Sticks and Stones

Lisa tagged me for the Front door/back door thing which is really quite interesting if you read her blog.  She was worried about my sooking over taking photos but I don’t mind taking them of non-knitting things!  At first I thought that I wouldn’t do this post as I didn’t think there was really much of interest looking out my doors but I think I was wrong…. see what you think and let me know!

I have started the tour by looking out the back door as it is the door that is ALWAYS used to come and go:

Yep, that is my in-laws house…. not even a stone throw away (lucky they are pretty good – I do think that they think I am a bit strange but I like that!).  Our back door leads directly onto an undercover area which I can only assume was meant as a carport (Fran I know you will know the answer to this)?  In this photo you can see our tin dog – my friend Jill gave him to me many moons ago and I am quite attached to him.  Next to him, almost out of the photo is my Thai Chili – it’s great and has been going for years.

The next photo is looking at my back door:

It’s made of glass…. go figure!  It lets lots of light in which is a great thing but it gets so so cold here that it seems a bit silly.  This is always a messy area.  There are always shoes there (we don’t wear shoes inside), usually a bucket with some sort of vegies in it (the white bucket with the orange lid on the ground beside it), the green box with the play dough and painting pots (we love to paint) and my poor daphne which is really struggling.  Any suggestions on the daphne?   Maybe it needs repotting or moving to another position?  Do they mind -1 temperatures?  (suggestions on how to tidy this area up would be good too…)  Just out of the picture is our huge shoe box full of shoes that have been handed down/across/up and that are not good enough to wear but are too good to throw out.

This is the view from the end of the covered area/carport:

This is such a great view to me… I used to dislike the sheds but now I find them pleasing to my eye.  They symbolize productivity in times gone by, potential productivity and life.  The old tobacco kiln has really become an icon – they haven’t been used for curing tobacco for many years but they remain on many of the farms around here as a constant reminder of an industry lost.
Behind the sheds you can make out Mount Buffalo – it is so majestic, rugged and beautiful – I have a lovely view from my clothes line making hanging out washing a pleasure.

This is looking directly out our front door:

How amazing is the palm tree!  I asked my mother-in-law but she didn’t know how old it is or how it got there.  Apparently it has  “always been there”, I guess some time in the distant past someone planted it….but why a palm?  When my in-laws lived in this house they had flower beds either side of the path all they way to the front fence.  I’d love to do that too but who will have to look after it when we move?  How great would this front yard be planted out to vegies?  I could feed the whole clan!

These are the two garden beds along the front veranda.  They have a few dahlias from my mother-in-laws garden that I need to lift out.  I am not sure what to do with these beds, they face due west so they get blinding, burning hot sun all summer.  At the moment I have stuffed in bits and pieces from my old garden: my 3 surviving strawberry plants, lemon grass, some recently gifted purple sage pieces, rosemary, dead thyme that I just can’t pull out for hope that it may just strike, parsley, freesias,  Johnney  Jump-ups and alyssum.

Looking left you see my in-laws house but if you look right out the front door you see this:

This is the old tobacco paddock that is now sewn to lucerne.  One last photo because I find these trees amazing is the half picked persimmon tree:

We have a lovely view of the tree out the kitchen window and the kids love to see the birds come in and eat
the lovely orange fruit.  Such a beautiful tree both in leaf and naked!

I’d like to tag the following people because I like to read their blogs but I totally understand if you don’t want to participate!

Ruth’s Place – she lives in South Africa and writes a great crafting blog with lots about her Gorgeous Girl.  I am not sure if Ruth would be comfortable with this type of Meme but if you are Ruth I’d love to see your front and back doors!

Kylie’s Crafts – Kylie has two little babes and does lots of thrifting and crafting.

Knitting & Chocolate – Trudi has just done a renovation (and may not feel comfortable doing this but I’d love to see it!)

Sue, I’d love to tag you too but you are so busy knitting!  If you get time and want to play along!

I could be addicted!  A BIG thanks to Rhonda for her post here about soap making!  It is such an easy recipe, everything is in the local supermarket (I used Copha at Rhonda’s advice as I can’t get coconut oil here) and it really doesn’t take very long at all.

Here it is in it’s tray setting:

Tomorrow I will turn it out and cut it into blocks and “brand” it with the new “antique” Japanese (I think) branding tool I bought yeasterday.  I have no idea what the tool says – I hope it’s nothing nasty – but I like the look of the characters and the 1966 on it.  I just like the way it looks sitting on it’s little wooden tray.  I just like it!

