It's the end of the world as we know it, but I feel fine

At least for the moment, aside from high stress levels of course, but there won't be many people out there without stress issues right now.
I am still having health issues, but things are slowly improving, my cubital tunnel issues aren't improving for some reason but I'm also low on estrogen which might be affecting healing and inflammation.  I'm seeing a physio, though next week it's a different physio as mine came into contact with someone with Covid-19 so he's stuck at home for 2 weeks; assuming he doesn't get it.  It's possible I may be referred for further investigation, but who knows how that'll work with the current situation.

I'm still knitting of course, but this year I only tried to get in as a cheerleader for Sock Madness rather than a team; a team would have caused greater injury, so not worth it.   I've also been sewing, but the dress I made is now awaiting next summer to get finished, it's a touch snug right now but I don't want to make adjustments just yet.

1st Sock Madness sock, size L with 7 repeats of the pattern on the foot; so much larger than required, but it fits youngest.

My next projects will be more workout gear for me as well as casual trousers for Dh and sweat pants for eldest in a merino sweatshirting to keep him warm at school.  He's now in Yr 13 so doesn't have to wear uniform any more; he just has to look tidy.
I'm also going to do more work on the chair, a friend at guild has some cotton wadding her father bought 45 years ago and she's giving it to me to help out; if I bought some it'd be way too expensive so she's a lifesaver.  I have one horsetail, but can't get any more, the business I got it from (our cat food shop) is closing down so instead I'll be carding it with wool and keeping my fingers crossed it works.

I'm still cycling, but have taken a few days off after getting a cold, no one else in the family has it but me.  It's relatively mild but blocked a tear duct, haven't had that happen for a while, don't want it to happen again.  I've been massaging it and using colloidal silver to help clear things up and it has improved.  Looking forward to getting back on the bike.

On the Covid-19 front things aren't too bad here in NZ yet, our borders are pretty much closed, people who've come in from overseas are self-isolating (mostly, there have been a small number of tourists who were a bit cavalier in their attitudes and got caught out by that) and as far as we know there's no community transmission; we're all hoping it stays that way but of course there's a fair chance it won't.  Supermarkets have been hit with the stupid panic buyers.  I was lucky enough to be able to get everything we needed for the fortnight by going to 3 different places yesterday and got a wee bit extra to see us through a touch longer if needed.  I didn't go overboard though, got one bag of flour, not 2, the usual amount of bread etc.  Gatherings over 100 people indoors are now prohibited, guild is still meeting tomorrow, but I suspect that may go on hiatus for a bit shortly.  My husband's Judo club has closed down for the moment; not a sport that can do social distance easily, plus they have kids classes and don't want to spread it that way either.

One thing, the yarn community and also now some of the sewing community have been offering patterns free to help people stay sane while they're stuck at home; I thought that was a wonderful idea so I also put my one and only pay for pattern up free till the end of the month; hopefully it will help someone else stay sane through this.
Lace Chain Baby Socks the code to get it free is "AsWeKnowIt" without the quotes.

Sewing and knitting

I've got stuff cut out, but the weather has now turned cold and it's all summer stuff; it'll now be put on hold till next spring in the hopes that I'll be feeling healthier and that the fit will be better too due to my new diet I've lost a little weight.

I have done some sewing though and some knitting, I've finished 2 pairs of socks for Sock Madness and cast on a 3rd, and I've made Dh some undies.  Unfortunately the pattern doesn't suit him well, the cuffs are too tight (tree trunk legs from judo) and the top band isn't firm enough and rolls down.  This was the SUAT Mens Boxerwear pattern, I'm going to try a Jalie one next.  Much as I love SUAT's women's undies, my shape is rather different from DH's and not all pattern companies work for all body types.

Excuse the wrinkles, they'd been stuffed in a drawer; he won't be photographed in them so this is the best I could do.

On the knitting front here's the socks so far.

Smock Madness for Ian's enormous feet.

