You know it’s a GOOD day when:
You wake up and the sun is shining and it’s warm and NOT FROSTY and the sky is blue and it feels like spring and the first bluebell is out and the garden is full of spring flowers that have required absolutely no effort from you!;
It’s your morning off and motherhood stops at just after 9am and doesn’t resume until 12.30;
You get the mail and there’s Pansy dyed sock yarn from Spidey, 3 kilos of coffee and 1 kilo of chocolate you ordered on the internet from Coffee Hit, and the new issue of Delicious;
You know it’s a GREAT day when:
The Accountant tells you that you can keep the Medicare money because it’s 50 bucks and it’s lots more than that and you pop some money into your credit card instead of out of it;
You pop into Rivers on the off chance and there are 2 pairs of perfect shoes (one black Mary Janes, one red leather and they are 29 dollars and you have the money!;
You pass the Red Cross op shop and there is a pair of sky high orange rope soled wedge espadrilles and they are your size and brand new with the price tag on and they are 4 dollars!;
You go to your LYS to buy some DPNs and they have new yarn to show you and it is called Sublime by Sirdar and it is so gorgeous you absolutely must have some (baby cashmere – merino silk and cashmere, and kid mohair – too too nice) so you lay-by some (supposedly for Christmas presents – well maybe!);
You get home with time to spare to read blogs (even though you’re over your broadband allowance (too bad)) and people have said lovely things about your last post.
How great is today? Really, really great!
Georgie, you asked about the cast-ons – and I bet you know them too!!
Knit-cast on (knit into each stitch
Cable cast on (knit between each stitch – firmer edge)
Crocheted provisional cast on
Knitted waste yarn provisional cast on
Long tail cast on
Figure eight cast on
Thumb cast on
Twisted German cast on (related to long tail but gives more stretch for sock tops or beanies)
And my favourite weirdie:
It’s a traditional Guernsey cast on for making traditional Guernseys – it involves cutting off around 8 metres of yarn, doubling it, wrapping it several times around your thumb and making stitches through the doubled over loops. I’ve no idea what it is called, but you get a sort of mock-picot look, with a knot every fourth stitch. Only ever seen it in that pattern and in one book about traditional English knitting as peculiar to the Channel Isles
So that’s 9 – but I’m sure there are more and that someone will tell me what they are (or if the Accountant buys me the Vogue Ultimate Knitting book for Christmas – as requested – I’ll learn some more.)
Gotta go – off to resume motherhood and enjoy this Great Day!
Monday, August 20, 2007
Saturday, August 18, 2007
The Theoretical Aspects of Knitting (and other weird stuff)
Thank you for your wonderful comments. While I haven’t yet sold my children into slavery, I have toyed with the idea of plonking them out by the roadside with a 20 dollar note attached in the hope some passer by will claim them.
The afternoon tea was a non-starter as both littlies developed various yucky illnesses – the boy had gastro and the girl a fever – we’ll do afternoon tea next week. That’s the problem with having birthdays in winter – it tends to laughs in the time of cholera, or plague or possibly flu. The latest flu scare is a little worrying – with strong and healthy people dying of flu.
I’ve had flu – in fact I used to welcome a decent dose of the flu in winter – not only did you get to spend a couple of days in bed or convalescing in a big armchair drinking cups of tea and knitting, but you could usually count on losing 5 kilos with absolutely no effort – I used to think of it as the no fuss winter weight loss program.
As you can tell, I haven’t had the flu for years (that’s my excuse for the Junoesque figure) and, let’s face it, being sick certainly lost it gloss when children came along. When I was young, being sick meant a day or so in bed, a pile of magazines, tinned tomato soup (a treat in our house) flat lemonade, crackers and mother’s soothing hands on my forehead.
Apart from a short spell at uni with a gay flatmate who gave me similar care, being sick hasn’t been as much fun since! But even after that, the prospect of a few days off from work and schlepping around the house, or lying on the sofa had its own appeal. Once you have children, forget about restful illness.
I look back rather wistfully on my time in hospital – daughter was a difficult pregnancy and I was on first name terms with the staff on the women’s and children’s ward after several admissions. I spent 2 weeks in their care trying not to have a baby (it worked until 34 weeks) and I thoroughly enjoyed it – people brought me meals, cups of tea and made my bed. I was fussed over and for 3 weeks or so I didn’t have to do the washing, ironing or washing up. As I look back, it was a holiday.
