Bobb's Christmas

I'm sure you've all been wondering about Bobb's Christmas presents. I took three packages out to him on Boxing Day.



He loves opening presents...




And was feeling very pleased with himself!

Yarn Confession

So here it is - time to admit to yarn acquisition in November. I think I've remembered everything and I may have doubled up one or two from October's haul (she says, hopefully).

First up is the "forgotten" yarn from Knitabulous. A glorious fifty-fifty called Citrus Punch. Next is the November shipment from Needlefood - Picnic in the Rain. On the right are two skeins from Angels & Elephants - Holly Berry and Damson Delight.

Then there is Poison from Yarn Lust, Wine Tasting from Sundara Yarns and another Needlefood - Lupin. The final three skeins are all from Posh Yarns - Miranda 4 ply in Holly Golightly, Elinor in Angel Eyes and a gorgeous Alpaca / Silk blend in Sanctuary. I don't think I've missed anything but I do seem to have a few more skeins than this lurking in my home stash and my secret office stash.

Off the needles last month was Rosered in Malabrigo Silky Yarn but that was all! So November was definitely a Yarn Positive month.

It Itches

Sadly not a reference to Frankin Habit's book of the same name. I have not been feeling 100% for some time and felt vaguely unwell at the excellent M&S Christmas High Tea. On Sunday morning I woke up itching from a rash on my trunk. Dr Google confirmed my suspicions that it was shingles and my real life doctor seconded that opinion. Which explains the burning back pain of earlier in the week and general malaise. So now I'm on aggressive anti-viral medication which I'm hoping will fix the shingles and also my knitting doldrums.

I am assured that barring physical contact with the rash I am not contagious so all my fellow tea party-goers should not be concerned.

I am using my ailment as a valid excuse to defer the stash total confession.

Current works in progress include Flutter Scarf using Posh yarn Beatrice. It's a lovely yarn and a soothing pattern to knit.

South of the Border

Yes, I'm working in our Melbourne office for a few days. The people in our office are very friendly and it is always a pleasure to come here. And the office is in a stunning building. Here is the foyer all dressed up for Christmas

I only had time for a quick dash to Clegs where I bought some organic cotton to make washcloths for Christmas gifts.

You will have noticed a deafening silence on the Yarn Neutral status this month. I haven't actually tallied it up but I fear that the input has far outweighed the output. This is partly due to the persistent knitting doldrums and also to some forgotten yarn arriving. I shall bite the bullet and record the month's totals when I get home.

Knitting Doldrums

I've been trying to find the right word to describe how I feel about my knitting at the moment. I haven't lost my knitting mojo but I seem unable to get enthused about any of my current projetcs. I keep starting things and then frogging them. I have knitted the back, a sleeve and half the left front of Pebbles and am seriously thinking of unravelling it all. Rosered suggested starting a new project every day for a week as a cure (it worked for her).


In the meantime - a finished Christmas present:

I'm quite pleased with this - it's for my daughter-in-law. My family in the UK are all getting hats this Christmas. I still have to knit two so I hope that the feeling of ennui soon passes!

Relocation, relocation!

We found out last week that the whoever owns our unit has defaulted on the mortgage and the lender wants vacant possession - understandably! There is some question as to who actually owns the unit as there are several names on the court document - none of whom are the landlord. Since it all sounds distinctly dodgy, we decided to start looking around.

Can I tell you how depressing this is? There is not much out there and what is available in our area is pretty grim. At one of the inspections another lady was muttering about the need for a good dose of Domestos and I have to agree with her. The one bright spot in an otherwise disheartening day was this jacaranda.

Sadly, not even the proximity of this lovely tree could compensate for the dire state of the inside of the unit! I was extraordinarily fed up and grumpy by the end of the day. The thought of relocating the stash - let alone anything else - is quite overwhelming!

On the knitting front there are a few items off the needles - hoorah!

The socks that were started in July in Knitabulous Ultimate sock yarn in Chrome:

And the Trinity Shawl made from the one of the Lush Yarns Pink Ribbon Day special yarns.

