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 !

I was reading Our Patch this morning after being referred there by a Fregie Sack customer and I really can’t believe that I haven’t read it before.  It’s a lovely blog but made even more so for me by this post.  It has inspired me so I have joined up Kiva and made a donation.  Now I know this sort of thing is not for everyone but if it’s something that appeals to you I urge you to go and have a look - for $USD25 you can make a difference to someone else’s life (really all it means is buying one less t-shirt a year for example).

This is the person I am supporting with my micro loan of $USD25.  Her name is Iysha Crosbie and Iysha would like to purchase a bed and bedding, medicines and sanitary items.  She is a midwife and that is close to my heart - I can’t imagine what she must go through in her job!  I always had the support of a tertiary hospital, experienced obstetricians and midwives and women living in the Western World with (most likely) healthier diets and monitored iron levels.

Anyway, if you have the time and inclination, jump online at Kiva

When I donated this morning Iysha’s loan still had a long way to go to being fulfilled but when I just looked it had been fully funded!  It’s great!

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!

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

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….

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…..

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!

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! 

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!

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!