Here Be Knitting

Australia Calling. The Fruits of my Labour

Hiya Shelagh,

I'd forgotten that I knitted this last summer (in the hot, hot, hot):

And

I "think" that's what I do it all for, although I am more of a process rather than a product knitter.  I suppose that's why I forgot I'd even finished it :)  Her Dad does look pleased with it, doesn't he?

Enough for now...

Canada Calling: Knitting beckons.

I'm trying a little knitting therapy for my wrist, so I'm working sporadically on a little baby blanket for a local charity.  It's a perfect mindless project for knit night.

I've been doing entirely too much work out in the garden and my wrist is paying for it.  However there are some positives.  Our garden is coming along (except for the *&%$ quackgrass and weeds) and I have very few new plants left to put in.  I really need to finish the planting since I'm going out of town for a week come Friday. 

I expect I'll give our KAL (the Muir) a try once I'm back from Alberta. 

I'm hoping it'll be a cooler day tomorrow to plant this beautiful rose bush. The poor thing is still in its container, waiting to be planted.

 

I'm a little concerned that a bunch of flowers are going to bloom while I'm away.  Hoping not, but will have to get Ken to take some pictures if it happens.

I'm in love with this beautiful Japanese Iris:

This Columbine is so delicate.

This little guy is very serious about guarding the garden:

And this one is laughing at him:

Back to you Deb!

Australia Calling. Victoria, A Melodrama (or the Strange Case of the Disappearing Vest)

Now you see her:

Now you don't:

Now you see her:

Now you don't:

Now you see her:

Act One involved a cruel accident with some very sharp implements and a major misreading of the rehearsed lines - so bad in fact that the story became unsalvagable.

Act Two involved a very silly lady - unfortunately our heroine - foolishly refusing to listen to her inner Gods and knitting on even though she realised (fairly soon after casting on) that she was knitting the wrong size.  Oh when will our heroine learn to avoid the bad guys :)

Act Three and we have reached intermission - a back completed and the front begun.  Can this thrice bewitched love story find a happy ending??

Enough for now...

Australia Calling. Snap!

Hi Shelagh,
I know. I know.  I started this blog, invited you to join in and I haven't been here playing or communicating much at all.  I'm sorry.  Life here has been busy and I have been wanting to knit much more than wanting to talk about it.  I have fallen in love with The West Wing.  And yes, it could be a sign of the limited intellect that I possess that it took me so many years to discover this fantastic show.  But I'm on board now and I'm on board in a big way.  It is also great knitting TV.  It doesn't usually matter if you sneak a look at the knitting while watching which is the best sort of TV.  I love to sit and watch foreign language films but now I find that not only do I have to be in the mood to watch and read the sub-titles I also have to be in the mood to not knit.  Rarely do these 2 things come together - the way of my world dictates TV = Knitting time :)

How goes your arm - I hope it is healing.  We have one here as well (which I thought was sort of funny, although painful, of course):

The Girl has broken her wrist - she fell over while playing soccer at school.  Actually, it took her 3 goes at the falling over - so you've got to admire her "never say die" attitude :)  She has broken it in two places - a longitudinal break and a side crack of the radius.  It has had to be frequently x-rayed and managed by a specialist as it could have a permanent impact on the wrist joint if it moves or fails to heal properly.   It has had to be re-plastered to "get it right" and there is another x-ray again this Friday - hopefully that will be the last one until we are closer to the end of the healing process.

I've got a few knitting projects to talk about, but I thought I would stick to just one tonight - that will guarantee I'll be back soon to show off the others - including some disasters :(

I give you .... another.... Swallowtail......

And a close up of the yarn, which provides a much better impression of the colour, rather than the washed out look above.

I don't have any particular purpose for knitting another Swallowtail.  The finished shawl is now on my "to gift" shelf.  I now know this pattern so well that it actually makes great travelling knitting and I can crank one out in less than 2 weeks, which is really fast knitting for me.  And this yarn, which is a really pretty heathered pink/purple makes a lovely swallowtail.

I haven't done anymore on our KAL, the Muir.  I think this is because of the issues I am having with uneven tension.  I need to pull it out and begin again and fix the problem.  But, I don't acutally know what to do to stop the huge YO's that are being created where I have my stitch markers.  I don't think it is the size of them that is impacting as they are quite thin.  It is something that I am doing as I move them and loosen my grip on my knitting.  Pulling the yarn tightly after I have moved the marker doesn't seem to make a difference either.  So, I am flommoxed and don't know what to do, so I do nothing.  I have some days off work beginning tomorrow and continuing until Wednesday of next week (woohoooooooo) so will use some of this quiet time to give it another go.  I'm sure once I get this sorted it will move along because it is a fairly straightforward pattern. And it is so pretty - I.Want.Mine.Finished!