This was a very satisfying knit. It knitted up quickly and the yarn - a fifty / fifty blend of silk & merino was beautiful to work with.

Grumpy in WA

The flight over yesterday was not too bad. I watched (and cried over) Mao's Last Dancer and experimented with the dreaded crochet hook. Boteh still eludes me but I did manage to produce this:

Not sure what I'll do with it but it did pass the time.

I eventually left the office at 6.30 WA time. Since I had left home at 6.15 am (Sydmey time) it had been a long day and I was tired. The hotel I was staying at was a 3.5 km drive away and when I got there it was serviced apartments. No room service. My room was configured for disabled patrons so nothing was at my height. I was tired, grumpy and not happy with the room. There was nowhere else so I agreed to stay.

I thought I'd get out my knitting to calm me down. I wanted to just bring carry on bags to save time at the airport so had taken off my metal Knitpick tips and brought two new, security friendly wooden tips. The screw connection on one tip was faulty so it wouldn't tighten up and I COULDN'T KNIT!!!! This was the final straw!

Fortunately there was a Vintage Cellars right opposite the hotel and an IGA down the road. I got bubbles from one, superglue and some food from the other. I got back to my apartment and filled a glass with the bubbles, stuck the Knitpicks tip on with the superglue, and banged the food in the microwave. Calm descended......

Mid-week weekend update

We are now halfway through the week and I haven't had a chance to talk about the busy weekend just gone. A trip to the hairdresser - always a high point for me because my hair grows so quickly - meant that I had a couple of hours to work on the RoseRed for my daughter-in-law. Great progress was made but I fear I am running out of yarn (an all too familiar occurrence, I'm afraid) and also that it is too small! I've managed to find another skein of the yarn so once that has arrived I will re-knit it using 4.5 mm needles and compare the sizes.

On Sunday we did the cliff walk from Bondi to Tamarama and back. It was a beautiful day and the walk is currently enlivened by sculptures. This did mean that there were a lot of people around in addition to the usual joggers and walkers but we got a good workout and enjoyed the sculptures.

As RoseRed is stalled, I got out one of the purchases from Lush_Yarns and started the Trinity Shawlette (which I have re-christened the Trinity Small Shawl).

It's a great pattern and quite versatile and the yarn is lovely to work with.

October Tally

So, another month draws to a close and it's time to reconcile the yarn ledger.


Off the needles:
- 1 skein Needlefood Sock yarn Lollipop (Diagonal Lace Socks )
- 1 skein Knitabulous merino sock Hyacinth (Travellling Woman sort of off the needles)
- 1 skein Knitabulous Fifty - Fifty (Springtime Bandit)



Out (as a result of the inaugural stash reallocation) is a total of 45 skeins of yarn. I was going to itemise it all here but hey, that would be incredibly boring.



So that's all good news! Now the not-so-good news:






This is most of the inward yarn. There are one or two (OK, make that five) additional skeins that arrived courtesy of the Stash Reallocation, the first shipment of the Needlefood sock club and the Lush Yarns store update. Oh yes - and 10 balls of Morris and Sons Paddington - what can you do when there's a sale on?

However, I reckon I am still Yarn Neutral. Now I really must get on with knitting this wonderful haul!

Spring! Sprung!!

Over the last few days, I've felt that Spring is finally here. Daylight Savings has helped but the weather is also better and things just feel a bit more optimistic and full of possibilities. Of course, I was brought up with Spring happening at the other end of the year. I loved seeing the primroses and snowdrops appear but my favourite wild flowers were bluebells.

I bought a large bunch at the Orange Grove Markets the other day. When I was a child, you were still allowed to pick them and the woods near our home were carpeted in the most amazing blue blooms. I think that's why I like jacaranda trees so much - they remind me of my childhood.

I also finished and blocked Springtime Bandit - and didn't run out of yarn this time.

What a great pattern - I loved knitting it and the Knitabulous Fifty-fifty yarn was wonderful to knit with.

