and another one opens
From today I will be blogging over here
I do hope that you'll follow me over to the new abode, and see how the furniture looks in its new home. It may take me a while to get it all arranged to my satisfaction but we're mostly unpacked and the kettle is on, so come on over.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
decisions decisions
For some time now, I've known that I was almost out of photo storage space on this 'ere blog, and because of that, perhaps haven't posted as often, or with as many pics, of late.
Moving across to another blog is hardly onerous ... Bells did it quite successfully and so did Caity ... but illogical or not, I've resisted having to make the move from this space where I took my first tentative baby steps into the blogiverse.
I can't put it off much longer though:
As of this post, I'm up to 99% of photo storage so it's going to happen soon, and yes, I do realise that I can put pix in by linking to my Flickr account, but I tried that and that doesn't always want to co-operate, so pffft ... some day very soon, you'll come by and there'll be a note pinned to the door, telling you where to find me and mine.
but not today
today I'm going to show you some of the multitude of small things that I've been churning out since Kiri came off the needles.
Not all - probably don't have photo space enough for that
Herewith my dears, the four versions of Meret [ freebie from Wooly Wormhead ] that I've churned out recently:
Meret #1
is in Reynold's Andean Alpaca [ worsted/10ply ] that I bought in April's destash a while ago
2 extra repeats of the lace for maximum slouch. This one is nominally mine.
#2
is in BWM's Luxury 8ply [Brick] and only one extra repeat.
Despite how well that colour looks on The Girl, this one is also mineminemine
#3 is Bendigo's Alpaca Rich in Deep Plum ... and THIS one is her ladyship's
and finally [ for now ] 
#4 is in Colinette Art [ Aran/10 ply ] in Copper Beech, which is also Nadie's.
and in case anyone is concerned about possible depletion of my stash [ yeah, right ] from all of the needle action that has occurred during my recent extended couch time,
need I remind you all that
it's
2 more sleeps till The Oz Wool & Sheep Show
Moving across to another blog is hardly onerous ... Bells did it quite successfully and so did Caity ... but illogical or not, I've resisted having to make the move from this space where I took my first tentative baby steps into the blogiverse.
I can't put it off much longer though:
As of this post, I'm up to 99% of photo storage so it's going to happen soon, and yes, I do realise that I can put pix in by linking to my Flickr account, but I tried that and that doesn't always want to co-operate, so pffft ... some day very soon, you'll come by and there'll be a note pinned to the door, telling you where to find me and mine.
but not today
today I'm going to show you some of the multitude of small things that I've been churning out since Kiri came off the needles.
Not all - probably don't have photo space enough for that
Herewith my dears, the four versions of Meret [ freebie from Wooly Wormhead ] that I've churned out recently:
Meret #1
is in Reynold's Andean Alpaca [ worsted/10ply ] that I bought in April's destash a while ago
2 extra repeats of the lace for maximum slouch. This one is nominally mine.
#2
is in BWM's Luxury 8ply [Brick] and only one extra repeat.
Despite how well that colour looks on The Girl, this one is also mineminemine
#3 is Bendigo's Alpaca Rich in Deep Plum ... and THIS one is her ladyship's
and finally [ for now ] 
#4 is in Colinette Art [ Aran/10 ply ] in Copper Beech, which is also Nadie's.
and in case anyone is concerned about possible depletion of my stash [ yeah, right ] from all of the needle action that has occurred during my recent extended couch time,
need I remind you all that
it's
2 more sleeps till The Oz Wool & Sheep Show
Monday, July 11, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
where we're at
Well here I am, 7 weeks out from surgery, and to be honest not getting back to full strength as fast as I would have hoped [ Nadie says that this is because I totally SUCK at being lazy ]
Doesn't feel like that to me.
Initially there was a lot of bed-time. In fact, on the advice of a multiply-surgeried friend, I spent the first couple of weeks post-surgery, in my jim-jams.
and subsequent to that, there's been a buttload - and that's a metric butt-load, not an imperial one I'll have you know - of time spent on the couch: reading, knitting and catching up on some tellie.
I'm convinced that the real problem is that certain things are hard wired in when you're a mum ... I'll just bend down and pick that up, wipe that bench, empty that washing machine, dishwasher, feed those animals ...
okay okay ... yes Nadie is correct. I'm no good at taking it easy.
Still doesn't feel like that to me. The couch is beginning to develop a definite Susan-shaped divot at my preferred spot. The garden is sadly in need of a weed [ and yes, I DID pull out a few handsfull until the achey bits told me that wasn't a brilliant idea ] and we will not even discuss the amount of winter-born detritus that needs raking, piling and burning. THAT I am resolutely ignoring ... for now.
and no spinning either :(
However, I did manage to get myself off the couch, albeit under the careful supervision of She Who Must Be Obeyed,otherwise known as my lovely DD.
