A gift and a Thank you

I have been very remiss and I haven’t acknowledged a lovely and thoughtful gift I received a few weeks ago. I made a friend at my local SnB before we moved and even though we only met up less than a handful of times Pixen was thoughtful enough to send me a house warming gift! Mind you, she seems a very thoughtful person if you ask me so the gift shouldn’t have been such a surprise but it was and it was very very well received. I have put it aside in a cool place til spring when I will plant the seeds out.

Thank you so much Pixen your gift brightened our day and made us feel a warm friendly hug from afar. I know you have been going through similar parenting issues and I really do appreciate your thoughtfulness. I apologise for not posting this sooner and I am blaming the computer but I guess it stops with me - I know you know how it is with 2 under 2! Thanks, thanks, thanks!

 

But for buttons - Part 1

It’s been a while since I have truly had knitting content for this blog but over the past few weeks with my computer out of action and doing the test knit which I have LOVED, there has been some progress towards finished objects (FOs).

The first one I want to show you is the Debbie Bliss Tank Top from Essential Baby that I have knitted for Sam. I knit this in 5ply 100% wool from the Bendigo Woollen Mills and I am really happy with the result. I would love to have knit it in Debbie Bliss yarn but I find the price prohibitive and the Bendigo wool is fine - especially for a garment that will only be worn for a few months!

Finished Object Number 9 - Debbie Bliss Tank Top

Pattern: Debbie Bliss - Tank Top from Essential Baby
Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills - Classic/Pampas (shade 71 less than 100g
Needles: 3.25 mm straights and circular, 3mm straights
Commenced: 27 March 2008
Completed: 6 May 2008

Notes: Fun to knit as it progressed quickly and the detail lent a bit of interest. Bottom band rolls which I am not too pleased with but it may just need to be longer next time I knit it. All it needs is a button!

So, after completing this knit, here is how Sam’s Autumn knitting list is placed:

For Sam:

4 knitted vests 3 Knitted Vests

4 pairs longies

? couple of pairs of knitted socks (wont leave them on at the moment)

I am thinking that I will knit him some longies next - it’s really cold here already!

These are the photos that inspired me to knit the Tank Top for Sam - it’s his cousin Samuel

 

Cast off and cast on

I have cast off on a few projects and when I have the right camera I will do some posts on them - I have been quite productive and am happy with my efforts over the past month or two.  Today I have cast on Picovoli by Grumperina.  I have seen a few of these on Ravelry after being recommended it by some of knitters in the Australian Knitter’s Group when I asked for some top down patterns.  I am doing it in the same wool I used for Simple Cable Cardigan because I want to wear it as a kind of t-shirt/vest over the winter months, I know the original was done in a cotton blend but I think it will be ok.  I don’t have much to show for todays efforts, my sore throat is keeping me pretty quiet but I have started it.

Posts with pictures tomorrow….

 

Mel - you are amazing!

I know I need to do some posts on my own stuff but I really am spending my time doing this lovely test knit - next week I will be back to posting a bit more often…. I hope.  This post is just to drop in and exclaim, “Mel, you are amazing!”.  I was just over at Homespun Living and read about Rhonda Jean’s tote swap and saw the ingenious tote Mel sewed by HAND!  Go you girl, that is such a great feat!  Seriously, go check it out!  I don’t think my machine would cope sewing denim let alone doing it by hand…..very very impressed!

Got to go knit sleeves…..

 

Yalca Fruit Trees

Hi All

I just thought I’d write this up quickly to let you all know that some good friends of ours - my garden gurus in fact - have just put out their new catalogue of fruit trees that they grow and graft themselves.  Now is the time to get ready for Winter planting.

You may remember that they gifted me some apples when we lived in Melbourne - I am going back in Winter to dig them up and bring them to our new home!

This year they are selling a range of nut trees, citrus, kiwi fruit, gooseberries and currants as well as a wide range of their standard deciduous fruit tree offerings.  They are a small, family and home based business and rely on word of mouth referrals.  If you are a member of a permaculture group, gardening or seed savers club have a look at their catalogue and distribute it far and wide.  Also, if you think your local market is fantastic and you would like to see them there this winter let them know and they’ll see what they can arrange.

They are in the process of developing a website www.yalcafruittrees.com.au, but this is not up and running yet.   Note that they don’t send their trees over to WA due quaranten restrictons.  In the meantime, email them at camandtan[at]bigpond[dot]com[dot]au (replace the words in square brackets with appropriate symbol) and ask for the catalogue, it is great!  If you do request a catalogue, tell them where you heard about them so they know how far they are reaching!

Thanks, I hope you all go and buy a food producing plant!

 

Where to start… knitting update?

So much seems to have happened since my Computer SOS post but then so little as well!  I now have my Macbook back and running so I am feeling a little more in control but, I have not had time to upload photos or write about much of consequence.  I feel very much like things are 2 steps forward and 1.5 steps back so that there are only small incremental changes in my life….slowly slowly.

