Bugs up and a review

A quick photo of my socks, just got up to the gusset increases, really going to try and get them finished today but there are other things to do as well so it's possible I won't quite make it.  I do love these socks though!  Hopefully I'll find my sock blockers before they're finished; I know they're somewhere in the craft room....

I received my swap from Germany today too; Gudrun has been a very generous and crafty lady.   I got some Lindt Chocolate in I think vanilla and summer berries (not sure it's all in German), some lovely Czech glass buttons, a necklace that she made herself which is very nice, a fulled bag that she also made which is lovely and a skein of hand-dyed sock yarn in my favourite colours!

Isn't it lovely?

Review of Interweave Knits Fall 2010
I'm not going to put photo's on here as I'm sure they'll be on Interweave's website, but I thought I'd go through it and say what I think of the various patterns.

Brattleboro Hat: this pattern is actually from a new book called New England Knits.  It's a simple hat and rather nice, but could do with being a little lower over the ears; I know mine would get cold and after all the main purpose of hats of this type is to keep your head and ears warm.

Alpen Socken:  A pretty sock with a twisted stitch pattern, I do like this, but there are other twisted stitch patterns out there in the sock field that make me drool.

The Proverbial Cap: This is more like it for length, it's basically a beanie with some twisted stitchwork on it, I probably won't make it but it's a nice hat.

Barvarian Tulip Mittens: Nice enough, but not really inspiring to me atm, once again twisted stitches are on the back and it does have a decent length in cuff which is nice to see.  I'm into colourwork and true cables atm though so it's not pushing my buttons.

Lietmotif Cardigan: Is a horizontal knit from a centre back provisional cast on, I like the fit but it wouldn't be warm enough with no overlap on the front here in NZ come Autumn.  Would look nice for summer though.

Hawthorn Pullover: I can see this one in handspun, it's all cables and a slim fit which is nice.  Not sure about the boat neck, I can feel the breeze sneaking down there already and I'm not even wearing it!

Plein Air Tote: What were they thinking?  It looks like she took the couch squab cushion cover and stuck handles on it; it's so deep that her keys will never be found again so she can't ever put it back where it belongs (on the couch).  Knit some of these if your couch cushions need recovering, it would look fantastic there; as a bag?  Um, NO!

The Point Gammon Pullover: This is for a man and I have to say it's a good jersey for a bloke.  Lots of cables with some interest in the middle panel but not frilly at all.  This would also look good in handspun and I could see my husband in it in a rather larger size.  That guy is skinny!

Inversion Gansey:  I love this, lace, fitted just a couple of things I'd change.  The sleeve length; 3/4 sleeves are a pain and possibly take the neckline in a bit on the shoulders, I'd feel like it was falling down all the time as it's a touch too wide.

Cloisonne Jacket: Very sweet, love the colourwork on it and the lace at the bottom is a nice touch.  I can see me making this in handspun again, though probably not in the colours they've used; brown is not really me.  Funnily enough the 3/4 sleeves I think work on this, but would be better a touch longer so they don't end so close to the hem of the main body.

Leyfi Pullover:  Another one that's worth making, lace and shaping make for a very flattering jersey.  They've knitted this with a strand of Cashmere laceweight held with a Merino singles yarn so would be very luxurious too.

Running Stitch Skirt:  Nice enough I guess, but pretty basic.  If I'm going to be knitting a skirt I want something with a bit more oomph.  I won't be knitting this one.

Pizzicato Scarf:  It looks like a fishermans rib scarf to me, doesn't do anything for me at all.

Sea and Sky Shrug: This is beautiful, would be fantastic in handspun yarn.  Nice ruffled edge is feminine without being over the top; would be great for those autumn outdoor weddings.  I'm going to queue this one.

Breacan Swing Coat:  Nice shape, but I don't really like the oversized plaid in large yarn; if you're not as skinny as the model you'll look like car upholstery.  Knit plain or possibly with a colour that blends rather than shouts it would be rather nice though.

George St Pullover and Cowl:  I like the look of this one, nice and simple, but with interest in the yarn overs.  It needs to be longer in both body and sleeves and then it would be almost perfect.

Family Pillows: I'm not a pillow girl but I quite like the bolster style one, the others are a bit too bold for me.

Slanting Plaid Stole: This I'd knit, it looks simple, but effective.  Would be lovely and warm and very versatile.  I think the finished look would be all in the yarn choice; something with a little sparkle or sheen for evening, the alpaca used makes me think of reading in front of the fire at home.

Elementary Vest:  Nice shape, love the colourwork and I think if a touch longer this would be the perfect vest; going into my queue.

Peavey Jacket:  Can't see any man I know wearing this, just looks sloppy to me.  Just cos I like colourwork doesn't make me like this.

Chiral Cardigan: I like this, the assymetrical neckline and closure looks nice; I think I'd go with different buttons though, flowers are just too little girl for my taste.  I can see this one working for handspun yarn too.

Williamsburg Cardigan:  This doesn't fit very well, makes her look like she's big in the hips and it just hangs.  They do call it oversize and it has some nice features but not wearable IMO for anyone who wants to look shapely.

Tamarix Quilt: I'm not a baby blanket knitter, but this is cute; it makes me think of pieced quilts and I think if I was going to knit a baby blanket this would be it.

Hoarfrost Mobius:  Very pretty, but unfortunately I've never seen stainless steel/wool blend yarn here so I think I'll just admire from afar.

Arching Cables Jacket:  To me the porportions on this are wrong, I think the waist fastening needs to be lower making the body longer and the sleeve length is wrong too; not sure but I think it needs to be a lot longer.  Not planning on making this one I'm afraid.


I guess that's my review done, some nice items, some not so nice ones but overall not as good as some of their older magazines.  Mind you most mags seem to go through a phase of not being so good before they come back really well, so here's hoping they'll do their comeback soon.

A tale of yarns and shoes

I finished Lilac and Linen on Friday night, it's a 3-ply fingering weight which is what I was aiming for.  The fibre was Merino/Nylon pin-drafted and is rather lovely.  Should make beautiful socks once I've finished the current 2 pairs on the needles.