With SWMBO riding shotgun "just in case" I made my first tentative forays into town, to drop off Dave, and when nothing too dreadful ensued, there were a couple of [ careful ] expeditions further afield
... over the North Harcourt Road to Emu Creek for some baby goat snuzzles
[ pausing ever so briefly to admire the two lots of newly finished headgear, I would suggest that you ignore the hunched over Catsmum and focus instead on Bear 'kissing' the little Boer kid. A cynic might point out that he was probably after the milk remnants on it's cute wee face ]
and a few days - and a few ibuprofen - later into Bendigo for the ritual raiding of the Magic Back Room at the Woollen Mill, ahead of the arrival next week of the locusts ... ahem ... the lovely ladies and gentlemen who will be decending on Spendigo for the Wool & Sheep Show.
Ten minutes at the Mill segued into some baby snuggles of a very different kind, when Nadie and I finally got to meet the newest arrival at Mayhem, Chaos & Anarchy
seen here modelling one of his Catsmum natal offerings - it's a lousy pic of the hat but you've got to admit that it's a cute one of Master BJ
I was going to show you all the latest knitting but I doubt that I can top such baby cuteness so I will leave you here
Doesn't feel like that to me.
Initially there was a lot of bed-time. In fact, on the advice of a multiply-surgeried friend, I spent the first couple of weeks post-surgery, in my jim-jams.
and subsequent to that, there's been a buttload - and that's a metric butt-load, not an imperial one I'll have you know - of time spent on the couch: reading, knitting and catching up on some tellie.
I'm convinced that the real problem is that certain things are hard wired in when you're a mum ... I'll just bend down and pick that up, wipe that bench, empty that washing machine, dishwasher, feed those animals ...
okay okay ... yes Nadie is correct. I'm no good at taking it easy.
Still doesn't feel like that to me. The couch is beginning to develop a definite Susan-shaped divot at my preferred spot. The garden is sadly in need of a weed [ and yes, I DID pull out a few handsfull until the achey bits told me that wasn't a brilliant idea ] and we will not even discuss the amount of winter-born detritus that needs raking, piling and burning. THAT I am resolutely ignoring ... for now.
and no spinning either :(
However, I did manage to get myself off the couch, albeit under the careful supervision of She Who Must Be Obeyed,otherwise known as my lovely DD.
With SWMBO riding shotgun "just in case" I made my first tentative forays into town, to drop off Dave, and when nothing too dreadful ensued, there were a couple of [ careful ] expeditions further afield
... over the North Harcourt Road to Emu Creek for some baby goat snuzzles
[ pausing ever so briefly to admire the two lots of newly finished headgear, I would suggest that you ignore the hunched over Catsmum and focus instead on Bear 'kissing' the little Boer kid. A cynic might point out that he was probably after the milk remnants on it's cute wee face ]
and a few days - and a few ibuprofen - later into Bendigo for the ritual raiding of the Magic Back Room at the Woollen Mill, ahead of the arrival next week of the locusts ... ahem ... the lovely ladies and gentlemen who will be decending on Spendigo for the Wool & Sheep Show.
Ten minutes at the Mill segued into some baby snuggles of a very different kind, when Nadie and I finally got to meet the newest arrival at Mayhem, Chaos & Anarchy
seen here modelling one of his Catsmum natal offerings - it's a lousy pic of the hat but you've got to admit that it's a cute one of Master BJ
I was going to show you all the latest knitting but I doubt that I can top such baby cuteness so I will leave you here
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Ta Da !!
As I pointed out last week, there's a huge difference between unblocked lace and the way it looks once it's thoroughly wetted out and well stretched on the blocking wires
and even better once it's completely dry and being modelled by my darling girl:
and even better once it's completely dry and being modelled by my darling girl:
Sunday, July 03, 2011
The things one finds...
when one has finally given up all hope of ever finding them.
Dateline: yesterday
Location: my wardrobe
where the urgent need for a knee brace [ I need to train Bear out of his habit of jumping enthusiastically into the back of my leg when he wants to play 'fetch' ] had me searching the innards of the tote bag that I only take to clogging classes. It is just the right size for a couple of pairs of tap shoes, some CDs, spare socks, some bandaids ... and an elastic knee bandage brace thingy.
Knee braces are a necessity for those of us, well past the first flush of youth, who still insist on engaging in high impact pursuits like Appalachian Tap, so I rarely bother to take it out of that bag. I mean, I know where it is when I need it, right?
but
what with the surgery [ and the run-up to the surgery ] there hasn't been an awful lot of clogging in my recent past, and no need to wear knee protection, so the bag has been stashed away at the top of the wardrobe.
A couple of weeks ago, I was bemoaning the loss of a pair of fingerless gloves that I'd managed to misplace before I'd even photographed or blogged about them.
I hunted high
and low
I checked every bag, basket, drawer and coat pocket that might conceivably harbour a pair of rolled up gloves, I even checked under the bed and that space under the driver's seat in the car that attracts old shopping dockets and stray mints.
No joy.
It didn't cross my mind for a single second to haul down the dance bag. It was completely off the mental radar.
