The Posy cosy is done!!

My first FO for the year is the tea cosy for my MIL. Graduated green ruffles topped with an array of loud and gorgeous flowers. My MIL is thrilled, as am I to see that I got it right, and that is surely good knitting karma with which to begin 2009. There will be pics soon, I promise, but my computer is having some overheating issues, and I am borrowing my in-laws' computer for a minute, so I don't like to take up their bandwidth with too many knitting photos.
We are in Hay, though not for long, and have been saying how much we do not miss 35.2*, nor 37.3*, nor 38*C. We don't even miss 29*C. Yay Hobart! Our travels are not yet over, but normal bloggin will resume on or after the 16th Jan. There have been old friends, family friends, family, more family, and new friends too this holiday, and still more people to see and places to go over the next week.
Oh, and I have to check out some yarn shops in Melbourne next week - my MIL wants another tea cosy, this time in Noro Kureyon. Oh the hardship of the shoppping. (Did I mention my stop-over in Nundle?)
leaving you all on that tantalising note,
I'll catch up with you all soon.


Top

Let This Be A Lesson To Me...

Self-disciplined preparation does not begin and end with the stocking stitch swatch.


In fact, a sensible person, one who has learned many times over the past 34 years, in many different arenas - cooking, sewing, studying, driving, teaching, having babies and even when knitting - that one should ALWAYS READ EVERY WORD OF THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE GOING ANYWHERE NEAR THE MATERIALS.


However, that person obviously went on holidays, leaving me to play with my new yarn, new needles, pretty swatch and lovely pattern, and I COMPLETELY MISSED THIS BIT:



This of course explains why my nearly beautiful fabric still looks bunched up and lumpy even when stretched out on my foot:




Pass me the Maya Gold.


There's going to be some frogging today.


Top

10 days, in 5 pictures!

I finally learned how to put the tea cosy on properly!! Thanks Shelly!


I made such a small, pointy, badly-grafted forethought-afterthought heel on my Welt Fantastic socks that I had to frog it back to the beginning, and begin again with more stitches.


Then CHRISTMAS!!! We had a lovely day, opened many fabulous prezzies, cooked and ate piles of wonderful food, and I got some knitting goodies!!!

Penni gave me the Jar For Yarn, Christmas teatowel and Knit Picks dpns - ooh, pointyyy....
And Tink gave me a Box 'O Yarn (Purple Naturally Mohair, and Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Old Rose), gorgeous dark chocolate, and some peppermint and eucalyptus soap! I am truly spoilt!!!
And can you see the swatching going on there, with CTH yarn on KP dpns?? Thank you girls!!!

Lastly, this is where it's at: my Roseleaf sock!

Falling Leaves, from Knitty Fall 2005, in Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino, Old Rose, on 2.5mm Knit Picks dpns. After 4 attempts, I found success with the Easy Toe from Tiptop Toes, Knitty Winter 2002.

Life is fantastic.

I wish everyone a very Happy New Year, because I know you all had a great Christmas!!


Top

Quickest Update Ever

Techno glitch ate my earlier post - if you read version one, ie nothing at all, I hope you find this real one soon!

tree: up
decorations: not yet
cards: no
presents: most
food: semi-organised
children: still alive (thanks to my enormous powers of self-restraint)
rumpus room: unholy mess
front room: this is where present wrapping, tree assemblage and untangling of decorations is occurring. Try not to picture it
knitting: when? *sob*
sewing: nearly done
ants: every night
washing: done
kitchen: don't ask.

I. Will. Knit. Tonight.

so ner.

:>
Top

I don't have to wait for Christmas

Because I got goodies yesterday and I didn't have to wait to open them!!!!

D'you wanna see??

In Christmassy colours, but perfectly legal to open it because it was the package from my Aussie Tea Cosy Swap partner, Shelly (ozrockchic on Ravelry)!!

And look what I found inside!!!

• Very cute card full of good wishes
  
• Hot stuff red/pink/orange crocheted cosy, with ties and a button-closed strap to accommodate the spout
• Extra Golden Cup charm and little ceramic tag that says "Tea for Two" - which is exactly how much tea you get out of that pot!!
• Tea infuser with cut floral mug on the end of the don't-lose-it chain
• Lei flowered teabag/strainer/spoon catcher in the shape of a teapot
• Byron Chai tea mix (yum)
• Ferrero Rocher chockies (yum yum)
• Lemon myrtle soap (smells yum)
• Sugar'n'Cream cotton in Midnight Magic colours that are totally ME!!!

whew. So much fun in one little package!! Thank you Shelly - you do indeed ROCK!!!