The weekend held good and bad; Thomas and the boys came into town with me on Saturday while I went to the guild which was good, the bad was that the boys weren't quite as well behaved as he'd hoped so I had to leave a little early; nothing bad really more high spirits but considering they almost ended up with Ian under an SUV I think Thomas made the right decision.  While at the guild I got a reasonable amount done on my first ever colourwork socks; these are being knitted using stranded knitting and just 2 colours.  The pattern is Bug Out which is the second Vintage Purls Winter Sock Club 2010 pattern and is just yummy!

 I'm so glad I managed to get into the sock club, I was really hoping for a colourwork design and I got exactly what I wanted!   I'm enjoying this so much that I'm already planning my next project which will be a hat in Jamiesons Shetland Spindrift, then a vest in Jamieson and Smith's Shetlland Jumper Weight and then my Henry VIII.
Getting back to these socks though, on the left is the top of the sock.

On the right is the bottom, you can just see the squashed bug starting to emerge; isn't that just great?











After we left the guild we went to get shoes for the boys, George's old sneakers were pretty cheap and you could tell, they were literally falling apart.  This time instead of Dowsons we went to Hannahs and got the boys each a pair of these:

They're New Balance sneakers and both boys love them.  Ian's in size 13 and George in size 1, they were marked down to $49.95 from $69.95 and I really hope they last well.   If they don't then it's back to cheap shoes for the boys again.
When we got home Ian got into his Dad's Judo Gi; perhaps  a little too big?  He really liked it though, pity he doesn't listen when we try him at a class.  George does Judo on Monday nights but he's only recently started getting it and tonight is testing night so we'll see just how much he has been listening!

Saturday night Ian wore his second pair of new pyjamas for the first time, I'm really pleased with these, they're so cute!

Still a bit big atm, but that's not a bad thing for a growing lad.

Sunday; the usual boot camp in the morning and she pushed us hard!  The boys were playing on their scooters in the skateboard ring and having a blast which was good.  Bacon and eggs for lunch; yummy.  In the afternoon Mum rang to say they'd be coming over as she's finished George's new jersey.  Now George has recently decided he doesn't like wool as it's "scratchy".   However it's only scratchy if he knows it's wool; he has some wool singlets, the cream ones are scratchy (Merino), the marled grey ones aren't (wool, but not Merino) so I don't think it's a true wool allergy; just a perceived one.  When Mum arrived with this jersey however it was immediately labelled as "not scratchy"; do you think he likes it?   The colour really suits him; it's a discontinued Ashford Tekapo colour called Tartan.  It's got an argyle looking pattern on the front and back with the way the pooling has worked out and fits him quite well, a little growing room in this too.

Once Mum had handed this over it was time for her to get the knit I'd made for her.  This is Swallowtail knitted in a hand-dyed 100PureWool laceweight yarn, the colours are light enough that they'll go with most things and despite Mum having said on another occasion that shawls weren't much use she loves this one.   The really nice comment was made of "Gran would be really proud of you".  Gran was the ultimate knitter in our family, lovely even work and churned out a lot of knits in her time for us and also to sell.   He colour sense was a little unusual, but there was love in every stitch; just like there was in Mum's new shawlette.
I was planning on holding onto this till Christmas, but it'll get used now seeing as it's winter so I decided to hand it over now; I can always make something else for Christmas if I draw Mum.





2 more photo's to come, the first is of the wonderful fibre swap that arrived here this morning, this is from Kate in New Plymouth.  Thomas will get the chocolate, I'll drink the hot chocolate and needless to say I'll be spinning and knitting the fibre; it's very nice indeed, and there's some very cute wee flowers that I think were crocheted.

Last photo is one I've been trying to catch for some time now, but Smokey always seems to have finished her investigations by the time I finally get the camera.  Here she is though, washing machine cat!!

I don't know what the fascination is, but she does it with the dryer occasionally too; funny cat!

Yays and Boos

Yay the DVD player is finally fixed!   It went in on the first week of the school holidays under its extended warranty and was finally done yesterday afternoon.  The laser unit needed replacing and there were none in the country so we had to wait for the slow boat from Japan.  Currently watching City of Ember with Ian, it's his first movie for a bit.  He's been really good this week so I decided to let him watch, that and he's sneezing stringies (boo) atm so we can't go anywhere, have cancelled his horseriding this afternoon and may have to cancel the gym as well.  Don't want movies over the weekend though as George has lost his Xbox, Movie and Computer privileges for the weekend. 
I'll be getting some work done today, but probably not a heck of a lot else.  Hoping to cast on for my Bug Off socks this afternoon if we do get to the gym though, really looking forward to them as it's my first colourwork item ever and I think I can manage continental knitting now.   Here's the yarn for it

I'm also partway through my Spiral Birdies, the yarn is Handmaiden Casbah sock which is lovely.  I've had a compliment from the pattern designer about my choice of yarn; the pattern came with yarn from Vintage Purls, but I could see the yarn in lace whereas the pattern said it wanted a more variagated yarn so I went with this yarn.   It is fluffing a little, probably from the Cashmere component, but it fits perfectly!   I'm just starting on the gusset increases atm.

I'm also starting to reduce clutter a bit, selling some of the kids toys that don't get played with; any money from that will be saved towards giving Ian a new booster seat for the car.  Will also be going through all my stuff in the sewing room and hopefully reducing that slightly.  Have already donated a little fabric to school for their wearable arts program; looks like I'll be doing some sewing for that too, they need some balaclava type things for the kids.

Speaking of sewing I've finally finished the boys pj's and one set for me.  Still 2 more to go for me and then I can do something a little more interesting; I want a long skirt with petticoats to keep warmth in, probably something from one of my period patterns I think.  Here's Ian's pj's, he hasn't worn the other pair yet so I'll post a photo of them once he has.

Duck Free!