So of course that is precisely where the missing gloves were hiding, along with the matching cowl that I don't actually remember making ... and the brace of course.
Dateline: yesterday
Location: my wardrobe
where the urgent need for a knee brace [ I need to train Bear out of his habit of jumping enthusiastically into the back of my leg when he wants to play 'fetch' ] had me searching the innards of the tote bag that I only take to clogging classes. It is just the right size for a couple of pairs of tap shoes, some CDs, spare socks, some bandaids ... and an elastic knee bandage brace thingy.
Knee braces are a necessity for those of us, well past the first flush of youth, who still insist on engaging in high impact pursuits like Appalachian Tap, so I rarely bother to take it out of that bag. I mean, I know where it is when I need it, right?
but
what with the surgery [ and the run-up to the surgery ] there hasn't been an awful lot of clogging in my recent past, and no need to wear knee protection, so the bag has been stashed away at the top of the wardrobe.
A couple of weeks ago, I was bemoaning the loss of a pair of fingerless gloves that I'd managed to misplace before I'd even photographed or blogged about them.
I hunted high
and low
I checked every bag, basket, drawer and coat pocket that might conceivably harbour a pair of rolled up gloves, I even checked under the bed and that space under the driver's seat in the car that attracts old shopping dockets and stray mints.
No joy.
It didn't cross my mind for a single second to haul down the dance bag. It was completely off the mental radar.
So of course that is precisely where the missing gloves were hiding, along with the matching cowl that I don't actually remember making ... and the brace of course.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
and another addiction is born
Tara was responsible for my well-documented love of the Forest Canopy Shawl. This is where it started.
and if you've been with me for a while you know that my deep desire for one of my own has actually resulted in seven of the beggars
That first one was pin blocked before I acquired the wires [ well that, and the fact that I wanted to show it off at knitting group before it was truly bone dry] which means that it 'relaxed' a bit during that first wearing, pretty much lost the points and therefore doesn't really have the drama of all its younger siblings.
Anyway, I'm seriously considering reblocking that one ... one day ... when I have nothing better to do.
Now, it seems that I have passed on my love of that particular pattern unto the next victim:
You probably don't know my quilting friend Val-from-FerntreeGully.
We've known each other for quite a long time now, and though she never comments directly here on the blog, she always emails me with her responses.
Anyway, pushed to action by all of the shawls that I've made over the last year or so, and in particular, the aforementioned Forest Canopys, Ms Val has just finished one of her very, very own, and here 'tis in all its glory.
As she doesn't have a blog, I asked her if I could share it with y'all :)
unidentified 8ply[DK]yarn on 4mm needles
and [ big suprise ] she's already on the lookout for the right yarn for the next one :)
and if you've been with me for a while you know that my deep desire for one of my own has actually resulted in seven of the beggars
That first one was pin blocked before I acquired the wires [ well that, and the fact that I wanted to show it off at knitting group before it was truly bone dry] which means that it 'relaxed' a bit during that first wearing, pretty much lost the points and therefore doesn't really have the drama of all its younger siblings.
Anyway, I'm seriously considering reblocking that one ... one day ... when I have nothing better to do.
Now, it seems that I have passed on my love of that particular pattern unto the next victim:
You probably don't know my quilting friend Val-from-FerntreeGully.
We've known each other for quite a long time now, and though she never comments directly here on the blog, she always emails me with her responses.
Anyway, pushed to action by all of the shawls that I've made over the last year or so, and in particular, the aforementioned Forest Canopys, Ms Val has just finished one of her very, very own, and here 'tis in all its glory.
As she doesn't have a blog, I asked her if I could share it with y'all :)
unidentified 8ply[DK]yarn on 4mm needles
and [ big suprise ] she's already on the lookout for the right yarn for the next one :)
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
[Sh]awl Together Now
Last year could be justifiably decribed as The Year Of The Shawl
I finished 11 of them completely from start to finish [ plus the Neverending Baby Shawl that had been on the go since 2006 and finally finished Feb 2010 ]
... and it's not like I kept them all for my own wardrobe ... several of them ended up as presents for my nearest and dearest, so it's fair to say that I haven't quite made all the shawls that I hope to just yet.
Around Easter 2010, I finished a shawlette version of Kiri and have always intended to make another larger one.
and it needed to be red
and preferably finished before The Australian Wool & Sheep Show at Bendigo in a couple of weeks
so that's what I've been doing over the last couple of weeks - when I haven't been reading
MissC made it her job to ensure that the shawl-in-gestation was thoroughly CATscanned
Anyway, this is what it looked like before blocking ... kinda wafflish and fluted
but what a difference a warm bath makes
here 't'is on the blocking wires
hardly looks like the same project, does it ?
pattern:
Kiri [ rav link ] & if you aren't on ravelry, you can find a free PDF on All Tangled Up
needles
KPs 5mm & 6mm for the cast-off
yarn:
Socky Goodness by Mayhem & Chaos[ aka Tara ], and a small amount of leftover Aarlan Arwetta dyed brown to finish out the border when I ran short ... because heaven forbid that I should pull out several thousand stitches to go back one full repeat, and then redo the whole border. Serendipity. I like the subtle dark edge.
anyone else got something on the needles for Spendigo?
