Leave the kitten alone!

I've been telling the boys that this morning for when she gets back from the vet this afternoon.  Smokey has gone in for her op so that she becomes an 'it'.   I know George will leave her alone, but I think I'll have to be extra vigilant with Ian once she's home as we don't want her getting hurt with the way he picks her up.   It's not too bad normally, but with an incision it won't be a good thing.
George wanted to know if we could go and get a puppy now, I said not until after Smokey has recovered from her op!

Going to the Animals Mummy!

That's been Ian's cry for the last few days even when he's been at school.   So this morning we finally went to Willowbank and he got to see the animals!  He got to pat a wallaby, horses, pigs, a flemish giant rabbit and an ostrich.  It was a good morning, unfortunately I realised halfway there that I'd forgotten the camera and it was too late to go back by then.  We'll go in the Easter holidays too though so hopefully I'll remember then.

We dropped off at PGG (Pyne Gould Guinness) on the way back and I picked up 30 netlon bags so I can start washing my Merino for my course.   So much easier to deal with than delicates bags.

Not been knitting a whole lot, too busy playing an Xbox 360 game.  I have managed to finish the first sock from my handspun though and the second one is 2 rows in.   I love them!  I'll post a photo once I've finished the second one.  I'm also into the main part of the sleeve for my Central Park Hoodie with Viking cables.  I'm doing both sleeves at once which means it's taking slightly longer but at least both sleeves should be the same.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Been a busy week this week.   Monday I spent cleaning and tidying.  Tuesday Mum came over and cleaned my kitchen up as it was apparently "disgusting".  DH didn't notice any difference which didn't please Mum too much, but it definitely looks better.   The next couple of days were spent doing work and the mending pile.
I now need to cut out pyjamas for the boys and myself and make a new bean bag.  
Yesterday I went to the guild and got another 2.5" done on the sleeve of my Central Park Hoodie, it's going to look fab!   My sleeves are my tension pieces and before I cast on the body I'll be washing and blocking them to ensure all is ok. 
When I got home the boys and I did some gardening, so the area in front of the lounge is cleared of weeds and planted with Cabbage palm which is like a kale, corn salad, bright beets, purslane and carrots.   Hoping they do well for winter.
Then Thomas and I went out to the movies while my SIL, Raewyn looked after the boys.  George had written to her asking her to look after them so we could have some time out.  Isn't that sweet?   Anyway we went to Avatar again, but the 2D version this time and still really enjoyed it.  So that's 3 times now!   Nothing else on atm really appealed though.

Today was busy too, workout in the morning at the park, then washing out, then mowing the lawn which was hard work as it was long and I'm using a push mower.   Then did the dishes and I'm now working before I do my Wii workout in 30 minutes.   I think I'll be glad when today's over!

The promised photo!

shetland displayed
Originally uploaded by sewsable

Here it is in all its glory. I love this shawl! Going to have to knit more shawls definitely, might do a couple for family if I can get myself to let them go. I have plenty of yarn though so I should be able to get a couple of them done easily enough. Only downside is that we've now chosen to make the Christmas gift giving a draw in my family and I'd probably get Dad. For Thomas's family no gift giving to siblings or parents, the nephews won't appreciate them either.
Still, I don't really need Christmas to give my female rellies something nice. Better work out which shawl to do next, though I know I'll be doing an Ishbel in green for someone.

More knitting, a shawl is done!

No picture yet, but there will be once it's finished blocking.  The most beautiful Shetland Triangle Shawl from the Interweave Wraps book in my handspun Silk/Merino/Cashmere.  I didnt' use all the yarn, and it's bigger than I thought and beautiful!  It's pink which is not a usual colour for me and I added some beads to the edging and I'm very very pleased with it.
I'm just doing some carding now to free up my favourite mini table for balling up the yarn for my next project.  I'm going to be doing a Central Park Hoodie (CPH) in Naturally Sensations Navy.   I've had the yarn in my stash for a couple of years now and I saw one done by Sheryl (Shortly on TNN) and I thought I had to do that too!   After that comes my Vivian by Ysolda Teague, got a call today to tell me my yarn has been dyed so I'm picking that up tomorrow.  I'll post a photo of that too when I get it.
I'm a knitaholic!   However, I really need to do some sewing soon, the boys need winter pj's and so do I.  They also need new woolly singlets which I'll sew from Merino fabric; their current ones are rather too short.