The second pregnancy only had one week in after the C-section, but even that was a pleasant break. I can see why my grandmother (who had 5 children) loved the 3 weeks in hospital that each new baby brought in those days. I remember her saying that ‘People brought me cups of tea!’- an unaccustomed treat for her. These days of course, it’s 3 days in hospital for a natural birth and five for a C-sec. Unless you’re a private patient – then you get a week for a C-section.
Had a lovely morning at Community Knitting yesterday. The same group from the first one, and a nice gossip. I got through 2 more of Taph’s beanies in around 3 and ½ hours – and the interesting thing was – all these ladies of a certain age – mainly in their 60s or so, and they were fascinated by my socks (I was wearing Spidey’s rainbow socks – heels re-knitted last week and had taken my sock knitting bag because it has my paraphernalia – scissors, darning needles etc- and one completed turtle walk sock). And when I cast on for the beanie using a twisted German cast-on, five of them clustered around for a lesson.
It struck me that these women had been knitting all their lives – for themselves and their families, for charities and presents, but they had never set out to learn more about knitting. They are all wonderful knitters, they can fair isle and cable, a couple have done intarsia. Most (I’m envious) can crochet, but they cast on and off one way. They knit but they don’t set out to extend their skills or learn the history of knitting. I’ve been vaguely obsessive for just over a year. I know and use 8 different ways to cast on, knit all sorts of stuff, know about the history and techniques.
This isn’t to say I’m an expert – or even a good knitter – I’m not on my learner’s licence, but I’m probably on my ‘P’ plates. I have aspirations. I am interested. I want to learn lots more about my chosen craft. I want to understand it.
One of the ladies said she couldn’t teach her left handed daughter to knit. I asked if she would be better learning the continental method. They all looked at me as if I were from Mars. I explained that the left hand did all the work, demonstrated (badly- I’m not good at the continental method) and suggested that some people fairisle this way, because they can have the colours in different hands. They still looked at me very oddly.
These are really good knitters. They make beautiful objects. Most of them have been knitting for longer than I’ve been alive. And I have more technical – and theoretical - knowledge than them. To say I was gobsmacked was putting it mildly!
So thank you to all of you – all you bloggers who support me and keep me interested and obsessive. Who discuss the technical and theoretical aspects of our chosen craft. Who encourage me to extend my skills and KAL and try the new. Who provide beautiful pictures of WIPS which make me slaver with covetousness. Who provide advice and encouragement and funny and smart comments. Who make me laugh as I vicariously join you in your lives. This WIPs for you.
The afternoon tea was a non-starter as both littlies developed various yucky illnesses – the boy had gastro and the girl a fever – we’ll do afternoon tea next week. That’s the problem with having birthdays in winter – it tends to laughs in the time of cholera, or plague or possibly flu. The latest flu scare is a little worrying – with strong and healthy people dying of flu.
I’ve had flu – in fact I used to welcome a decent dose of the flu in winter – not only did you get to spend a couple of days in bed or convalescing in a big armchair drinking cups of tea and knitting, but you could usually count on losing 5 kilos with absolutely no effort – I used to think of it as the no fuss winter weight loss program.
As you can tell, I haven’t had the flu for years (that’s my excuse for the Junoesque figure) and, let’s face it, being sick certainly lost it gloss when children came along. When I was young, being sick meant a day or so in bed, a pile of magazines, tinned tomato soup (a treat in our house) flat lemonade, crackers and mother’s soothing hands on my forehead.
Apart from a short spell at uni with a gay flatmate who gave me similar care, being sick hasn’t been as much fun since! But even after that, the prospect of a few days off from work and schlepping around the house, or lying on the sofa had its own appeal. Once you have children, forget about restful illness.
I look back rather wistfully on my time in hospital – daughter was a difficult pregnancy and I was on first name terms with the staff on the women’s and children’s ward after several admissions. I spent 2 weeks in their care trying not to have a baby (it worked until 34 weeks) and I thoroughly enjoyed it – people brought me meals, cups of tea and made my bed. I was fussed over and for 3 weeks or so I didn’t have to do the washing, ironing or washing up. As I look back, it was a holiday.
The second pregnancy only had one week in after the C-section, but even that was a pleasant break. I can see why my grandmother (who had 5 children) loved the 3 weeks in hospital that each new baby brought in those days. I remember her saying that ‘People brought me cups of tea!’- an unaccustomed treat for her. These days of course, it’s 3 days in hospital for a natural birth and five for a C-sec. Unless you’re a private patient – then you get a week for a C-section.
