Moving In.

There has not been a lot of crafting, but I have managed to finish spinning my Fibre2Go on a base of 50% merino, 30% alpaca and 20% silk in the colourway Mediterranean.   It's Navajo plied and is still on the bobbin for now.

The cell doesn't like taking bobbin photos.

I've now got past the heel on Dh's first sock of the pair

Obviously this photo is from before the heel turn

I've transferred lots of stuff into the wardrobe; it's pretty chocka to as high as I can safely stack it.   I'll have to get some more boxes as some of mine are too big to fit and I'll need to put a shelf up too which I'll probably store my fleeces on.   I also have stuff on the shelf I put up above the loom; mostly coned yarn so far and there's more to put up there.

The new storage unit is full, but it's so pretty!   Downside is the sun hits it, so going to have to make curtains for the window there.

I have a lot of yarn; this is just the skeined stuff.

I'm going to have to redo the Ravelry info, at the moment I have no idea where most stuff is, but that'll come after I've made the curtains (mum is providing fabric from their lounge curtain offcuts.   I have to pick up a track, but that shouldn't be too bad if I go to The Warehouse.   Was going to go for a blind, but they're expensive for ready made and with the size of the window I think we'd have to go custom which we can't afford.   Still got stuff to go away in the new room and some stuff in the house to move out and then of course the house cupboards will need a tidy too.

Hmm, I'm not getting a good feeling about finding time to craft, especially when you add in working and needing to keep up with the normal housework.

Oh, and by the way, I wrote a piece for our guild blog about the case making clothes moth, I think it's pretty good, but would love feedback.

No Time!

I've not had time for blogging, or for knitting or sewing either.   I've done the mending pile and I have managed some knitting on T's sock, but not much and I haven't taken a photo yet either.

Instead I've finished painting the rooms, with T's help.    Sorted the kids winter clothes and my winter clothes, shifted furniture around, cleared out the storage unit and handed in the key.   Had some sod back into my car at Mitre 10; he said it was his fault (and it was, he didn't look and backed out very fast) and then told his insurance company a whole other story (lied) and because there were no witnesses we're stuck with paying another excess to get the car fixed.   His car got a small scuff on its bumper, mine lost the back light.

Today I got some more storage solutions for my room; 2 MDF shelves that I need to paint and the supports for them, as well as a cube storage unit which will be for my yarn (some of my yarn).    Once the wardrobe guy turns up things will get better in that room, but I think even then I won't be able to fit everything in straight away.    G will have to share his room with some of my stuff for a bit.

Eventually I'll have to make a blind for the window in there too, but not quite yet.    I still need to swap out the curtains in our dining room for the ones I was given, same thing in G's room which will then free up the original curtains for repurposing into blinds.

I've listed a bunch of things on Trademe, no yarn though.   It's stuff like trampoline nets (which we won't use), a pair of mohair rugs (that we also don't use as we have carpet), carseats, a gate and soon some shoes, a movie, xbox game etc.   There may also be a wooden umbrella swift to go on too; never use it as I prefer my skein holder instead.

Hopefully I'll have something to show you all next week.   Ooh, and I'm going to try doing my nails with Gel polish; bought the starter kit this morning, I'm sick of normal nail polish that chips or smudges before it's even a day old.  Apparently gel is much more robust.

ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) Day.

Tomorrow morning my eldest son and his dad will be getting up early to go the ANZAC parade with the Scouts.   They will remember those who fought to keep us free of tyranny and those who gave their lives for our futures so many years ago.

Everything his closed here for the first half of the day except the essentials like hospitals and probably petrol stations.   Some will complain, but we won't be among them; this is too important we must not forget the sacrifice made for us, no matter how many years go by.

Let us remember and honour those who lost their lives, both at Gallipoli in WWI and in subsequent wars.

Getting There

The garage is getting closer.  I've done the first coat of ceiling paint today and hopefully tomorrow will be the second coat of that and the first coat of the wall colour.   We've cleared out the deck and playhut so all that stuff is now in the garage.    Half of it will have to be thrown out due to damage from the weather though.   Nothing we can do about that.

