Made in (and of) St Helena

Well, you are a lazy lot. You have to sing for your supper, or rather pay-it-forward on my give-away and nothing, nada, zip... That would be no takers even though more than seventy of you looked at the post! Or maybe you are not convinced that a Stitches and Seeds make is worth the bother of making five more things...

I promised to show you my latest making obsession. A few posts ago I wrote about the enormous amount of New Zealand Flax that grows here. Well although it is horribly invasive it does have its uses.

I have been taking classes with a multi-talented lady who not only teaches flax and lace making, but is a tailor, upholsterer and sail maker. If it can be sewn she sews it.

We are a mixed bag of ladies and gents, expats and saints who gather round the table.

The flax is prepared by being cut into appropriate sized strips and softened, then it can be made into the most fabulous things.

Today we were learning a new bind-off so we each practised making a four cornered basket with the sole purpose of binding it off. Once I got home, I had to have another go just to make sure I could remember how to do it. I gathered the extremely sophisticated tools you need: a pin, a handful of pegs, a pair of scissors and a bent paperclip and off I went.

Of course I forgot to take any photos until I was almost done.

Ta da! A wee pot to put things in.

Here's the one I made in class. The biggest I have tried so far and I am really pleased with it. I think a knitting project might find a home in it when it is dried out, although Tiny Boy is busy trying to claim it.

And here's a selection of the things I have made so far.

The newly made basket needs to be kept in the correct shape while it dries.

So if you take part in the give-away, you might just get a little flaxy something winging its way to you. Go on, making five people happy is not so hard.

xx