Had a lovely morning at Community Knitting yesterday. The same group from the first one, and a nice gossip. I got through 2 more of Taph’s beanies in around 3 and ½ hours – and the interesting thing was – all these ladies of a certain age – mainly in their 60s or so, and they were fascinated by my socks (I was wearing Spidey’s rainbow socks – heels re-knitted last week and had taken my sock knitting bag because it has my paraphernalia – scissors, darning needles etc- and one completed turtle walk sock). And when I cast on for the beanie using a twisted German cast-on, five of them clustered around for a lesson.
It struck me that these women had been knitting all their lives – for themselves and their families, for charities and presents, but they had never set out to learn more about knitting. They are all wonderful knitters, they can fair isle and cable, a couple have done intarsia. Most (I’m envious) can crochet, but they cast on and off one way. They knit but they don’t set out to extend their skills or learn the history of knitting. I’ve been vaguely obsessive for just over a year. I know and use 8 different ways to cast on, knit all sorts of stuff, know about the history and techniques.
This isn’t to say I’m an expert – or even a good knitter – I’m not on my learner’s licence, but I’m probably on my ‘P’ plates. I have aspirations. I am interested. I want to learn lots more about my chosen craft. I want to understand it.
One of the ladies said she couldn’t teach her left handed daughter to knit. I asked if she would be better learning the continental method. They all looked at me as if I were from Mars. I explained that the left hand did all the work, demonstrated (badly- I’m not good at the continental method) and suggested that some people fairisle this way, because they can have the colours in different hands. They still looked at me very oddly.
These are really good knitters. They make beautiful objects. Most of them have been knitting for longer than I’ve been alive. And I have more technical – and theoretical - knowledge than them. To say I was gobsmacked was putting it mildly!
So thank you to all of you – all you bloggers who support me and keep me interested and obsessive. Who discuss the technical and theoretical aspects of our chosen craft. Who encourage me to extend my skills and KAL and try the new. Who provide beautiful pictures of WIPS which make me slaver with covetousness. Who provide advice and encouragement and funny and smart comments. Who make me laugh as I vicariously join you in your lives. This WIPs for you.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Angling for a holiday (or some time off)
Well, there’s nothing like starting off your day with a pap smear and blood test! Or being woken by the whining of … sorry, laughter of little children.
Destructoboy’s 3rd birthday today – but I had to race off to a doctor’s appointment for the aforementioned checks (my strategy for not spending time in waiting rooms revolves around trying to get the first appointment of the day, before they get a chance to run too far behind – I have been known to give doctors a bill for my time – charged at my consultancy rates!).
He has been asking for a torch for ages (so did Princess for her 3rd birthday) so he got a Torch truck and various other goodies. This afternoon some friends are bringing their littlies around for a visit and afternoon tea. This will involve fairy bread (it’s not really a birthday without fairy bread), chips (crisps), apple tea cake and muffins. You can see I’m going all out on this one!
Truth to tell, I’m just exhausted. I’ve still got the lurking lurgy, I’ve got a convalescent husband (I keep snapping ‘it’s not as bad as a c-section, stop being such a girl’), I’m still chasing my daughter with eye drops and at least Destructoboy can be fairly said to be toilet trained now. Quite frankly, I’d be happy to go to bed, lock the door and let them fight over a packet of mixed lollies for dinner!
Why is it that mothers are always so tired? How come we never seem to get any time off? Heavens above, you only get 10 years for murder – and you’re likely to have time off for good behaviour!
I don’t even get to go to the toilet without small voices outside demanding to be let in – afraid that I’ll sneak out the bathroom window and run away if they don’t keep their eyes on me. (And don't think I haven't been tempted!)
On a lighter note, I re-knitted the heels on the 3 socks my Crocs ate. This took up valuable knitting time, but it’s like finishing 3 pairs of socks all at once!!! I also cast on for the second Turtle Walk sock. I had a parcel from England yesterday with Rowanspun mist grey DK, and I’m waiting for the arrival of some Yorkshire Aran. Apart from the purchase of some yarn for the Happy Clappy KAL, I’m not going to buy any wool for a while.
Well probably not. Unless it’s a bargain. Or too beautiful to resist. Or sock yarn. Or something involving silk. Or cashmere.
Oh, poop! Who am I trying to kid? We all know that if I have money, or room on my credit card, that I will buy more yarn if it offers itself to me. Even if I have to chase it down and crash tackle it!