In other news our dryer went and reached the end of its lifespan; I suspect it came uncomfortably close to igniting as it sounded awful and was hot on the front.   It's now out in the garage and we now have a new one.  I'd have preferred to get the old one fixed, but 3 years ago we were told that spare parts are no longer made for it so I knew there wasn't much point.   The new one is an Electrolux and is much higher star rating (6 stars vs 0 stars).   It wasn't cheap, but I needed a condensor dryer and you pay extra for that; definitely worth it.   I have to recommend Luke at Harvey Norman Tower Junction, very helpful and friendly.

It takes longer than the old one and has way more options than I'm used to (ours had hot or cold and a timer), pity about the budget, but can't be helped; we need a dryer in winter, especially if the wet weather keeps coming.

In knitting news I've finished my hat, all bar dyeing it.

Dipper Hat

It's so squooshy and soft!  

I've also started my next project which is a pair of socks for Dh.

Riverrun Socks

I've knit this pattern before and Dh liked it, so doing it again in a slightly tougher yarn this time.  Last time he got some lovely mcn (merino/cashmere/nylon) yarn, but he blew through the soles and this time I want them to last so he's got some tight twist merino/nylon by Wandering Cat Yarns instead.   I love the colourway, it's subdued enough to wear to work, but the little hint of green gives it interest.

No work done on my polonaise dress yet, it's something I need to be able to devote a chunk of time to and I just haven't had that recently.

Driveways and knitting

Our driveway was finished yesterday morning, the guys turned up to do the expansion cuts (at 7.50am) so now we're just waiting on next Thursday before we can drive on it.   It looks amazing and we're so pleased!

Same view as last time, doesn't it look better!

I've been priming all the wood in the rooms, tomorrow will be sealing the gib board and then I can start the real painting of the walls, and then the window and door frames.   Hoping to have the walls and ceilings finished on Wednesday and then the next day or two on the frames.  

Also have to contact the firm that did our earthquake repairs, I noticed today that the ridgeline has lost some of the cement work that they did and there's no way it should fall off that quickly!    As well as that one of the vinyl planks in the kitchen has come off the kick back area; I'm putting that down to them not fully removing the old vinyl.   I've emailed them last week, but no response so it's time to call them.   If no luck then I'll be naming them on here and FB.  They have a 5 year guarantee though so it should be ok.

In knitting news I've got some work done on my hat in Sezza's KAL, I'm not happy with the colour so will dip-dye it once it's finished.  The yarn however is yummy soft!

It's a merino and cashmere yarn by Argosy and the hat pattern is the Picton Beanie by Sezza (Sarah Ronchetti)

Once I finish the hat then I'll cast on for my next KAL which is the Game of Thrones KAL being held by Valerie of Wandering Cat Yarns.  That will be a pair of Riverrun Socks in some WCY sock yarn.

I also had 4 more skeins of yarn arrive, however these weren't recent purchases; they were part of the Pledge I took part in for Red Riding Hood Yarns.   All mine are her MCN fingering weight base and I got one of each colour she dyed

I am totally in love!

Um, there might have been yarn in the last few days

I know I'm on a yarn diet, but I'm afraid I fell off the wagon somewhat.    I had a need for something squishy after all the work and in one case my yarn was end of line as the dyer is going to stick with fibre from here on.    So here we have some squishy loves for you to drool over.

Vintage Purls laceweight which will be paired with a purple yarn from the same stable for a stunning shawl

Green for the background on a pair of sheepy socks

Originally bought to use one in weaving, but have realised I really want socks (knee highs) in this, so I just have to choose the pattern now.

Didn't realise these were so similar to the sock yarn, but this will be a Simplicity Cardigan, the yarn is laceweight.

This was the yarn for the final summer sock club, but I won't be using the club pattern (it's not me), however it is perfect to be the sheep with the green yarn!

This is the one that won't be dyed again as Anna is stopping dyeing yarn.   It will be a cardigan of some kind.