Demogorgon's Lair (fraternal socks for me)

Echoes with help from Ray

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.

On Health

A step backward.   About 3 weeks ago I went down with a cold, courtesy of eldest who brought it home from school.  I thought I'd got over it, but seem to have some sort of viral complication, last week I had what felt like palpitations, the after hour place confirmed it wasn't (thank goodness), but it made me feel very unwell, and then on Sunday while I was on the Xbox I got a repeat of my funny head thing I got 2 years ago after a cold.  No visual disturbance this time, but the fizzy and off centre feeling head is back.   I've not gone back to the doctor for this, after over year going back and forward to them I got no answers at all.  I've booked in to see a balance physio in the hopes she can help instead.  Going by it being post colds both times it's more than likely inner ear, and of course the MRI I had didn't point to any causes for it either which helps set my mind at ease, even if it doesn't help my symptoms!  I've not been on the Xbox since.

Next week is busy on the health front too, back for another mammogram to check out an odd breast symptom; probably nothing, but you don't leave this sort of thing.  An MRI to check my rectocele in preparation for getting that surgically corrected and then my lipoma removal.   Mum is coming along to the first and last appointments, I'm very blessed with my mum.

I'm also starting a candida diet, I've bought 3 books, but the one I'm following is the Candida Crusher one by Eric Bakker who is a NZ Naturopath who's been treating candida patients for 25 years with a lot of success.  This week and part of next is the first step which is called Warm Turkey, you basically remove all the bad stuff from your diet slowly and then move onto a Meat, Vege, Egg, Yoghurt diet for 3 weeks or so before adding a few more things in carefully and starting the supplements to kill the candida slowly and replace the good bacteria.  None of it's cheap of course, but it's one of those things I need to do if I'm going to get healthy again.  Exercise will be starting again too, it went on hold while I wasn't feeling well and although I'm still not right, I have got back into the housework and a little rowing to hopefully help me feel better.

Oh, and the reason I think I have candida?  The list of symptoms matched me very closely, I have most of them, I had oral thrush as a baby and I've had problems with thrush most of my adult life.  Also add in being on the pill for a very long time, having had 2 babies, some very strong antibiotics and my very sweet tooth all pretty much guarantee I have it.  I really want to get past this, to get healthy and I don't think I was truly ready for this earlier.  Now I am, and Dh has said he'll support it as long as I keep exercising, this I can do, exercise is part of the programme anyway!

The good thing about all this sitting around feeling sorry for myself?   I've been weaving and knitting a lot.  The dining room loom is now empty and up on Trademe to find a new owner, which means Mairi (my Macomber loom) is closer to being fixed up and set up.

My fabric which has been fulled in the washing machine and made from carpet wool

 It will become a bag, the pattern is already bought, I'm making the Vivian handbag by Swoon Patterns

I also finished the plain socks for Ian, he's now worn them for 3 days straight and I'm going to have to steal them in order to wash them!

And last, but not least I'm now partway up the leg for my socks too! 

 The socks are my final WIP, I've frogged the big shawl.  I just hated knitting with the yarn too much to ever finish it, cobwebweight yarn is too fine.  The yarn will be something beautiful on a loom one day instead.  This means I can start my next project with no feeling of guilt, I need a cardigan!

Whoops, forgot about the blog!

I've been busy dealing with Scout fundraising, exercising, trying to get my diet under control (was doing well till a week ago when I fell off the wagon), dealing with a crook back and doing some sewing and knitting.

On the weaving front I've got the 8-shaft ready to do the final tie up, just have to get a warp on her.  The warp is ready to go, my back isn't.   The back issue is I think due to cutting out fabric and possibly my adhesion issues as well.
I'm doing my exercises to help it and seeing a Bowen therapist as well as planning on going to a myofacial release massage therapist (not the physio I'd been seeing) and probably an accupuncturist as well, but not all at once, have to do what I can afford.