I coloured the soap with tumeric as was a possible colour source suggested by Rhonda and next time I will try the cinnamon.  Next time….next time…next time… I can hardly wait but, as I am not sure how long this will last (and I think it will be a while) I am only going to buy the ingredients when they are on special…. it may be a long wait as I have never seen rice bran oil on special or caustic soda or copha for that matter but then again I have never really looked for them!

So far I am a very happy home maker.  More photos when I have turned it out, cut and branded it… hope the branding works!

By the way – I got the whole process done in 30 minutes so it’s a perfect project for when the babies are in bed (if they are ever in bed at the same time that is! ).

Finally a pair of socks for Pete…. well the first sock of a pair, I am up to the toe grafting and am pretty excited about finishing one even if he’s not all that excited about the colours!  I bought this ball of sock yarn for $3 at a clearance sale….yay… and am using the pattern that was on the ball band.

Back to finishing and beginning it’s mate….

A while ago I wrote a post listing the WIPs I’d like to always have and even though it was probably one of those posts you write and then forget I have come in a circle and am back to it.  After completing Sam’s Little Turtle Knits Hybrid Soakers I started on this months dish cloth KAL.  A long time ago Trudi very kindly gave me a heap of wool when she was destashing and among the wool was a bag of cotton and this bag has become by dish cloth stash until it’s all gone.  When it’s all gone I am going to try and buy only organic cotton or, better still, grow my own!  For the moment that time seems a while away as I am slowly unravelling a long skirt and knitting from that.

This is the Mid-May KAL you can find here.

Mid May Dishcloth KAL

I have just completed another soaker for Sam. I am going to write a post on how I cloth nappy as my site seems to get a large number of hits regarding this subject so that’s my aim for next week however, in the mean time, here is the latest soaker:

Finished Object Number 11 – Little Turtle Knits Hybrid Rib Soaker

Pattern: Little Turtle Knits Hybrid Soaker
Yarn: Patons Totem DK – 2 and a bit balls – approx 110g
Needles: 4.5mm circulars (to obtain gauge) & 3.75mm straights
Commenced: 21 May 2008
Completed: 23 May 2008

Notes: Easy, easy pattern, very quick to knit with 2 strands held together to obtain gauge with the Patons Totem from Mum’s stash! I knit the night weight cover as I only use the heavier covers – better dry feel and longer wearing. I have put the cover on Sam now without lanolising it – I will do that tonight but they take so long to dry in this weather and I don’t have enough “good” covers (more on that next week). I didn’t do the crochet around the legs or the gusset as Sam doesn’t need it and I found when I did it on a pair for Sophie that it really restricted thigh room (I’m not a good crocheter so I probably just did it wrong!).

Sophie and Sam have both recently celebrated birthdays and I just thought I’d post a few photos for those of you far away…

Firstly Sophie’s birthday – we celebrated it on the day before her birthday as she had an uncle, 2 aunts and 2 cousins visiting. We had a picnic on the front lawn, cake made by Auntie Ez and yummy salads and party food (this means potato chips to Sophie)! It was a lovely day, the next day – her actual birthday – she woke with Auntie Ez, had a lovely morning and had dinner with another 2 uncles, Nono and Nona. She had lots of phone calls and lots of cosmic love and kisses….she’s a lucky girl!

Sam’s birthday was last weekend and he had a lovely day although I don’t think he knew what all the fuss was about. We had lots of things on on Sam’s birthday but ended up at a reunion. There were lots of kids there and Sam had a GREAT cake made by ME! (my first effort at a decorated cake). He also received lots of lovely and thoughtful gifts, phone calls and cosmic love and kisses…he’s a lucky boy!

I wrote about purchasing a Lunette Cup here and it’s now been a few months since I have been using it. I am now finding it great to use, very simple to insert and easy to clean although I would have to say it’s not for the faint hearted! If you are in touch with your body, use tampons, care about the environment and are not afraid of your own bodily fluids this is a great option but if not, stick to what you currently use or try reusable cloth pads. I am really really happy with the Lunette Cup however my husband has taken some time to come to terms with it….strange as he’s not the one using it! He calls it my “cup of life”…. hehehe.