This was bought for a specific sock pattern that calls for sport weight yarn and which I didn't already have anything suitable for.  I think it's called the Red Dwarf socks.

And this is another of Anna's, which is destined to be the weaving yarn that the Vintage Purls yarn decided wasn't right for it.

Finished Object - Finally!

On Wednesday night I finally finished Ian's socks.   He wore them on Thursday and seems happy with them.   Downside is in the time I've taken to knit them his feet have grown, so they now fit perfectly rather than having a small amount of growth room!

See, just right!

I'm now working on socks for Thomas as my travel knitting and will probably be casting on another pair for him on Monday for the KAL with Wandering Cat Yarns.   The KAL is Game of Thrones themed and must use either WCY yarn or patterns; I'm using both.

I will still have limited crafting time though as I need to get painting in our rooms, however I can't do that till the driveway has cured enough to walk on.   Today we finished prep for the driveway and the garage was almost finished too.   We have moved approximately 12 tonnes of pavers and hope many of them will go to friends and family, some will be used by us and we will try and sell the remainder on Trademe as quickly as we can.

The garage now has power and phone, we have keys for my room and T's room, but not the remotes for the garage and won't get those till we get and pay the final bill (hoping it won't be too much higher than the original amount).   We will start moving in once we own it and once I've done the painting.    Can't find the drop cloths which is a problem though, have only found one; not enough, and we do need them as the carpet is also down now.    Feeling pretty happy and really looking forward to a week from Thursday when we can drive the car on the driveway!

My room with carpet, gib stopped and cutting in done with the sealant coat.

The driveway as it is now, all dirt!

Btw, what happened to all the base course that was under those pavers?   I know it was there cos we put some of it there when we relaid the whole thing.  Did the earthquakes just swallow it up?

Well, that's one thing finished!

Yesterday I took a little time off getting things sorted outside and finished my Renfrew top

Not too bad, but room for improvement.

I think next time I should try the size smaller everywhere except the hips.   This is a touch wide in the shoulders and body, but about right in the hips.

No work done on the historical costuming at the moment, it's a low priority while all the garage stuff is happening.   I did get the heel turn done on Ian's socks though.

Instead of the usual I've been moving wood, dismantling the woodshed (with help), moving earth etc.   Still have a heap of stuff to move and tomorrow's supposed to be raining.

Busy busy!

Getting ready for the new driveway is making a huge impact on how much I am getting done craftwise.   Gastro hasn't helped either, but luckily it's a mild dose.  The last 2 days we shifted the wood pile from the shed onto the covered deck.    There's still more to go, but we're probably over halfway there.    Still got to shift the two concrete laundry tubs (currently full of raspberry canes); I don't think we thought that one through properly when we planted them.

The drainage for the garage has been done, so that's good.   Hoping the gib will be put in on Monday as it didn't happen on Friday due to hold ups at another job.    I'll be painting after the stopping has been done, we have all the paint ready to go, and hopefully I can find the brushes and roller sleeves as well!

I've got a little sewing done, cut out a Renfrew top, and have put the neck facing in, hoping to get it finished this weekend all going well; kind of have to as you see from the above list of things to do

The colour is more blue than showing here.

I've also dabbled in designing; I have an idea for a tam, but there's a lot of maths involved before I pick up the needles; not to mention a change in the yarn as the one I'd planned to use has disappeared into the ether.

Almost finished the leg on Ian's second sock.

Travel knitting tends to get done a little slower.

Today is baking day as well as moving wood day.    The banana cake is done, will get the chocolate muffins done next and then it'll be time to put on the roast. 

Caramel icing I'm thinking.

Exciting enough to squee!

Our garage now has all its doors and windows!   The leaky door now has drainage holes which should make a huge difference in the next storm, the only thing we're still missing is the keys for those doors which should arrive in  couple of days all going well.   Also the drains are in which will also help.
Insulation is in, and the best bit is that it's wool!!!!   Forgive the overabundance of exclamation marks, but that makes me very happy indeed.

