Despite it all I finished a top!

Despite the sinus thing I've done some sewing and I finished a t-shirt I really love.  The main fabric is merino from The Fabric Shop which I got for $10 per metre.  I had to cut around a couple of holes, but it was worth it, the colour is gorgeous!

Tunic length (horrible lighting).  It keeps raining here so all photos are indoors with no decent lighting

And close up of the neckline (and the birdie) with equally horrible lighting.

On the health front I was worse yesterday and ended up at after hours again (to those from overseas this is like a walk-in clinic I think).  New antibiotics and another nasal spray with an antihistamine and the hopes that this works.  Yesterday was horrible!  Today I'm feeling a bit more human so have hopes for the future and am about to get 2 singlets sewn for youngest.  He's not so young now, 13 this month and we had his birthday party today which went off well despite having to cancel the visit to Willowbank (a local zoo) as it was raining quite hard.  He invited two friends from his old school who now go to the new school as well and they watched Fantastic Beasts and decorated pillowcases.   I'm now all out of decent cotton pillowcases so will have to come up with something new next year.

On the knitting front I'm up to the first heel on Dh's new socks, have just started a new shawl and got youngest to choose one skein of yarn from Vintage Purls to order for a new pair of socks.  I was expecting he'd choose green, but he chose lilac instead.  Looking forward to knitting those, just have to decide on a pattern.

Dh's Barrel Rider Socks

and my Aisling shawl which is being done in a merino/silk/yak singles yarn.

Happy Birthday to my beloved! Blogtoberfest

I don't really talk about my beloved husband all that often on the blog except when it relates to what I'm knitting for him.  He does get mentioned from time to time, but not really in depth.   Well, today I thought I'd talk a little more about him and our history together.  No dates I'm afraid and I'm not telling you how old he is, but about how we met, in brief.
We met at work, I'd only recently started there and one of the girls was showing me the ropes, we needed to go to another floor for some information and Thomas was the person with the information.   She hit him over the head with the bunch of papers she had and I had an immediate "he's cute" reaction.   I asked her to set us up on a blind date once I knew he was single and he despite misgivings turned up.    Our first evening together was wonderful, he made me laugh (I snorted lemonade through my nose) and we really connected.  I knew that night he was the man for me, but I didn't say anything for 2 whole weeks which was really hard.  When I did he didn't run which I took as a good sign.   We've been together now for 20 years (14 married) come the end of the month and I still love him just as much, it's not as giddy now as it was then, but I can't imagine life without him.  Thomas I love you, even when I'm grumpy I still love you.

The day started cold for his birthday, when I came out to the car to go to work this is what I found:

Car roof

Boot

Isn't it beautiful?   Freezing cold, but it's amazing what such a simple thing can do to transform a rather beat up car.

Most of today was spent knitting.   I got 7 rows done on my shawl, that leaves another 7 plus the cast off to do.  I won't get it finished tomorrow as I need to go out and get bread, but once that's done a fair bit should be done.  I really want to get it finished before the weekend and then I can concentrate on George's quilt.

on the larger cable you can see a bit more of the design.

detail shot

 This is how the day turned out, reasonably warm (though not short sleeve weather) and sunny!

Birthday Bear!

Today was George's birthday; our eldest bear is now a big 9-year old!   It was a busy day starting with presents from Mum and Dad which I got photo's of, then the party (no present photo's there, was too busy organising).

His "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" boxset

Trying out the skateboard for the first time.

The party started when his first 2 guests arrived, then everyone started to arrive including our families.  My Mother-in-law had been asked to make fruit kebabs and instead she did this wonderful thing!

Fruit Caterpillar

I thought he was absolutely darling!   By the end of it he had a couple of bits of carrot and a grape or 3 left.   All the cocktail sausages went too as did the strawberries and most of the dip things too.
Once all the presents had been opened and the boys had had a chance to run around for a bit I started them on the decorating of the pillowcases.  We had too many as a couple of people didn't arrive in the end, but George's cousin Bradley did arrive and so did Mekhye from across the road after he'd finished his sports practice.   They all did a great job on their decorations.

George working on his self portrait

While I was heat setting them all they ran around playing with this wonderful thing that my Dad got at his work do

Enormous rugby ball; very cool

Once all the pillowcases were pressed to make sure the colour stayed put I took a photo of the masterpieces

The finished artworks.  George did top left and his cousin top right; the rest are our other guests efforts.

After lunch we went out, the plan was to check where the Oral Health Centre is at the hospital for Ian's appointment on Monday, not much warning as it was due to a cancellation.   I think I know where it is, but wanted to be sure.    We went to Comics Compulsion first to get some Christmas presents, then Peterborough St to Knitworld.   Knitworld is open for those who were wondering and although not using the full building at the moment they do have a decent stock there and I might have come home with some Mithral and some John Q for the stash.
If you're in Christchurch and need/want yarn do pay them a visit; I suspect with where they are they're probably not getting as much business as they used to and we really don't want to lose such a valuable resource.

Definitely open, the door is around the back, fairly inconspicuous, but has the Knitworld sign over the top of it.

A selection of yarns, this is the heavier weight section and you can see the Brother and Singer sewing machines

My favourite section, sock yarns.  The one second from left on top is one I came home with; Merino/Possum recycled.

Needles including Knitpro; my favourite brand that they stock

Pattern books and more yarn.

The lighting in the back of the store isn't great, but blame that one on Feb 22nd, it's not their fault.   They still have the couch in the middle of the store so you can sit and knit or peruse pattern books.   Outside the store there's a lot of empty lots and damaged homes.  One looked fine from one side, then you went down the road and looked back to see no side wall; the brick firewall had gone completely.  It's very sad.  I did take some photo's but I might post them tomorrow; really tired after today and just want to sit and blob, or maybe knit.

Speaking of knitting, I've done 29 rows on my Baby Surprise Jacket and I'm loving the way the handspun yarn is looking in it.  No photo of that yet, maybe later.

Birthday plan for an almost 9 year old

We let George plan his own birthday this year, I was expecting an afternoon party with McDonalds or possibly TimeOut (local video game parlour), but no, he chose at home.   6 friends and the family with a treasure hunt and general play around in the garden.
In the treasure hunt they'll be looking for pegs and the reward is going to be a small bag of homemade Russian fudge, a whistle, balloon and a mini Pinky bar.
George also wanted balloons, party blowers, homemade chocolate cake (with strawberries on top), chips and burger rings, cookies (I still have to make these), cheerios (cocktail sausages), and tomatoes.  Thomas will make popcorn too.

We're also going to be decorating pillowcases.  I've got the pillowcases and also the crayons to draw on the pillowcases, I also have a lovely steam press which I'll use to set them before the kids go home.   I think everyone will enjoy this and it's something lasting to take home instead of the usual stuff.