Silk Necklace

Necklace
Originally uploaded by sewsable

My last Ravelympics item which I knitted in about an hour from handspun silk (navajo plied). I love this! Still have some yarn left so that'll be knitted up into a shorter necklace I think. Good thing is I can change the donut easily so it can be changed to suit what I'm wearing.
I'm thinking I might do 7 rows instead of 9 to make it narrower and maybe try 100 stitches instead of the 180 the pattern called for on the next one.

A snowball fight in February

Who knew?  Ian decided my ball of sewing up yarn was perfect for snowball fighting this afternoon.  So after helping me make pikelets he proclaimed a snowball fight and we threw the ball at each other for a while.   It's currently 27.6 deg so just as well he chose a snowball that wouldn't melt.  
All the animals are finding the heat trying.  Ducks are under their tree panting, sure they have water, but it's in the sun so they're staying out, guinea pigs are pitching tents in their run (little newspaper tents) and Smokey the kitten is sleeping and not eating a huge amount, too busy waiting for things to cool down.
I wish I could do that, I'm working atm with lots of Merino Possum on my knee, and before you ask, yes I've reduced my claim time by the time spent blogging.

My More Ribs than a Condom jersey is finished!

ribby
Originally uploaded by sewsable

Finally all done, not blocked, but it's finished as far as I'm concerned. Tried it on this morning, took it off quickly as it's going to be a hot day so will be wonderful in winter.

Aside from that it's been hot here recently, 30 deg and occasionally more! Boys have been on the slip n slide and in the pool and I'm not looking forward to doing my work, but I have to tonight.

Also getting ready for my next yarn swap (3 actually), have just sent off for the yarn for my shawl swap. It will be dyed to be sent off when it arrives and not yet sure which base I'll be using. I got oatmeal and silver. Currently using my warping board to set up a 3m skein to make a striping yarn for socks. That'll be half of that swap and then I'll do 100g of a DK in the same plan.
Final one is already dyed, had it in my stash for a while, was done using lemonade, lime and orange kool aid. This is for a lady's daughter who doesn't like pink. It's a nice fresh looking yarn and should suit a little girl nicely. It's a bulky yarn though, so not enough for a dress, just a hat or something.

Blueberry picking

After I got home from spinning yesterday we went blueberrying with the boys.   Had a great time despite the heat, both boys enjoyed it, especially Ian who outpicked his brother.   I ate quite a few last night for pudding and even the not quite ripe ones were yummy.   We got almost 2kg; quite a bit went into the freezer and the rest will be eaten over the next couple of days.
We then went to Hallensteins out at Dressmart Hornby and got DH 3 pairs of shorts, and the boys a t-shirt each (t-shirts were size S mens!).    George chose Transformers and Ian wanted a more random print.  They're a wee bit big, but not as bad as I expected.    I got an icecream which I shared with DH.
This morning we went out for our usual boot camp, scootered there and back, so got a total of 1h40m exercise, and this afternoon I'll be doing my workout on the Wii, so I'm well and truly doing the good work.

Thursday coming will be interesting too, going to see a hypnotherapist to see if she can help with my spending and sugar addictions.   Fingers crossed.

ingenue blocked

ingenue2
Originally uploaded by sewsable

Finally it's all finished and looks and feels really nice. Almost looking forward to winter, almost.
Started a shawl (Shetland Triangle) and a pair of socks (broadripple). Both in more handspun and both are looking good so far. Will post WIP pics later, the lights starting to go now.

Ingenue is finished!

This picture is unfortunately unblocked, but it's currently blocking and used approximately 1005m of my stash. Once it's blocked I'm going to get DH to take another photo and show that off; the sleeves should block to length.

On another tangent I've been doing exercise on the Wii using the EA Active system and it's working well. I've ordered the second disc and the Wii Fit set including the board to keep things moving. I've lost 500g atm and expect to lose more, especially since I'm eating less as well. Actually enjoying it and I've noticed I'm finding it's easier to do the running part.