Thursday is the next council inspection, then Friday the gib goes up if it passes with the gib being stopped on Tuesday we hope.   Then I can start painting that weekend so it's ready for carpet and the electrician.

2nd week of April the driveway gets done, will have to find out how long before we can walk on it, and how long before the car can use it too.    I'm hoping that we'll be able to use it come Easter and if that's the case we'll then get all our stuff from storage and bring it home.

For your viewing pleasure:

Add caption

The view we'll see when we drive up, well, aside from the bins and the weeds

Still working on Ian's socks, winding wool for Strokkur and have cut out a t-shirt for me using the Renfrew Top pattern by Sewaholic.

A thank you

Last weekend my friends Joanne and Paula went up to Rotorua for the Majacraft Camp; I was (and still am) a little jealous; but couldn't fit it in the budget with the garage at its current stage.
I did ask Joanne to pick me up something nice from the traders instead with the idea that I'd reimburse her.   That didn't go quite according to plan, she did get me something, but she won't let me pay her for it (isn't that nice of her?).

So yesterday, my spinning plans got hijacked when she gave me the lovely fluffy, in just my colours!
I had been planning on continuing with my corriedale; instead I started prepping this:

From Fibre2Go on a base of 50% merino, 30% alpaca and 20% silk in the colourway Mediterranean.

I didn't get started spinning it, that's about to start in about 5 minutes, but I did get it all prepped for spinning.   I'm hoping to spin this very fine and Navajo ply it to get something under fingering weight.   It's only 34g so the finer I go the better.

Our LA-Z-BOY is back

I'm really pleased to get our chair back.  this was originally my grandfather's chair but it's upholstery was shot (it was actually disintegrating due to age).   Normally in today's dump and replace age we'd have bought a new one, but this has personal value to me.    Instead I got it reupholstered for about the same price as a new one.
Originally it was mustard and I put dark brown on the arms to cover the original fabric when it started going there.   Now it's this:

A little more stuffing I believe, but in general it's internals were in the best order he's seen in one of these.

Garage Photo's for Mum.

Garage from house end; that's my sewing room on the end

Garage from front.

Worst weather in 50 years

That's what they're calling it anyway.   Personally I don't think it's as bad as the one in the winter, but the officials say the last one this bad was in '75.   Wonder if it's because of the wind in with the rain as the wind was pretty impressive.    The street behind us flooded again, but it's going down now thank goodness.   Now they've updated it to the worst in 100 years, some really bad flooding elsewhere in town.   Friends across town had it higher than in the past, but it's all gone now apparently which is good for them!

End of driveway, higher than my gumboots (no, they're not the short ones)

See that wee street sign opposite the green car?   Whole street is under water.

This is our drain, not quite as high as last time where it was lapping at the top, but still high enough IMO

Funnily enough our very sensible builders didn't come today; there are a couple of things they'll have to sort once things dry out, but I'm actually glad for this weather as it means we found them before the build was finished.  This is most definitely a good thing.    Downside with the weather is we now know that the boys need new gumboots.   I have one pair that sort of fits both boys; not ideal.

No crafting done today, been fighting a headache and yesterday was spent tidying the craft room.   Ian's first sock is almost done though and George is showing every sign of trying to grow out of the socks I knit him a few months ago.    That boy needs to stop growing!

Challenge #4: Under It All

What the item is: 1770's linen shift

The Challenge: #4; Under it All

Fabric: Handkerchief line from Fabrics-store.com

Pattern: Used the diagram from Costume Close Up and some information from http://www.marquise.de/en/1700/howto/frauen/18chemise.shtml

Year: 1776

Notions: Linen thread, beeswax

How historically accurate is it? Pretty good really. The fabric is pretty accurate. All seams are handsewn and flat felled. Lots of running stitch and some whipstitching on the hems.

Hours to complete: I don't know, but it was a lot; so many seams with little stitches took forever!

First worn: Not worn yet, but made to go under my 1776 outfit once finished. I did have a nineteenth century shift, but the sleeves were wrong and so was the neckline for this period.

Total cost: $45US for the fabric and shipping, plus about $8 for the thread I think.