But Wait!! There's More!!!
(no steak knives)

I also received a package from WA, from a certain online enabler, who took her business name from a well-known Aussie folk song.....


what could it be??


Why, an order from the Jolly Jumbuck, of course!!


I ordered 2 skeins of Tofutsies, with the bonus set of Addi dpns that Irene has as her summer special, and then I might accidentally-on-purpose have added an itsy witsy skein of Achilles superwash merino sockyarn in "Bruised Plum"....
Furthermore, Irene noticed a couple of knots in the skein as she put it all together, so she threw in a bonus set of (the other kind and size of ) Addi dpns... and can you see those letters dangling over the luscious plumminess? She has 'jolly' and 'jumbuck' spelt out on little stitch-markers tied to the corner of the invoice!!! I like her style, and her excellent customer service!!

Oh, and one other thing - I resisted for about 4 hours, then I accidentally started to play with some yarn and needles, and so there is a swatch of 6 rows of ribbing happening in the pinks-and-charcoal Tofutsies :>

Other things are happening too, like kids with colds, and a family photo session on a beach, and mad mad knitting and making and sewing, and cleaning for rellies (Friday!), and son's friend for sleepover (Sat) and hockey bbq (Sat) and snb xmas picnic (Sat!!) and b'day for another of son's friends (Sun), and a few other bits'n'bobs - hope you are all having a nice time with your Silly Season!

ETA: DO NOT GO TO JOLLY JUMBUCK!!
NO!!
DON"T DO IT!!!
I WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU GO AND LOOK AT THE NEW YARNS AND THE FABULOUS COLOURS!!!!
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!!

Top

Brace yourself Bridget*

...there's plenty to catch up on, so here's the first in a series of What I Did While I Wasn't Blogging About It posts.

First knitting items:

Some flowers for my MIL's birthday (24th Dec), which open out to reveal:

and

The instrucctions were found on the Dishcloth Boutique site, where you will find amongst the many treasures: Yvonne's Double Flower pattern on page 3 of the Knitting Patterns, and the single flower Doily Style pattern on page 2.

I knitted the two facewashers out of Heirloom 8ply cotton in a cream colour (from stash), and it came out so beautifully! 4mm casein dpns, which was a little awkward at the 'cast on 8 sts and join to work in the round' stage, and I think it might be easeir to manipulate, and make a flatter centre, if those first 2~3 rounds were worked on needles a smidgen smaller.
Mods: I added an extra lace round before doing the edging on the Doily Style washer, just to bring the petals to a definite point. I think I'd like to add an edging round to the Double Flower one the next time I make it, just to give it a little more of a finished look, if you see what I mean.
These were quick and fairly easy - if you've knitted a hat in the round, you'll have no problems!! They came out at about 18~ 20 grams each, so I have a little bit of cotton left over - colour-work washers, anyone??

Second knitting items:

These Raspberry Fetchings were started way back in the Great Fetch-a-thon of Dec '06, but the intended recipient has slightly larger hands than I do, and requested a bigger pair. Fortunately, we visited Miss 1's namesake Great Great Great Aunty V (91 and powering on), who is a knitter herself, and she was very taken with them, they fit her, she loves the colour and the bobbles of the picot edges, so on Tuesday (yes, 11 1/2 months after they were cast on) I wove in the ends and wrapped them up in raspberry cellophane like a giant bonbon, and sent them to her via the MIL - I hope she will get some use out of them next winter.

There is lots more to tell you (another FO, the exponentially-expanding nature of Xmas lists, the Dance Concert, the visitors, the germs, the thing I cast on the other day that I knew I shouldn't have but did anyway.... and still more), but the ham bones need skimming (ham and potato soup tonight to chase away rainyday gloom and fight off those germs), and I may have to convince myself to do the tiniest teensy bit of housework before lunch.
And I have to take photos of some of the Things I Want To Blog About.
So this will have to do for now!



