheet I thrifted on the weekend- fresh off the line. The middle was pretty worn, but a strip around the outside was just the right width for my ironing board. I chopped up an old towel and used it for the padding, and used some vintage bias tape to finish it off. There’s some elastic in that there casing to hold it on the board. An hour and a half later, and no nipping out to the shops for anything!

And I used the right side of the worn part of the sheet for the bottom- I stitched the towelling onto this piece. I like how the pattern shows through the bottom of the board.

Before I left Christchuch I had a few more things on my to-do list. Because packing is so much more enjoyable under pressure because you stayed up too late last night finishing baby gifts. It’s also why all my craft room had to be packed on the friday- you know, the day before we left, just in case there was a last minute project that needed making.

I found this incredible yellow wool at a Church Sale a few weeks back, and cut it into 4 peices to make baby blankets from, with recycled cotton on the other side.

The sunny yellow sheet from a few posts back,

and some unbelievably soft flannelette, that I found crisp and new, wrapped up with a pattern for a little boy’s shirt, with a wee bag of matching buttons in a well-worn brown paper bag, soft and furry from being opened and closed over the years.

Gifts for two friends at my old work, each expecting one of either kind in the New Year. I’ve got a few more of these cut out in the boxes of craft stash I brought up from Christchurch. Let’s just say I’ve got more stash than clothes- Michael and I combined!