Of course, Spring means spring cleaning. So we had the inaugural Stash re-allocation last Saturday. It was a great afternoon with lots of lovely yarn to drool over, bubbles to drink, yummy food and knitting time with good friends. I have already been outed by Rosered as the owner of the suitcase (it was a small cabin bag, people) full of yarn. I did manage to come away Yarn Neutral from that exercise but can't guarantee that I will maintain that status for the rest of the month particularly as Morris_and_Sons have a big sale on.

Long Weekend

Last weekend we (in NSW) had a public holiday on the Monday. On Saturday afternoon, we (R & I) drove to Canberra as he has finally conceded that driving a bus is not the best use of his abilities and he is returning to his previous public service job whilst waiting for a transfer to Sydney.





On Sunday morning we had breakfast and then headed to the Old-Bus-Depot-Markets in Kingston. We had a lovely time browsing the stalls and bought some delicious cheese and bread, some fruit, handmade cards and vintage buttons:

Then we set off for Hall and lunch at the_Poacher's_Pantry. I had heard a lot about this place when I worked in Canberra but had never managed to get there so it was a real treat. Sadly, I forgot my camera so don't have any photos to remind me of the lovely lunch we enjoyed

On Monday we went to the Canberra Centre - a little retail therapy and a movie. Then a walk around the lake (to work off some of the indulgences of the day before) managing to get back before the rainstorm rolled in.

On the knitting front, I finished some Cranford fingerless mittens for a work colleague who had admired the pair I made for my daughter

and cast on Springtime_Bandit.

I'm using Knitabulous Fifty - Fifty and love how it's knitting up.

Yarn neutral stash

Did I mention I was on a strict yarn diet? As anyone with any experience of dieting knows, a reduction in size results when the output exceeds the input. If the input exceeds the output then the size increases. Should the input equal the output then the status quo is maintained or, as I like to think of it, we have a neutral position. So my personal yarn trading scheme means that so long as the output is equal to (or greater than) the input then I have a yarn neutral stash.




Input last month (after my return from overseas because obviously, holiday stash doesn't count):


1 skein Knitabulous Silken thread "Little Boy Blue

1 skein Lush yarn lace weight "Cider"




Output:


1 skein Knitabulous merino sock yarn (Travelling woman - now stalled)

2 part balls Grignasco Baby merino (Cranford mitts)

1 skein Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Winterberry (destashed)

1 skein Knittery 8 ply DK: Silk Merino Mountain Berry (destashed)

1 skein Liberty D Quixote Persephone (destashed)

4 balls Rowan Kid Silk Night Thunder (destashed)




With the first phase of the stash reallocation project scheduled for later this month, I am hopeful of maintaining a yarn neutral status - because I can resist everything except temptation!

Oops! I did it again......

Ran out of yarn, that is.

You will have observed that there has been a dearth of knitting activity since I got back from my trip. I decided that the Knitabulous Merino sock yarn that had been trying to become Boteh was, in fact, wanting to be a (ravlink) Travelling-Woman shawl. So I cast it on and all was going well. Until I came to cast off and, forty stitches short of the end of the row, I've run out of yarn.

I'm not sure that I'm all that enamoured of the shape as it seems rather shallow and wide, although I guess that blocking would improve it. I have a few options:

1. See if anyone has a few metres of the yarn to spare



2. Throw myself on Ailsa's mercy



3. Add a border in a contrasting colour (this has some appeal)



4. Frog it

If I were to knit this again I would increase the plain section and possibly knit it in a simple lacy stitch. And I think that it is probably better knit in a silkier yarn although it does show off the colours of this yarn quite beautifully.

Bobb's present

Whenever I go to the UK I visit Harrods. I can't stand the shop but it does have an excellent Pet Department and we always bring back a present (or two) for Bobb. Bobb is a Kelpie / Ridgeback cross with a smattering of German Shepherd. We got him from the RSPCA eleven years ago and he is a highly intelligent, much loved member of the family.

So last Saturday I took him some of his presents (the rest are being saved for Christmas so I can't mention them here).

It's from Sniffany's, of course.

He finally found the squeaky bit.

