NOTE: Change of blog address!!

I've shifted over to Wordpress, so come join me at
http://knightlyknitter.wordpress.com

there's pictures...... :>


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Hmm, at least it happened when I wasn't about to be busy

I had a little dingle in the traffic this afternoon, not my fault - I stopped for the two cars in front of me who had stopped for the bus, but the older gent in the done-300,000-kms-ute behind me couldn't stop in time. So DS had a shock and a bump on the back of his head, I can't open my boot (yay for folding back seats), and we have to get quotes and ring AAMI on Tuesday. The car still works, but the bumper, boot door (station wagon you see) are cactus, and the chassis is now wonky so the rear doors are not happy about closing smoothly. The quite nice older gent has car insurance, no arguing about fault, so no big stress. We have a week off school for Easter, and then after one day of work I head off to Sydney for a book-buying trip (yay perks!) so I won't need my car for about two weeks anyway.

Maybe it is time to scan the smaller, cheaper-to-run car ads....

Silver linings, friends, silver linings.

Which, coincidentally, is what yo ufind inside Easter egg wrappers...

Happy Easter!!!

PS: two glasses of red (only one day early), and I think that paté on toast is a perfectly acceptable option for dinner. And the kids (big treat) got macca's.

I don't think I shoudl knit anything that incolves countign tonight. As you anc see, my ordeds are out of whack.


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No wonder I'm cold!!!

I think perhaps Autumn has hit.

It was very cold when I got up (way too early - end of Daylight Saving plus too many thinkings), and I'm wrapped in Noro cardi, Noro wrap, pjs, tracky pants, socks, moccasins and a rug. According to the weather website, it is currently 6* C, feels like 2* C, and we can look forward to maybe 13* C this afternoon. More like real winter.

I wonder if it snowed on the mountain last night?

I wonder where I put my gloves???

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Let me paint you a picture

A lounge room, wooden floor, mustard walls, old gold curtains, huge redgum dining table, squooshy dark green lounge.
On the floor beside the lounge, a scattering of knitting paraphenalia: rainbow basket of small things, black bag of knitting-to-go, blue bag of long-term WIPs, green bag with shawl...
On the coffee table in front of the lounge, fighting for space amongst the children's paper, pencils, videos, dvds, baby doll carrycot and random pieces of clothing, is last night's knitting. Two long, pale blue casein needles are bundled together with the pale pink cotton cardi they are creating. The cotton is fine, soft, the fabric is light, smooth, even. One sleeve flops out like the ear of a toy bunny, and about the same size. A friend at work was surprised by the very, very early arrival of her baby girl, and as I knit this cardi, I hope that her daughter grows strong and well, and am endlessly grateful for the healthy children I have, who never needed clothes this small.
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Bear With Me

Last night I sat up late tidying up files, deleting old software and bits and bobs, and then I installed Mac OS X Leopard, and this morning I added iLife '09 and iWork '09. So this weekend I will be getting used to using the newer versions of the basic software, and reacquainting myself with Pages and Keynote, both of which will apparently talk to Office 07 - quite useful now that work has upgraded everything.
In more computer geekery, I'm thinking it could be time to set up a Wordpress blog, so I can do galleries and stuff, so there may be some messing around taking up my time. I can't promise lots of blogging while that happens, but I can tell you that I've nearly finished the ribbing on the body of my Something Navy, and with two dance classes to watch this morning, I should get quite a bit done! I'm also feeling the sock urge - as Tink noted, it is definitely feeling autumnal down here - today the wind is gusting pretty fiercely (up to 54km/h according to the weather site), and even though it is supposed to warm up later, currently it is only 14.4* C, and my feet are not warm.
I hope you've all got some fun planned for your weekend!
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In the Spirit of Scientific Enquiry

It is obviously my duty to look on my sad wine mishap as an opportunity to undertake a scientific assessment of available wines to determine which wines will suit me best.

This will of course involve sacrificing some of my personal time, due to the necessity of visiting a variety of wine sellers in pursuit of a suitable range of wines to constitute an acceptable sample size.

There will also be the onerous task of having to open a new bottle every Friday night - I'm not sure whether I have the stamina for the task, but I know that with your support I can give it a red-hot go.

Now, however, in preparation for the task that awaits, I am getting ready for yoga - I need to be calm and relaxed, untroubled by the stresses of everyday life, if I am to be properly objective about my task.

Om.
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Sob.

I discovered something awful on the weekend.

