Things I’m Loving

It’s hard not to be in love with the holidays. So I thought I’d join Kirsty in taking some time to be thankful for the great stuff that’s surrounding us.

I’ll start with the obvious – staying at someone else’s house means I don’t have to get dinner on the table every night, clean the house (obviously I do help out some though) or even get up early each morning with the kids. I go do to jobs and find someone else has done them by the time I get there (washing never mysteriously gets down off the line and folds itself at my house!)  so, very grateful for that.

This next one really needs a sense of scale – but please believe me when I tell you this is a BIG key. At least as long as my hand. I’m really grateful not for the key, but what it represents.  Each night for the past three nights, this key has inspired a unique, impromptu story by my Father in Law to the girls at bedtime. So far, I’ve heard about the key to Pixie Hollow, yet more pixie stories, and tonight, the story of a Snow Petrel whose three wishes allowed him to find his way home.  Very grateful for the awesome memories that are being created each night with these lovely stories.

Very thankful for my biggest girl, who is growing up so fast – she lost her first tooth this week. (and no, that’s not all her natural hair!)

And also very thankful for a lovely afternoon spent relaxing with friends – the girls so enjoyed a playdate with other wee girls, being able to play in their yard, borrow their dress ups, build a hut with them, and do art and craft as well. Such a gorgeous, gorgeous day too. Got to love the long Canterbury days.

Oh, and sorry for the photo quality – I suddenly realised that although I forgot my camera, my IPOD Touch does at a pinch. One more reason to love the thing!

Holiday Reading

I’m in the middle of my big summer holiday break, and have a thesis to write… so I’ve been procrastinating with all the good books I can find.  I thought I’d share my picks of the bunch with you – some will be familiar to friends reading this blog as I took their suggestions over what to buy!

I finished off the school term with some Camilla Lackberg novels. I owe the librarian at school for her suggestion (and yes, I’ll return the book pronto Maureen!), as I really enjoyed these. One awesome benefit of teaching, for me, has to be the school library. I can saunter in on  Friday and come out with a pile of weekend reads – and they even loan DVDs, which has allowed me to catch up a little on the recent movies I’ve missed by being too cheap to shell out for the cinema experience. Ah, but back to Lackberg – I read all four of the Patrik Hedstrom books, The Stonecutter, The Preacher, The Hidden Child, and The Gallows Bird.  Lackberg writes in her native Swedish, I read these in translation, and even found myself buying the final one in Kindle format when it wasn’t available from the local library.  Can’t wait for The Drowning to be released now too!  These are mystery stories, set in Fjallbacka, a small Swedish town.  It was lovely to read more stories set in Sweden after my Dragon Tattoo-fest last year. I enjoyed the main characters, and was engaged by the various stories.  A good, fast read.

I was totally captured by The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. This is Morgenstern’s debut novel, and what a way to start! I loved the imagination behind the story itself – and the realms of what is possible within the circus and magic, but the pace, structure and description really added to this.  I was really fortunate it was as engaging as it was – this I took with me on a recent trip overnight where I had far too much caffine and couldn’t get to sleep until after 3am.  The Night Circus kept me company.

I found the main characters Celia and Marco very sympathetic, and the cast of minor characters were also very engaging. There were a raft of them, and their relationships were tightly interwoven, as were their fates.  This book isn’t just for circus lovers – it has tension, mystery, romance and magic within its pages. Definitely one to re-read for me!

I also really enjoyed Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin.

I’ve been jumping about genres a little bit – this is a little bit mystery, a bit drama. Set in Mississippi, it explores the tensions of small town life through two major characters – Larry, a white boy who grew into a man, shadowed by suspicion about a girl who went missing after his date with her, and Silas, a black boy who moves back to his old hometown as a policeman.  The tensions that occur in the short period after another local lady goes missing are contextualised with flashbacks to the 1970s explaining the history of Larry and Silas’ friendship, and look at the way their re-acquaintance affects their present lives.

Larry and Silas aren’t the most sympathetic of main characters.  But as you get to know more about the history of each through the flashbacks, you come to care more deeply for them.  The novel is well crafted in this, and other regards, and I enjoyed it.