I finished 11 of them completely from start to finish [ plus the Neverending Baby Shawl that had been on the go since 2006 and finally finished Feb 2010 ]
... and it's not like I kept them all for my own wardrobe ... several of them ended up as presents for my nearest and dearest, so it's fair to say that I haven't quite made all the shawls that I hope to just yet.
Around Easter 2010, I finished a shawlette version of Kiri and have always intended to make another larger one.
and it needed to be red
and preferably finished before The Australian Wool & Sheep Show at Bendigo in a couple of weeks
so that's what I've been doing over the last couple of weeks - when I haven't been reading
MissC made it her job to ensure that the shawl-in-gestation was thoroughly CATscannedAnyway, this is what it looked like before blocking ... kinda wafflish and fluted
but what a difference a warm bath makes
here 't'is on the blocking wires
hardly looks like the same project, does it ?
pattern:
Kiri [ rav link ] & if you aren't on ravelry, you can find a free PDF on All Tangled Up
needles
KPs 5mm & 6mm for the cast-off
yarn:
Socky Goodness by Mayhem & Chaos[ aka Tara ], and a small amount of leftover Aarlan Arwetta dyed brown to finish out the border when I ran short ... because heaven forbid that I should pull out several thousand stitches to go back one full repeat, and then redo the whole border. Serendipity. I like the subtle dark edge.
anyone else got something on the needles for Spendigo?
Sunday, June 26, 2011
For the cats' domestic staff
If, like me, you are in servitude to a feline or two ... or three ... or ..., you may appreciate what Chris found for your jollification
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
How do non-readers cope?
Just try being stuck at home and indoors with orders to 'take it easy' and 'not to lift more than a couple of kilos' for a month and a half.
Okay, the first week or so, it's all about the rest and the pain relief, and the 'being looked after' [ thankyou Nadie ], but after a while that begins to get old.
There's only so much tv that one can watch
and it hurts to sit at the computer for more than a few minutes [ stitches ... don't ask ]
so how do people stave off total boredom if they don't knit ... or quilt ... or read ?
I really have no idea [ and don't say gardening, cos I can't do that yet either ]
Anyway, there has been plenty of reading going on, as evidenced by the fact that I'm up to book 60 for the year, and that doesn't count the ones that I started but gave up on halfway through.
It may seem that I'm getting desparate for blogfodder when I post lists like this. but that's just so not true.
There is method to my madness.
Promise.
Y'see, every time I post my booklist, someone who has bothered to wade through it all chimes in with some fabulous author that I haven't discovered yet.
Recently I've been working my way through two authors that I wouldn't have found were it not for rave reviews from Sheepish Annie ... Cassandra Clare and Mike Carey specifically.
As it happens I was able to get the Clares from the Library, but they only had the first of the Careys ... which turned out just fine, because I liked him enough to plonk down my dineros to buy the series [ including the one I'd just read ]
So, in the hope that some more great reads might be forthcoming, here's the 2011 booklist to date:
Okay, the first week or so, it's all about the rest and the pain relief, and the 'being looked after' [ thankyou Nadie ], but after a while that begins to get old.
There's only so much tv that one can watch
and it hurts to sit at the computer for more than a few minutes [ stitches ... don't ask ]
so how do people stave off total boredom if they don't knit ... or quilt ... or read ?
I really have no idea [ and don't say gardening, cos I can't do that yet either ]
Anyway, there has been plenty of reading going on, as evidenced by the fact that I'm up to book 60 for the year, and that doesn't count the ones that I started but gave up on halfway through.
It may seem that I'm getting desparate for blogfodder when I post lists like this. but that's just so not true.
There is method to my madness.
Promise.
Y'see, every time I post my booklist, someone who has bothered to wade through it all chimes in with some fabulous author that I haven't discovered yet.
Recently I've been working my way through two authors that I wouldn't have found were it not for rave reviews from Sheepish Annie ... Cassandra Clare and Mike Carey specifically.