And on a much cheerier note, we really do live at the end of the rainbow:

:) :)
Enough for now...

Canada Calling: The first official day of summer:

Without further ado; I have another viola.  This time it's a pretty mauve, blooming in almost the same place as the white one.  Serendipity!

 

Canada calling: A lovely day.

I wanted to show the tiny gem I found this afternoon.  It's growing in the middle of the shale path to the arbour seat next to the fish pond:

Canada calling: Summer is HERE!

Finally, warm weather for more than one day.  It's 23C right now, with the forecast for tomorrow for 27C. Maybe the garden will grow something besides dandelions.

Not much knitting to report.  The surgery for the carpal tunnel problem on my left wrist was done on Tuesday, June 9.  I'm healing nicely and able to use the computer keyboard and drive my car. 

Of course there is a little story to be told about my day trip to the hospital.  While I was lounging in my pre-op bed, the (male) nurse warned me when I was given the freezing needle for my wrist, it would "burn".  Um, hello?! It did more than burn.  It hurt like hell, and felt like an electric shock to the ends of my fingers.  The anesthetist jabbed me THREE times with that needle from hell.  Then he has the gall to rub my legs and tell me "everything will be all right".  I guess this idiot needs a course on inappropriate touching.  I almost decked him right there.

Next little story... I was supposed to stay overnight, but it would be over my dead body.  I was able to leave 3.5 hours after the operation.  The nurses in the ward searched high and low for prescription orders for me (like maybe for Tylenol 3 for pain?). No dice.  They phoned wherever one phones to find out.  Nope, nada.  I stayed at my sister's for 2 days then drove home.  That afternoon (3 days later) a nurse from the hospital phones wondering why I didn't take the two prescriptions with me.  Say what? I'm positive she thought I was going to spend ANOTHER $20 in gas to come get them.  GAH.  Upshot of the whole thing; she faxed them to my pharmacy in the city and Ken picked them up on his way to work that night.  Here's the kicker; one of the scripts was for an antibiotic that I should have been taking for three days already.  The other one was for the T3s, which I've taken sparingly, but they've come in handy a couple of times.

I'm going to try knitting today and see how I make out.

I've done some weeding in the garden as well as planting up two pots for either side of the arbour. The pots will fill in and be quite colourful in a few weeks.  I planted a hop vine, licorice vine, a trailing yellow flower (forgot the name) and a hot pink calibrachoa.

The artemesia in one corner of the garden seems happy:

The last picture is of the Alliums that are not quite in full bloom yet:

Ahh, those last two pictures finally loaded.

This was a lovely summer day today.  Send more.

Canada Calling: I guess the warmer weather is here.

We are having a thunderstorm this very minute.  The trees are leafing out.  The grass is green, and we have millions of dandelions. However, I'm sitting at the computer with a shawl around my shoulders because it's not as warm as it should be.

Knitting on the Muir continues because the armpit that is my surgeon cancelled my carpal tunnel surgery last week.  At.the.very.last.minute.  I was sitting in the patient waiting room in my glamourous hospital gown, when a very apologetic nurse walked in and informed me of the bad news.  Now here I was on the verge of fainting from hunger since I'd been without food for 15 hours... nice nurse ran and got me a sandwich and some juice.  It's been rescheduled for June 9.  I have no faith.  I'll believe it when I wake up with a sore wrist and a bandage.

We spent seven hours yesterday working outside.  My man is very enthusiastically working on putting in a larger fishpond for our lonely goldfish Sharky.  I did help some, but he's the architect of this job.

The new pond is at least twice, maybe three times larger than the old one, which was very tiny.  Here's how the old one looked:

An excavation shot of the new one:

We hope to be finished by this coming weekend, fill it, let it sit for a few days, then Sharky will be in his new summer home.

And just so we have some actual knitting content in my post, here's a picture of the eyeshade I made for myself, since the early sun makes it difficult to sleep:

A great way to use up some of the pesky chenille and eyelash yarn I have in the stash!

Australia Calling. In which I Re-Discover my Bottom!

