Mira Design

Happy go knitty

2010-04-24T14:42:00.000-07:00

I have now launched my new brand for all my knitted goodies.
They will sell under the name

Colourful beanies

2010-04-19T04:17:00.000-07:00

Big changes are coming for this blog,
but it will probably take another week or two...

In the meantime, here are some new beanies. Cute, eh!?

How to build a bird

2010-03-06T12:09:00.001-08:00

My daughter is learning about things that fly and glide in school.
They had to investigate the subject and create a poster
or PowerPoint to present at school.

But Mira loves making diaramas so here he is, ta-da

Fluffy the Bird

Colours, colours and more colours

2010-02-26T12:02:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we dyed even more yarn. Sometime you get really surprised

when you start mixing colours and/or putting in already dyed yarn.
Luckily we have no bad surprises just amazing, beautiful colours.

The purple to the left is a hot pink hank that went into the bright blue (middle).
It’s got lots of different pink and purple shades.

The short green one was an old kinda dirty yellow with some orange,
that I decided to redye. It also went into the blue bath and at first it looked like
a really ugly boring brown... But we left it in the bath a bit longer and after
washing and drying it came out a stunning olive with some brown shades in it!

The dark purple to the left are is a blue that went into a red bath
and then we poured in some more blue dye! The light one is just
a lighter shade from when the bath had cooled down.

I have some much beautiful yarn now that I will make into
kid’s beanies and other things. I will hopefully be back at the
Devonport Craft Market in a couple of months.

Hot pink dye bath

2010-02-13T04:32:00.000-08:00

Well, with all that cotton yarn and dyes lying around,
it’s difficult to keep my fingers off!

Today we mixed a hot pink bath and put in some unbleached and some
yellow from last time. And look! Different shades of pink and the yellow
hanks turned out in shades from coral to fiery red.

Stunning!

Yellow and green

2010-02-10T01:39:00.001-08:00

Mum and I dyed some cotton yarn in the weekend.
It’s so much fun!
And it came out beautiful, didn't it?

Some of the yellow will go in a red dye batch
and I will try some in hot pink, just for the fun of it!

Mum brought 4kg cotton yarn from Sweden.
Stay tuned.

My crafty daughter and mum

2010-01-19T01:17:00.000-08:00

My sister (visit her very inspiring blog here) sent my daughter some wool for xmas.
Not wool yarn, but wool for felting and an instruction pamphlet on how to use it.
My mum is visiting at the moment and they spent some time yesterday trying it out.

They made a beautiful bracelet for me and a funky one for Mira.
Isn’t it amazing what a clever 8-year old and a nana can come up with!

Yum!

2010-01-19T01:07:00.000-08:00

I made biscottis in the weekend. They are chocolate & cinnamon
and orange & almond flavoured and they are so yummy!
Easy to make, it just takes a little while since you have to bake them twice.
So well worth it!

I found the recipe in the latest issue of World Sweet World.
You can find the recipe here.

Pink, purple and blue

2010-01-03T15:00:00.001-08:00

These 4 beanies now live in different houses here in Devonport.

I have heard back from the lady who ordered them for Xmas and the
kids really liked them. Phew!

The xmas ornament swap

2009-12-10T02:21:00.000-08:00

I have joined the Xmas Ornament Swap
and I’m eagerly waiting for my 5 pieces to arrive!

I sent mine off on Tuesday so they should have arrived
at their new homes by now. I made little beaded stars
with angels. Pretty cute, eh?

4 out of 8

2009-11-25T01:29:00.000-08:00

I have finished the 4 pairs of cuffs for the custom order.
Knowing that they will go to some teenage girls in England
gives me a real buzz!

Better get started on the rest of the order – 4 beanies.

Xmas market

2009-11-25T01:14:00.000-08:00

I had a table at the Devonport Craft Market Xmas Spectacular
on the 15 November. Here are some images from my table.

Kid’s beanies made of hand dyed cotton.
(The amazing shawl on the chair in the background
was made by my sister. I got it for my birthday. It’s lovely, isn’t it?)

Knitted merino cuffs, some with beads, some without.
And some knitted flowers on hair ties and brooches.

Kid’s necklaces – beads on a linen string, some with fairies or angels.

Beaded Xmas ornaments and wine charms.
My gorgeous daughter made me a sign for the Xmas ornaments.

I had a very good day at the market.
Met a lot of crafty friends and sold bits and pieces.

I came home from the market, tired but happy.
Made myself a cuppa and put my feet up.

Later that evening I received an email from a lady here in Devonport
with a custom order! She ordered 4 pairs of cuffs and 4 beanies! Yay!

Port Waikato

2009-11-23T22:41:00.001-08:00

We went to Port Waikato for the weekend.
It was so nice to get away and just relax.

“What are we gonna do with the ol’ toilet?”
“Dunno... eh, let’s use it as a letterbox...”

I just love the colour!

Hundreds and thousands

2009-11-14T02:41:00.001-08:00

I have made some new merino cuffs for the market tomorrow.
The black ones look like they have hundreds and thousands
sprinkled on them, don’t they? The photo doesn’t show that well,
but they are green/blue metallic seed beads, same on the green cuffs.

Pooh and Eeyore

2009-11-10T04:23:00.000-08:00

Side effect of the swine flu
(Pooh and Eeyore decided to have Piglet put down)

Tapestry (16.000 stitches!) with knitted frame.
My own lovely hand dyed cotton yarn. 50x40cm

Knitted art

2009-11-10T04:13:00.000-08:00

Say it out loud three, four, five times and listen to the words.
Isle of view. Isle of view. I...

Bead knitting, black cotton yarn with more than 1600 silver beads knitted
in to it. Stretched over a canvas and stitched on to it with metallic seed beads.
Fluffy yarn on the sides. 45x25cm.

Knitting with my own lovely hand dyed cotton yarn.
Fluffy yarn around the heart and seed beads on the inside.
Stretched over a canvas and stitched on to it with seed beads.
Fluffy yarn on the sides. 15x30cm.

A showcase of my crafts

2009-11-10T01:57:00.001-08:00

Bead knitted cuffs made of fine NZ merino wool.
Seed beads knitted into the cuffs. 3 different styles.

Kid’s beanies knitted from my own hand dyed cotton.
Colourful and soft to wear.

Brooches and hair ties made of my hand dyed cotton.

Necklaces made of glass and metal beads
gathered from all over the world.

Necklaces made of pearls, gemstones and glass beads
tied onto a linen string.

Earrings made of pearls and/or glass beads.

Girl’s necklaces,
glass beads tied onto a linen string with a fairy or angel.

Girl’s necklaces,
glass beads tied onto a linen string.

Beaded wine charms.

Beaded Xmas decorations.