Girl duck is currently on her way to her new home where she'll spend the first week in the barn in sight, sound and smell of the other ducks, but not in with them.   Her food, oyster grit etc has gone with her so she should be well served and happy (assuming she doesn't die of shock).  She didn't want to be caught but cornered herself after escaping into the larger enclosure so I had to carry her over 2 fences to get her into the cat carry.  The moment she was in there she calmed down though which was good, considering she was calling for her brother quite a lot last night  My boss will keep me posted on how she goes; she's a good healthy duck so should be fine.
Both boys have said goodbye and know she's being rehomed (not killed and eaten); Ian went to visit her when he got home today and said in a sad voice "you destroyed a duck".   George asked when we'd be getting more ducks; the response was "never".  Now I can get started on rescuing our section.  
Now, back to our normal broadcast....

My next post will have some spinning and maybe some knitting; got to get dinner on now so not just yet.  I'm partway through my final bobbin for a 3-ply Merino/Nylon sock yarn and am really looking forward to seeing that finished.   I gave away a skein of my handspun earlier today too, it's going to a lady on TNN who's just recently adopted a wee Downs baby.  2-ply BFL light fingering in browns and pink; should be well received, but I can't be there for the party so a friend is taking it for me.  It was very hard to give up, but I couldn't give away an inferior yarn and no doubt it'll get knitted or crocheted rather quicker there than it would here.

Duck rehoming and giveaway site

My boss rang back and she's picking up girl duck tomorrow; I'll give her the rest of the food too and she'll borrow our cat cage to transport her.  Phew, glad that's sorted.

Now the giveaway I did earlier this week was noticed by Giveaway Scout (http://www.giveawayscout.com/) who are a giveaway search engine. Their users subscribe to receive updates on the latest giveaways on the web. Add your blog and your giveaways will be exposed to thier large network or users.  I'm going to be joining, I won't be doing a huge amount of giveaways but I figure if I go down the selling of hand-dyed yarn/fibre trail at a later date it's a good way to introduce my work; that and I like the feeling I get when I give stuff away.

1 duck down...

That was harder than either of us expected. I did thank him for his sacrifice before we killed him. Boy duck is now all sorted; the killing part was harder to do than we had thought it would be.  DH did the killing, but the duck didn't want to die; apparently he was likely dead pretty quickly but he didn't look dead, those automatic reaction things are rather disconcerting.  Was a bit traumatic for our eldest boy who was in tears; we've let them go on the Wii this afternoon while I finished so they didn't watch anything else going on.  Hoping that he won't have any ongoing worries about the duck.  He knows we're going to find a home for the girl, probably a friend (my boss) who has a farm and runs ducks on it already.  I definitely don't want her to suffer and she'll have a good home there.  No way we can kill again when we know we're not as good as we need to be; although I know practice makes perfect it's not something I see a need to perfect atm.  If she can't take her then I'll put her on Trademe for someone else to add to their flock.
No photo's I'm afraid, didn't want to take any when the children could possibly end up seeing them.
Plucked him as I wanted to keep the feathers, but there's still lots floating around the yard; that took ages.  Some stuff I'd read said 10 minutes to pluck, took me an hour with DH's help.  Couldn't get all the lungs out so ended up removing the legs, thighs, breast and wings to cook and disposed of the carcass.   I was quite surprised at how little meat is left on a duck when you're done; lots of fat though and a huge amount of feather.  I was rather pleased at how I managed to get the rest of the innards out without breaking the bile duct or anything though.

End result; I am not a killer, though at least now I can say that I could kill to eat, but I'd rather not.

Going to do some work now I think and maybe some spinning later.   Hope there's a good movie on tonight.

Just a quick post

Webfrau has contacted me so her yarn will be on its way on Monday, got some more spinning done today too; course is finished aside from the paperwork so I can send that off on Monday as well.

Tomorrow, hmm.  It's hopefully D-day for the ducks.   They're handsome birds, but gosh are they messy!   Our lawn looks like a swamp and it's getting hard to find a suitable spot for the guinea pigs to snack on with the poo and damage they've done.   I think we're going to break their necks; he's going first and I'm keeping his feathers.  Will have to set up a big pot to dunk him in so I can pluck him easily; wish me luck cos it's the first time I've ever killed anything and I really don't want to come out of this with nothing.  A duck dinner would be at least some return.

No TV for children

It's day 6 of no TV till 6pm for the children and I think it's starting to be accepted by George at least; he didn't mention it today.  Ian's still presenting me with DVD's but is getting better about putting them back when I say.
They will probably get some TV on Saturday, though the likelihood of console games is fairly low.  Ian's lost Wii for kicking George in the face; George has lost Wii and Xbox for continuous eating of cat biscuits despite being warned.
They did both help me with tidying the house this afternoon though.  George emptied the dishwasher and put the washing away while Ian helped me put the toys away from the lounge and get the floor clear so I could vacuum. Afterwards Ian played with his marble run game (I put it together for him under his direction) and then played racing games with his marbles, very cute.  George is busy reading Asterix books atm; his favourite books.
Ian is doing really well at school atm, was a little distracted today but other than that he's fine.  His first full Thursday at school tomorrow; yippee!

Oh, and while I remember, our ducks will definitely be dinner soon, just need a Saturday evening where it's fine and we'll be getting started with the help of a  couple of websites.  Thomas will help, but I'll be doing the killing and plucking, not sure what the boys will think but it'll be up to them if they want to help or not.

And the winner is...

Webfrau after my eldest George did this

That was the prep work of writing out all the numbers ready to make the draw; and then he did this:

Congratulations and Webfrau I need you to contact me on sable@xtra.co.nz (I'll remove this link as soon as contact is made) so I can post you your lovely skein of Vintage Purls sock yarn.
Thank you everyone for participating and I'm sorry I couldnt' give away 51 skeins, but there's just no way I could make myself do that even if I had that many.

The boys and I made

buttter
Originally uploaded by sewsable

butter! Started in a jar, but it expanded a bit too much so we shifted it to the food processor and they found it fascinating!
There was absolutely no tv today so they had to find other things to do; we made waffles after this but I need to find a better recipe; this one was a little stodgy. Thomas liked it though.