I've also booked in a session with a hypnotherapist to try and sort out my spending problem, downside of course is it costs $100 per session and I'll need 3 or 4 sessions. However if it works (no guarantees), it'll save us a heck of a lot more than that!

Ravelry Stash

Just finished updating it and I have 253 types of yarn, 106464.8m and that's only the ones which I know the metreage on.  There's a whole lot I don't know how much is in a ball so that just makes it worse.   I have way too much vintage purls sock too, lol!
At least I can work out now if I have the right yarn for certain projects which is nice.

The menagerie increases!

Our menagerie from top to bottom.  Left is Jay (drake), right Sam (hen), next down is Sonic (grey) and Chris (brown) the guinea pigs and bottom is Smokey (female kitten).

Smokey arrived today, no charge till Friday when the vet gives her the first lot of shots, worms and flea treats her. That's going to be $93.50! She's 8 weeks old and will get fixed at 3 months.  We won't be contributing to the kitten problem in Christchurch, no matter how tempting a litter may be.  I got her for DH, but it wasn't a surprise like I planned cos his sister had asked him if he wanted a kitten and he assumed I'd got one through her (was actually a friend of their brother who had kittens).   I had already organised Smokey from Carolyn's daughter (Katriana on TNN).   When she arrived she was shivering through fright I presume, but I think she's starting to adjust.
Ian wants her to sleep in with him, he's insisting she go to bed.  He's getting quite vociferous about it.  Smokey has taken refuge on DH's shoulder temporarily.  He'll get her on his bed when she's old and big enough to cope and when she's fully house trained.  She has used the litter box once for a wee which was good.

She's very cute, it's a bit harder with Ian's refusal to understand her need for space, tomorrow will be interesting, I can see time out coming up if he won't leave her alone.

Guinea pigs again

We picked up a new baby boy guinea pig today.   I think this one could be considered a rescue piggie too.   His undercarriage was soggy and mucky though he looked healthy enough.  She did say he'd been in with 6 other piggies in a small space and even with cleaning twice a day she couldn't keep them clean.   Poor thing doesn't know what to do in a decent size cage.  We introduced them in a neutral place as suggested on a piggie forum and aside from some mounting all was fine.   They're now outside in the cage and the cage has been reinforced so the local cats can't get to them (I hope).   Will go out in the morning and hope that Sonic (the newbie) has settled in and is eating and drinking well.   The whole cage is currently covered to stop the rain getting in, but still plenty of room for air movement.

On another pet-based note, DH is getting a special surprise tomorrow.   Another small furry animal will join the Crosbie clan, a wee girl kitten.  I think I'll let Ian name this one and we can present Thomas with his new pet.  My dog will have to wait, after all this expense with new animals we can't afford to get a dog as well.   The kitten will need fixing yet as we don't want kittens.

Boo Hoo

Our grey agouti guinea pig died this morning.  DH thinks a cat managed to get a paw in a gap in the cage that I hadn't noticed.  He was barely nicked, but must have died from shock poor lad.  He's been buried with full honours and now we need to find another to go with his brother Chris.  They don't cope well alone so we'll have to see if we can find a baby to introduce and bond in a neutral spot.
It's really sad, he was a rescue guinea pig and the idea was for him to have a new and happy life with us, not a short and frightening one.  I didn't even get a photo of him :(.   One odd thing, next to the wound on his neck I found a sort of worm like thing with a pointy end and a blunt end which had obviously been having a good feed as it was full of blood.
Not really a good day, I also lost one of my brolly pads for the boys beds.  It must have blown off the line in the sudden gale we had and gone sailing off like a kite.   So only 2 left for the 2 boys and we can't afford to get more atm.   They're not cheap!   
Also spent the day stacking wood for the winter, that's another reason we can't afford more brolly sheets, $500 for the winters wood kind of puts a crimp on things.

