Neither a borrower nor a lender be;

For loan oft loses both itself and friend,

And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.

Polonius, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

and so said my father, often, ‘tho no scholar of Shakespeare he.

After he and Daphne finally paid off their modest mortgage he revised it to “there’s no better feeling than waking up in the morning knowing you don’t owe anything to anyone.”

That was the old way, to save up for something  you wanted or put it on lay-by until you’d paid it off.

As a teenager I used to buy my yarn ball by ball on layaway at the wool shop in town. You had three months to pick it up. It meant that I could afford to knit with lovely quality wool and I learned to finish my projects in a timely fashion! Thank you, Ballantynes of Christchurch.

In case anyone wants to take advantage of it, (some have already, even a customer in the USA) I instituted this policy on South Seas Knitting. You can pay as you knit.

Knitting needles are like books when it comes to borrowing and lending. Best not to. A few months ago I started making a list of needles I’d lent to friends, but the problem with a list is that I forget where I wrote it.
A set of long, thin metal circulars were missing last week, just when I needed them for a crucial stage in the finishing of my new cardigan. I’d lent them out and taken note . . . . . . somewhere. Thankfully, the borrower remembered.
They arrived back shortly thereafter, accompanied by these lovely yellow roses.

If you’d like to make a doily for your vase of flowers, there’s no better book than Mary Thomas’s Book of Knitting Patterns. She covers doilies of all shapes, plain and lace. You can make them in any yarn, on any size needle, and the possibilities for expressing your creativity are endless. Best of all, you can use bits and bobs from your stash.
My doily is made with hemp, on 4mm needles.

Scatter Daisy, by Florence Broadhurst.

I’d not heard of this lady until a beautiful pillow caught my eye in a local design shop. It very quickly forced its way into my life and onto on my couch.

Reading up on her in this fascinating book, Florence Broadhurst: Her Secret & Extraordinary Lives, I discovered a colourful woman who led many lives, a few of which may have been pure invention. She was adventurous and a bit naughty, which makes her a very good read as well as a design inspiration.

Born in a country town in North Australia, she had a career as a starlet stage performer in Asia, opened a fashion house in 1930’s London, and was a painter of classic Australian landscapes before starting her textile business as a last ditch effort to make some money!

Never short of ideas for self promotion, she made quite a splash in Australian society, always good for business. Her design inspirations are varied, a little art nouveau here, Japanese there, Op Art over there.

Butterflies (below) is restrained and timeless.

Others are lavish and exuberant, perfect for celebrity boudoirs, bars and hotel rooms.

An Asian influence is obvious in many.

Her groundbreaking designs languished for 20 years after her death in the 70s. Nowadays they’re available again, produced in Sydney by Signature Prints and sold worldwide.

Japanese Floral (below) is the fabric of my pillow.

Ikeda= love!

Hollow Squares, from the  late-sixties. Dizzying.

What I love most about Florence’s story is that she didn’t start her textile printing business until the age of 60!

This is very good news for any of us who are still making up our minds what we want to be when we grow up.

It seems it’s not necessary to grow up at all.  Like Florence, we can go on re-inventing ourselves and having fun until we run out of steam.

Isn’t is satisfying to make things for your house? You get to enjoy the making, the using, and  you have a daily reminder of all those hours you lovingly stitched something that you’ll have forever.

It used to be my ambition to have a completely home made house.  Not being much good with hammer and nail I’ve scaled that down to having a home made item in each room. At this point I might have reached my goal but that won’t stop me because I’m addicted to making things.

Here are some non-knitted things I made for my garden in Santa Monica. I left them there for the new owner (a twinge of regret permeates these words as I type) and on visits, I walk past it and see those little bits if myself that are still there no matter who the owner is.

These pots were made following an inspirational few days in Barcelona (the plates were already broken – I just couldn’t bear to part with them). My Antonio Gaudi phase.

Pebble pattern on my bedroom patio, surrounded by gardenias. Mmmmm.

Perhaps it’s because the hot summer days disappeared all of a sudden last week, the days shortened and it’s altogether an autumn-ish feeling around here, that I embarked on making my own little bit of sunshine to cover the dull grey tiles in the bathroom.

