Learning Crochet

When I was young - oh, those were the days - I used to do lots of knitting, crochet, and sewing. My Mum had shown me the basics of these skills and I developed them more. Although my Mum could crochet well, she could not read a crochet pattern so that was something I had to teach myself. 

My Mum who taught me to knit and crochet and sew

When I married, my babies were dressed in knitted clothes and lots of crocheted clothes. I even crocheted a fancy jumper for my husband. He thought that was a bit much, although he wore it a few times - not enough for all the work I put into it. Oh well! 

I made jumpers and vests, ponchos and the must do - Granny square rugs and bedspread.

Years marched on and the needles and hooks were put aside. I suppose crocheted garments went out of fashion. But now it is back again and I have taken up my hook again and expanded my skills. 

I love crocheting baby clothes, especially those with fine yarn. I notice these days the infiltration of 8ply yarn being used for these delicate clothes. In my opinion, it is too coarse. I think it is probably to get the article made more quickly. But there is nothing nicer than a delicate fabric with a fine, lacy pattern.

Lacy baby cardigan or jacket in 5 ply yarn

For the toddler, thicker wool can be used. Their skin is not as delicate and the thickness of the item does not pose a problem. 

Toddler's jacket for a 2 year old with vintage buttons from my Mum's button tin

I also like trying out different stitches, remembering favourites from days long ago, and also learning new ones.  

Beanies come in all shapes and sizes these days. I love playing with colour. Can you guess what my favourite colours might be?

Pastel beanie for a little girl, with flower

More crochet yarns next time. Cheers.

Follow me on instagram for more crochet photos @tossyv 

Crochet, a Skill Revisited

Crochet is an old handcraft handed on to me by my mother when I was about ten years old. I always liked the finished product. In those days, the crochet was done with fine silk threads around the edges of doilies. Doilies you say? That is a term rarely used these days as the item itself is rarely used. 

Doilies were small, hand embroidered clothes that were used to put on tables, cupboards or pianos on which vases or ornaments were placed. They had spoke stitches worked into the edges. Crochet with fine silken threads was worked into the spoke stitches. 

Fine silk crochet edge of doily

Crochet was a popular way of making baby clothes like jackets, cardigans, dresses, bonnets, booties and baby blankets. 

Lacy crochet baby jacket

Crochet enabled the final item to be much fancier than many knitting patterns. 

Crochet was popular in the 60s, 70s and 80s then it fell out of favour for a while. Now crochet is in demand. Skills of this new generation has increased with the ability to share patterns and designs around the world. Where once different ways of knitting and crochet would be frowned upon and thought of as foreign, today they are embraced and shared readily. 

Boys and girls alike can wear crochet. The boys just usually have a plainer design that the girls. 

Cardigan with vintage buttons

 Today, a lot of crochet is done in wool. It makes lovely, cosy clothing like pullovers, hats and jackets and is seen as a popular handcraft. 

Lacy jumper in purple wool

Lots of crocheted items can be seen on my Instagram and Twitter accounts @tossyv 

Follow me on instagram for more crochet photos @tossyv 

Art on Instagram

Lately I have been having lots of fun displaying some of my art on Instagram. I find it is seen by a lot of different people. Whenever I upload a painting, people show their appreciation more so than for other subjects. Interesting. 

This tells me that people appreciate art.

Watercolour Rose

I guess that somewhere in their inner self they appreciate the creative skill.

A collection of watercolour paintings

The next step to show the artist your appreciation is to purchase paintings that you like. This helps the artist enormously by showing them they are appreciated in a physical way. It allows them to buy more art materials and create something else. 

Instagram
Instagram is a great way to see a lot of an artists creative pieces. 
Please check out more of my paintings @tossyv

Colour
Colour speaks to the soul. Colour and the subject matter of a painting speaks to individuals. People's like and dislikes are specific. This is why a painting can speak to one person and have no effect on another. 

Using Instagram can help you decide which colours and subject matter you prefer. It is an interesting exercise to g
flick through an artist's paintings, then those of another until you find the style that suits you.   

Vintage Renault car

 Art by Therese Vahland.

Start Painting Folk Art

Do you long to paint but think you can't? I understand the feeling because once that was me too. Now I delight in having a paintbrush in my hand.

All my life I had been crafty, doing lots of knitting, sewing and crocheting, plus lots of other crafts. As a child I loved to paint.  Each Christmas and birthday I hoped for a new set of paints. 

Time passes. I spent it having children, doing gardening, and raising lots of animals like goats, donkeys, sheep and smaller livestock like rabbits, chickens, ducks and geese.

When the time was right I took my first 'grown-up' painting class. The style I opted for was just making its first tippy-toe steps into Australia in 1989. Well, the first class came and went and I eagerly looked forward to the next week, then the next. I had withdrawal symptoms when I was not there and wanted to learn more and more.