More yarn

I have to confess that there was some yarn acquisition on my recent trip in addition to that mentioned earlier. And here it is:

I paid a visit to the LYS close to where my daughter lives. Avicraft is tucked away in a row of shops some distance from the main town centre. The shops are generally individually owned and not the major shopping chains which gives the area a more local feel. I had a lovely time chatting to Sharon and browsing through the yarns. I bought some Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK which was on sale and hard to resist. It will be a cardi for my daughter.

During the many shopping trips in the quest for the Mother of the Groom outfit, I found myself in various branches of JohnLewis. John Lewis is a great department store and I love the way the floors are set out. Each store has a good haberdashery - don't you love that word? - department with a wide range of Rowan, Noro, Debbie Bliss and Aracaunia yarns. There were probably others but they were the ones I noticed most. I bought some Rowan Silky Tweed and some Wendy Happy bamboo blend sock wool.

I also succumbed to the Posh yarn online sale frenzy and scored (from left to right) some Esme merino sock yarn, Diana silk & merino lace weight and Miranda alpaca, silk and cashmere cobweb laceweight.

And now I am on a strict yarn diet but relishing planning projects to utilise all this yarn!

The Wedding

Here I am with my partner Rob ready to go to the wedding

With my son the Groom!

It was a lovely day. The ceremony was beautiful. I cried as the bride walked down the aisle. She looked stunningly beautiful but my son's face was so full of love, happiness and pride that I was just moved to tears. The first hymn was Praise My Soul the King of Heaven which was my father's favourite - I could hardly sing the first verse!

The church looked amazing! The flowers were stunning and so plentiful that I'm sure that there can't have been a spare bloom in the South of England.

And here are the happy couple at the reception.

Today's the day!

The wedding party had a lovely meal at the Ivy restuarant last night to kick off the nuptials. Today the sun is shining, I finally have all the components of my outfit and we are about to go and get dressed up for the ceremony.

We are staying at NumberSixteen - which calls itself a temple to sophistication! I may never leave!

At last - some yarn shopping

I took myself off to London for the day last week. It takes about 20 minutes on the train which was full of family groups heading up to the big smoke. There were many adults standing and not one child (or parent of a child) offered up their seat. I know I sound like a grumpy old woman but that would not have happened when I (or my children) were young.

Having checked out several stores in an unsuccessful quest for shoes for the wedding I decided that it was time to go yarn shopping! So it was a quick trip on the Tube to Islington and Loop. I had a lovely browse there and was very taken with some Wagtails yarn. Which is, of course, from Queensland so I didn't think it made sense to buy some on this occasion. But definitely a future purchase. So what did I buy? Left to right is Jitterbug from Colinette, sumptuous Malabrigo Silky Merino and Alchemy merino.

Next I got on a bus heading for Waterloo and iKnit. All was going well and I was having a lovely chat to the lady next to me about sock knitting when the bus ground to a halt and it was clear that we weren't going any further. The road ahead was cordoned off by police and other emergency services because of a suspicious package. The traffic was at a complete standstill and buildings were about to be evacuated so I headed off to walk across Waterloo Bridge. I guess this is an everyday occurence in London - everyone just shrugged, got off the buses and out of taxis and continued their journeys on foot. I wonder how Sydneysiders would react?

I finally got to iKnit and had a lovely time browsing and chatting to the shop assistant who was very friendly and interested in the sock that she could see poking out of my bag.

The haul here included two skeins of Manos Silk blend and some seriously lovely Cherry Tree Hill Suri semi solid. Also some square DPNs.

On the knitting front there has been little progress. The sock that was the subject of discussion at iKnit has been frogged for the fourth time. I can't quite work out what I want to knit and am somewhat hampered by the fact that all my needles are back in Sydney.

The wedding is next Saturday and so next week will be busy with final preparations, meeting the bride's parents, and then the big day itself.

Greek tragedy and fine dining

This weekend I had a break from shopping for outfits for the wedding and all the attendant events. I just have to get shoes and a bag which is just as well as I am completely over it! I have not done much knitting since I got here and next to no yarn trawling.