As it happens I was able to get the Clares from the Library, but they only had the first of the Careys ... which turned out just fine, because I liked him enough to plonk down my dineros to buy the series [ including the one I'd just read ]
So, in the hope that some more great reads might be forthcoming, here's the 2011 booklist to date:
March
The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Played With Fire - SL
Many Bloody Returns - Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher et al
The Harlequin - LKH
Dark Lover - JR Ward
A Touch Of Dead - CH Book 30
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest - SL
Merlin - Stephen Lawhead
April
Murder By The Slice - Livia Washburn
Goodies Rule OK
Wild Sheep Chase - Haruki Murakami
Dance Dance dance - HM
May
Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare
City Of Bones - CC
City of Ashes - CC
Side Jobs - Jim Butcher Book 40
Keep The Aspidistra Flying - George Orwell
Deja Dead - Kathy Reichs
City Of Glass - CC
The Devil You Know - Mike Carey
Death Du Jour - KR
Deadly Decisions - KR
Dark Side - Belinda Bauer
Rite - Tad Williams
June
Fatal Voyage - KR
Grave Secrets - KR Book 50
Bare Bones - KR
Devil Bones - KR
Blacklands - BB
Mint Juleps, Mayhem and Murder -Sara Rosett
A Cottswold Killing - Rebecca Tope
Bones To Ashes - KR
Indigo Dying - Susan Wittig Albert
Fever Of The Bone - Val McDermid
Vicious Circle - Mike Carey
reading
Dead Man’s Boots - MC Book 60
so any suggestions ???
Saturday, June 18, 2011
The More Things Change ...
the more they stay the same:
Bear and Sophie July 2008
Bear and Sophie June 2011
Bear and Sophie July 2008
Bear and Sophie June 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Evolution
We all know how one thing often leads to another.
well this particular chain starts with a simple little [ free ] headband pattern, that my friend Robyne-with-an-e found on the Drops website about a year ago. As is the way of such things, it quickly went viral within our Purl's Princesses knitting group with pretty much everyone - myself included - making at least a couple of them.
Now the thing that caught my fancy was the clever way that the increases and decreases were worked within the purled sections of the rib, but to be honest, I wanted to try the idea on something else.
So I trauled through my collection of stitch dictionaries and found a nice - and still simple - lacy rib.
The next step was to swatch a set of increases in an 8ply[dk] and to block it.
A little bit of maths and a fair bit of luck / intuition led to this beret [ modelled here by Tara ]
with all the shaping within the purl sections a la the original drops headband
then a matching pair of wristwarmers
You'll just have to take my word for it that, after languishing in the bottom of a knitting basket for half a year, they did in fact get sewn up about 2 months ago, and have been worn a couple of times.
The reason that you'll have to take my word for it is that I appear to have lost the beggars.
Can't find them in any of the obvious places
or even in any of the totally ridiculous ones
bugger
so basically the only 'proof' I have that they ever existed, is this fairly c****y pic of one of them in its unsewn-up state, and the second one on the needles.
oh, and they're not pink either ... more a deep cherry red.
Moving on
I made a second and much longer pair for The Girl in BWM Allegro 8ply [DK].
You can see the way that the increases have been worked in.
Needless to say, the girl was rather happy with how these turned out ...
and before you could say 'Flashdance' this led somewhat inevitably to a pair of legwarmers, also in Allegro.
Was I finished with this lace yet ?
Na-uh!
It occurred to me that I could probably stretch the pattern a bit by introducing an extra row each of knit and purl to make it a little less lacy
and I did gave that one ball of a lovely soft sage green [ also from BWM ]
so
the sequence - currently - ends with this slouchy hat
Now if I could just find those blasted fingerless gloves!
well this particular chain starts with a simple little [ free ] headband pattern, that my friend Robyne-with-an-e found on the Drops website about a year ago. As is the way of such things, it quickly went viral within our Purl's Princesses knitting group with pretty much everyone - myself included - making at least a couple of them.
Now the thing that caught my fancy was the clever way that the increases and decreases were worked within the purled sections of the rib, but to be honest, I wanted to try the idea on something else.
So I trauled through my collection of stitch dictionaries and found a nice - and still simple - lacy rib.
The next step was to swatch a set of increases in an 8ply[dk] and to block it.
A little bit of maths and a fair bit of luck / intuition led to this beret [ modelled here by Tara ]
with all the shaping within the purl sections a la the original drops headbandthen a matching pair of wristwarmers
You'll just have to take my word for it that, after languishing in the bottom of a knitting basket for half a year, they did in fact get sewn up about 2 months ago, and have been worn a couple of times.
The reason that you'll have to take my word for it is that I appear to have lost the beggars.
Can't find them in any of the obvious places
or even in any of the totally ridiculous ones
bugger
so basically the only 'proof' I have that they ever existed, is this fairly c****y pic of one of them in its unsewn-up state, and the second one on the needles.
oh, and they're not pink either ... more a deep cherry red.
Moving on
I made a second and much longer pair for The Girl in BWM Allegro 8ply [DK].
You can see the way that the increases have been worked in.Needless to say, the girl was rather happy with how these turned out ...
and before you could say 'Flashdance' this led somewhat inevitably to a pair of legwarmers, also in Allegro.
Was I finished with this lace yet ?
Na-uh!
It occurred to me that I could probably stretch the pattern a bit by introducing an extra row each of knit and purl to make it a little less lacy
and I did gave that one ball of a lovely soft sage green [ also from BWM ]
so
the sequence - currently - ends with this slouchy hat
Now if I could just find those blasted fingerless gloves!