Destructoboy’s 3rd birthday today – but I had to race off to a doctor’s appointment for the aforementioned checks (my strategy for not spending time in waiting rooms revolves around trying to get the first appointment of the day, before they get a chance to run too far behind – I have been known to give doctors a bill for my time – charged at my consultancy rates!).
He has been asking for a torch for ages (so did Princess for her 3rd birthday) so he got a Torch truck and various other goodies. This afternoon some friends are bringing their littlies around for a visit and afternoon tea. This will involve fairy bread (it’s not really a birthday without fairy bread), chips (crisps), apple tea cake and muffins. You can see I’m going all out on this one!
Truth to tell, I’m just exhausted. I’ve still got the lurking lurgy, I’ve got a convalescent husband (I keep snapping ‘it’s not as bad as a c-section, stop being such a girl’), I’m still chasing my daughter with eye drops and at least Destructoboy can be fairly said to be toilet trained now. Quite frankly, I’d be happy to go to bed, lock the door and let them fight over a packet of mixed lollies for dinner!
Why is it that mothers are always so tired? How come we never seem to get any time off? Heavens above, you only get 10 years for murder – and you’re likely to have time off for good behaviour!
I don’t even get to go to the toilet without small voices outside demanding to be let in – afraid that I’ll sneak out the bathroom window and run away if they don’t keep their eyes on me. (And don't think I haven't been tempted!)
On a lighter note, I re-knitted the heels on the 3 socks my Crocs ate. This took up valuable knitting time, but it’s like finishing 3 pairs of socks all at once!!! I also cast on for the second Turtle Walk sock. I had a parcel from England yesterday with Rowanspun mist grey DK, and I’m waiting for the arrival of some Yorkshire Aran. Apart from the purchase of some yarn for the Happy Clappy KAL, I’m not going to buy any wool for a while.
Well probably not. Unless it’s a bargain. Or too beautiful to resist. Or sock yarn. Or something involving silk. Or cashmere.
Oh, poop! Who am I trying to kid? We all know that if I have money, or room on my credit card, that I will buy more yarn if it offers itself to me. Even if I have to chase it down and crash tackle it!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Return to Sickbay
It’s been General Hospital around here lately. Yesterday was the call and in keeping with repairmen arriving 5 hours early, our doctor’s appointment was actually ON TIME!
I only had to pretend to be Wonderparent for around 5 minutes, and in the surgery itself – remarkable! Of course, the doctor wasn’t on for having to put drops in the wriggling Princess’s eyes every 4 hours – was he?? – nononono!!
Georgie has suggested a Clapotis KAL. Me – I think it’s a great idea – we’ll work out details at some point – it sounds like we both have a tiny procrastination gene in our make-up, so maybe we can errrrrr ‘encourage’ each other! I somehow don’t think I’ll be making it in the 4 skeins of Lion and Lamb suggested, so we’ll need to consult with the experts about appropriate substitutes (for appropriate please read ‘inexpensive or already in stash!’). By the way – Experts means you lot! RoseRed, what did you do your first one in?
Have you noticed that the Fall Interweave is meant to be out – I shall now harass the local post office on a frequent basis until it arrives – they have some very nice sock patterns on the website though (another load of download – maybe I should sneak that in while the Accountant is post-operative).
Yes, that’s the other General Hospital moment. The Accountant is having day surgery (read - the local health system is in too much disarray to actually admit you for this procedure, and we haven’t yet received the Prime Minister’s promised 45 million dollar pork barrel, sorry, election bribe, no sorry, what came over me, ummm ‘well considered assistance to the state’s health care sector and addressing of community concerns over the down-grading of the local hospital). Mind you, we’ll take the money to keep our local hospital functioning at a reasonable level – it serves around 70,000 people, so you would think we might need it.
So I took him in and watched him wheeled out toward the operating theatre. He was wearing a rather dashing hospital gown – very demure – my gowns for both C-sections seemed to be very open down the back, displaying areas of me to the world which I have worked quite hard to keep covered in mixed company for many years. His actually overlapped and tied at the side – how unfair is that.
At least I got to laugh at the paper pants – they only come in three sizes, - large, vast and hilariously enormous. Pregnant ladies and the Accountant get Hilarious! My turn to laugh uproariously at the great unsexiness of paper underwear!!
I go to pick him up in a couple of hours. My wonderful Stepmother (the Wonderful Step Mum) is minding children and staying the night in case I need assistance.
