Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Bon Voyage, Bon Vivant!

We're off!

Or rather, we're about to be off. I can never keep track of imperfect tenses. Tonight we catch the big red ship known as the Spirit of Tasmanian (either SoT I or II - not sure which) and head off to the wide open spaces of mainland Australia.

The kidlets are in a frenzy of excitement - the prospect of sleeping in bunks on board ship, seeing dolphins again (maybe) and the fun of packing. I'm more trying to make sure we remember all the bits we have to remember, leave nothing vital behind, and remember to tell the housesitter that there are mice in the pantry.

I spent yesterday (for about 15 hours) trying to cram 2 work days into one so I'd be relatively free today to clean and tidy and pack and put away and wash and so on.

I'm looking forward to a holiday too. Although I had time off over Christmas, it didn't really feel like a holiday - what with the cooking for family and Kim's treatment (now finished and all looking fine - Yay!). So this will feel like a real holiday.

Of course, I have had my holiday knitting picked out and packed for weeks. I cast on a pair of socks last night (so I don't have to do any casting on in the car when I finish the Mojo socks which I am almost at the heel of). That sentence didn't make sense at all. I am almost at the heel of the second Mojo sock, and feel I will fly through it, so I have a second pair of socks all ready to go. That's better.

Because I have promised to be honest about certain yarny stuff entering the house, I feel I should let you know about January purchases. I mentioned a de-stash I had re-homed - 4 skeins of 100percentwool worsted in a purply colour and 4 skeins in an orangey brown have been tucked into the non-stash. The Princess immediately claimed the purple.

On a very sad note, the lovely local LYS is closing. This is the one run by Brethren ladies which just had its 30th birthday. The closure means there are no yarn sellers, between Burnie Doomlight of Spot and Launceston (with the exception of a tiny one at Ulverstone and a haberdashers which sells some Patons). The ladies were a wonderful resource, helpful and kind and will be sadly missed.

On a brighter note, everything in the shop is currently 50% off. I managed to get in there and headed straight for the good stuff at the back. The place was packed and many of the cutomers (which were more than 10 deep around the counters) were buying up big on needlecraft and embroidery silk. Some were hitting the dead muppet and baby wool and others seeemed to have no real idea why they were there.

I grabbed Sublime (10 balls of Pistachio, 14 of Denim blue), 10 balls of Jo sharp silk road aran in a green, 8 balls of apple green Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette and 4 balls of the Sublime kid mohair in Teal. It was obviously a mainly grreen day. Then I queued for 20 minutes in the really hot shop.

So, Rosered, I have increased my ummmm yarn storage by 54 balls/skeins.

I have finished the shetland triangle (big). I did 13 repeats and had 32gr left for the edging. I ran out halfway through casting off and pinched a bit from the Christmas sock club parcel - same yarn, similar colours - you really can't tell. It's beautiful.

I have almost finished the Mojos. So I have knitted 250gr of yarn and bought in about 3kg. Drat.

I also managed to drop off 3 bags of clothes etc at St Vinnies, and have 4 bags and 2 boxes ready to go. On the in, out, shake it all about scales for the year so far, I am ahead - more has gone out than came in.

Enjoy the rest of the school holidays, I may get to blog from South Australia over the next couple of weeks. Otherwise, enjoy the summer. See you when school goes back!

12 comments:

Michelle said...

Have a fantastic holiday! Right now I wish I was on my way to explore the environs of SA too ...

amanda j said...

Have a wonderful time!

Sounds like you got some real bargains! How could you possibly leave it behind?

Rose Red said...

Oh, if I was faced with 50% off all those lovely yarns, I would have found it very difficult to say no. Especially when you have such an apparent yarn shortage as you so clearly do!! Heh!!

Hope you have a lovely relaxing time - I know what you mean about Christmas - it's not really a "holiday" at all, is it!

MadMad said...

OK. Clearly the store sale up-stashing doesn't count. I mean, seriously, how could you help yourself? And it was all just going to go to waste there, what with those embroiderers clogging the aisles and not knowing what was in front of them!

Happy, safe vacation!

Donna Lee said...

It's good to hear that the treatments went well and things are looking good. That's a good reason to take a trip and celebrate. Enjoy your summer trip. I will think of you basking in the sun while we are freezing up here.

Good call on the yarn acquiring. Those skeins needed a good home.

Geek Knitter said...

Safe travels to you all, and a big hooray for being done with treatments!

Alwen said...

Enjoy your holiday!

We just got a new LYS last summer and I was pleased to see people in there this weekend. The economy is not so good here and winter can be a hard time for a little tourist-y place.

Have fun in the warm for us chilly northerners!

Lynne said...

Have a wonderful trip!

Kate (Kiss My Frog) said...

Have fun, lovey. You deserve it. Try to stay cool; I hear there's heatwave conditions heading SA-ward.

Five Ferns Fibreholic said...

I'd say you fell over....but faced with such a situation, I'd fall over hard myself.

Have a wonderful holiday...rest....relax....and above all knit lots.

Amy Lane said...

wwhwhhwwwwwweeeee!!!!! Bon Voyage!!! Excellent--enjoy a WELL earned holiday!

Denise said...

Bon voyage! Hope you all have a briliant and happy time :D

Bummer about your LYS closing though - thank heavens for online shops!