On the sewing side of things I have cut out 2 pairs of waterproof trousers (both for Dh, but one was too small, so they're mine now), 1 pair of culottes for me, a shirt for me, sweatshirt for Dh, a zip up sweatshirt for G and jeans for me.  I've finished the 2 pairs of waterproof pants and started the sweatshirt for Dh.

The multi ones are Dh's, the black are now mine.

I've also got plans to make a 1745 outfit based on the Simplicity Outlander pattern.  I've not got a plaid as I couldn't find any I liked this winter, but I do have a pinstripe wool for the skirt (don't know if it's HA or not, but it looks good) and I'm going to use the green velvet I was gifted for the jacket and the stomacher.

On the knitting front I've finished a jersey, a pair of socks, cast on a hat, planned for a cardigan and won enough yarn to make a jersey in some alpaca/finn blend which is coming from the US, can't wait for that to arrive.  It was part of a KAL called the Fall Sweater Challenge.
The colours are naturals and it should look wonderful when finished, I'll either make another Strokkur or this pattern:

this one depends on whether I can get gauge.  If I can the main colour will be a dark brown and the contrasts will be cream and a lovely oatmeal.

I finished these socks for Dh, Ribby Socks

Wound 970g of yarn into two enormous cakes for a future project

Chose the yarn and pattern for the Fall Sweater Challenge, this was chosen before I won the yarn and will get started first, as soon as I finish the hat

And this is the hat which I'm knitting in the leftover yarn from the next project

This is my wonderful (and now well worn)  Eased jersey.   All in handspun on different bases (merino and Haunui from Heavenly Wools)

My other project is this lot.  I'm going to grow some sprouts for my summer sandwiches and I've got pea and sweet pea seeds to plant as well as a mesclun mix.

I might also have spent more time than ideal on the Xbox, but I enjoy it and I offer no apologies for this, except possibly to my knitting.

Woolfeast

Today was Woolfeast, the first large trading day with traders from all over NZ and a heck of a lot of knitters and spinners etc.  I popped in first thing this morning and there were tonnes of people already (it opened at 10am).  I went in with cash and came out with yarn and other things, no cash left and I might have used the card for a couple of items as well, which I now have to pay for from my spending money.   It was worth it though, we've never had one before, but I suspect it may become an annual thing; I certainly hope so.

I got to meet new people, some of whom I knew from Ravelry including Doe Arnott, one other parent from the boys primary school (that was cool), some I don't know at all, but it was easy to talk to everyone despite my normal reticence.  Also saw a lot of people I knew from guild.

And here's the haul:

Clockwise from top left:  Maniototo Wools Aran which will be knit into a coat for me, Chiao Goo Mini's (really wanted these), Knit Pro Blocking set (wanted these for some years), a Doe Arnott Corriedale batt, Zauberball which I'll use in weaving, Outlaw Yarns Bohemia Sport for knitting the Zelda Shawl by Truly Myrtle, Dark Harbour Merino in light fingering, Spinning a Yarn merino/silk fingering, Vintage Purls DK for socks for Dh, Hollyberry Yarns in a gradient for socks for me.

Next two pays my spending money will be going to pay for the final bits from this, I won't need much else though, just some silicon dots and a double boat shuttle.  Will be either taking lunches to guild or coming home early to eat.

Challenge 4: Gender Bender

The idea with this challenge was to make something either for a member of the opposite sex, or something for yourself that was inspired by clothing for the opposite sex.  An example of that latter would be a riding habit with military inspired trim.   I had originally intended to make myself something, but with George needing the cowboy outfit I decided to make him a vest in the style that was worn in 1870ish.

Leather vest

What the item is:  A lined leather cowboy vest

The Challenge:  Gender Bender

Fabric/Materials:  Leather from stash and a very incorrect piece of polyester for the lining and back

Pattern:  Burda 9812 altered to be more period correct (removing darts for a start)

Year:  Somewhere in the late 1870's to 1880's

Notions:   thread

How historically accurate is it?  From what I've seen the pattern probably isn't far off, George didn't want it to fasten or to have the faux pockets which may mean it's less accurate than it could be.