I was talking to my photographer when this was taken

 I should also show off my Red Hot Shawl on Bonnie

I think I should have blocked it harder

But it still looks good on Bonnie and it's lovely and warm too!

An Anniversary

3 years at 12.51pm today since our city got picked up and thrown around and 185 people died.   Some of us have recovered well, but many are still not mentally recovered and of course our buildings aren't all recovered yet either.
There are many people out there who are still living in damaged homes, fighting to get insurance companies and EQC to do their jobs properly, and then there are others who've finished with insurance and are rebuilt or repaired.   On that day 3 years ago I doubt if anyone expected the recovery would be this slow or this difficult.    I'm really hoping that by the next anniversary that many more people will be in new or well repaired homes, that something is done about the out of control rents so that those people on lower incomes can actually afford to live and so that there are more homes available to rent.

We're doing pretty well, the house is pretty much done, the plastering leaves something to be desired but I don't particularly want to deal with the company that did the work again so I'll fix it later myself.   The garage is all framed up and the roof trusses went up yesterday

The bones of the garage are in place

We're a test case for Skyline, it's the first time they've had to do what we're doing with the concrete blocks so they're feeling their way along with some of it.

In knitting news I've finished my red shawl ravelled over here.  Really happy with it, despite my arms complaining.  RSI is back again, but I don't think it's the knitting that's causing the issues; pretty sure it was Xbox so that's off the menu for a while.

The red is more intense in real life

Hot!

I believe it got to 35 Centigrade today, felt sorry for my builders out there in the sun.  They're doing well though.   Started on Friday and that was mostly spent unpacking and cutting stuff ready to go; plus trimming the hedge that our neighbours planted.   Saturday the younger one came and did the bitumen coat on the blocks.    Yesterday the back wall was constructed and partly clad and today they finished that wall and put up the framework for the 2 side walls.

Almost 3 walls!

While they've been doing that I've been pottering along fixing a sock

One of the stripes had blown out, it was a handspun that wasn't up to the task so I pulled that out and knit another 10 rows in a different yarn.

When it came time to join it all together I could have used kitchener stitch, but the thought of it was what had put this in the mending pile for 6 months; instead I did a 3-needle bind off.

Now I have a pair of socks back in rotation again which is nice.    Can't do this to fix Dh's socks, he's blown the sole and to be honest I'm thinking they're past redemption.  I have another pair on the needles for him, but it'll be a little while before they're ready and he's got another pair on the way out as well.  Unfortunately he's hard on socks, but he loves handknit ones so I'll keep making them.

I've also cut out my 18th century shift; that took a fair bit of yesterday as there was a lot of pulling of threads in the fabric to make sure it was straight.   No sewing on it yet, have to finish my current shawl first for the Ravellenic Games.  I'm planning on handsewing it though, with very fine seams just as it would have been done in the day; not much embellishment aside from my initials to identify it for wash day.

Aurora Australis

Doesn't look like much yet; has about 11 rows of garter stitch to go and then the border starts.  I'm using Fleece Artist BFL 2/8 in the Ruby colourway.   It is lovely, but I prefer stocking stitch to knit.   I'm pretty sure it'll block a whole heap bigger, but even if it doesn't I don't really have time for another 7 rows on top of that to make it bigger before 23rd which is the end of the games.

Once that's done then I can get back to Ian's socks, my 2 pairs of socks, T's socks and my jersey.   I want to cast on for my hat (2 different ones actually), but have decided at least 1 pair of socks must be finished first.

Gauge fail

What the items is: 1920's cloche hat

The Challenge:  #3: Pink

Fabric:  Merino/Possum/Silk yarn; Kauri 4ply by Zealana (fingering weight for those people using the US yarn system)

Pattern: Chapeau Marier from Knitty.com

Year: 1920's; it's based on cloches from the era so not exact

Notions:  There will be a ribbon

How historically accurate is it?  Probably not as much as I'd like; the pattern is "based on" not an original 1920's pattern and yarn back then definitely didn't include possum, so probably about 40%

Hours to complete:  Took me 7 days of knitting around all the other stuff I do.