It was bad.

Really bad.

Brace yourselves. This is a frightening development.

While partaking of smoked trout dip on crusty bread and sipping some lovely Fifth Leg Shiraz, I started to feel kind of itchy on my neck.

Further checking confirmed it - my favourite red is giving me a rash.

Woe is me.......

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Six.

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Spring Knitty

It's up, there are funky things, and I want a Decimal Cardigan.

(I know which one 2paw will be voting for!!!)
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Eventful

Boys. They like to run around. They run around on whatever surfaces they have handy. Boys like my son are prone to running around and slipping on damp grass. Boys like my son are prone to running around and slipping on damp grass and faceplanting. Boys like my son do not faceplant on the grass. Boys like my son faceplant on the tarmac road beside the grass.
Nose: grazed, light bruising.
Forehead: 1cm horizontal split about 1cm below the hairline, grazing.

Of course, being up there near the scalp it bled profusely, but thankfully a bit of phoning got us in to see the doctor fairly quickly for cleaning up and butterfly strips to stick it back together again. Bruise, big lump, extra strips to take home.

Fine.

Lunchtime: reappearance of son, because he thought it would be too boring to find something to do in the library (understand he reads like a person who enjoys books, so this statement was a little amusing), so he played handball instead. Imagine his surprise when physical activity started things bleeding again, making the clear plastic 'skin' a beautiful scarlet bulge in the centre of his forehead. Very attractive. I believe I may have had some firm, unamused words for him at that point.

So, he's fine, we go home a little early (I did not want him to try the handball trick again after school), pick up daughters, get home, DD#1 decides she'd like to play over the road, no she can't they're not home. DD#1 thinks that whinging is going to help. It doesn't. Escalation. Flat refusal to allow her to go over at all. Further escalation. She spent the next 3 1/2 hours in her room, had dinner there, no dessert, has a big mess to clean up this afternoon, lost some of her belongings, and is not allowed to invite the other friend to her bday party. (hysterical sobbing, tissue but no sympathy)

I did not do any schoolwork last night.

sigh.

I love them, but really, sometimes I could do without the drama.

Please can today be boring???
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Time to Take Stock

There was a sunny autumn afternoon yesterday, one of my favourite parts of the year. Tassie has a public holiday today, so the combination of nice weather and extra time and children sleeping or playing somewhere else made me decide to have my afternoon tea outside, on a rug, with my four most current bags of knitting and a camera. Oh, and dogs, but I had washed them that morning so their presence was fluffy and non-pongy.
I have been thinking for a while that I have lots of WIPs needing a little effort to be FOs, and lots of UFOs which need a bit of investigation (where is it up to? do I still know what it is? are any of my children that size anymore?), so it would be a good idea to lay them out one by one and work out what needs doing in what order.


Little things: tea cosy - needs lining and sewing up and embellishing.
Sock: needs darning
Fingerless mitts: despite the name, they lack only a thumb
Something Navy: about 2" till waste ribbing begins
Vogue linen blend cardi: must finish back, one sleeve and other front (and check front lengths against back, because the apparent weirdness is why this stalled)
Forget-Me-Not Shawl: 4 1/2 repeats done
Berlin Muster sock: needs heel and foot
Anastasia sock: 1/2 foot done
orange socks for son: barely started
Doll for DD#1 - needs sewing, stuffing etc
Random child's sock - cuff started on second. (I don't know where the picture for that went)
Argosy scarf: needs the needles back!!

So far today I have finished the tea cosy - I decided that a one-cup pot doesn't need a lining, because it doesn't have to stay hot for more time than it takes to steep. The extra wool will become mug cosies, because my mugs of tea are going colder quicker than the tea in the pot.
I have done half a repeat on the shawl to make it 5 repeats of the blossom chart. There are 7 repeats in all, followed by border and edging, so I could be nearly halfway!!! Definite incentive to get going.
Next up: the thumb and the darning. Something Navy is tv and blogging knitting - too monotonous to do on its own. I'd like to get the Berlin socks done soon - it's getting cooler and I need more socks. Also the Argosy will be fun to wear, so that is moving up the ranks. If I get it done this week the doll could be a bday prezzie for DD#1 - stealth finishing is required. Anastasia socks are work/car knitting - non-urgent. Son's socks - ditto. Randome child's sock - it'll be there in the 'whenever' pile.
Also yesterday, as I cleared things out, I found all those snippets of yarn left over from casting on and off. Some were long enough to get me thinking...