Some lighter reading was found in a bit of chick lit – Three Girls and Baby by Rachel Schuring fulfilled my criteria. It was cheap and fun.  Just $2.99US in Kindle format, it did me nicely.  This book looks at the life of Ginny, and what happens when she falls pregnant to her former boyfriend when she’s fresh out of college and fresh from their breakup.  There are some fun times to be had for her and her two besties as they decide to stay flatting together despite the pregnancy and to raise the baby together.  Realistic? Maybe not, but since when is chick lit meant to be realistic? It’s supposed to be escapist isn’t it!  Anyway, there are Kindle editions available of two follow-up novels already – which given the first book was released in July 2011 defies belief really! The speed at which the world moves these days is kinda scary!

Anyway – that’s it from me for now.  I’ve got more holiday time and more books on my Kindle waiting reading, not to mention a nice being Amazon.co.uk order waiting for me at home (I hope!) so I’ll be found with my nose buried in a book for quite some time to come.

FO: Beyond Puerperium Sweater

I was looking through some photos on my laptop and came across some of yet another long unblogged project (or two….). So, since you were deprived of photos yesterday, I thought it was time to show these to you.

May I present to you, the sweetest wee baby outfit!

Knit to the versatile Beyond Puerperium sweater pattern by Kelly Brooker, this is a fabulous wee knit.  It has sizes from 0-2 years, and three yarn weights: 4ply, DK and 10ply.  Knit all in one, it’s a raglan sweater with offset opening, perfect for dressing a baby. I knit the 0-3 month size, as it was for a baby whose mother is very tall, and baby was rather overdue. I thought I’d rather knit this size than the NB one. There is a free version of the pattern for just NB though, so worth checking it out if you’re after a great baby gift.

I used stash yarn, not at all sure what it is now, sorry. I do remember getting it from an Aussie knitter’s destash. I was a little nervous because I had only 100g of Dk weight yarn and the pattern stated 110g. I felt lucky to finish it with leftovers. And so I decided to make a little hat to go with it!

This is a little Benji beanie - one of my patterns, and another multi-size pattern. This is the smallest, NB size, but it goes right up to an XL men’s size.  It  knit up super fast, and is amazingly soft as I used Sublime Merino for the main yarn.  Although both yarns were DK, it knit up fine on 4.5mm needles and created a lovely fabric (the pattern states 10ply yarn).  I finished it off with a button from stash – a sweet wee Buttons by Benji ladybird button.

It was so satisfying to make a sweet wee set up entirely from stash yarn and buttons, and was lovely to acquire a new pattern that I know I will use over and over again.

Happy New Year!

I thought it was well past time I popped on to wish you all a very happy New Year. 

 

If you thought I must have been busy, you’re right! We welcomed the new year at home and since then have travelled to Christchurch, tonight will be our fourth set of beds in a week.  AND we’ve had three different candle-blowing-out occasions (with a grand total of thirteen candles blown out, despite the birthdays totalling 115 years. Some things just don’t add up! And that’s with one person getting TWO lots of candles.)

I have been taking my needles and knitting with me though, and I’m making good progress on my first project for the year, which is a lovely cardigan, Making Waves by Mary Annarella. I cast on in lovely MadelineTosh Tosh Merino Light, which is a 4 ply single, and is knitting up beautifully. The colourway is Amber Trinket, which is a stunning combination of colours – I adore these photos of Lina’s cardigan which made me fall in love with this colourway. In typical Tosh fashion, no two skeins seem to be the same, so I’ve had to alternate skeins through the body and I’m hoping the sleeve skein has enough of the various colours in to avoid having to do so in the arms too though.  Looking good so far – about four inches down the first arm. 

Apologies for the links rather than photos – guess who forgot to bring their camera??

FO: Ziggy Hoodie

I was just uploading some photos when I stumbled across this picture and realised that I hadn’t posted it here – so, here goes the lovely, suggly, and very unseasonal Ziggy Hoodie. You will be pleased to know I actually finished it several months ago in the winter, rather than today, the last day of Spring!

And, where there are hoods, there are stupid hood shots.  In fact, so many that there really were not any shots *without* hood silliness. But hopefully you can see past that to the actual item in question!