First worn:  Not by me, unfortunately I didn't check my gauge and it's 5.5 stitches off what it should be over 4".   This means that although it can get onto my noggin, it tends to wander up and off fairly quickly, so it's going to be a birthday gift for our goddaughter instead.   I will get more of the yarn and try again for me on 3mm needles.   From what I've read on Ravelry the gauge is not right for quite a few people; I should have swatched, but didn't have enough yarn.....

Total cost: $11.00NZ

DS2 is not overly impressed by this pink hat; luckily it's not meant for him.

Captain America

This can't be a historical costume as I made the modern version; not the 1940's version.  The shield is still to come and at this point he'll have to do without gloves and boots due to cost constraints.

Captain America from stash.

The blue, red and white fabrics all came from stash; only bought the silver lame to make the star which cost me $2.   Took two days from cutting out to done and he'll be able to take it to Scout Camp for his superhero costume.

And now I can get back to knitting my pink cloche hat, which is 1" and the decreases away from being finished.   I've got 16g of yarn left and according to the pattern there's actually 2" left to go, but I've tried it on and 2" would be too long.  Just as well really, if I did knit it that long I'm 99% sure that I'd run out of yarn before the end.

Ian's socks are temporarily stalled on the heel flap while I concentrate on the cloche and a shawl.    The shawl is for the Ravellenic Games and is a red version of Aurora Australis which is a crescent shaped shawl and needs to be finished by the end of the Olympic Games.

My Calash

The Challenge: #2 Innovation

The Innovation:  The Calash was designed to overcome the problems of protecting a large hairdo; the idea is to protect the hair from wind and rain and it even had a ribbon to hold onto to prevent it from flying backwards in a gust of wind.   Good girls didn't snap their ribbons, but those who weren't quite so good were known to snap them to attract the attention of the opposite sex (scandalous!).   

Fabric:  Dupioni Silk (not period accurate) and linen (accurate); the silk was from old stash, the linen recent stash.

Pattern:  None, got some ideas from a tutorial, but it was lacking seriously in the detail I needed so in the end I winged it from photo's.   The outer supports are garden irrigation tubing and the inner bits are done with cotton cord pulled taught to give the wagon cover look.

Year: 1776

Notions:  Polyester thread, cotton cord, garden irrigation tube and a little ribbon.

How historically accurate is it?  Design wise I think it's pretty good, my fabric is halfway there so I'd say about 65% total.   There was some machine sewing for the channels cos I was feeling lazy.

Hours to complete:  7

First worn:  for the photoshoot

Total cost:   $8 for the linen, everything else was from old stash so no longer has a value.

It came out a little lower than I'd hoped for, but I won't ever be doing the huge hair to the extent that I'd need  a high one anyway and I'd happily wear this as it is.   I'd go so far as to say I love this thing!

New School Year

For George this started on Thursday

He's loving it so far, and Ian starts back tomorrow.   George has short days all this week so I won't be back to normal for another week.
Still been getting a bit done though.

Ian's socks are now up the heel flap for the first of the pair

I love the way these are working up, luckily so does he.

I've also prepared an old pair of socks for repair

That bit in the middle has now been removed and I'll be knitting up 10 rows to replace it and then grafting the two bits together.   The yarn had blown out on the other side; downside of handspun that wasn't intended for socks.

I've cast on for the hat, but nothing to really show yet; next post will have that for you.    Might be playing yarn chicken though, the pattern says it takes 165m of yarn and my ball has 150.   Fingers are crossed, especially as it was the last one they had in stock.

Made good progress on my challenge #2 for the Historical Sew Fortnightly though; my Calash is looking pretty good.

The colour here is very washed out, in real life it's a brilliant turquoise; think Caribbean beaches.  I'm in the process of sewing the back on at the moment, then will bind and gather the neck area before putting on the neck frill, the ties and the back bow.  I tried to follow an online tutorial, but so much was missing from it that in the end I looked at extant examples and just followed the logical path.