Friday is my own GP appointment (the wonderful pap smear) so despite the fact that the household generally go years between appointments with our local medical centre 3 out of 4 family members have required medical assistance in 4 days!
All I need is for Destructoboy….. Nope, not going to say it – that’s just asking for trouble. I’ll pack the knitting – Knitting while husband is post-operative is OK – groggy people need no amusing – a quiet domestic presence should qualify me for wifely sainthood!
As the house will turn into a convalescent home tomorrow, there will probably be no update on health and temper until Friday (my temper will probably be somewhere between ‘hair-trigger’ and ‘hellfire’ by then, but we’ll see).
In the meantime, I will try to keep him from noticing how much broadband I have used until – oohhh Monday or Tuesday should do! You might even get photos by then!
I only had to pretend to be Wonderparent for around 5 minutes, and in the surgery itself – remarkable! Of course, the doctor wasn’t on for having to put drops in the wriggling Princess’s eyes every 4 hours – was he?? – nononono!!
Georgie has suggested a Clapotis KAL. Me – I think it’s a great idea – we’ll work out details at some point – it sounds like we both have a tiny procrastination gene in our make-up, so maybe we can errrrrr ‘encourage’ each other! I somehow don’t think I’ll be making it in the 4 skeins of Lion and Lamb suggested, so we’ll need to consult with the experts about appropriate substitutes (for appropriate please read ‘inexpensive or already in stash!’). By the way – Experts means you lot! RoseRed, what did you do your first one in?
Have you noticed that the Fall Interweave is meant to be out – I shall now harass the local post office on a frequent basis until it arrives – they have some very nice sock patterns on the website though (another load of download – maybe I should sneak that in while the Accountant is post-operative).
Yes, that’s the other General Hospital moment. The Accountant is having day surgery (read - the local health system is in too much disarray to actually admit you for this procedure, and we haven’t yet received the Prime Minister’s promised 45 million dollar pork barrel, sorry, election bribe, no sorry, what came over me, ummm ‘well considered assistance to the state’s health care sector and addressing of community concerns over the down-grading of the local hospital). Mind you, we’ll take the money to keep our local hospital functioning at a reasonable level – it serves around 70,000 people, so you would think we might need it.
So I took him in and watched him wheeled out toward the operating theatre. He was wearing a rather dashing hospital gown – very demure – my gowns for both C-sections seemed to be very open down the back, displaying areas of me to the world which I have worked quite hard to keep covered in mixed company for many years. His actually overlapped and tied at the side – how unfair is that.
At least I got to laugh at the paper pants – they only come in three sizes, - large, vast and hilariously enormous. Pregnant ladies and the Accountant get Hilarious! My turn to laugh uproariously at the great unsexiness of paper underwear!!
I go to pick him up in a couple of hours. My wonderful Stepmother (the Wonderful Step Mum) is minding children and staying the night in case I need assistance.
Friday is my own GP appointment (the wonderful pap smear) so despite the fact that the household generally go years between appointments with our local medical centre 3 out of 4 family members have required medical assistance in 4 days!
All I need is for Destructoboy….. Nope, not going to say it – that’s just asking for trouble. I’ll pack the knitting – Knitting while husband is post-operative is OK – groggy people need no amusing – a quiet domestic presence should qualify me for wifely sainthood!
As the house will turn into a convalescent home tomorrow, there will probably be no update on health and temper until Friday (my temper will probably be somewhere between ‘hair-trigger’ and ‘hellfire’ by then, but we’ll see).
In the meantime, I will try to keep him from noticing how much broadband I have used until – oohhh Monday or Tuesday should do! You might even get photos by then!
Monday, August 13, 2007
In sickness and in occasional health
My goodness. I had anticipated a relaxed and quiet day, drifting gently into writing a posting for my blog, perhaps undertaking one or two not too strenuous jobs on my 3 hours off, but alas, it was not to be!
Firstly – the men came to collect the fridge (5 hours EARLY – is this a record?) only to discover that it had spontane3ously recovered, and should no longer need major surgery. I am not entirely convinced of its wellness, so I have stuffed a thermometer in a glass of water and placed it in the middle shelf – just in case. I will see how cold it gets over the course of the day.
Then, during my perusal of knitty.com, I discovered some lovely, lovely jumpers and a very nice pair of socks I hadn’t noticed before. I was actually there for the Clapotis pattern, which I keep looking at and hadn’t yet down loaded – but inspired by the talented Rose Red, I decided to do something about.