By the next year I was teaching this new, simple way of painting to a class of eager students in a smaller country town. They were just as eager as I was. 

My life was changed by 

a paintbrush and paint. 

I discovered a love of colour. Colour meant nothing to my mother. She always said it didn't matter. She grew up in a different era where there was no room to be choosey. To me, colour was and still is, VERY important. 

For years I taught many classes a week to eager students who stimulated me to learn more. I longed to write a book to help others learn to paint - people who could not get to my classes. Eventually it became a reality.

'Getting started in Bavarian Folk Art' by Therese Vahland

A second book followed.

'Companion to Getting started in Bavarian Folk Art' by Therese Vahland

Painting, paint and all its paraphernalia took over my life. Over the years my painting style improved and changed. I began to experiment. First I used acrylic paints as watercolours, then I used watercolour paints themselves. Well, all my dreams came true when I used watercolour paints. Here was colour that dould be reworked - just add a little water. Acrylics give vivid colour and dry quickly, but once they are dry, they cannot be reworked. There are benefits to both types of paints. Now I move between the two as the mood takes me and depending on what the subject matter is. 

Come join me in my love of painting the simple style of folk art. The beauty of folk art is that you are guided through every step along the way. It is perfect for beginners. You do not need to know how to draw or paint to begin this. My books walk you through every step of the way.

You can find more information about the books on my webpage. 

Join me on Istagram to see some of my colourful work. Don't get a shock now. 

Remember, I love colour. 

@tossyv

Perennial Gardening in Australia

The garden is lovely at this time of the year. The weather is warm on the southern coast of Australia. It is a lovely time of the year to be able to get outside. 

Geranium

My new geranium plant is looking magnificent with 15cm head of flowers. Each flower is about 5 cm in diameter. Such a pretty colour. 

Geranium

Rhubarb

The rhubarb is magnificent now in January with gigantic leaves and big, strong, red stems. Leaves are about 40cm long and 30 to 40cm wide. They make great fans in this hot weather. 

You can eat the rhubarb stalks after they are stewed. Remember NEVER to eat the leaves. They are poisonous.

Rhubarb stalks can be cooked and eaten

Fuchsia

We have a large fuchsia with multiple hot pink, dangling ballerina flowers. It is about 2 metres tall. Its stem is about 12cm in diametre. It is nearly 20 years old. It is very hardy and has profuse flowers. 

Tall espalliered fuchsia

 These three plants are perennials which means they grow year round. They are all hardy and drought tolerant which is very important during hot weather in Australia. Please consider these in your garden if you are looking for tough, hardy plants. 

Some varieties of plants and seeds are for sale and can be accessed through my website www.mygardentreasures.com.au
They are only available in parts of Australia. Not available internationally.

Enjoy your garden. It brings lots of peace and happiness. 

Painting with Pastel Colours by Therese Vahland

I enjoy painting all sorts of subjects and on all sorts of surfaces, from regular canvases, watercolour paper, wood and tin, furniture and even walls. I have also decorated different flower pots from plastic or ceramic. The more variety the better.

Shades, Colours, Tints

I also like to vary the density of colour used in my paintings. Sometimes I will use pastels shades and other times, very bright colours with lots of vivid colour. 

Pastel Paintings 

These paintings have an 'old world' effect and so are done in pastels.

On wood

On watercolour paper

 Beautiful Australian cockatoos have some more depth of colour for the Australian bush. The white cockatoos stand out from the darker green, giving an overall pastel effect, although the green was quite dark.

 

Australian cockatoos on watercolour paper

Vintage teacup on watercolour paper

This vintage teacup is also on watercolor paper. This has a pastel effect because of the central cup and doiley. However the dark brown gives a depth of colour. This dark colour makes the white stand out. 
Think of using dark and light together, even if you painting has a painting mainly with pastel colours. 

For lots of bright colour, follow me on Instagram @tossyv or on Twitter @Tossyv 

The most important thing to do is pick up your paintbrush and start painting!

Backyard Gardening

I love the old fashioned flowers for my garden. 

They have stood the test of time. 

Old fashioned plants are often drought tolerant, needing little water. They are good at keeping the weeds down. 

They are good at flowering, often repeat flowering.

Flowers are good colour therapy. We plant the flowers that we are attracted to in shape and colour. 

Colour is very important in our lives. 

 Australian hibiscus - Alogoyne, flowers in the summer months.

 Beautiful golden rose.

 

Belladonna lily flowers in summer before the leaves come.

Echiums grow into a big bush. 

They have lovely blue, stately flowers. 

They look just as lovely when the blue flowers fade and the large head is all green. 

I never need to water these flowers. 

This hot pink pelargonium is bright and stunning.

 It flowers for many months. 

It is very drought tolerant.