Hours to complete:  Probably about 6 hours to cut and sew, another 2 to trace and adapt the pattern.

First worn:  Will be worn next weekend at Scout camp along with the chaps I made last week.

Total cost:  The lining fabric is ancient and the leather was the third of a set of 3 skins that cost me around $20, so probably around $10 total?

So that's my next Historical Sew Monthly item finished, the next one is May's holes challenge.

Knitting:

I'm working on my Sock Madness starting pair, needs to be finished by midnight on the 14th (not NZ time, so I have longer) and I'm less than 40 rows off being done at this point, hoping to get close to finished tonight 

The yarn is Vintage Purls in the colours from  my mitts that I finished not that long ago and the pattern is exclusive to Sock Madness at the moment.

Once the socks are finished I'll get the shawl Missandei finished, I'm over halfway through the knitted on border so it shouldn't take long.

See, almost done!

On the recovery front I went backwards slightly due to overdoing things (I don't learn apparently) so have taken some time out from exercise to let things improve again.  I'll start biking again this week, 5k rides for the week and then work up again.

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!

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.

Wool Lover Blog Hop

 

I've been waiting for a while to be able to show you this.  When the blog hop first came up I wasn't sure if I wanted to take part; what would I make?   I agreed to do it before I had any idea what I was going to make.  Many knitting projects take too long and spinning while fascinating to watch often results in a skein that looks better in person or once knitted up.    Felting is not something I'm good at and nor is crochet; though I do make a mean dishcloth in cotton. Cotton though is not what was needed for this hop so I kept thinking.  Sewing was an option and I did have a possibility for making a shawl for my historical outfits, but then the latest installment from the Vintage Purls Winter Sock Club arrived and all my problems were solved!

Each winter there is always a colourwork pattern in the club, several times these have been socks which would have taken too long, last time was a tam which would probably have been ok, but this time was the cutest thing ever!

May I introduce you to Bunnybags aka Miss Moneybags.

Yarn is leftovers from other Vintage Purls projects; in its prior outings this yarn became a pair of bug socks and a pair of bug mittens.   It's lined with 100% wool felt and sewn into the frame with wool too.

The inside, not as neat as I'd like; never sewn one of these up before and it was quite awkward.

The bottom, this is a moss stitch derivative; ignore the crumb, not sure what that's from.

I knit this in the round using stranded colourwork; one colour in each hand.   It is steeked (a narrow area knit with the intention of cutting the yarn).

  I've really enjoyed this journey for the Wool Lover Blog Hop; here's the schedule for the rest of the posts in this hop; please go visit everyone and leave comments; there will be some amazing items!

Here is the schedule:

Monday, September 23

CJ Stitching and Blooms

Negligent Style

Sweet P

Reluctant Quilter

Racie Baby  (me)

Patchouli Moon Studio

The Raspberry Rabbits

Tuesday, September 24

Marla's Crafts

Secretly Stitching

Marjorie's Busy Corner

Sew Many Yarns

Val Spiers Sews

Quilted Crow Girls Design

Wednesday, September 25

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Wooly Red Rug

Chic n Fish

Maria do Carmo (Pieced Brain will be hosting!)

Selina Quilts

Sunshine Quilting

Thursday, September 26

A Quilt and a Prayer

Kat and Cat Quilts

http://rosebudscottage.typepad.com/

By The Bay Neddleart

Sugarlane Designs

Sheila's Quilt World

Friday, September 27

Hallbrook Designs

Karen's Quilts, Crows and Cardinals

Mummzy Stamps

Meadowbrook

Friendship Crossing

Fryeber

I did quilting!

I got all the ditching done on George's quilt today, tomorrow I'll stitch round the edge of the border to keep that in place and then I can start doing some free motion quilting.   I'm pretty happy with how it went, the spray baste did a wonderful job, no layers moved around and there are no puckers on the back at all!