*for the slightly perplexed, the title comes from a creakingly old joke:
Q: What's the Irish definition of foreplay?
A: Brace yourself, Bridget.
(boom boom)
Top

Had I but worlds enough/ And time...

This poet was such a lech, don't you think?? But what a fabulous way to be propositioned! I also love some of the sonnets of Donne. Lovers' Infiniteness is beautiful, and expresses the tangles of emotion of loving someone so well...

BUT YOU ARE HERE FOR THE KNITTING, AREN'T YOU???

So I'll share a little:
The MOMD [formerly known as my DH, but that wasn't adoring enough, in his humble opinion!!] paid attention when I showed him this in the bookshop - I guess he's earned the MOMD title :) I was finished by bedtime on Boxing Day - I kind of inhaled it, but how could I not?? The Word of The Knitting Goddess aka Yarn Harlot aka Author Whose Other Books I Must Collect Right Now Or As Soon As I Find Money In The Gutter Or Some Other Unlikely Place Like Paid Employment (Ha!)
And also:
Glass-and-a-half Tychus, version2.0. This time I know I have enough wool - 2 balls of each colour, one ball does about 3 segments. (Yarn gods, please do not smite me any further on this project - I've learnt my lesson, really I have *grovel grovel*)
Furthermore, there is a toddlersock waiting for toe-grafting (I figure 2nd sock syndrome might not notice me if I haven't quite finished the 1st sock *fingers crossed*), and some ideas for an iPod cosy, but PhotoBooth is having a sulk after I decided that the computer-screen flash wasn't enough, so pics some other time.

Posting will be sporadic for the next 2 weeks, my timetable looks a little like this:
Monday
8.30am dogs to vet - grooming, weird lump on tail, probable cataract on left eye (she's 9 ie 67 dog years)
drop off dry cleaning
make appt to get hair done (getting scary enough to need a hairband full-time)
go to gym
book carpet cleaners
get removalist quotes
new watchband
pick up dogs
calendar
sort out phone connection issues
packing, cleaning, cleaning, packing

Tues
dentist
leftovers from Monday
packing, cleaning, cleaning, packing

Wed
10-12 playgroup across the waters in West Hobart - unless it's raining, in which case NO WAY am I taking 3 kids to a park
packing, cleaning, cleaning, packing

Thurs
gym
packing, cleaning, cleaning, packing
5pm pre-Settlement inspection

Fri
9.30 gym
Settlement and Getting Of The Keys at some point
Happy Dance in Various Rooms Of Our First Ever Own Home (Which We Share With Which-Bank)
packing, cleaning, cleaning, packing

Sat
measuring, planning, cleaning, moving boxes boxes boxes, cleaning kitchen and bathrooms of Our New House (if nec) (always nec, right?) and unpacking essentials

Sun
more of same

Mon
gym
more of same

Tues (or Wed )
Moving Day

Thurs
physio appt

Fri
gym

Aside from all of that, envision me running a house with 3 kids, lots of rain to make drying the washing interesting, and darling baby V is TEETHING - first 2 teeth have broken through the lower gum, and although she is chewing on everything in sight, and waking up three times per night, so far we have been spared the horrendous nappies of the firstborn, and the sore face and excessive sadness of the secondborn.
Knitting is replaced by fondling of stray items and reading 3 blog posts with stolen cups of tea....

Regular scheduling will resume in 2 weeks

Wish me luck!!


Top

So Much To Blog, So Little Knitting Content

So!
First Friday of the Year!!

And how are we all enjoying 2007 so far? I must say, I continue to find the weather here amusing - after a mild start to the year, yesterday hit 31*C inside the house, which didn't cool down till around 9pm, while today made it as far as a pleasant 26*C, 85% humidity and enough rain to completely block the view of the North Bruny Island - actually, you could barely see the bottom of our hill - Yippee!!! Hobart started water restrictions mid-December, and you can really see the drought killing off shrubs and trees when you drive through the state, as we did on the way home on Tuesday, so the rain is truly wonderful.