Good spinning done this morning, but I haven't figured out how to do more than one photo from flickr so I'll post that later for you. Got to go to bed now, maybe get in a couple of rows before I go to sleep (don't tell DH)

Vintage Purls Giveaway

Well I've been saying I'll do a yarn giveaway and after some stash diving I've come up with this lovely skein

 It's "In the Navy" and is a nice deep dusty navy semi-solid yarn.  Would make lovely socks for a man or woman and I'm finding it really hard to give it away!
In order to enter you need to leave a comment on this post; I'd love it if you followed my blog as well but you're still in if you don't.   I will send anywhere, but it will take a little longer if you're not in NZ.
ETA:  I will be closing this off on Wednesday 9am NZ time.


Oh, and here's a gratuitous kitty photo, the cage is around the fire, not a bird luckily, but isn't she gorgeous?

Little Birdie Fly Away Home

and luckily she did, leaving a few momento's behind though.

The little birdie in question was our kitten's 2nd catch of the day (1st day of successful hunting).   The first one she brought in yesterday morning wasn't moving so I chucked kitten and prey outside.  I'm pretty sure that was a sparrow so no huge loss.   Last night however she got a silvereye which she hadn't killed.  He was pretty shocky though after I'd removed him and couldn't hold onto a branch outside so I popped him in the above box with some facecloths to keep him warm, closed the box and put it in the hot water cupboard for the night with a towel on top so he couldn't get loose.  No food or water as I didn't want him choking or drowning and I just prayed he'd be ok this morning.   First thing I did this morning while still in my pj's was to check the box and he was just fine!   I kept it shut until we got outside, opened it up and off he flew up to the silk tree.  Unfortunately I didn't get any photo's of him, last night he was shocky so flashes would have made things worse and this morning there was no way he was hanging around for photography!   He left a few feathers behind as a momento though as you can see.

Before all this happened though I got some spinning done while watching Riddick on DVD with Thomas; the boys are away at Grandma's for last night and tonight so we've got some free time.   Thomas was off sick yesterday, but is back at work today.  He did quite a bit of work from home and then we spent the afternoon playing Halo 3 together.  It was very nice.
Here's the spinning I got done.  The fibre is pin drafted roving from Fiber Optics on Etsy and I'm spinning it for socks, so it's been split into 3 roughly equal parts.   I worked on that while I was waiting for a response from an email I sent to Margaret Stove to check how long my skeins should be for the course.  Now I know, 25m so I'll be working on that tonight. 

Today, I'm going to get some work done on the pj's that have been sitting around for ages, but I think I might light  the fire first as I'm feeling a little chilled and my fingers are fighting me even to type!
I'm also going to do some stash diving and pull out a skein of something yummy to give away as well as some fibre to send off for a scrappy fibre swap.

Hope tomorrow improves

Tis the season for colds, coughs etc and I'm coughing and running, at least it's not a chesty cough, just a bark; but gosh is it annoying (and painful). Throwing back the garlic and vitamin C and drinking heaps.
Hoping I'll be better tomorrow as MIL will have the boys so I want to get some sewing done .

Today I've been working, partially frogging my One Sided vest after discovering the cable instructions are back to front and starting on it again.  Will be doing some more spinning tonight, but on my last session I finished my Perendale, 530m of DK weight after washing

Isn't she pretty?  I'm planning on turning her into no-heel bed socks; yum.

In the meantime I'm working on my course Merino spinning, it's the final part so I'll get to ply this lot.  Have to spin about 3 skeins worth, including one in the grease which will be interesting as I never spin in the grease.  I want to get that finished so I can get back to my other spinning and knitting.

I've also cast on the socks from the Vintage Purls winter sock club (Spiral Bound), but I'm doing them in an alternative yarn which is Handmaiden Casbah.   I'm really happy with them so far, all 20 rows.

I also need to cast on for Cinnamon Grace using this yarn

It's Purewool Merino in fingering weight, I was a little surprised by the number of knots in it (3) plus a lot of slightly nubbly bits but it will still do a good job on the shawl.

Yarnie goodness

 This was my first yarn in the Tour de Fleece 2010.  It's 187.5m, 45g and approximately sport weight.  I've called it Tulips and Lobelia.  It's going to Germany as the handmade component of my yarn swap.  Although I'd love to keep it the colours fit in really well with my swappees colours of green, blue and autumn shades.

This was my second one, it's called Blue Barf.   It's an art yarn of alpaca (the prep was horrible), it became art yarn as the other option was to throw it out.   Love the colours, hated spinning it but it's all done now, 75.5m of super bulky yarn with feathers and down in it.  I'm thinking a hat trim for this one; will be nice and warm at least.

This is my third; it's not finished yet, I've got about 185gm to go.  It's Vintage Purls NZ Perendale and I'm spinning with the aim of worsted weight finished yarn.  It's lovely to spin and I'm hoping to get it finished by the end of the week.   I have to say it's nice that I can still spin various weights of yarn, in a few days I've gone from what would have been light fingering if it'd been 2-ply to bulky to worsted.

Knitting, hmm well that's been sort of on hold a bit while the Tour de Fleece is on, but I've finished the ribbing band on my One Sided and started the main body and I've also determined which shawl I'm doing next.  Thanks to the generosity of a lovely Raveller I now own the Evenstar shawl pattern; I've just got to determine if I'm using a cone of Cashmere or a cone of Merino to knit it up with.  The cashmere is the recommended weight, the Merino is slightly lighter so would come out smaller.  Either would be beautiful.   Also have to cast on a smaller shawlette in some Purewool for a SIL.

It's school holidays now too, yesterday was a rest day, the boys got to watch Disney channel most of the day while I worked, today will probably be similar except we will be doing some baking and also some reading of the homework list from school.  Ian's full of cold so I don't really want to go out today if I can avoid it.
Tomorrow is the first activity.  George will be going into the guild at 1pm and learning to spin and knit there; I'll take Ian out for a wander around town and the Art Centre while he's there.  Afterwards I'm planning on going to Southern Encounter so the boys can look at the fish there.  They've got a holiday deal where you pay for an adult and 2 children get in free which makes it affordable.
We're also planning on going to the Antarctic Centre at some point which is currently half price for residents and Liz (MIL) is taking them for a night or two next week (I'm hoping for 2).  She'll probably take them to the movies, I can't do that as I usually need to go to the loo halfway through and I couldn't leave Ian without supervision even for that short time in a public place.  I'd probably come out to find he'd gone out the emergency exit and disappeared!