I find on the initial days of my menstrual cycle the drainage holes can become a bit “clogged” so I have been using liners on these days “just in case”. I was feeling a bit like a fraud doing this as one of the reasons I wanted a menstrual cup was to eliminate the extra waste I was creating so I recently ordered some cloth pads from Blessed Earth. I am yet to use them but they feel super soft so next month I will use all reusable products! Here’s to Napoli and planet Earth!

Just a shot of my current favourite WIP

it’s progressing well (I have now done the waist decreases) although I am worried I am going to run out of yarn….bought the yarn at the Mill so not sure of true length.  I have a plan though, if I run out of green I am going to do the bottom part in black or insert some black bands.  Not bad for a $20 purchase, I am going to get Simple Cable Bodice and Picovoli out of it – 2 great projects and 7 weeks of fun for $20!

I have finished the Simple Cable Cardigan by Lily Go and have loved it! The pattern was so easy to use and I made my modifications as Lily specified so it all went smoothly. I highly recommend this knit – it is top down which means NO sewing except for darning in the ends, you can try it on as you go ensuring a perfect fit and the cables and shaping add interest for me as I get a bit bored with long slabs of stocking stitch. I am yet to buy buttons for it but I am thinking wood squares if I can find them.

Pattern: Simple Cable Cardigan by Lily Go
Yarn: Cleckheaton Country – 8ply approx 800m – from Australian Country Spinners Mill
Needles: 3.75mm & 4mm circular needles to obtain gauge
Commenced: 8 April 2006
Completed: 5 May 2008

Notes: I needed to do an extra decrease on the sleeves to make them narrower (Lily suggests this in the pattern so it was easy to do) and I made the sleeves full length as I need the warmth around here! Very easy knit, fun to do and very quick. I think I should have made the waist cables start 1 inch lower as I have a long waist but I was anxious to get it completed – I am happy with it as it is but I think it would have been just right then… As always loved the fact that the only sewing was darning in the ends – really enjoy top down knitting and there will be more to come thanks to the Aussie Knitters Group on Ravelry!

I am not a photographer….sadly I am not even a budding amateur – I am hopeless at it and it is really holding back some of my posts. I really want to show you the Simple Cable Cardigan but my photos are pretty poor – I have taken about 100 (thanks to digital cameras!) and am not happy with any. How do you all get such great photos? I am still awaiting buttons and I can’t find what I want….I want square wooden ones…..7 of them….does anyone know an online source?

I want to show you Sophie’s Jumper but again I can’t seem to get a passable shot of the lace panels which are truly the most interesting part of the jumper (except when it’s on Sophie of course). I want to show you the Calorimetry I knitted for my niece but I still haven’t sent it to her (despite the fact that her mother – a mother of 3 under 4 has made and sent gifts for both my cherubs in the past 3 weeks AND the parcels have arrived one time!).

I want to show you my spinning – I am making an effort to spin a little every day and it’s amazing how it adds up. I am aiming to make a skein of 2ply sock yarn for the dyeing day at the Guild on the 1st. I have spun a skein of 250m 10WPI but it’s really not enough for adult socks – I may make it into socks for Ella to go with the Calorimetry that I am yet to send.

I want to take some WIP photos of my current project Picovoli as it looks so lovely and green (same yarn as the Simple Cable Cardigan).

What I will show you is one of the few photos of me with my babies. Pete took it on Mother’s Day when we were in Harrietville. We had a lovely lunch at the Snowline Hotel – I highly recommend it, especially if you are a skiier as they will be having some great specials over winter.

They have recently changed owners – I think there is a bit of a history with the old owners and the pub has been run down a lot and many of the local shy away – and it was amazing. We ordered 1 kids meal of chicken nuggets, chips and salad for the babes to share and they bought us 2 and only charged for 1. The 2 that they bought out were REAL chicken (as they should be) – part of the tenderloin and they were delicious! Pete had an amazing beef burger which was so fresh and tasty and I had a bowl of beer battered chips (had been sick all week and my tummy was feeling very very delicate). They gave us free drinks and when Sam knocked over Pete’s Coke they replaced it for free – it was great and we’ll be going back there again!

We had so much fun playing in the leaves…. Autumn how I love you!

Today is Sam’s birthday and we are going to a reunion…..I have made him a cake to take – a python and I am really proud of it….I WILL post some photos next week when Pete brings the cord home from work…. I find myself constantly pondering what we were doing this time 12 months ago….we were new parents all over again and it felt surreal….it kind of still does! Have a lovely day !