Xmas news - we did the DH's family Christmas which was fabulous - our 3 plus their cousins made a grand total of SIX granchildren running, stomping, crawling and kicking their ways around the house, grabbing prezzies, dropping toys everywhere, playing games both loud and quiet, eating, sleeping, crying, laughing, getting plenty of Nana and Pa time, and - most importantly - getting a chance to know each other. I don't really remember ever having a Chrissy like it as a child - maybe one or two (I'll have to ask my Mum) - but I'm thrilled we had a chance to give one to our kids this year. Being so far away now, it can be hard to give them a sense of where they belong in the family, but after all the fun (and tantrums) we all have memory pics to help us along.

New Year's Eve? I didn't last! After the aforementioned 'fun and tantrums', and a week of even-more-than-usually-broken sleep due to overtired and overstimulated small folk, I crashed around 11pm. We had had a quiet night with my uncle and aunt, dancing with baby V to Michael Buble (no idea how to do accents on letters in Blogger, so excuse my non-French spelling), and listening to the other two do plastic karaoke echo-mike singalongs :) We had to drive to Melbourne the next day, so excessive anything was out of the question!

Resolutions? No - but we were listening to Mark Trevorrow (aka Bob Downe who is the funniest cabaret singer I've ever seen) on the radio, asking people what they would do or be in 2007 that they hadn't been or done before...

What will I do or be in 2007??
* Become a homeowner!!! Keys on Friday 12th!!!!!!!!

That's about it really - I started on the clean-up-my-act thing last year, so going to the gym is no longer new, and other health issues are being dealt with.
Oh oh oh!
* I will graduate with a Masters of Applied Science in Teacher Librarianship!!!! (as long as I get those last two assignments done by Feb 9th *gasp*)

So, that's it - mortgage 30 years of income away, and get a degree that is unlikely to get me my preferred job in my new home state :P

Knitting in the next post, I promise!
Top

Knit like it's the holidays...

Just to let you know - I knifted multiple pairs of Fetchings this Christmas (and it's not over yet!), plus a Tychus that needs a new edging to hide its resemblance to a floppy tea-cosy (don't talk to me about gauge and yarn-substitution), and there has been travel knitting galore:

1 entire Fetching on the ferry, 2/5 of the Tychus in the car, 1 Mini-Basketweave Toddler Sock in the car and at lunch today, and the cuff of the 2nd Fetching in the car this afternoon - when we go to visit relatives for Christmas, we don't let a few hundred kilometres get in the way of meeting for lunch!!!!

Will post pictures once I have internet access on own computer.

Meanwhile, here is a repeat of a little something I snapped earlier - the first two

Fetchings; 1 pair in a chocolatey wool/silk mix, 1 pair in a sunrise alpaca/wool mix

Since then I have been tweaking the pattern to add picots at cuff and hem (hours of fiddling), and centre them over the cable crossings - I like the finial-effect.

Best dash to dinner - Happy Silly Season to you all!

Top

Plunged!

Into the no-longer beta Blogger, in the hopes that it will be better.... just a leetle Xmas wish :)

So, the knifting:

• the TARDIS being currently unavailable for private hire, the Cadbury's Hat has been shuffled to the end of the line, and it's spot in the (v. late) Xmas parcel is being taken by an understudy
• another item on my list will be finished tonight and packaged with some Lindt pistachio-centred chocky - there is a connection, trust me :)
• another Tychus will be on the needles later today, at which I must diligently loop my way to closure by Sunday - it being a very quick knit, I have faith in the possibility; failing that, I have faith in the recipient's sense of humour!
• another item may need to be packaged as yarn+suggested items, recipient to choose preferred form (which would make me a little more confident with sizing). We shall see what the next few days of packing and travel bring in the way of hands-free time, and just how effective those ginger tablets and acupressure wristbands are for preventing mal de mer!
• the next knifty thing just needs those pesky ends woven in - yay! (not)
• lastly, something for a friend whom I will see after Xmas, before New Year's, so can knit in between playing with prezzies, fixing newly broken new toys, eating, drinking and family-festivity-ing

And I have yet to pack for tomorrow's departure (still washing, and very grateful for the warm spell that is drying it all in time). In bed by 10 is a foreign concept for the time being... >0 (that's a big yawn)
Despite the not-quites, I am feeling pretty pleased to have attempted so many handmade gifts into this month - it feels nicer to make and give than to buy and give.

Time is of a scarcity, so I bid you all

A Very Merry Christmas
and
A Happy New Year!!

Top