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Vacuuming Tipsy Is Way More Fun

Because, really, who wants to spend their after-dinner relaxation time cleaning without some kind of altered perception???
AND when you're tipsy and the dining table has crumbs on it, there is obviously NO POINT in going to get a dishcloth to wipe them up when there is a perfectly good vacuum cleaner already powered up and sucking nicely.
(nb my inner pedant still manages to correct spelling and grammar to ensure that 'you are' is contracted correctly, even while tipsy)

Bring on the tea and chocolate - I need to sober up a little to put the sleeves on waste yarn so I can do the body of Something Navy

Happy Friday Night everyone!

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Tea, Cake and Grey's Anatomy

What a fantastic way to spend Thursday evening :>

After a late meeting (I left work a bit after 6pm, so 2 hours later than usual) and a very busy week or three, I'm feeling the urge to veg out. The knitting will come out (separating the sleeves from the body) once the cake crumbs are done. Swimming carnival tomorrow, public holiday on Monday, so no more 'real' work till Tuesday - yippee!!!

And aside from a weird voice, my cold is pretty much gone. (touch wood)

Everything (except the thermometer) is on the up.
Woot!

ps do you want to hear about the seasilk I won?

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A reason to love Dove chocolate

The little individually wrapped squares have messages inside - the one I am enjoying right now says:
I'm not ageing - I'm ripening to perfection

Excellent message for anyone surrounded by exhausting numbers of children every day :)

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What a week!

It's no wonder I have a cold in the head today - it was a very busy week when I frequently skipped relaxing to do something work-related.
Sunday evening - church service to welcome the new school chaplain
Monday - New Parents dinner
Tuesday - 5/6 Parent Info night (as the Teacher Librarian)
Wednesday - skipped the infants Parent Info night to go to yoga so as not to be totally incapacitated come Friday
Thursday - 3/4 Parent Info night, as both teacher and parent
Friday - didn't leave school till after 4.30, went shopping and bought purple shoes (trust me, they are purple, not that weird red/brown/purple I'm seeing on my screen) and lipstick (plus Clinique gift bag, yay!), both the kind of personal purchases I rarely make, and much to be enjoyed; also a book that is apparently a sci-fi retelling of the Count of Monte Cristo, with a female lead!! Then stupidly decided to read my other book until the noise from band at cricket club stopped ie after midnight.
Saturday - buy dancing shoes for Miss S, then take her to dancing; get lunch at about 2pm, go for a snooze at 3, Miss V wakes up, I discover that tiredness has morphed into a cold in the head that is making unpleasant hints of sinusitis. I shall be skipping hubby's hockey bbq tonight, which is a shame because they're nice folks and it's fun to get out of the house and be social.
Oh well. At least I can get some more knitting done on this:


Postscript: I started this post before dinner. It is now just after 9pm, children have returned home, other child had been asleep for approx 30 seconds, and whilst I managed to eat my dinner, it was not hot by the time I got to the last bite, and I have not yet picked up my needles. Miss V is midway through toilet-training, so dry during the day, nappies for sleeps, and the delaying tactic fifteen minutes after going to bed of the long, slow and yet productive visit to the toilet, because of which production we can't deny her the sitting, despite knowing full well that she's exercising that new-found control to string it out for as long as is intestinally possible. All the parents out there know what I'm saying.


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Life's little (slightly icky) mysteries

Yesterday I left work early for an appointment, then took my son home before going to pick up the girls. Inside I was met by the scruffier of my two dogs, and after shooing him out the dog-sized gap made by a dog-nose pushing open the screen door I discovered the first evidence.
The end of a carrot.
A margarine container.
A plastic bag.
More plastic.
The dogs had gotten inside and ripped into the plastic rubbish bag and strewn the contents across the kitchen.
Sigh.
So I picked up the majority of the mess, left son in front of tv and went to get the girls. Home again, and after some to-ing and fro-ing all the kids went across the road to the neighbour's place.
Then I found the real crime.
A feather.
Another feather.
A noise, I turn around, and there is a young magpie on top of my boxes of knitting essentials (in fact, the box of sock wool, so in fact it was the not-stash), and he/she is missing most of his/her tail feathers. There are blood smears across the windowsill, drops drying on my plastic tubs, a couple of bits of birdshit around the place. The dogs must have managed to corner it in the house - why it was in the house at all I don't know, probably just curiosity about the open screen door.
The MOMD got home just then, and used his superior reach to gently take the box to the open door so the poor bird could get out of our house. It seemed more or less ok, so we didn't want to handle it lest it be rejected by its family. It flew off and we didn't find any feathers this morning.