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
I've lost track
... of what I've shown you and what has gone undocumented
so, after some blog perusal just to jog the little grey cells, here's some of the stuff you haven't seen:
First up, you might remember the red slouch hat I made for Nadie. At the time I said that I was going to make a blue one for myself
which I did
and then the girl hinted strongly that she wouldn't mind one
so now there are twins.
BWM Luxury 8ply in Junior Navy
KP Harmonies 4.5mm and 3.75mm
Which is just as well, because a certain person has managed to misplace hers twice already and has had to borrow mine
which is okay
not as though I've been going out anywhere
and then she expressed a strong desire for a blue scarf
I was going to say matching scarf, but it doesn't exactly
match that is
it's the same colour as the hat, but is a completely different lace pattern ... the same Grandmothers Lace variation that I 'unvented' for the Frothy Gothy Wristwarmers.
DD already has a matching set of those Wristwarmers and scarf in country red Sirdar Snuggly DK. They were made a couple of years ago and by happy co inky dink are close enough in colour as makes no nevermind to the BMW 8ply Luxury in Ruby that I used for her slouchy hat version1.
The red one btw has four eyelet rows per point [ so 8 pattern rows ] and this one has 6/12, so the points are a little larger. Not precisely what The Girl had in mind, but mama likes it/
what else?
well, the Hair Of the Dog handspun shawl is waiting for me to recover enough to spin more alpaca/samoyed, so it's in hibernation at probably about half finished
I crocheted a different shawl while I was waiting but no pix yet, so I guess that's a post for another day
Some of the alpaca/kid angora/corrie cross handspun from the Goat Show demo at Easter is now a pretty basic, rustic lookung beanie for David
and then there was ...
and...
okay stopping now before anyone has a cerebral meltdown
so, after some blog perusal just to jog the little grey cells, here's some of the stuff you haven't seen:
First up, you might remember the red slouch hat I made for Nadie. At the time I said that I was going to make a blue one for myself
which I did
and then the girl hinted strongly that she wouldn't mind one
so now there are twins.
BWM Luxury 8ply in Junior Navy
KP Harmonies 4.5mm and 3.75mm
Which is just as well, because a certain person has managed to misplace hers twice already and has had to borrow mine
which is okay
not as though I've been going out anywhere
and then she expressed a strong desire for a blue scarf
I was going to say matching scarf, but it doesn't exactly
match that is
it's the same colour as the hat, but is a completely different lace pattern ... the same Grandmothers Lace variation that I 'unvented' for the Frothy Gothy Wristwarmers.
DD already has a matching set of those Wristwarmers and scarf in country red Sirdar Snuggly DK. They were made a couple of years ago and by happy co inky dink are close enough in colour as makes no nevermind to the BMW 8ply Luxury in Ruby that I used for her slouchy hat version1.
The red one btw has four eyelet rows per point [ so 8 pattern rows ] and this one has 6/12, so the points are a little larger. Not precisely what The Girl had in mind, but mama likes it/
what else?well, the Hair Of the Dog handspun shawl is waiting for me to recover enough to spin more alpaca/samoyed, so it's in hibernation at probably about half finished
I crocheted a different shawl while I was waiting but no pix yet, so I guess that's a post for another day
Some of the alpaca/kid angora/corrie cross handspun from the Goat Show demo at Easter is now a pretty basic, rustic lookung beanie for David
and then there was ...and...
okay stopping now before anyone has a cerebral meltdown
Friday, June 03, 2011
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
a week in the life
Well, it's just been one hectic and giddy thing after another here Chez Catsmum.
There was the sitting
sitting and knitting
lying-down and knitting
reading - both the sitting and the lying-down variety
watching seasons 6,7 & 8 of NCIS, 1 & 2 of Glee, and slabs of heroes and Dr Who, in both the sitting and the prone position
there was a certain amount of 'persuading certain animals that I am not a cushion
... or a springboard'
AND for a change of pace
there was knitting
Oh, what a life I lead!
There was the sitting
sitting and knitting
lying-down and knitting
reading - both the sitting and the lying-down variety
watching seasons 6,7 & 8 of NCIS, 1 & 2 of Glee, and slabs of heroes and Dr Who, in both the sitting and the prone position
there was a certain amount of 'persuading certain animals that I am not a cushion
... or a springboard'
AND for a change of pace
there was knitting
Oh, what a life I lead!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
possibly TMI
Thanks all for the good wishes, both here and on FB
As it transpired, six days of heaving up my toes after the massive surgeries of '09 [ because no-one had made the connection that I was having what is euphemistically referred to as an 'adverse reaction' to morphine / oxycontin, as a result of which, they kept me well topped up with more of the same ] didn't do my then newly eviscerated insides any favours
quelle suprise !!
anyway, the net result was last weeks reprise repair of some of the same portions of my battered carcass ...
Apparently I am something of an anaesthetist's nightmare now [ three of the fetching, red alert bracelets, each with multiple entries ] ... there were no general anaesthetics that he was willing to risk so I had a spinal.
As promised, I don't remember anything between having the ice cold pink stuff washed over my back and waking up with everything below the bellybutton not answering directions.