I’ve always loved rag or hooked rugs and have had it in mind for a long time to make a knitted version. The moment arrived (funny how something that’s been brewing for years decides, for no particular reason, to slide itself onto your knitting needles) so I spent my evenings this week making this colourful  folk art-ish mat while watching episodes of Midsomer Murders, the irresistible modern day Hercule Poirot-style mystery set in an ultra picturesque English village brimming with dozens of typically eccentric characters, and this delicious documentary about Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton. Now that’s what I call living!

Please don’t hate me for owning a large stash of the scrumptious, soft Blue Sky Cotton, left over from various projects.  I just can’t stop using this yarn, as much for its softness as its gorgeous colour palette.

For extra sumptuousness I used double strands throughout.

My mat weighs 550g, so you’d need that much yarn to make one the same size. I used seven colours (700g) but you could make up your own colour scheme, perhaps using only 2 or 3 colours.

Here are some  more subdued (but no less beautiful) combinations I’m considering for my next mat.

81-sand & 604-aloe

80-bone & 81-sand

and now, to Mel’s helpful hint of the week, told to me by a Los Angeles gent who seemed to be an expert in these matters:

If you’re trying to sell your house, instead of stashing towels or keeping them in a cupboard, roll a few and put them on display. It gives the visitor (or potential buyer) a feeling that they’ll always be on vacation or at a spa if they buy your house!

P.S. I like the idea of making this mat much bigger with leftover wool and felting it. It would be beautiful in a child’s room or as a hearth rug.

The recipe  for my Folk-ish Mat is over in the free pattern menu.

One of my resolutions for 2010 was to have more fun, and what could possibly be more fun that a week of sewing?

So, with lunch and a bundle of fabric in my basket, I took myself off to summer school to begin the Tivaevae course I’d enrolled in at the Corban’s Estate Arts Centre.

The stars must have be in alignment, because our lovely tutor Mary Ama, had chosen to hold the class in this little church. What better place to camp out for a week?

It sits in a beautiful grassy field that had me wondering if I was in New England. An auspicious beginning.

To inspire us, Mary had decorated the church with her own works in various stages of completion.

My head was already bursting with all the possibilities for what I wanted to achieve in 5 days, but the sight of Mary’s masterful examples prompted a stern chat with myself:

Girl, refrain from being too ambitious and learn as much as you can in the presence of this marvellous artist.

We began with an explanation of Tivaevae:

they are usually made by a group of ladies who choose a pattern and make one quilt for each in turn. The word means “continual sewing”. They are not, as a rule, sold or even displayed in public, but are made for loved ones, mostly for glory boxes, special birthdays and weddings. They are often used to wrap the dead. In other words, they are made with love, for no commercial purpose.

This explains why there are so few for sale in Rarotonga.

It’s important to use suitable fabric. 100% cotton in best. Most tivaevae are dazzling, in bold beautiful colours.

Mary says that that every person’s tivaevae tells a personal story.

We all chose projects that seemed to reflect our personalities. Jude (below) lives next to a stream on a lush property in the Waitakeres.

Her acid green background and bold applique design suited her lively personality.[note the large basting stitches used to keep the design in place on the background while it's embroidered]

Marian, my knitting colleague, chose a lei motif, with leaves and flowers placed in circle. It was a perfect blend of her English roots and the exoticism of her adopted homeland in the South Seas.

Her embroidery is as exquisite as her knitting and each new stitch she learned was executed to perfection.

As for my own tivaevae personality, Mary said my design was very “English”. I wasn’t sure what she meant until I began to embroider an anthurium design and realized that it reminded me of paisley, more Liberty of London than Cook Islands.  But then, James Cook, after whom the islands were named, was an Englishman and here we all are in a colourful blend of cultures and histories.

I arrived at the class with two muted shades of cotton I’d bought in New York. I wanted my tivaevae to remind me of my trip and the wonderful time I’d spent with India.

During the course of the week I came to regret my tame colour choices as I cast an envious eye over at my companions. But then, I am a Gemini after all.

In the course of the week I completed the blind stitching of the perimeter and the embroidery in one corner. Blind stitching isn’t always necessary but for a novice embroiderer like myself, it made for a more secure edging. Besides, my New York fabric frayed easily and would have been hard to fold and embroider simultaneously. Some Tivaevae, notably the ones made in Tahiti, are solely blind stitched. What sets the Cook Island tivaevae apart from other Pacific island quilts is the embroidery. It’s fantastically detailed.

