An exciting day!

We've finally got the heads up from the bank that EQC has sent them a cheque for our claim.    This means today has been a round of emails to our chosen repairer, the garage company, the EQC guy who's been so helpful and also phone calls to family to let them know too.   Yay!
Just have to hope that the council don't get too overzealous on their fees, but we won't know that till everything is in.

I've finished painting for the moment, at least outside.    We've decided to pay someone to paint the bits we have access issues with (on top of the roof and the conservatory and the big gable), luckily I have a second cousin who has a painting firm and he can fit us in around other jobs, and he has his own scaffolding.  We've agreed to his terms which are less than getting scaffolding up so hopefully in a few weeks our neighbours will have a much nicer outlook.

Old colour, this bit is going to be done by professionals

New colour which is much nicer to look at as well as not chalking!

No painting today as I was looking outside at this:

Very heavy rain!

Definitely autumn now I think.

So today I've been knitting on Dh's sock, will have to try it on him when he gets home as I suspect it's close to the right length.  Downside is I'm going to run out of yarn, really hoping that a lady on Ravelry has some left over, she's going to check and let me know tomorrow, keep your fingers crossed for me!  Photo's to come on the sock when it's on the foot.

I also did the next item on my Historical Sew Fortnightly, it's a soft entry really but something I needed.

Workbag in 1913 parlance; today it's a project bag.

I used the tutorial from In Color Order but changed the sizing a wee bit to make it a better kniting bag size.   It's bigger.   I only bought the ribbon and the lining fabric to finish these as with the bigger size it needs more than a fat quarter to make the lining.   I'm keeping the top one, the bottom one is a gift for a fibre swap. It's nice to have finally used some of the Beatrix Potter print as I do love her work, but had nothing suitable to use it for.   Might have to make some more of these, I also have some of Mary Cicely Barker's Flower Fairy fabric to use.

An Important Reminder and Some Photo's

It suddenly occurred to me that with daylight savings finishing everyone should be changing the batteries for their smoke alarms.  I did ours last week, but make sure you don't forget, it's probably the most important thing you can do this week.
Also make sure you have a smoke alarm in each bedroom, and the hall.   At the moment we have one in the two bedrooms being used as bedrooms and one in the hall, none in the living areas as it's all open plan and burnt toast sets it off.   Once the garage is built we'll put one in the third bedroom as well.

If you've not changed those batteries yet, stop reading and go do it, the rest of this post is about the Bloggers Connecting weekend, it'll keep until you're done!

Bloggers Connecting:

It started on Friday evening with the Craft Love Festival on Hills Rd.   I got into the parking area, did about a 5-point turn to get out again and parked on the street, the carpark was full, and messy!
I ran into a couple of stall holders I knew from elsewhere, Hannah who runs Locket (balloon balls) and a mate of my husband who was supporting his wife at her art stall.   Had a wee chat with both of them before spending a little money at two other stalls.

Lovely covered buttons

Bird brooch

Owl pendant by Once Upon A Time

I wore the owl pendant on Saturday night and it felt right with my 1913 outfit.   No photo's of that I'm afraid, didn't get one taken myself and haven't seen the one that I know was taken on Dropbox yet.
On Saturday morning I got my name badge from Roz, I love the fabric flower!

My name tag.

The Saturday morning sessions were definitely worth going to, I learned quite a bit from the technical one which was the one I was down for.    There will be some changes on the blog once I've finished painting the house.
Saturday afternoon I went to The Make Cafe for lunch, met Mum and gave her the next lot of yarn for George's vest and bought some fabric.

Echino border fabric

Echino bird print.

Both fabrics are Japanese on a lovely linen/cotton blend.   I love the quality of their fabrics, but this is the first time for quite a while I've seen a print I really love.    The top one will be a skirt or sheath dress, the bottom one probably a project bag for my knitting.    Speaking of which, I got a fair bit done on Thomas' sock which I was there.

Loving this sock.

There's wet weather coming so I think there will be more knitting and sewing while I can't paint, not exactly unhappy about that.
Sunday we met at C1 Espresso, I think in some ways this was my favourite day, it was still structured (breakfast, sightseeing) but was easier for me to mix with people.   Possibly because I was more familiar with who was there by then.   I took a heap of photo's from the top of C1 as well as lots while walking around but I'll only post a few.

C1 Espresso, with Alice in Videoland

Detail on a building across the road, mostly ugly building, but love the art deco decoration on the top.

A bit of art work next to a dilapidated building, look, it's knitting!

I think this is my favourite photo, it's an old drain lid next to a tree root in the park

Upside down buildings!

Our poor dilapidated cathedral

The ladies in the middle are our group dancing, Miriam was having a lot of fun

I did dance for a short time, but the music wasn't my favourite and having the camera bouncing up and down was most uncomfortable.   I need to have a go some other time with no camera and some music by Fun.
I did enjoy myself, had some really nice conversations with different people, many of whom I'd never met before despite my natural tendency to being a wallflower.   Nice to meet you all, hope everyone enjoyed the weekend too.

A Blogging Weekend

I'll do a proper post later, need to get to do work now.    To sum it up in a few words:

fun
noisy (64 women gets quite loud!)
interesting
overwhelming at times (due to my social ineptness most likely)

Overall I enjoyed it, I was the first to leave on several occasions including at dinner last night.    I made an effort to connect with people which was hard, but rewarding.  I think my favourite day was today when we started at C1 Espresso, ok, I didn't enjoy the early wakeup on what's normally my day to sleep in, but it was more casual and mixing seemed to happen better for me.   We had a really nice walk around town looking at what's left of our buildings and seeing the new stuff and the gap fillers.