Legs pedalling, wheels going around

It's the Tour de France, and the Tour de Fleece as well.  We're able to start the Tour de Fleece on Saturday (today) no matter our timezone so I started this morning at the guild.  I've finished my first bobbin of singles and will Navajo ply it tonight (photo will be posted then).  Started on the second lot but the prep for it was horrible!    It's alpaca dyed in the most marvelous teal and blue but because of the prep I can't get an even single.  I had 2 options.  1 was to biff it, the second was to spin it thick'n'thin which is what I'm going for.  50g will be plain thick'n'thin, the second I'm planning on adding some feathers to so at the end I'll have an art yarn.
Then I can get started on something a bit more pleasant to work with, maybe some Perendale by Vintage Purls. This finishes I believe on the 25th, I will spin for my Merino course as well, but probably very little knitting for the time that this covers.
School holidays are in here too so I won't be spinning all the time, lots to do with the boys.

More school to come

Ian had a full day at school today as it's Tuesday, his teacher let him out last and I was worried it might be because he'd been a BAD BOY, but no he'd been a really good boy and she wanted to discuss his hours next term!
So, from the first week of next term he's doing 2 full days; Tuesday and Thursday and she wants to work up to 4 full days by the end of term!  I was really happy.  Friday hasn't been discussed yet, but I don't want him doing Friday afternoons for a bit as his riding at the RDA (Riding for the Disabled) is going really well and I think it's helpful to him.  Certainly he's been whispering less since he's been there which has to be good.
It was nice to have some good news, our washing machine refund is still being looked into (note I'm being positive here that it will be a refund); Thomas and I haven't been feeling well and although we're on the mend we're not better yet, and George is still wetting the bed every night.
Ducks are still here, need to get set up for killing them, but if we try chasing them around the yard atm it's likely to end up with ducks free still and us covered in mud.   Mind you, we should really wait till spring and see if she starts laying.....  We'll see.
Guinea pigs are doing well though, I think they might be missing grass access though, normally they'd be on the lawn but it's been so wet it's not an option.  Hoping tomorrow might give them a chance to be in their favourite place.
Btw, I'm thinking about a giveaway, should I go for fabric or yarn?   Let me know what you think!

Theodora, how I love thee!

Can you see why?  They fit really well, they feel nice and the ribbon is just gorgeous!  Even Thomas commented they were really nice without me having to prompt him at all.  Need to cast on the sock club one next, but I'm feeling really tired atm after several broken nights (Ian's the culprit here).   Keep getting woken up by someone giggling and talking to themselves.  Should also do some work on Central Park Hoodie, might see how I go.
Will do some work as well, have to drop it all off on Monday so needs to be done.

Had a good day at the guild today.  Several people popped in for the first time, all knitters and they all had a good session I think.  Hoping they'll all be back; one of them was learning Fair Isle and doing a darned good job of it!  He thinks he might have the Tudor Roses book at home by Alice Starmore which if he does he'll bring in for me to take a look at.  I don't think he wants to sell it, but it'll be nice to see the legend none the less.  He's got some idea of how much they're selling for too so it's even less likely he'd sell it to me considering I can't afford those prices!  I have to say though for his first time doing FI he made it look easy, definitely going to try it soon.  Need more time though, there's the knitting I've already started, the FI I want to do, housework, work, children and I also need to strip wallpaper and paint the laundry, kitchen and dining rooms.
Actually, I could cope with winning Lotto instead, then I could pay someone to do the housework, redecorating and I wouldn't have to work; how nice would that be?

Latest Interweave Crochet

Unfortunately I don't have my copy yet, but here's my take on the preview that's up on Interweave atm. 

Midsummer Night's Shawl:   Gorgeous, I'm in love and once the magazine arrives this will be added to my queue.

Agora Totes:  Useful looking bag, but nothing really special about this one

Helena Jacket:  Can we say insipid?   Horrible colour choice for that model, she disappears; aside from her shoulders which you get to see to the detriment of the rest of the garment.  Hang on, I've managed to get past the shoulders and I've discovered that I hate the fastening too.  You have a fairly heavy looking fastening on a lacy garment which really doesn't work.   I think with some redesign work and a different colour this could be redeemable.  A narrower shoulder would definitely help, a clean collar (get rid of the shawl), remove the puff from the sleeve and make some slim fastenings this would be a different jacket and quite wearable.

Marilyn Twin Set:  I quite like the top, it's a nice shape and in a different colour could be quite beautiful but I wouldn't make that particular jacket to go with it, it's a little shapeless and doesn't look like it belongs with the top.

Puck Tunic: Simple, but effective; this is the second item I would definitely make.   Would work well in summer in a cotton or linen and also in winter in wool as an additional layer over jeans.  The shape is nice and it covers those escapees that come with low-slung jeans.   Unfortunately I need this as the only jeans that fit me are low slung; all higher ones (which I prefer) can fit a truck down the back waistband due to my sway back.

Fast and Fabulous Bracelet:  It's very pretty, but where's the picture on a real wrist?  Oh, and have fun tying it on one-handed!

Elfin Tank: This would look quite nice if it was longer, much longer and you threaded a satin ribbon through the eyelets.   As it currently is though it looks unbalanced.

Cat Nap Mat:  Looks cute, but my cat only likes expensive yarn, preferably with possum down in it.

Chain Reaction Afghan project:  I really like some of these squares, though I wouldn't use them together.

Noontide Tee:  Urgh, those shoulders are hideous!   I like from the bustline down, but the rest is just not me and I suspect I'd be hitching it up all the time.

Cool Wave Shawl:  There's nothing wrong with this, it's just not pretty enough for me, to me a shawl needs to be pretty.

Charlotte Skirt:  I actually rather like this I think it would look nice over some slim trousers or a straight skirt.  It really doesn't work with the top they've paired it with.

Mirth Sweater:  The body on this is actually quite nice, but the sleeves are the wrong length.  I can see it working well with cap sleeves or even a slightly longer more fitted sleeve.  This sleeve might, just might work on a girl with a little less bust but I'd still change the sleeves.