I hope it's ok.
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Proof

Proof of knitting, of colour, and of imminent tea cosy.

The Woven Stitch Tea Cosy from Australian Yarn Art, a ridiculously easy pattern that is using up a handful of leftover Colinette Point Five (or One Zero, I can't remember which) and some of the ubiquitous purple 8ply (probably Cleckheaton, judging by the failed Tychus from which it is being reclaimed).
Part one knitted last night, part two on the needles, then a lining and sewing together and the Icord trim if I feel like it, and my small pot will have a tea cosy!!!
The Colinette is red and orange and pink with the occasional chesnutty bit, which is popping beautifully against the rich purple. Talk about livening up the brown kitchen benchtop!!

Sadly, this joyous endeavour is being interrupted by an unavoidable chore - I must do some homework to prepare for tomorrow's lessons, lest I end up with nothing for my classes to do and therefore cause myself massive amounts of stress and create circumstances that require ongoing damage-control.

le sigh.
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It feels like forever

but it's only a little more than a week since I last blogged. Isn't it weird how easily we accept the artificial dissection of time into seconds, minutes and hours and yet still live our lives in totally subjective thought-processes that perceive those same scientifically-determined units of absolute measurement as going faster or slower than some personal average....

For instance, my days have been flying by, except for those minutes stuck in traffic or waiting out a tantrum; those particular periods of time have dragged on a slowly as they could without actually warping the space-time continuum.

School has gone back, so I have had four days full of meetings, yr 7 orientation sessions, scrabbling for books for teachers and students anxious to have something to do in the first week, and increasingly frustrating efforts to get on with things whilst around us the IT is doing its best to look like extremely expensive non-functioning objets de not-art. The poor IT team are ready to go into complete meltdown - an entire shipment of brand-new desktop computers refuse to allow anyone to log on to the school network, and for part of the week other bits of the intranet refused to let anyone use their email or access the internet, even from previously perfectly happy pieces of teachnology.
Today I indulged in some retail therapy to help me get over it all - OFIS, the office-supplies offshoot of Hardly Normal, has tanked, so they are closing stores all over the country and putting nice discounts on everything. I bought up lots of things we've been hankering for - laminating machine, label-printer, big hole-punch, digital photo-frame etc etc etc. I did get prior approval from my boss, which is good because I did get a bit excited about buying new binders to house our files, sign-holders, highlighter pens - so many things that were waiting for the new year's budget.

We also went looking at bunk beds for our daughters - Miss V is ready to sleep in a proper bed, but it would be a very tight squeeze to put twin beds in their room and still find room for drawers or toy boxes. We will be going back tomorrow I think to buy a nice white-painted wooden set. There were also some cheap but nice mugs for my office, the MOMD got excited about some fishing gear, and we wandered through various tents but have not quite convinced ourselves to buy any yet.

After all of that, you will be unsurprised to hear that there has been very little happening on the knitting scene - a few rounds on a sock for the MOMD, Granma's Fetchings are still missing the second thumb, and I haven't been able to do anything more exciting than fondle the yarn I bought last Saturday - oh, and start swatching the silk.
right now I have to go put the chook in the oven, but if time permits I'll take pics and post them later on - otherwise you'll just have to bide your time.

Oh, and my computer's power supply died last week, and yesterday the girl at the Apple shop worked out that it was the power cable itself, so I am back at my lovely MacBook Pro, although the dang thing is heating up again so I'm a bit concerned that this is merely a lull...
Wish me luck!

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Nundle, O Nundle

Between work and an unhappy powerunit, I haven't had much luck blogging this week!

So, to reminisce a little:

On our holiday, we stopped at Nundle, a sweet little town with something to recommend it to knitters:


I may have enjoyed some purchasing

But can you blame me - look at it!


In the car that afternoon, once I finished the two halves of the teacosy, I could resist no longer....
I started to swatch the Retro 4ply :>


Ah, so much knitting to do now - could someone lend me their TARDIS so I can make a start?
Ta.



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Do you ever wonder

what the inside of Kaffe Fassett's house really looks like?
Maybe a universe of wildly clashing colour, texture and patterns, that somehow overwhelms any memory of the summer whites look currently on the covers of so many decorating magazines, in a sensory overload like this:

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