Did I mention our fellow student, Isabella?

She required a very long leash and although she preferred custard pastries to needle and thread, she did have a few tricks up her sleeve, like this “powhiri” [Maori welcome].

I wonder if Tivaevae also means “continual gossip”? As with any group of knitters or quilters, fascinating stories were told as we worked, and we discovered that just like in the Islands, we are all connected by one means or another. Amazingly, all three of my classmates are descended from Spanish Armada sailors shipwrecked on the coast of Wales and Scotland. I felt a little left out. My ancestors must have been too busy knitting.

Here’s the spacious covered verandah where we ate our lunch each day.

This week I had the urge to make a useful and pretty gift for my friend Charlotte’s birthday. She’s a sculptor who makes large concrete and wood objects, so fussy and frilly wouldn’t do. She is a girl’s girl, though, and likes to spoil herself on occasion.
We all agree that hand made gifts are best. But something wearable requires a degree of mind reading, or at least close acquaintance, to know what looks good on whom and whether it will go with everything else in the wardrobe. Then there’s who’s allergic to what and she who wears nothing but neutrals when you secretly think she would do well to add some hot pink. There’s not much to fret about with a cheerful table runner or tea cozy.

For Charlotte, I decided on a festive two-tone bath mitt accompanied by a bar of beautiful orange scented soap.
The mitt is made in an easy slip stitch with Blue Sky Skinny Cotton which is ultra soft and smooshy. It’s organic, too, and coloured with low impact dyes, so lovely next to skin. The slip stitch pattern gives it a cozy double thickness.
Less than half of each hank is used, so you could make a matching mitt, with the colours in reverse. This is really a fast and easy project. It took me about three hours.
Scroll down for the pattern……

Here’s a second colourway that would look fresh and bathroomy, 303-Sprout and 301-Glacier.

Before I go, to those who have enquired about the pattern for “Swing”, it’s almost ready. Sorry it’s taken so long. In the interests of accuracy I’m having the sizes checked, then my friend Xanthe will place it in our pattern template. So many steps from the pot to the table!

Happy knitting!
–Mel

FIESTA BATH MITT

MATERIALS

• Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Cotton; 100% organically grown cotton; 65g; 137metres; 1 hank of 317- Coral (A) and 1 hank of 30-Birch (B)
• Size 4.0mm[US6] double pointed needles
• Size 3.75mm [F/5] crochet hook (optional)
• Stitch marker
• Tapestry needle

MEASUREMENTS: 17.5cm[7"] by 13cm [5.25"]

GAUGE: 23 stitches per 10cm in stitch pattern.

HOW TO
With A, cast on 60 sts.  Distribute around 3 dpns. Join in round, taking care not to twist. Place marker for beginning of the round.
Rnd 1 & 2: With A, knit.

Rnd 3: With yarn in back and B, *slip 1 purlwise,  [k, p, k] into the next stitch; repeat from * to end.

Rnd 4: With yarn in front and B, *slip 1 purlwise, p3tog; repeat from * to end.

Rnd 5 & 6: With A, knit.

Rnd 7: With yarn in back and B, *[k, p, k] into the next stitch, slip 1 purlwise; repeat from * to end.

Rnd 8: With yarn in front and B, * p3tog,  slip 1 purlwise; repeat from * to end.

Repeat these 8 rnds until mitt is desired length ending with Rnd 2 or 6.

Place 30 stitches on each of 2 needles and graft together using A.

Alternately, you could join them by using the three-needle bind off.

For a crochet loop: with B, sc 60, turn, and sc 60.

As an alternative to crochet, make a 2-stitch, 20cm long I-cord [see tutorial on making I-cord]

Sew loop in place at cast on edge.

One of the things I miss most about living in North America is the Hummingbird. Working quietly in my little garden studio, I’d often hear the thwump, thwump, of their wings in the stillness of the Los Angeles heat, a powerful sound for such a tiny bird. Sometimes they’d fly right into the room, an unnerving experience. I dreaded one of them coming to grief against a window. Luckily they always flew out again after much thrashing about (and shrieking on my part), back to the Lavatera bush or the Orchid Tree. I try not to feel unfaithful to the many lovely New Zealand native birds but in hummingbirds’ absence I collect stuff with their image, like this sweet Blue Sky Alpacas project bag that arrived the other day! Those clever people at Blue Sky have called them Pretty Cheep project bags and there are more (with other bird motifs…you might find your own favourite) here.

