My first hand combed fibre!

slowing down and keeping track

A big part of the reason for our move  to the country was to enable us to slow….right….down.

It’s a process that we began when my body didn’t heal after three difficult pregnancies,  and I learned that rather than having a few dodgy joints and strange medical issues,  I had Ehlers-Danlos and would need to find a new way of working with my body.

The challenge of these last few years has been to find a balance between activity and rest that allows me to stay strong without constantly injuring myself, and from this process has come one of the greatest blessings of my life. The time and space to indulge a creative spirit that I previously didn’t know existed.

I started knitting when Thomas was a baby and as my health deteriorated, it helped to fill the many hours I had to spend at home recovering from injuries.  Spinning came next and before I knew it I was playing with fibre, colour and texture constantly.  My family and friends couldn’t believe it….I’d never shown the slightest interest in craft before then and here I was obsessed with making stuff!!

This unexpected crafty adventure has led me in directions that continue to surprise and delight me, and I have decided to use this blog as a way of keeping track of my progress.

Up until now I haven’t been all that great at keeping records of my creative adventures but it seems that the stronger I get the more I am able to do. I think that for me, keeping a record of my journey is an important part of this process so that when I do have bad days, I will be able to look back on how far I’ve come and all that I’ve achieved.

I only wish I’d started earlier, as my memory is not so great now, which is teaching me how important it is to preserve the details of my life at this point in time.  I love the idea of my kids being able to read these words when they are older and hopefully develop a deeper understanding of who I am as a maker and person as well as a mother.

Here’s what I’m working on today, a lovely chocolate brown corriedale fleece

So long and farewell….

To the city that is.  After much debate and many sleepless nights we’ve packed up all of our things and moved to the country to continue in our quest for a quieter, simpler life.

One of the most exciting things about the move for me is that I now have a dedicated craft space.  It is just so much easier to create when you don’t have to pack everything away at the end of day.

There has been lots of dyeing, carding and spinning, knitting and I now have space for a loom!

Bye bye Sydney..

 

Kids in the kitchen

We’ve been mostly failsafe for years, but the year before last, Abbey had a big reaction to something and after having her allergy tested, we  decided to pull back to only failsafe foods and test everybody properly.

I had only done half assed versions before this as I felt it would be too hard!! It wasn’t easy….but it was nowhere near as hard as I thought it would be and so incredibly worthwhile.

Really going failsafe for the first time I was surpised to find that we are all affected by salicylates to some degree.  The standouts however, were Emma’s reactions to preservatives, food colours, artificial antioxidants and salicylates.

Over time we have managed to work out her salicylate threshold, but she cannot tolerate even the smallest amounts of the others without what we now recognise as major reactions.  Before we had just though that she was being naughty and difficult : (

A lot of the behaviours that got Emma into trouble disappeared, her skin improved and overall she became a happier, contented, settled girl.  Unfortunately though, Emma really hates the restricitons that this way of eating places on her, and she longs to eat the things that her friends can.

We have been managing this by cooking as much food as we can (to avoid preservatives, colurs etc) and we have found that not only is Emma a natural in the kitchen,  she finds it easier to deal with her restrictions when she has input into our menu plan and access to the kitchen so that she can experiment and create.

Here are the beautiful pineapple and vanilla muffins she made us for morning tea today.  I’m so proud of her as she has not only made them so well on her own, she has sucessfully adapted a recipe with very little input from me.

The pinapples are not failsafe (high salicylate),  but there is not much in each muffin and we’re confident it won’t push her over her threshold.  We do have to be careful though, she has had a few outings with friends over the first week of the holidays and I can see from her skin that she has eaten something that she shouldn’t!!

On my wheel

Last year I discovered etsy and my first purchase was this beautiful bluefaced leicester top from Skein Yarns. The colourway was Chintz and it is even more lovely than it looks in this picture.

Here’s how it looks on the bobbin

It’s spinning up so well, I just love it.  I’m used to spinning merino top and this is quite different, it’s not so slippery and has a beautiful lustre.  I’ll definately be seeking out more bluefaced leicester in the future.