Cowslip Skirt:  This would look lovely in a lighter weight yarn as an overskirt, but in this yarn it adds pounds.

Forest Reflections Shawl:  Meh.

Summer's Day Placemats:  These I like, very practical.

Moth Wings Shrug:  This is lovely and I do plan on making it.  Lovely shape and just the right weight for a summer coverup.

Lodestar Tunic:  This is another lovely tunic, the shaping is flattering they've chosen a good colour for a change and the length is just right.  You need something under it, but still worth making

Peaseblossom Tunic:  I really like this one too, once again it requires something under it, but would make a really nice evening tunic.  I want it!

Moonglow V:  This is a download, so get it while you can.  Another one I really like, but the colours don't really work for me.  I think it would look amazing with just one colour.   Funnily enough it's now sitting on my hard drive.

I'd love to hear what people think of my wee review, I'll add some more later once my copy arrives.

Work and gumboots

I arrived at work this morning and was given non-urgent work for a change, yippee!  As a result I've not done as much work as normal this morning.   Instead I went shopping at Para Rubber and came home with some new gumboots and an EVA multifoam mat.   The gumboots were made in Italy of all places, but should be more durable than my last pair which were pretty, but developed a critical leak when I was cleaning out the ducks on Saturday.  Not a fun experience.  These are comfortable and well made, no more dreading of going into duckville from now on.
The EVA mat is to replace my alphabet blocks for blocking lace knitting.  The current blocks work, but the letters tend to be a little annoying; these will be so much better and more stable too.

When I got home I finished my current knitting project, baby socks for a friend's baby.  He's a little older than the babies I've knitted the pattern for up till now, so I went up a needle size and made the foot longer.  They've been posted now, but here they are:

Cute, aren't they?  I hope Catherine likes them, but I guess we'll find out in a few days.   Just got one more of these to knit now and that's my test sock for the 18 month sizing.  I've got the top calculations sorted, just got to work out the heel turn and gusset arrangement.  I'll only be knitting one sock for this, but once it's worked out I'll be adding it to the pattern for no extra charge, later there may be a child's version, but if I do that then the price might have to increase slightly; it's only $2NZ atm which after paypal fees comes down to $1.50; not much to show for that much work, lol.
Oh well, back to work; it may not be urgent, but it's still running late and I promised I'd do my best to work on it quickly.  I also have my knitting session tonight so won't be working then. 

One last thing, yesterday my Vintage Purls sock club arrived, can't post photo's yet as there are lots of people who haven't got theirs yet.   In a day or so I'll show you what I got; it is beautiful though.  The pattern is simple but effective and the yarn is to dye for ;)

A good weekend

Admittedly I didn't get to the guild yesterday to knit and spin as Thomas was down in Waimate helping his brother move house, but I did get a lot of housework done!   House is clean, tidyish and the animals all have freshly cleaned areas too.  The boys helped which was nice, George emptied the dishwasher on request and even tried to refill it!  He got extra pocket money as a result.  Ian also helped but I had to give him very specific tasks.   Once it was all done I collapsed into a chair and got Ian set up on the X-box; George wasn't allowed it as he had been stepped at school for hitting another child.
We went out and got Burger King for dinner.

Today was Ian's birthday celebration, so his friend Iain from school came over and we all went to Willowbank wildlife reserve.  The boys in the car with me and Thomas on his motorbike as we wouldn't all fit with the booster seats in.  Had a good time, though Iain has perhaps not done much feeding of the animals before and I think he found that a little off putting  for a start.  He loved the donkey rides though and all 3 boys were well behaved.  Our Ian also had fun and all of the boys got to feed a very nice Wallaby and pat it.
After we'd finished the tour of the park we then had lunch there; that stung us $45 for the meal plus iceblocks afterwards for the boys.  Was worth it though.  Sorry, no photo's as I forgot the camera (blush).
Afterwards I dropped Iain off home, we came back here and the boys watched The Librarian, followed by some computer time.   My parents came around with Ian's birthday present from them; a science book which uses household stuff for experiments and a little volcano to go with it.   After they left my brother and his wife came around and handed over their presents.   Ian got 2 Lego cars from them and he immediately started to make them up with much less help from me than normal.  I was very impressed!   So definitely a good day.

I'm now going back to some knitting; working on my latest Lace Chain Baby Socks (my pattern, available on Ravelry).  These are for a friend's baby and I'm making them slightly larger as he's getting a little older than my pattern is designed for.  Once these are finished I'll be casting on for a trial in a toddler size; once that's perfected it'll be added to the pattern for no extra charge.   The current pair I was knitting 2 at a time on 1 circular needle, but it's now been split out to being knitted individually again; I think I prefer knitting the second sock!.

Happy Birthday

to Ian.  He turned 6 today, a very exciting age.  He also went up a reading level yesterday, he's now on level blue and has been really good over the last couple of days; including helping me tidy up yesterday.   I put 2 marshmallows in his lunchbox for a special treat today.
Will be going to pick him up from school in 20 minutes, not much birthday celebration today as it's a school day, but on Sunday he's going to Willowbank wildlife park with a friend from school called Iain.  George will be coming too and it should be a good day.  Not paying anything off the credit card until that's over so I know how much is available; wouldn't want to stint on Ian's special day.

Finally some good news

I have my machine back, turned out the board had a blown track which they could fix by putting a bridge over it; don't know how much that will cost, but at least I have it back and I got a load done last night of woollens.  It didn't sound quite as I remember it last night so I'm keeping a close eye and ear on it, but that could well be simply that I am used to hearing a machine that wasn't well.
Haven't heard from Bosch yet, but that's ok as I don't know how much it is yet.  Once I know they can ring and pay for it (reimburse us).
Keeping my fingers crossed that it is well now for at least 10 years!

On another note I'm really busy with work atm, so much so that I've not done any real knitting for the last few days and I'm really missing it.  I still have a heap of work to go, but I'm taking a break today and going into the guild; it's a must for my sanity and also I won't get to go next Saturday as DH is going to be going down to Waimate on his bike to help his brother move house to Tinwald.  He has to be back for Sunday though as Ian and his friend are going to Willowbank and I don't want to be supervising 3 rambunctious boys.