Kitten turned into guinea pigs

We actually went into the SPCA for a kitten, but they were out, going back on Wednesday for another go at that.  We were planning GP's anyway, but babies not adults.  They had no puppies either.    They were very glad that we took the GP's, everyone takes the rabbits, but GP's are easier in some ways.  They don't climb or dig so we don't have to use mesh on the bottom which is good.2 boys according to the SPCA; George has named them Chris (I keep thinking Crisp) and Shadow.  Chris is brown and Shadow is a grey agouti.    Apparently they are rescue GP's and had rather a bad start in life.  They're currently out in the ducks old house with a board on the bottom of the living area so they don't get the damp rising while sleeping and lots of straw for warmth.
I think when we get our kitten we can call our place the menagerie  :lol:
No hay yet as neither of the feed places I visited were open so had to go to the supermarket.   On Monday I'll be able to get hay which is a staple in their diet, getting low on duck feed too so more than one reason to go.
Will try and take photo's tomorrow, they're currently in their run covered in an old curtain so they can get some calming rest time.   It's been a very exciting day for them, including an unscheduled run in our lounge when Ian tipped them out (I was gettting their run fixed up).

alpaca-silk

alpaca-silk
Originally uploaded by sewsable

I finished this vision of softness on Friday evening, it's 606m of baby alpaca with a touch of silk; I'm hoping it'll work for a whisper cardigan. I've more to spin yet, but I'll check the pattern shortly, I really want to make it from my handspun and this just seems the right yarn if it's the right weight. I think they use laceweight, but I'm pretty sure it's used doubled which would work out about sport weight; which is what this is.
Wish me luck!

Freeranging ducks

They're finally out on the lawn. Most of the day they've been keeping close to the kids pool, so they've spent very little time in their pool. I think they've forgotten how to get to it tbh. They've been eating grass and a little of their normal food, but not doing much else. The wild duck flew in 10 minutes ago and they've been following her around like their god just landed; very funny to watch. She flew across the lawn as Thomas was picking up the kids toys to keep them away from duck doo and they had a wee moment of panicking about where she'd gone. She then landed and they waddled as fast as they could to get back to her. Will be interesting to see what happens when she flies out for the night.

As well as that yesterday was my birthday. The boys weren't very well behaved, but aside from that it was a good day. I know I have a Wii coming, but it won't be here till new year, I scored one from 1-day.co.nz for $399 new. Very pleased, downside though is I found out afterwards that Thomas was going to get me my dog; aarrgh! I was convinced it'd never happen so it hadn't ever occurred to me that he'd do that for my birthday. It'll happen at some point now though so it's just a matter of when. I want a puppy that I can train not to chase the ducks.
We also went to the movies that night and saw Avatar in 3D again, love that movie. I will definitely be getting it when it comes out on DVD. One of those movies that you wish the world created really existed. I loved the Na'avi.

Last day of the year today here in the Southern Hemisphere. I have a couple of new years resolutions.
1. Exercise more, a run each morning so that when we do get a dog I'm fit enough to cope and also so that my tummy reduces.

2. Drink more water

3. Spend less, I'm planning on going to a hypnotherapist to help with this, I figure that if I spend the $300 or less on that and it works, it's well worth it.

Happy New Year everyone!

Ducks out

Day before yesterday I went out to feed the ducks after a sleep in, somehow Sam had got out and was the wrong side of the wire fence. Had to open up one side of the fence and then she panicked and got herself into a corner. DH ended up picking her up and popping her over the fence. I've shifted the pool now so hopefully she won't do it again.
Jay has now started moulting so I'll be collecting feathers to clean and then us in an art yarn.

On a slightly less ducky note. On Saturday night we went to see Avatar 3D, I enjoyed it so much we're going again for my birthday. Got to get the tickets tomorrow hopefully. Mum and Dad are going to babysit the boys. They know how late it'll get out, and while I wouldn't say they're happy about it, they will cope.

Charlie's mitts

Charlie's mitts
Originally uploaded by sewsable

Yippee! These took 2 days to finish and I used kitchener stitch for the first time so I'm happy with them. One had a wee whoopsie and I'm hoping that it doesn't cause problems later. There's a little fray check in there (blush).
Charlie lives in Waimate with his Dad and 2 older brothers and it gets cold there in winter. These should keep his hands warm while still letting him get into everything.