I think it'll be in Auckland next time, not sure I'll be able to go, but I know everyone will have fun, even those who are more comfortable in small groups will still enjoy themselves.

Be back later with photo's, including what I bought on Friday night at the craft market and also what I bought at The Make Cafe yesterday.

Claiming my blog on Bloglovin'

I'm still using Google Reader, but for just in case I have to take my head out of the sand I thought I'd better claim my blog on Bloglovin'.
Follow my blog with Bloglovin

This weekend!

I can't believe that Around The Table is starting tomorrow!    I've had a wee bit to do with organising it, but not really much.    I dropped the baking off this morning, gave Kirsty her name tag yesterday and was on Stuff yesterday looking absolutely stunning!    I have no idea how I pulled that off, but obviously that red lipstick suits me and the peacock jacket is one of my best colours too.

I'm looking forward to it, but at the same time I'm nervous, this is definitely taking me out of my comfort zone.   There's a part of me lamenting the loss of a weekend when I could be painting, but at the same time I know I'll enjoy it.    Tomorrow evening we start at a local craft market which should be fun, then meeting at Miriam's house for tea and then supper (we provide our own tea, supper has been organised).   Saturday there will be conferences where we can learn more about blogging, the tech side and also making money from our blogs (that'd be the day!).   On Saturday afternoon there are some crafty options or we can go to a cafe to sit and chat (I'll be knitting at Make Cafe), then Saturday night is dinner at Winnie Bagos.    Sunday morning is at C1 Espresso before everyone goes home.   We've people from elsewhere in NZ coming as well as quite a few Cantabrians; should be a great time.   

I guess for any of our visitors who've decided to read my blog I should post a wee bit about me.

I'm an introvert, I have a husband who is more social than I am (not hard) and 2 sons whom I love dearly.   I knit, especially when in new situations (I'll be knitting on the weekend), my knitting is I guess my safe place and stops me becoming overwhelmed.    I also spin, embroider, garden, DIY, sew, read and quilt.    You might have noticed most of those are things I can do by myself.   I do go out most weekends to a spinning group though, so I get some adult interaction aside from time with my beloved husband.
I never seem to have enough time to do everything I want to, mainly due to family, work and computer.    I can't do anything about the family impact (and nor do I want to), and work must be done for some strange reason, however I'm slowly working on reducing the blogs I watch and the emails I get, hopefully making some more time that way.

Better be off, got work to do now, trousers to set up ready to sew and children to pick up from school.   I did at least get the accessible caulking done on the eaves today, that's one thing off the list.   Haven't heard about scaffolding options yet unfortunately which means the inaccessible stuff is still inaccessible.

Craftsy again

I almost wish they'd stop doing sales, it's not good for my bank balance!   However, tomorrow (Monday US time) Craftsy is running a Surprise Sale tomorrow, Monday - 4/8/13 and ALL classes are priced between $9.99 and $24.99. That's up to 75% off original prices! But this deal only lasts one day!
Please use my link to Craftsy's sale as it'll give me a credit I can use to buy more Craftsy courses, or possibly more other stuff though their affiliation programme.    Not that I need more craft stuff, but there's always want!

Speaking of which I went out today and got some sewing supplies for my trousers.    The ones I'm basing this on only used red and white ribbon down the side seam, but I decided I'd go a little further and use red white and blue.    I also got 8 white buttons to put on the front and finally managed to work out what they have behind them on the picture.   I now need to cut out two tabs to sew them to, no biggie and will be more authentic than simply sewing them on the front in a line.

I've put Ian's socks on hold for a short while and cast on a pair of socks for my husband instead, Ian did after all get the last thing I knit so I think it's Dh's turn, that and a test knit came up for a pair of socks that will be perfect for him.   I'm testing the largest size, will try them on once I've got the ribbing done to make sure they're not too big.   I'm using Vintage Purls sock in Elwood which is what Thomas chose from the options I gave him

I think it's going to look fabulous, but I'm not sure if I can show you photo's of the socks as I go or not so I'll check first.

Craftsy's Spring Sale is starting

From 05th April US time to 8th April a different set of Craftsy classes will be on sale each day with up to 75% off their normal price!    If you're interested please use my link to Craftsy's sale as I will earn a commission which would be nice for my own Craftsy classes, lol.

In other news I'm not knitting or sewing much the last few days as I've been getting the eaves of the house ready for painting.   2 coats already done on one side of the house, going to start side 2 this afternoon which will then leave another coat there and then the gables and sloped eaves.  I'm not prepared to do them without Thomas at home to keep an eye on me for safety's sake.

I have finished a couple of things before I started the painting though.   Ian's slippers were completed yesterday afternoon:

Green felted slippers.

 He loves them so much he took them to school this morning.

I've also finished my fur collar:

I think it really pulls the whole outfit into 1913

Detail of the decoration at the ends of the collar.

My next sewing item will be trousers for the "By the Sea" challenge.  I'm making a pair of wide-leg navy trousers with a sailor look to them based on a pin I found.   I'm using the same 1940's pattern I used for the jacket, but the main alteration will be a turn up cuff; not sure this is a good idea as I have short legs already but it'll make the end result look more authentic.   I think the fabric is a cotton blend of some sort, nothing dissolved in the bleach anyway so it's not wool.
I'm also knitting a pair of socks for Ian during waiting times (my travel knitting) and working on my Central Park Hoodie as well; I really need to get that finished!