It was a very strange experience as bits and pieces came back on line.
At one point I could make my legs respond, but not the blocks of heavy ice that were subbing for my feet/toes and tush.
There were no private rooms available initially, so I had the 'pleasure' of sharing with a locally notorious, extraordinarily demanding, little old lady who was both physically and verbally incontinent and deaf [ loudloudloud tv] , and a fragile young lady going through some health and lifestyle issues that were totally none of my or any one else's business, but which, because of the flimsy illusion of privacy offered by a drawn curtain, we were all fully aware of.
After three days of feeling like a voyeur [ and 2 hours sleep a night due to little old lady's nocturnal wanderings ] I was less than sparkling, so one particular staff member iniatiated the opening of a closed 4-bed ward just for me.
It would have inconvenienced the cleaning staff who suddenly had one more bathroom to cope with, but, to tell you the truth, I was past caring.
A couple of days of peace and quiet ensued and I came home on Monday.
I'm trying to behave: bedrest with periods of moving around, trying not to 'just pick up this' or 'move that' and to find the balance between adequate pain medication [ I am invincible, I can do anything ... ] and somewhat less than adequate [ owowowowowow ]
It's a delicate dance known, I now realise, to all who have ever had to recover from major surgery.
I am:
reading [ Cassandra Clare: City of Glass, and during the last week, Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs, Keep The Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell and Side Jobs by Jim Butcher ]
knitting [ currently a scarf for Nadie - hospital knitting was a shawl from last week's alpaca/samoyed, now temporarily on hold until I am up to spinning some more ]
and catching up on 3 seasons of NCIS
and you should all make yourselves a pair of these [ fabulous freebie pattern from Mindie ].
Pattern: 19 row slippers from Knitting If Not Eccentric
Yarn: vintage Thorobred Celtic 12 ply /bulky pure wool from New Zealand
Needles: KP Options 8mm
Mods: I used a slip1, k2tog, psso as the left leaning double decrease instead of the SSSK, and added a few rows of garter at the cuff before casting off.
and the colour is actually not as grey blue as this nightime picture would imply. It's both clearer and brighter.
I made Nadie's first and then a 'taking to hospital' pair.
So that's m'week!
As it transpired, six days of heaving up my toes after the massive surgeries of '09 [ because no-one had made the connection that I was having what is euphemistically referred to as an 'adverse reaction' to morphine / oxycontin, as a result of which, they kept me well topped up with more of the same ] didn't do my then newly eviscerated insides any favours
quelle suprise !!
anyway, the net result was last weeks reprise repair of some of the same portions of my battered carcass ...
Apparently I am something of an anaesthetist's nightmare now [ three of the fetching, red alert bracelets, each with multiple entries ] ... there were no general anaesthetics that he was willing to risk so I had a spinal.
As promised, I don't remember anything between having the ice cold pink stuff washed over my back and waking up with everything below the bellybutton not answering directions.
It was a very strange experience as bits and pieces came back on line.
At one point I could make my legs respond, but not the blocks of heavy ice that were subbing for my feet/toes and tush.
There were no private rooms available initially, so I had the 'pleasure' of sharing with a locally notorious, extraordinarily demanding, little old lady who was both physically and verbally incontinent and deaf [ loudloudloud tv] , and a fragile young lady going through some health and lifestyle issues that were totally none of my or any one else's business, but which, because of the flimsy illusion of privacy offered by a drawn curtain, we were all fully aware of.
After three days of feeling like a voyeur [ and 2 hours sleep a night due to little old lady's nocturnal wanderings ] I was less than sparkling, so one particular staff member iniatiated the opening of a closed 4-bed ward just for me.
It would have inconvenienced the cleaning staff who suddenly had one more bathroom to cope with, but, to tell you the truth, I was past caring.
A couple of days of peace and quiet ensued and I came home on Monday.
I'm trying to behave: bedrest with periods of moving around, trying not to 'just pick up this' or 'move that' and to find the balance between adequate pain medication [ I am invincible, I can do anything ... ] and somewhat less than adequate [ owowowowowow ]
It's a delicate dance known, I now realise, to all who have ever had to recover from major surgery.
I am:
reading [ Cassandra Clare: City of Glass, and during the last week, Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs, Keep The Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell and Side Jobs by Jim Butcher ]
knitting [ currently a scarf for Nadie - hospital knitting was a shawl from last week's alpaca/samoyed, now temporarily on hold until I am up to spinning some more ]
and catching up on 3 seasons of NCIS
and you should all make yourselves a pair of these [ fabulous freebie pattern from Mindie ].
Pattern: 19 row slippers from Knitting If Not Eccentric
Yarn: vintage Thorobred Celtic 12 ply /bulky pure wool from New Zealand
Needles: KP Options 8mm
Mods: I used a slip1, k2tog, psso as the left leaning double decrease instead of the SSSK, and added a few rows of garter at the cuff before casting off.
and the colour is actually not as grey blue as this nightime picture would imply. It's both clearer and brighter.
