hand-knitted treasures: hot-pink blanket

For the last few years, my mum and I have been casually collecting pure wool. Most of it we've found at charity shops, some online through vintage sellers, and a few in-store. When we find a lovely knitting project we set it aside until we find enough of the right wool. Mum then knits it up - I can knit a basic stitch but I'm very slow; mum, who is teaching me when she can, is an accomplished knitter (she can knit without looking!) and therefore much faster and better at it than me - and reveals the final product a couple of weeks later. It's all very exciting and I think a great way to turn the old wool into beautiful, soft and special treasures for ourselves or for gifts. I couldn't believe my luck a while ago when I found a huge collection of beautiful hot-pink vintage wool at a great price online from OldLibrary. Mum thought it would be the right amount to make a blanket for my sofa and, recently, she whipped it up! If you'd like to see her handiwork, here are a few photos of the lovely thing.

Photos: Heidi Adnum

cushion crazy

A few months ago I took Brett Bara's tutorial on making zippered throw cushions and sort of went crazy. In my spare time I made cushion covers for the sofa, armchairs and every bed in the house. Out of free space, I decided that the kitchen chairs needed cushions. Thankfully a friend happened to mention that she'd like some covers, too, and I needed a gift for another, so that kept me going for a little while longer. I've just bought some raspberry velveteen to make another (but it's on hold until I can work out where to put it.) In lieu of actually making more covers (I really need to learn how to make something else...) I decided to take some pictures (something I should have done weeks ago before they were squashed and crinkly...) and share them with you, along with a few of the lovely fabrics and sellers that I found.

The beautiful pom pom pillow design (and tutorial) belongs to Susan from Living With Punks. The Pink Hexagons fabric is by Prints Charming, which I bought from Laura at Mira & Westie (the reverse is their Watermelon and Pink Dots).

I picked up this vintage mustard velveteen from a local charity shop, along with a lovely bright purple zipper, and it was a match made in heaven. The green fine corduroy with deer pattern, along with the lolly pink fine cord and brown velveteen (above) is from Spotlight.

I couldn't resist Pink Hearts from C'est La Viv and backed it with black-and-white stripe vintage cotton. The gorgeous soft velveteen is Loulouthi by Anna Maria Horner.

I followed Brett's instructions again and even added piping!

I promise I don't stack them up on the bed all the time. Just this once...

These floral and pink-and-white stripe girls are my first-ever cushion covers, a basic envelope style made without a pattern or proper measurements; I just copied another cover. They don't fit properly (too loose) but I still love them. I think the orange floral is the most beautiful vintage fabric I've ever found.

Photos: Heidi Adnum

preserved lemons: part two

The preservation continues. Part two was even more simple than part one: Slice lemons in half:

 Squeeze out their juice:

Take your jars of lemons from part one (that are now already almost half full of juice) and fill up each one with the lemon juice you've just squeezed. I had prepared five jars of lemons but I condensed them down to three; the lemons had softened quite a bit and that allowed for more room in each jar:

Seal the lid, rinse the jar, and you're done! Leave each jar for three-to-four weeks and they'll be ready to use. Apparently it's not only tagines that they're good for; chicken soup and cocktails, too! 

Photos: Heidi Adnum

preserved lemons: part one

Recently, for dinner with friends, Will and I made Jamie Oliver's Chicken, Olive and Preserved Lemon tagine. I'd first tried - and loved - a similar Moroccan tagine at Pasha in London (1 Gloucester Road, South Kensington) but I didn't realise the beautiful lemon flavour actually came from preserved lemons. In Mediterranean Escapes Rick Stein says that preserved lemons are 'a characteristic flavour of Morocco', and Jamie Oliver says they're the 'star ingredient' in a tagine. So, having not prepared any ingredients in advance, off we went to buy a jar. I won't embarrass myself and tell you how much the small jar cost but I will say I quickly decided that making our own was the way to go for all future tagining. They smelled very strong but in the stew they seemed to dissolve and they were indeed as delicious as the experts promised they would be. If you'd like to see, here's my first attempt at making preserved lemons, part one.  

The unwaxed lemons of all shapes and sizes are homegrown at my parents' farm. Rick Stein recommends 3-4 small lemons per 500ml jar.

 Other than lemons, all you need is 75g salt per jar. 

 Slice the lemons into quarters but leave them attached at the stalk. 