So, may I present to you a Size 5 Ziggy, a beautiful hoodie by the talented Tikki.   Well, in fact, it’s not just a hoodie – the pattern has a cute wee collared version too. And it looks utterly stunning in a variegated yarn too, the zigs and zags mix it up enough to stop the dreaded pooling. Not that I did variegated… mine is in super snuggly Naturally Sensations, a with just a touch of angora to ramp up the snuggle factor. And in what better colour than pink? Got to keep the Little Miss happy!! I was delighted to use it on this, I had six 50g skeins, not really enough for an adult knit, but too many to waste. And in pink too… I’ve got less than a skein left now, which is great, a good use of the yarn.

Ziggy is knit in the round, bottom up for a change, and has raglan shaping all done with no seams.  The hood is also constructed with no seaming, and is a big hit with my girl.  There is something about hoods that I dislike – the time I take to knit them. It’s almost like they are a speedbump for me that I never quite have the momentum to get over… I think I might have been the world’s worst tester finishing this off so slowly!!

Now, this is just one of Tikki’s Ziggy patterns – there’s also a skirt, legwarmers, vest and hat in the set – you can grab the e-book with all 5 patterns in or seperately.  I’m tempted by the vest next I think!

 

 

FO: Breakwater

Something that I worked on over the winter is this lovely lightweight sweater, Breakwater by Cecily Glowick MacDonald.

Okay, so I finished this in July or early August – the pictures were taken in August when the magnolia at our old house was just coming into bloom (I must say I’m delighted that we have not one but two magnolias at our new house.  Sadly we missed their blooming this year, so that’s something to anticpate next winter and spring). I recall working on this for around a month, maybe I’m remembering wrong. But, it was a very simple knit, as it’s knit in the round, and mostly stocking stitch.

I have to admit to getting very brave – this is the first time I’ve knit with Wollmeise yarn, but I had two skeins of Ruby Thursday of 80/20 twin sock yarn and it seemed a shame not to knit myself something with it.  And, since it was such wonderful yarn, I thought it deserved something plain to let it shine all on its own. I think that I achieved that, if the comments I’ve been getting each time I wear it are anything to go by.

I managed to squeeze a size 42.5 inch out of my two skeins, just shortening the sleeves a little to allow this.  This is, of course, easier typed than done, and did involve quite a bit of frogging to achieve, as I apparently can’t use scales very well. Nevertheless, it was worth doing. The sleeve length works well over a winter top, or with a singlet top underneath for the Spring. Of course, I do wish I’d made one size smaller (the 38.5) since I’ve been performing an ‘incredible shrinking woman’ trick this year.  It has meant most of my knitwear no longer fits me… this is still quite acceptable, but I do have other things I can’t really wear out in public without looking a little silly. I could have had those longer sleeves after all!

This is such a simple knit that there is really not a lot more to be said of it. I guess things like gauge could be helpful… it was knit to gauge, 22 stitches and 30 rows, and I used my lovely Addi Click needles for it.

Falling off the edge of the world?

No, I haven’t fallen off the edge of the world.

More of a blogisphere disappearance. Sorry about that!

So, what have I been doing for the past month or so?

Well, we shifted house. Massive shift, great new house, marathon effort. But we now have basically twice the space we used to including a spare room, huge basement living area, internal access garage, and awesome wee office for me.

Lots and lots of gardening. My parents came to stay and help us shift, and Mum spent a solid week weeding and helping me shift plants. I’ve kept at it when I can since she left, and things are slowly taking shape. Can’t wait for a little time to pass and things to establish and spread and start to look like they do in my head!

A little knitting. Believe it or not, I actually went a whole 7 days without picking up my needles last week. Busy me!

Some painting and other house stuff – starting to get rid of the 1980s decor. It will be a massive job, but it’s worth making a start on! The budget is a bit tight at the moment so I’ll have to be patient.

Lots of parenting and enjoying the kids. We had two weeks off school, and the kids all knocked around home the whole time.

And yes, finally doing some work on my thesis. That’s what I’ve been working on in the evenings instead of knitting lately. Slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

I hope you are all well… I do have quite a few projects to catch you up on, so stay tuned and I’ll share them with you.

FO: Jacques Cousteau Hat

 

While I’m on the subject of knits I’ve neglected to blog… I have a confession to make. It’s not just one or two things I’ve not blogged about… there are literally months worth of items I’ve knit that I’ve not posted on here (or on Ravelry).  Yes, I confess I’m a bad blogger… but that hasn’t stopped me knitting! So, it must be catch-up time. 