Bugbears

Seeing as I probably shouldn't swear online that'll have to do.  New motor isn't working, so either it's a faulty motor or as the repair guy suspects the old motor killed the computer board when it blew up.   He's taken it away, and I'll know by tomorrow how bad it is.   He had said yesterday that it was better to have the motor to replace as it's cheaper; I have to say if it's both then Bosch and Kitchen Things had better come to the CGA party and give us a new machine or repair this one toot sweet cos I'm getting seriously grumpy!
It's not the repair places fault and they're going to see if they have a loan machine available, but I'm not holding my breath.   I'm not a happy panda atm.

It's the motor

The chap from Appliance Works arrived yesterday to look at my machine and determined that the motor was in the process of blowing, it completed that process while he was here.   I had already by that point had to do one load of hand-washing after Ian wet his bed that night.  He told me that there wouldn't be a motor in stock at the Christchurch branch so that meant if one was in stock in Auckland it'd be next week.  If no stock then a fortnight!  
I got a phone call just on 5pm last night from them to say they'd found one at the Christchurch branch (yay) and that they could fit me in the next morning (today, yay) and that it would cost $590 (discounted, but still not very yay).  We've given the go ahead, considering that a new one would be $1500 minimum and that this is a good machine normally.  I've rung the company we bought it from and waved the CGA at them, they've contacted Bosch and told me to get back to them if I've heard nothing by this time next week.

In fact the repair chap has just arrived and is taking the machine to pieces as I type, so in about 30 minutes I'll have a working machine!   We'll be putting it on the Visa, which puts paid to any plans of paying off some of the floating mortgage, but I guess we're lucky that we have the balance available on the Visa to do that. 

Here's the lovely man working on my machine.

My machine mid fix

And the new part, doesn't look much does it?  But without it the whole machine is just a space taker and I'm doing a lot of hand-washing; ick!

What's that noise? What's that smell?

Oh no, quick rush to turn off the washing machine which had almost finished it's current load and was smelling absolutely foul!   No servicemen available until tomorrow afternoon.  It's only 4 years old for gosh's sake and I have 2 boys who often (in one case always) wet the bed at night.
I've spent a fair bit of the day drooling over yarn online to make me feel better; not buying any of course as we'll need money to either fix or replace the washing machine.  If it needs replacing I'll be waggling the CGA at the place we bought it from, expected lifespan of a front loader is 12-15 years according to the Consumer site.
You know what I really want?   A new machine (paid for by Bosh) and some Wolliemeisse sock yarn.  Unfortunately I'm probably more likely to win Lotto than either of those happening so I'll just have to live with dreams.  
Wish me luck on at least having a working machine soon, beginning of the wettest winter for 3 decades is not a good time to be without the washing machine.
One good thing though, I did get the last bale of hay at Dawes for the guinea pigs, so that's in the covered deck area and will help keep them warm and healthy over the winter.  Will be cleaning them out in the morning and giving them some of the new hay, the old was getting rather damp which can't be good.

A productive week

I've got some stuff yet to finish.  Lace Chain Baby socks for a friend's son, a calculation on the same pattern to upsize it for another lady who's bought it, just got to find time in the coming week for that one.  My second sock is yet to be finished for me and still sewing pyjamas. 
However, we have managed to fix (mostly) our downpipe problem on the conservatory, house is clean, I can see some of the sewing room floor, George has had his follow up appointment at hospital and is now on referral to Nurse Maude for his night wetting and to Mental Health to look at Aspergers.  Turns out the hospital can't diagnose for children who are school age as they're missing a couple of specialists they need for that.   Bummer.  The Doctor we saw said he's not classic Aspergers, but he does have some of the issues that come with it, especially the problems with making friends so she wants it looked into.

I've finished my hat though, last night I finished my lovely Webs hat in Cashmere.   It's beautiful, I'm going to have to make more tams I think, once the CPH and all the stuff above this paragraph is done.

Isn't it beautiful? 

Aargh, nits!

George has nits, found live eggs this morning, so he's getting a #1 cut when he gets home so I can get them off easier.  Found the adult though and removed it so I have hopes that's it.  No signs in his brother yet, but of course now that we know both of us are itchy!  Sending a note to school with George this morning so his teacher can let her other parents know.

Cashmere and glass

DH has the week off and today we spent the day doing a few things.  He played Conduit on the Wii, I played Borderlands on the Xbox; we did this turn about.  While he was on the Wii I was doing some sewing on pyjamas for Ian and myself.  I also did some knitting on my Webs cashmere tam and realised that the stitch markers I was using were too heavy for easy knitting.   This is what it looks like atm

The big ones are going to be replaced with these, which I whipped up this evening. 

It should make it much easier to knit with as they're much lighter and shorter.  I used split rings instead of jump rings.

I had a wee parcel arrive today too, a book called Simply Shetland 4 at Tomales Bay, some lovely patterns in here, inparticular one for a colourwork jersey which I really want to knit.    I will make one change though, it has a very, very low scoop neck; I think this will become a much higher neckline. The package also included some silk noil and some camel fibre.

I was bad as well in the last couple of days, I've got into Vintage Purls winter sock club and I also ordered a couple of skeins of sock yarn today and some books too.  I've ordered 4 of the Harmony guides; the colourwork one, the cables one, edgings and lace as I'm finding a lack in my books now that I'm designing.  I'll have to be good from now on, I'd budgeted for the sock club, but not the rest.  Only one more thing to do, I'm expecting some samples of Suri Alpaca, which I will be purchasing some of, but not too much.

I think that's all for today, still lots to do over the next few days; sewing, knitting, dyeing yarn (that's secret squirrel though)

The best laid plans

tThis morning I was going to go to the Heathcote spinners guild and knit all morning.  Unfortunately someone decided I shouldn't do that and gave me a child who's currently sitting in front of the TV watching Return of the Jedi with a bucket, sigh.  I might still get some knitting done, but I won't be working today until he's better or in bed as I can't risk vomit all over my work (Merino/Possum knitwear).  I guess I'll just have to knit, read and hope he's better tomorrow as he's supposed to have several things on.