 So they'll look like this:

 Fill the cuts with salt. 

 Squish each lemon into the jar, and sprinkle over the remaining salt. 

 You'll fit in more than you think! I used a 700ml jar, and in that fit four larger lemons.

 The salt will fall to the bottom of the jar, and it will draw out the juice from the lemons. 

With the lid on, Rick says to shake the jar occasionally for four-to-five days and then top it up with more lemon juice (that will be part two, a week or so from now) then, after a couple of weeks, they should be ready to use. My tips would be don't attempt this if you have any cuts on your fingers (ouch!) and select jars with wide mouths, otherwise you'll end up with the situation shown below; no matter how hard I tried those little suckers were not going into that sauce jar! 

Preserved Lemons recipe in Mediterranean Escapes by Rick Stein. Photos by me.

red threads charlestown: this saturday

If you're in Newcastle this Saturday, 21 July, call into the Red Threads shop at Charlestown Square (top level, near the ABC shop) where I'll be the guest seller for the day. I'll be offering a selection of photographs and Good Will Bunting® (including some new and one-off designs) and would love to see you! The Australian Red Cross will receive a percentage of all proceeds. 

Yellow Polka Dot Good Will Bunting®

photography workshops

I had a great time at Etsy Success Sydney. It was lovely to meet so many great people and present with Lara. Something I'm reminded of every time I have the opportunity to take part in special events such as Etsy Success Sydney is how much I enjoy teaching, sharing and helping to develop skills when it comes to photography. For some time now one of my goals has been to start up a series of local photography workshops. I'm not yet quite sure what format they're going to take, or even where they're going to be held, but I know they'll be relaxed, down-to-earth, friendly, and open to everyone. To help me develop a programme and structure for my photography workshops that best meets your needs, I'd like to ask for your help. I've put together a short ten-question survey and would love to hear your thoughts on things like choosing the best days, times, duration, regularity, and, of course, content. If you might be interested in taking part in one of my to-be-determined photography workshops, I'd be grateful if you could complete the survey, found online here. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes to complete. Your results can remain anonymous (just don't enter your name and email address at the end) or you can choose to provide your details to be contacted about the workshops when more information is available. Thank you, in advance.

tiny polaroid magnets

Can't fit all your favourite family photos on the fridge? Looking for a thoughtful, personal gift? Solution: diy tiny polaroid magnets from Ambrosia Creative.

Photos: Jenn from Ambrosia Creative. Via: Row House Nest

etsy success sydney

Are you going to Etsy Success Sydney? I am! Join us at the event on Saturday, 2 June, at the Museum of Contemporary Art from 9am to 10pm. Stylist Lara Hutton and I are speaking on The Basics of Product Styling and Photography. Tickets cost $100 and include access to all sessions, day-long catering and a delegate pack. Etsy Success Sydney is presented as part of the Vivid Ideas program at Vivid Sydney 2012 (25 May — 11 June), a festival of light, music and ideas, and a major celebration of our creative industries. Oh, and guess what? EtsyAU has kindly offered me one double-pass for a lucky reader (valued at $200). To win the tickets, by Friday, 25 May, tell me in a comment (below) or email why you need to attend the event. Good luck!

gardening and other things

Now that Will and I have a garden of our own (it's growing every day!) we're outside pottering around in it every chance we get. I especially love time spent in the garden after the rain when the sun has come out; the plants seem refreshed with squeaky clean leaves and those beautiful, glistening droplets of water. Bring on the weekend! In other news, I thought photo buffs might be interested in Ken Duncan's newly announced one-day workshops around Australia, and the amazing collection of historical New York City images, which are also available to purchase as prints.

Photos: Heidi Adnum

useful and lovely from scraps

I've been looking for simple projects to make useful and lovely things using fabric scraps. So far I've found these seersucker napkins from Martha Stewart and this fabric mouse pad from How Joyful. I think they'd make great gifts, too. Do you have any favourite projects from scraps?

home-made cherry ripe

My friend Irrum asked me to make and post about these Cherry Ripe Bites. Irrum whipped up a batch at home in London last week and just loved them. They're an at-home version of Cadbury's Cherry Ripe, which, apparently, is Australia's oldest chocolate bar (fun fact!). They're super easy to make and would be great for a special after-dinner treat or a hostess gift. We hope you like it!

Photos: Heidi Adnum