My yarn arrived for the Frau Holle Mystery KAL today, I've already cast on as it started this morning.  

Which beads should I use?   I need more than I have, but not sure if I should go green or bronze.

I'm leaning bronze I think, possibly because they're available from a bead shop in biking range, but I do rather like the contrast too; never used contrast beads before.

Tomorrow is the beginning of my next weekend as a sole parent as Thomas is off to Judo.   Hope it goes well, Ian has the birthday party in the afternoon and I'm thinking George and I can head off to the storage unit together for the painting gear.   I'll also get more done on the quilt and maybe even some spinning or knitting.   Though I should really do something about cleaning the kitchen floor.....

Paint Samples. Blogtoberfest

This morning while getting the veges I dropped into Resene to get some colours for doing the eaves of the house this summer, and the gables too.  Normally I'd get my paint from there, but this time although I'm getting the samples I'll get the paint I need from another shop as I have vouchers to use.   Pending the results of the test pots we'll be using Parchment for the eaves to replace the cream that's mostly gone (it's not as dark IRL) and Stonewashed on the gable to replace the camel colour that's currently there.   I really hate that camel colour and the Stonewashed is more of a taupe which should look much nicer.  

We've also got the quote from Fix-It that will be presented to EQC which no doubt they'll argue about, only a couple of minor details not quite right and I've let them know so they can adjust them.   Will be interesting to see how that pans out when EQC do get here to go over everything.  We know they won't agree to everything, despite the fact that it is all due to earthquake damage.   In any case I'm hoping that before the end of summer we'll be sorted on that front and that we'll have done the painting, we can't do the gables till the EQC work is completed, but that's ok, paint will keep.

In other news I spent the afternoon before school pick up knitting and I cast off the Orchid Thief 30 minutes before school got out!
It's now blocking on the lounge floor, but I'll shift it to the conservatory before bed so the cats can't get to it.

Hard to get a good pic at night with the flash, but she's beautiful.   I'll weave the ends in once she's dry.

Now to decide if I'll work on Breakwater or Central Park Hoodie next.   CPH is much older, but Breakwater will be useable in summer which CPH most definitely won't be!

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!

Yummy - finally! Blogtoberfest

The last two days I've been trying to get some Salted Caramel Macarons and failing miserably.   This morning I got to The Colombo at 10am and had to wait a little as they hadn't arrived!  So I popped into Spotlight to look at fat quarters.  I backed out pretty quickly, when you can see the cardboard through the fabric it's not good fabric.   The stuff on bolts had enough starch on it to walk out of the shop without assistance if it was that way inclined.
So I went back to Jaime les Macarons and waited, after a wee bit I left with this:

5 in there, I ate 4 and the boys and T shared the final one.  I regretted that later, lol.

I then went to The Art of Sewing and came out with some fabric to fill some gaps in my quilting stash, all fat quarters and will be used in the Patchwork Prism quilt that's in the planning stages atm.

Yellow, brown, green and orange to fill those gaps.

After I got home I worked on the quilt back, I'm really happy with this

It's too wide (that's our bed), but it'll work well for the back of George's quilt after some trimming.

I also got 3 rows done on the shawl, all the beading is now finished and I'm now on row 100.  I have decided that a change of needles is required as it's getting very cramped on the current needles, I need a longer cable so I've got that ready to go.    No spinning today, ran out of time, but I'm happy with what I got done.

Tomorrow, more knitting I think after the boys hit school and maybe some baking for Thomas's birthday.

Hemming

Hemming is one of my most hated jobs, I don't know why but I just don't enjoy it at all.  Today I did 2 hems for me and 2 for my Sister-in-law.   The two for me were both machine sewn, hers were hand-sewn and all were completely appropriate for the garment concerned.

2 machine sewn hems, one a full circle skirt, the other moleskin jeans.