Hiding behind the hummingbirds is my “Orange Tree in Santa Monica” tivaevae pillow, now finished and plumped on my sofa.

Far be it from me to lure anyone away from knitting, but I loved making it, especially adding the oranges, which gave me an excuse to indulge my polka dot fetish. My lesson with Ina Bishop in Rarotonga was regrettably short so I’m learning as I go. (Thank you, all, for the suggestions of books and places to take classes)

Tivaevae (what a musical word!) means sewing or stitching.

Here are some of the things I love about it at this stage of my journey:

1. It doesn’t demand too much precision, which suits me fine, and the stitching is a relaxing distraction from the intensity of my knitting habits which usually involve writing a pattern as I go, with much counting and changing tack en route.

2. If you love flowers and plants, there’s no end to the inspiration for designs.The motifs can be as simplistic as you like. It’s all about colour. Don’t be discouraged by your lack of drawing talent. I’m not.

One important lesson learned: the type of fabric you use is crucial. I experimented with a Kaffe Fassett fine cotton for the oranges but it didn’t stand up to being stitched with embroidery thread. The ladies in the Cook Islands use a cloth called “Azlin”, known for its loose weave and heavy weight. It’s easy to fold as you stitch and is ideal for embroidering.

These New South Wales Waratahs are going to be the inspiration for my next pillow. I love their sculptural shape.

So far I’ve cut the leaf pattern. For the background I’m using the same linen as for last week’s honeycomb pillow.

Now, back to my sewing (and knitting!)

–Mel

How satisfying is it to make something lovely with materials that were gathering dust in your cupboard?

The pillow inner, I confess, was made by an upholsterer after a fruitless search for one ready made. Some things are best left to professionals. The hexagons were knitted one evening while watching Sally Potter’s Orlando. Hands up those who love Tilda Swinton! (I may have to watch it again sans tricoter since the costumes are exquisite and I’m quite sure I missed some important details while concentrating on my hexagons)
The linen fabric was left over from a bolt David once found at a yard sale in LA (do you want this honey? I got it for ten bucks) You have to love a man who’d buy 50 yards of fabric off a front lawn. It covered the sofa at home and the sofa at Wildfiber with quite a bit to spare. I love the combination of vivid brights grounded by a natural coloured background.
The hexagons were sewn together then stitched onto the linen with yarn. Doing so reminded me of embroidering on hessian the way we used to in primary school and I thought I’d like to do more of that some time soon. I added stripes of gros grain ribbon along the gusset for some extra sunshine.

The sewing together of the pillow was done on my machine, with a 38cm zipper along one edge.

When assembled it reminded me of Moroccan pillows and spawned a whole new set of ideas about more patch work cushions and another knitted one, this time in Koigu KPPPM multi-coloured merino with a tweedy wool fabric.

Below is the pattern for a hexagon. Mine are 14cm from point to point.  If you want smaller pieces you could use a thinner yarn or even stop short of my 66 stitches.

For the casing, I cut two 38cm diameter circles and an 18cm wide strip for the gusset.

I used:
Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Organic Cotton in shades 607-lemon grass, 630-caribbean, 604-aloe, 627-flamingo, 617-lotus, 634-periwinkle, and 638-dandelion: small amounts of each.

Size 4mm double pointed needles.

Pillow Size: 38cm [15"] in diameter
Your choice of yarn will affect the size of the pillow.

HEXAGON [make 7]

With dpns, cast on 12 stitches. Distribute the stitches so that there are 4 on each of 3 needles and use one as a working needle.

Rnd 1: Knit into the back of all stitches.
Rnd 2: *K1, kfb; repeat from * to end.
Rnd 3: Knit
Rnd 4: Kfb in first and last stitch on each needle, and in the middle 2 sts of each needle.
Rnds 5 & 6: Knit
Repeat Rnds 4-6 until there are 66 sts in total, ending with Rnd 6.
Bind off loosely.

Happy knitting!

–Mel