I made Nadie's first and then a 'taking to hospital' pair.
So that's m'week!
Friday, May 20, 2011
Doing well
Hi all, Nadie here.
As some of you may know, mum went in for surgery yesterday (re-doing part of what was done 18 months ago). She has come out of it very well, and will most likely be home on Sunday. In the meantime, anyone local who wishes to visit her at Castlemaine hospital is welcome to do so.
As some of you may know, mum went in for surgery yesterday (re-doing part of what was done 18 months ago). She has come out of it very well, and will most likely be home on Sunday. In the meantime, anyone local who wishes to visit her at Castlemaine hospital is welcome to do so.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Only in Castlemaine [again]
the full vid of our flash sing during the State Festival
I'm at 2:42 and Nadie at 3:47
Monday, May 16, 2011
A Hair of the Dog
Just quickly
[ because Blogger has been temperamental, and also it's past time for me to jump in the shower and do all those things associated with getting on with my day ]
this is 220 metres of pale blue-grey alpaca from the back room at BWM with some of last week's wonderful white [obviously] Samoyed. This was seasoned with a hint of Wendy Dennis' dark brown raw Polwarth fleece.
Not the easiest mix to work with, but my fondness for working with alpaca stood me in good stead with the puppy dawg wool which has a similar feel and 'handleability' to the alpaca.
The whole lot was lightly drum carded, before spinning on my Sheridan Celtic
... initially the Celtic and I were having some 'issues' but a clean-and-oil in all the right places worked wonders for her 'tude. Shouldn't be surprised I guess. A good oiling does me the world of good :)
Anyway, the resultant yarn varies quite a bit in weight, mainly dependant on whether it was the stuff I spun on Saturday night, before I figured out the problems with the wheel, or yesterday's lot.
Some of it is almost an aran/worsted, most is about what we Aussies would call 8ply [ DK or Sport ] and some of it is about sock/4ply.
Yarn with character !!
and now I'm late ... buggerit
EDITED TO ADD:
Okay so here are the thoughts that occurred after I pushed 'publish':
The yarn is a 2ply construction. Only one of those plies is the alpaca/samoyed/polwarth mix and the other is the carded alpaca. You can hardly see the dark brown wool but it has added a certain little extra something.
The magnificent animals whose wool it is are the Aussie Champion 'Taj' and his mum 'Grace'. If you'd like to find out more about them, you'll find the Snowbrook Samoyeds here
[ because Blogger has been temperamental, and also it's past time for me to jump in the shower and do all those things associated with getting on with my day ]
this is 220 metres of pale blue-grey alpaca from the back room at BWM with some of last week's wonderful white [obviously] Samoyed. This was seasoned with a hint of Wendy Dennis' dark brown raw Polwarth fleece.
Not the easiest mix to work with, but my fondness for working with alpaca stood me in good stead with the puppy dawg wool which has a similar feel and 'handleability' to the alpaca.
The whole lot was lightly drum carded, before spinning on my Sheridan Celtic
... initially the Celtic and I were having some 'issues' but a clean-and-oil in all the right places worked wonders for her 'tude. Shouldn't be surprised I guess. A good oiling does me the world of good :)
Anyway, the resultant yarn varies quite a bit in weight, mainly dependant on whether it was the stuff I spun on Saturday night, before I figured out the problems with the wheel, or yesterday's lot.
Some of it is almost an aran/worsted, most is about what we Aussies would call 8ply [ DK or Sport ] and some of it is about sock/4ply.
Yarn with character !!
and now I'm late ... buggerit
EDITED TO ADD:
Okay so here are the thoughts that occurred after I pushed 'publish':
The yarn is a 2ply construction. Only one of those plies is the alpaca/samoyed/polwarth mix and the other is the carded alpaca. You can hardly see the dark brown wool but it has added a certain little extra something.
The magnificent animals whose wool it is are the Aussie Champion 'Taj' and his mum 'Grace'. If you'd like to find out more about them, you'll find the Snowbrook Samoyeds here
Thursday, May 12, 2011
And a cast of ... several
So do you all remember me mentioning the flash sing at the IGA during the State Festival ?
Here 't'is [ most of it anyway - filmed on someone's phone, so all things considered the quality's not too bad ]
The sharp of eye may be able to find me in the midst of the pack but poor Nadie, being somewhat vertically challenged, is invisible.
Some of the more "innovative" harmonies were supplied by shoppers who just had to join in.
I can't decide whether my favourite bit is Judy & Janey dancing or the bemused 'checkout chick'
Here 't'is [ most of it anyway - filmed on someone's phone, so all things considered the quality's not too bad ]
The sharp of eye may be able to find me in the midst of the pack but poor Nadie, being somewhat vertically challenged, is invisible.
Some of the more "innovative" harmonies were supplied by shoppers who just had to join in.
I can't decide whether my favourite bit is Judy & Janey dancing or the bemused 'checkout chick'
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