On the knitting front:

Sophie’s Jumper is up to attaching the buttons

2 Calorimetry’s are completed and ready to be gifted

Sam’s vest only needs the neck band and 1 sleeve band

1 sock for Pete is almost complete with only about 2 inches to go til I do the toe

ribbed wrap cardigan for me has not progressed at all

The reason most of this remains unfinished is that I have been working on a “test” knit for LilyGo .  It’s the Simple Cable Cardigan and I am really enjoying knitting it.  It keeps my interest as it progresses and being knit from the top down I know how it looks and it looks great!  I have about 8cm left on the body then I only have to pick up the sleeves and the front bands, sew on the buttons and photograph it.  I am really looking forward to wearing it and had hoped it would be finished for when we go to Melbourne this coming week but it wont be done til tomorrow week.  I highly recommend this pattern - I know I am test knitting it but it’s an unpaid service so I feel I can promote it without bias - it is fun and everyone comments on the lovely cabling  Lily has incorporated.

Having done one of Lily’s patterns I fully intend to try some more at a later date but for now I have enough to finish up and I am feeling inspired enough to unravel Wicked and have another go…….when I buy a ball winder that is! 

 

Computer SOS

My Macbook is playing up for the second time in 12 months and it’s fair to say I am NOT happy! This time it’s not charging up….got to take it in on the weekend for servicing so no computer for a couple of weeks now….happy knitting, spinning, sewing and gardening til it’s repaired!

 

Oh country life how I love thee…

It is so crisp and cold here in the mornings now - what I thought was going to be a 4 degree low overnight was actually 1 degree - lovely!  How wonderful I am finding being back in the country - in a small town -today we walked down the street and got my watch fixed (it needed the latch tightened and a new battery and has been waiting for over 18 months), bought buttons for my latest WIPs, bought groceries and browsed the local second-hand book store - all in an hour!  Love it!

I found a book by Trudi Canavan that I am going to get for Pete’s nephew - I think he’ll love her writing - and I really like the store where I bought the buttons.  There are lots of WIPs going on here but I do a show and tell as they are completed…hehehe that means next year most likely!

Oh and I found a home for lots of my seedlings! Have a great weekend, go Cats!

 

Autumn… a knitting wish list

Autumn has truly arrived and it’s soooo cold after such hot hot weather!  In actual fact today has a minimum of 8 and maximum of 17 so it’s not that cold - tomorrows minimum will be 4….hmmm.  So cold weather has got me knitting and thinking, thinking and knitting.  This morning I have knitted up the collar of Sophie’s Jumper and now I just have to brave the jumble of boxes in the shed to find my crochet book to do the back and button loops and sew in the ends.  I am determined to finish it by the end of the week….should be doable!

Anyway, this cold weather has made me think of all the things we “need” so this is what I am thinking:

For Sophie:

2-3 knitted vests for over skivvys and other long sleeved tops

the Sophie Jumper

1 other jumper

1 cardigan

7 pairs of wool socks

2 pairs longies - with elastic waists so she can take them on and off

For Sam:

4 knitted vests (he still commando crawls so all his fronts get very very dirty - even when I wash the floor every day!)

4 pairs longies

? couple of pairs of knitted socks (wont leave them on at the moment)

For Pete:

gloves

beanie

scarf

?jumper of some sort

socks

For me:

Ribbed Wrap Jacket

fingerless mitts

gloves

2 vests

7 pairs of socks

For the house:

single bed size blanket for Sophie’s new “big girl bed”

lap rugs for snuggling under during winter

So, that’s todays thinking but in reality I will be lucky to get 3 things from the whole list done!  It’s good to dream though and dreaming will help me achieve - of course, one answer to the solution of productivity is to spend less time on the computer!  If anyone has any favourite patterns to help me out please refer me on!

Happy knitting/spinning/creating/dreaming!

 

The Growing Challenge - Week 10 - late again!

Another week has flown by and the garden is progressing. I decided to plant out some of the seedlings rather than pot them on as I don’t have any pots and I don’t really have very suitable soil for pots for now. I picked the larger seedlings with 4 or more leaves and planted them in the vegie patch and I have managed to keep them alive and looking healthy over the past 24 hours. The weather has cooled down a bit which is making gardening a little easier - the days are lovely and warm and the nights are cool.

A couple of weeks ago Pete buried my few parsnips that had sprouted and they are now lost so I dug up that section of my line and put in some Wong Bok - I’ll have to get another pack of parsnip seeds and try again now that the weather is not blisteringly hot. Some of the mustard, rocket, tatsoi and bok choy have been planted out and I have put milk cartons over some of them - I’d like to do more but we aren’t drinking the milk quick enough!

We are still eating lettuce from my garden, beans, capsicum, corn, silverbeet and chili from the in-laws garden. We are slowly slowly moving away from supermarket reliance - 1 plant at a time! I am doing caterpillar patrol every day and am constantly amazed at how big ones seem to keep popping up (the chooks love them). It has rained here over the past few days - actually we had a big storm that blew some windows in/out but we mostly stayed dry thanks to La Bella Casa!

The seedlings planted at the beginning of the Growing Challenge are going well:

I am not sure what I am going to do with all of the “extra” seedling I have grown as I don’t think many people around here would like them or use them if I pressed them onto them….I know at least 3 people in Melbourne who’d like some so I think I will do some punnets up when I go next….I don’t think we’d use 40 mustard plants…would we? What do you use mustard leaves in other than stir fry?