I'm going to take a look at a book that arrived yesterday, Get Spun by Symeon North.  Looking at it so far I think it's a reasonable book, but probably more for a beginner.   It's got small sections on dyeing, blending on a drum carder and spinning art yarns.  Unfortunately it doesn't cover spinning feathers and down which is what I was hoping for.   It's got a decent section on spinning in beads and felted balls, but I have that information in other books. To be honest if I'd seen it first I probably wouldn't have bought it, I have other books that cover the same info just as well, but in more depth.  I'd recommend "In a Spin" by Pat Old, and Intertwined by Lex Boeger for art spinning.  Pat's book covers more conventional spinning very well too.  For dyeing, The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook or Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece; both are excellent books.  For blending I'd recommend Color in Spinning by Deb Menz.















There are lots of other good books too, but I'm thinking what I might start doing is to review the books that I have here that are still available on Amazon or The Book Depository and let you know what I think of them.  That might take a while as I have a heap of books here on knitting, spinning, crochet etc, but it'll be fun too.

Swallowtail is flying

My swallowtail shawl is finished finally and it's beautiful, but I prefer a little more shaping at the top, it's hard to wrap properly with it being completely straight.

I've also cast on for a KAL, Theodora socks which I'm doing in Vintage Purls yarn called Buttercup.

I'm rather pleased with how this is going.

I've had a book arrive recently too; Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller.  It's all about Shetland lace which I'm looking forward to having a go at later.  I'm doing a spinning course atm with Margaret Stove learning to spin really fine; the aim is to be able to spin a yarn that can be used to create a wedding ring shawl.

George's spinning

George's spinning
Originally uploaded by sewsable

Both boys have decided they want to learn to spin so I pulled the old Wing wheel out of the garage today, cleaned it up and put a new drive band on it. It's all set up now and George and Ian both practiced treadling. George couldn't quite manage to treadle and draft, but with some treadling from me he got the drafting worked out (mostly) and did a really good job on this wee bit of fibre. We doubled it back on itself to ply as he's not quite up to filling 2 bobbins and plying yet, but this worked fine. We then shocked it in hot and cold washes and it's drying in the bathroom now. It's some of Anna Gratton's Corriedlae which seemed like a good beginner fibre to me.
George is keen to do more, but I kept the first session pretty short as I want him to be keen to try again later.

broadripple

broadripple
Originally uploaded by sewsable

My first pair of handspun and hand dyed socks are finished! I love, love, love them! Comfy, pretty and all mine (insert evil laugh). So I'm back on my Swallowtail shawl now, it was going to be for Mum, but seeing as she thinks shawls aren't really practical I'm doing it for me and I'll do her a nice lace scarf instead. Got some time for that though as it's for Christmas. The shawl needs to be finished by June if possible so I can show it off as a finished object for the TNN shawl yarn swap.
I will be casting on another pair of socks on the 15th May, I'm taking part in a KAL (knit along) for Theodora socks along with a whole bunch of other people. I'm not buying the official yarn which is a deep purple, I'm using a yarn called Buttercup which was dyed by the designer, but is a light yellow with tinges of green. It'll stand out when compared with the rest.

More baby socks, now for some selfish knitting

The top photo is the 3 pairs I've knitted over the last few weeks.  The bottom one is of the second test knit of my pattern.   The photo of 3 includes the pair that I knit from here, I made one change to this pattern in the decreases for the gusset.  They decreased every row, I went for every second row.  That's when I decided to make my own pattern and I'm glad I did!   Tomorrow they'll go to their new owners and I'm hoping I'll get some good feedback.
Now, I'm going to take a couple of nights off and do some selfish knitting, then I'll get the pattern ready for test knitting by other knitters.  It's typed up, but I want to polish it a little first.  So in the meantime, shawl here I come!

lace-chain-baby-socks

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/sewsable/lace-chain-baby-socks will be the link for buying my pattern, but it's not quite ready yet. I've test knitted the first pair, but am going to do another pair before getting some other knitters to test knit it as well. Got to try them on actual babies too, lol. So far I'm really happy with them though, hoping they'll fit from about 4 weeks old to about 3 months, but that has yet to be established.
I'll be casting on another in pink today. I love this lace, it looks nicely unisex which is good as the green ones are going to a baby of unknown gender at this point. Legs were crossed at the scan, though I know a girl would be appreciated to balance out family dynamics.

I think I'm a designer!

Just cast on for my first ever self-designed knitting pattern. It's a pair of baby socks, I wanted something with a little lace, but not too girly for just in case this friend has a boy instead. No pictures yet as I need to get a little further on in this pattern, but I have a good feeling about it. If it works I'll have to get people to test knit it and then try it on babies as well.
Fingers crossed!

Roaring fire!

Well, it's not winter yet, but I've finished one pair of pyjamas that are sure to warm things up.   George's flaming pj's!   George is really looking forward to wearing these tonight in bed, so roll on bedtime.
I only have 6 more pairs to go now, hoping to do one a day from now on.
The fabric was from my stash and the pattern is a Kwik Sew one, nice and easy to put together.

As promised here's the photo

scarecrow
Originally uploaded by sewsable

Of our joint project. Scary Scarecrow as painted by George, cut out by Thomas (Daddy) and nailed on by Daddy as well. I put the body together and Ian helped me dress him. He seems to be working too, I haven't seen any birds in our wheat seed so far!

School Holiday stuff

It's been the usual holiday stuff so far.  Boys got to spend a day on the Xbox, we've done gardening and looking after the guinea pigs and ducks.
Yesterday we made a scarecrow to scare the birds off our wheat seed.  It's not finished yet, but I'll take a photo once it is; it'll have a wonderful scary pumpkin face as made by George.
Today Ian went with the Autism society for horse riding and a visit to Willowbank, which it looks like he adored.  I took George to the Airforce Museum which he enjoyed but he spent the available money on food before finding out about the simulator, next time we'll use the money for the simulator instead.  Came home and did some sewing finally!   I've got 7 pairs of PJ's cut out for the boys and myself.  The trousers are half done which is good.  Photo's will come once it's finished.  George helped a wee bit which was nice too.

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.