Random Friday

Thanks everyone for your good wishes - currently the lurgies are in retreat (fingers crossed, knocks on wood, does lucky dance etc). We have had a single day of sunshine in the past many, many days. Maybe that helped.

Random stuff:

1. Apparently, if it rains on St Swithin's Day (July 15), it will rain for 40 days. It rained on St Swithin's Day and we are now approaching a lot more than 40 days. I'm hoping I have time to go to a woodwork class, because I don't think my skills are up to building an ark, but it certainly looks as if I need to be able to. We may have had enough rain - just for a little while. In ultra-random stuff, St Swithin is also the patron saint of apples and apple trees. Who knew?

2. There is very little sign of it being spring. The bulbs are out and so are the early fruit trees, blossoming their hearts out. But it doesn't feel like spring. It's still cold. And wet (please see point 1).

3. Tempest knitting has finished, but there is still the matter of umpty zillion ends. I hate sewing in ends. I am sure there are people who can make their sewn in ends look great. Mine look crappy and I find that sewing in more than 7 in a session fills me with a level of unholy rage. I loved the knitting. If I make it again I will either make it in one colour, or I will work out a way to carry the yarn up the sides for 14 rows. I won't sew the sleeves in until the ends are dealt with. This may take some more time.

4. The Vine Yoke Cardigan is growing apace. Not only is Ysolda a genius, but I shopped from stash (or possibly from insulation, given that I have no stash, as laid out in the rules of stash), and am knitting it in the Naturally Sensation I picked up in Gawler, SA for $2.50 a skein. The yarn is gorgeous, the pattern fun, and I have a warm inner glow which only comes from feeling that you have a bargain. I even managed to get the perfect buttons for about 80 cents each.

5. The concentration on knitting large garments have meant that the enormous pile of WIPs is still sitting there, staring at me sullenly. I will get to them.

6. Stash honesty forces me to admit that some yarn may have entered the house during August, but I can't remember all of it. I know there was a little sock yarn. There was some Fleece Artist (around 3 garments worth) but I have absolutely no idea what else. I may have repressed the memory.

7. The children have been tending to act up. Part of this is from cabin fever because the weather has been so awful that they have been cooped up - although I drove them outside last weekend with a pitchfork - well, not really a pitchfork, but certainly with a high level of coercion. Partly it is tiredness. The circus school's major show is on now and over the weekend, and there have been long (and sometimes, late,) rehearsals. The concentration on one child, has meant the other child asserting rights to attention by being a right little snot. On various occasions I have comforted myself with thoughts of infanticide, child slavery or sale or return. Then they are nice, and totally disarm me!

8. On one of the nice occasions, the Princess (who spent some of her birthday money on a cookbook) decided to make breakfast, lunch and dinner. She did a wonderful job. She made pancakes, turkish bread pizzas and Tagliatelle Carbonara. Grownups did the stirring things on the gas stove, and the putting into and getting out of the oven, she did the rest. She also made little pink biscuits. I did the washing up. This behaviour is being highly encouraged. I have fantasies of never have to cook through her teenage years.

10. School holidays start today. Next week we will have a few days away, visiting Hobart (and seeing the Knightly Knitter), Port Arthur and Coles Bay. This may help with the cabin fever.

Will try a more organised post (possibly with illustrations!) soon.