Then I moved onto piecing for the back of George's quilt, done the first lot of jelly rolls, but my shoulder was a little unhappy so I stopped machine sewing after that; I've learned to listen to my body nowadays and this way I should be able to do some more tomorrow without pain.

Needs pressing, but I'm saving that till the next lot is done.

So then I moved onto knitting, I was in the mood and the boys were occupied on computer and x-box by then so I could do lace without interruption.   2 rows of pattern and one plain purl were achieved which was fantastic.

Little blue beads, pretty.

Tomorrow I'm going to pay a visit to J'aime les macarons for the third time in the hope that I might get lucky and get some salted caramel macarons.   Last 2 visits they were sold out.  I know I'm supposed to be giving up sugar, but I have done really well and cut down drastically, no hot chocolate in 2 weeks now.  A little icecream has snuck in though I'm afraid.    If I do get any of the macarons tomorrow I'm probably going to be horribly selfish and not share.
Tomorrow I'm also planning on more piecing for George's quilt, I'd like to get the back finished, I can't actually baste the layers together till the lounge is clear of children.   I will also try to get some more done on the shawl.

Oops, cast on! Blogtoberfest

Busy day again today, Thomas went off to Wellington and then rang me to say he'd forgotten his pies which were still at work in the fridge and wouldn't cope till Monday.    That had to wait though, first we had the guy from Fix-It around to go over the Scope of Works to see what needed to be done.  He picked up a few things we hadn't noticed.   So things are definitely in motion, I emailed the Opt-Out form to EQC today as well.   Not much else I can do right now, just wait.  It does feel good to have things started though.

I got 2 rows done on my shawl, I should have got 3 done but unfortunately having to go and collect the pies cut into that, and I can't even get revenge by eating them, cos they're all curried; ick.  Never mind, the first row of beading is in and it looks pretty, unfortunately I left it till now to take a photo and it's dark and the flash is useless.

See, beads!

Since I couldn't concentrate on the shawl tonight (need TV on to stop from hearing boys settling) and I couldn't see well enough either I cast on my Goodale in the hand-dyed yarn I created especially for it.

Purdy!

I'm changing skeins every row at the moment as they're both so different from eachother despite being dyed in the same pot of dye at the same time.  Unfortunately I don't have a short 3.75mm circular so I'm doing this on a long cable and magic looping, I know it'd be easier on a shorter one, but can't justify spending on needles at the moment when I have something that will do the job.

Tomorrow is the first day of Labour weekend, Thomas has his judo tournament so I won't see much of him.   I'm planning on trimming the boys nails and hair (not a fun job), knitting, sewing, spinning and possibly some baking too.   I'll have to do a cake to celebrate an important birthday, but that can wait till Monday.

8.6 k's! Blogtoberfest

That's how far I went on my bicycle today!  I popped the panniers on the back and put all the information for the new garage in there before heading off to Durasteel to get a quote in process.   I should have the quote by the end of next week and tomorrow will be the discussion with Jay of Fix-It as to how things go ahead and what he thinks is earthquake damage that we haven't picked up on.  As well as the Scope of Works I have a list of my own.  Might have to give Skyline another call as well, get their quote from March reworked.

Got most of the housework done, mended T's judo gi pants and did the ironing too.   I still have a pair of trousers to turn up the hem and my full circle skirt to shorten by 3".   I'm not fond of hemming so have been putting it off.  Will do it on the weekend though as I will have another pair to do then.

I did get some knitting time though, finally got past row 88, have in fact finished row 90 and will start beading on row 92.

The beads I'll be using.

I also got some piecing done for the back of George's quilt

Isn't it pretty?  This will be running up the middle of the back of the quilt from top to bottom.

I've got a sore throat now, Ian's been winding me up all afternoon.   His spelling was like pushing the proverbial uphill, then tonight he's been stealing food and then jumped up and down on George's bed and has snapped one of the slats.    I love him, but right at the moment I don't want to see him again for a while.  Anyone else feeling that way about their kids at the moment?   Damn, I need sugar right now and there's no sweets in the house.