Hiya Shelagh
It's been a while, I know, and I'm sorry.  I have been mad busy and then mad quiet and then perhaps just mad crazy.  I have knitted lots but don't seem to have all that much to show for it.  My knitting has been the mad ripit frequently sort - on more than one project too, which actually isn't like me; so not sure what that says about where my head has been, although given it hasn't been here with me I suppose it makes sense that I don't actually know where it has been off to.  I'll ask if it ever comes back :)

Her Dad and I have purchased push bikes in a get fit/keep the weight loss going adventure.  Last weekend was the first time I have been on a bike for over 20 (gasp, shock, horror...) years.  I used to love riding, so don't know why the impetus left really.  Actually, that's not true either - 3 kids, university study, jobs, moving, life etc gets in the way and if you don't put enough emphasis on "you" in that whole business, then important things like your own fitness can quicly fall by the way. 

Anyways..... I didn't ride very far on that first trip but enough, more than enough, to be reminded that I have a bum and that really, on a day to day basis, it doesn't do much at all and that when you put said bum on said bike, well it screams a little at you and for quite a few days.  We are going out again, and both days too, this weekend.  Fingers crossed (I would cross my bottom, but, you know, that isn't really possible or healthy probably) it will be less painful and I will get further.  We currently go out on the Warburton Trail.  I think the bridge in the photo is one we rode over last week - I know we were definitely at Woori Yallock, but the rest of it is a bit of a blur - and not from speed, more from blood rushing to the head.  Lets hope for better as the weeks go on... :) :) :)

A friend sent this link to me today :

Stand by Me Rendition  It is fantastic - It is from the Concord Music Group   Go have a listen I'll wait.

I have a new neice - Kennedy Michelle born early April!!  She is very cute and a super excuse to do some baby knitting:

It is the Diamond Baby Ensemble (Ravelry link).  I knit the 6 months size in Fortissima Cotton Colori - 2 skeins.  The pattern was easy to memorize and moved along very fast while still creating a very sweet little cardigan.  The Fortissima was super soft and for a Gold Coast baby should suit their winters very well.  I thought I did a super job on the seaming (which is usually something I don't take enough time on):

What do you think?

I've also begun, for Kennedy:

Little Liza Jane from the Twist Collective in Patons Smoothie DK in a purple.  I have progressed further than the photo and it is a very straightforward knit.  The edge is sweet, although my photo doesn't show it very clearly -  the Twist site does a better job.  I haven't used the yarn before - it is 100% acrylic and I usually steer clear because I am a bit of a yarn snob (I can't help it, I just usually figure life's too short to knit less than lovely yarns).  But.... this one is actually quite nice (clearly acrylics have come a long way) and... I am knitting the 12 month size and figure that it is going to need to be able to be thrown in the wash.  Kennedy has an older sister (by 12 months!) and I am knitting her the same dress in the same yarn in a pretty lime green.

I've got some more knitting and errors to show, but, if I let it all hang out now, I won't have any reason to come back for another month or so.... :) 

Hopefully, in the next day or two, if the cycling doesn't kill me, I'll fill you in on the rest.  Although a photo of me on a bike, before you ask, is probably many, many, many.... months away.

Enough for now..

Canada Calling: Send some HEAT!!!

Here we are, the middle of May and we're still having freezing temps at night. The syrup in my hummingbird feeder froze.   I wore a scarf to knitting last night!  We had so much rain yesterday I've had to run two pumps to try to clear the yard of water:

My rock garden was half under water.  The trees are just barely beginning to grow some spring leaves. Below is the view from my front steps - bare trees, wet driveway - CHILLY and depressing.  WHERE is the sun?

A bright spot last night at knitting.  I had been telling Anne about my plan to get some Elann Peruvian Baby Lace Merino for an Icarus shawl I have planned to knit.

Anne brought in 4 balls of this lovely yarn for me in a beautiful soft teal blue/green.  It's got great yardage at 600 yards per ball.  So much nicer than having to wait for it to come in the mail!

I heard some interesting news at the neighbourhood coffee shop/gas bar/liquor store.  One of the ladies who works there was leaving home to get in her car to drive to work, and there at the end of her driveway, across the road were two cougars! SCARY!

I have news. Yesterday I booked our Air Miles flights for Palm Desert for March 2010.  Good thing too as we got the only two available seats on the flights we wanted.  Not that I'm wishing the year away, but if we don't get some sun and heat soon, I'll wish I was already there.

Deb, how about some news from Australia?