So, for today a small, relatively quick knit.  This is the lovely, and free, Jacques Cousteau hat pattern. There are so many men’s hat patterns out there. As this was for DS, I wanted something not too intricate, as I wanted him to actually *wear* the hat. But I also wanted something interesting to knit. So I chose this pattern – because while it is essentially a ribbed beanie with a fold over brim (as per the photo above), the decreases fascinated me…

One thing I love about knitting is the seemingly infinite variations you can use to create a useful object.  And so, funky crown decreases it was!

The hat pattern offers two different sizes – don’t tell DS, but I knit the ‘woman’s’ size for him.  It was 20 stitches smaller, meaning less ribbing… Ribbing isn’t my favourite stitch to be honest! The fit is fab, his head could be a whole lot fatter and it’d still fit. So it all worked out in the end.

The yarn I used was some John Q Heathered Dk yarn, which I picked up for $3 a ball at a Knitworld sale 18 months ago. I’ve had such good value from these balls of yarn – most have become hats, and I love the look that the heathered yarn gives as opposed to a flat solid colour.  It adds a little interest to what would otherwise be a plain hat too, without making it too busy for my teen to wear.  The 50g ball was not quite enough for this hat – just as well I had two.  (No yardage chicken for me on this one!)

This got lots of wear when DS did a stint as a relief newspaper delivery boy, as well on many chilly mornings. Finally, some knitting for him that he likes and wears (after he left a handknit sweater on the soccer field overnight I banished him from my knit-list).  And of course all he had to reward me for it was a few photos to blog… A good deal? I think so!

Bai Hu Baby Sweater

Months and months ago I knit this gorgeous wee baby sweater, and totally forgot to blog about it. I was just catching up on some blog reading and saw another version of this, which reminded me. So, here goes…

 

This is Bai Hu – Tiger of the West,  a gorgeous sweater designed by Julie Gilliver, a good online friend of mine.  This is part of the Chinatown collection, which also features the cutest wee jacket. While they are unisex, they are designed especially with boys in mind. Julie is blessed with a houseful of boys, which is great for all those knitters who are hanging out for great boy’s patterns!

My version is the newborn size, and I knit it in the softest, most gorgeous Sublime Organic Merino yarn. Of course I also managed to run out of yarn (well, I was pushing it!), so I ripped back the bottom and added some cream Sublime yarn left over from knitting teddies, and then did the sleeves with a bit more of the cream too.  I think the contrast looks sweet, which is just as well! I got the yarn on clearance from WEBS and I wasn’t keen on paying international postage for another ball!  So, it took two balls, two and a bit would have been better.

I loved the sweet wee mandarin collar (which has an fun contruction), and the sweet wee neckline detail too.

A simple, seamless knit, this was fun to make and super soft. It is long since gifted - and no doubt grown out of too! But there are always new babies coming along in my group of friends, so I’m sure that there will be more occasions to make this gorgeous wee sweater, or its jacket-cousin.

(Yes, I *know* I’m meant to be packing the house for shifting. But I am a procrastinator extraordinaire, and clearly blogging months-old knits is faaaaaar more important. That and I’ve run out of boxes!)

40 bags in 40 days update

You might recall that some time ago I posted about the 40 bags in 40 days challenge. When I posted I was about a week into the challenge and had already found and removed a massive 27 bags of things from the house. I kept busy for the rest of my holidays and beyond clearing away unused, unneeded or outgrown items.  There was excavation of wardrobes. There was a massive cull of books from my shelves (parting with books is sooo hard!). There was a much needed sort through of outgrown toys, outgrown clothing, or in my case, now much too large clothing.  By the time I was done there was not a wardrobe or storage cupboard that had not been sorted through and reorganised. 

Some finished photos…

Everyone should have decorative yarn baskets in their houses, yes?

And of course the final incentive for me doing this challenge was that we put our house on the market… buying a house with bigger storage seems like such a good idea.  Looks like we’ll be on the move very soon, so I will having to be packing all the lovely organising into boxes all ready to unpack and reorganise at the other end. Wish me luck!