The weather has been glorious and far too nice to be stuck inside shopping centres. I usually manage to get my morning walk in before it gets too warm. My normal route takes me past several places that have strong memories for me - the house where my family lived for many years and which my children always thought of as "home" because it was the one constant in their lives; the church where I was married and so on.



I was very indulged on Sunday. My son and almost daughter in law took me to the National Theatre to see Helen Mirren in Phedre. I love going to the theatre and to see a play so well acted by a superb cast was such a treat! After the play we went to the Wolsely for supper. This used to be a car showroom (hence the name) and is in a beautiful Grade II listed building. It is bizarre to think that such an incredible building was originally designed to showcase cars and I can't help feeling that it is much better suited to its current purpose.

A load off my mind

Having trawled through frock shops on both sides of the world, done battle with the moronic mothers of idiot children (another story) and diced with death with maniac continental lorry drivers, I am elated to report that I have finally purchased the all important outfit!

This has been a fairly stressful period as each time I have spoken to the bride the stakes have been raised. So not only have I had to buy an outfit for the wedding but also one for two events in the week running up to the Big Day.



Of course, you want to see what the mother of the groom outfit looks like:





This is, of course, the catalogue image from the Jacques Vert website but, apart from the shoes is what I will be wearing in a little over two weeks time.

In Beautiful, Boring, Bijou Bromley

A phrase coined by a good friend of ours from Korea - who used to live here so is entitled to describe it thus.

My brother met me at Heathrow yesterday morning and drove me here - to the town where I grew up and where my daughter now lives. It is always strange to come back here where things are so familiar and yet so changed.

The second leg of my trip to London was very pleasant as I was moved into the First Class cabin. Thirteen hours of being gratuitously fawned over made the journey much easier! I slept thanks to having a comfortable bed with doona and did actually get to do some more work on Boteh. Not sure that it will ever become a FO though.

Today was my daughter's birthday. We had a late night last night, a late start today and a long session at the pub this evening. Tomorrow my son, his fiancee and my brother are coming for a birthday barbecue. And no doubt The Wedding will be the main topic of conversation!

En route

A short break in Singapore. Not much progress on Boteh on the first part of the journey. Since I only ever crochet on long haul flights perhaps that is not surprising. My crochet did occasion some comments (and maybe some envy?) from my travelling neighbours - all positive I have to say.

I plan to break out the DPNs on the next leg (the longest and most tedious part of the journey) but also hope to get a few hours sleep.

At the airport

I've checked in, done battle with Duty Free, given up on the Tax Refund queue and am now enjoying the hospitality of the First Class lounge. Am on the second glass of Veuve as it happens. I'm not flying First Class unfortunately but have got an upgrade to Business so it should be a relatively comfortable flight.

The bamboo crochet hook and DPNs got through security so I'm all set for this leg at least.

Dipping my toe in the water

I have come to blogging a bit late. I think this is because I am by nature a very private person and I do feel somewhat self conscious here. However, I am inspired by the brave and generous way in which so many of my knitting friends share their thoughts about life and about the craft that we all love, so here I am dipping my toe in the water and seeing what happens. Also, as many (many) people know, I am about to take off to the UK for my son's wedding, so a blog seemed like a good way of sharing that experience.


So I have been very preoccupied with preparing for my trip, and searching without success for the perfect outfit. I have now resigned myself to intensive shopping as soon as I get there. With any luck that will be sorted soon after arrival and I can then focus on the serious business of yarn acquisition!

I am taking along a couple of projects. This has also been a major decision process and nearly as stressful as the fruitless search for a Mother of the Groom outfit. I am going to attempt Boteh (a crochet scarf) on the flight over as bamboo crochet hooks don't seem to be nearly as confronting as knitting needles. I have some Knitabulous yarn in Hyacinth for that. And I may get around to some more socks - Needlefood Lollipop is destined for that project.



In the meantime, an almost finished project: a jacket for my work colleagues soon-to-be-born baby boy.








Pattern: Phazelia's Mitred Jacket (Rav link)



Yarn: Grignasco Strong Print Sock Yarn