Georgie tagged me for the recipe exchange, so I sent off my recipe (quick name drop) to Barbara Coddington - if not a Yarn goddess, then certainly a Yarn demi-goddess. Quick further skite here (now that’s a word you don’t hear too much these days) I sent her the recipe which got me into the ABCs ‘Home Cooked’ cookbook last year.
Then I had to race off and collect Destructoboy from child care and shortly after returning from that, I received the dreaded CALL FROM SCHOOL. This invariably means that disaster has struck, in some form. Either (like last time) you child has had a fall and requires an immediate trip to emergency because they have suspected concussion, or they’ve thrown up everywhere, or (this hasn’t yet happened but I dread the possibility) they’ve found nits in your child’s hair and they must be immediately removed from school. Princess only attends 2 days per week and I’ve already had 2 calls. This is number 3.
Today it’s suspected conjunctivitis. Great! I have a GP apppintment shortly, have arranged to drop off Destructoboy at the Accountant’s office and take her to the no doubt extended wait at the GPs rooms. Can’t really take knitting as I’ll no doubt need to read to daughter – or at least be publicly seen to display parenting skills – dammit!
Speaking of knitting, I finally finished the first Turtle Walk sock and it looks just lovely. The whole has done Spidey’s design justice and I would have cast on for sock 2 immediately, except for the fact that I had to start a rather belated birthday present – the Wrist Warmers in Silk Road ‘Eden’. I’ve done to the end of the thumb opening and will finish that one tonight and hopefully get most of the second one done tonight.
The recipient is a non-knitter who nonetheless appreciates knitting – she is a mad gardener – so wrist warmers are likely to come in handy!
Gotta go – photos tomorrow – providing the Accountant hasn’t noticed that I’m over my broadband allocation again (with 8 days of the month to go!)
Firstly – the men came to collect the fridge (5 hours EARLY – is this a record?) only to discover that it had spontane3ously recovered, and should no longer need major surgery. I am not entirely convinced of its wellness, so I have stuffed a thermometer in a glass of water and placed it in the middle shelf – just in case. I will see how cold it gets over the course of the day.
Then, during my perusal of knitty.com, I discovered some lovely, lovely jumpers and a very nice pair of socks I hadn’t noticed before. I was actually there for the Clapotis pattern, which I keep looking at and hadn’t yet down loaded – but inspired by the talented Rose Red, I decided to do something about.
Georgie tagged me for the recipe exchange, so I sent off my recipe (quick name drop) to Barbara Coddington - if not a Yarn goddess, then certainly a Yarn demi-goddess. Quick further skite here (now that’s a word you don’t hear too much these days) I sent her the recipe which got me into the ABCs ‘Home Cooked’ cookbook last year.
Then I had to race off and collect Destructoboy from child care and shortly after returning from that, I received the dreaded CALL FROM SCHOOL. This invariably means that disaster has struck, in some form. Either (like last time) you child has had a fall and requires an immediate trip to emergency because they have suspected concussion, or they’ve thrown up everywhere, or (this hasn’t yet happened but I dread the possibility) they’ve found nits in your child’s hair and they must be immediately removed from school. Princess only attends 2 days per week and I’ve already had 2 calls. This is number 3.
Today it’s suspected conjunctivitis. Great! I have a GP apppintment shortly, have arranged to drop off Destructoboy at the Accountant’s office and take her to the no doubt extended wait at the GPs rooms. Can’t really take knitting as I’ll no doubt need to read to daughter – or at least be publicly seen to display parenting skills – dammit!
Speaking of knitting, I finally finished the first Turtle Walk sock and it looks just lovely. The whole has done Spidey’s design justice and I would have cast on for sock 2 immediately, except for the fact that I had to start a rather belated birthday present – the Wrist Warmers in Silk Road ‘Eden’. I’ve done to the end of the thumb opening and will finish that one tonight and hopefully get most of the second one done tonight.
The recipient is a non-knitter who nonetheless appreciates knitting – she is a mad gardener – so wrist warmers are likely to come in handy!
Gotta go – photos tomorrow – providing the Accountant hasn’t noticed that I’m over my broadband allocation again (with 8 days of the month to go!)
Sunday, August 12, 2007
In-laws, Star Wars and Koalas
Well, I survived the onslaught on the in-laws. We had 11 for lunch – got up moderately early and made French bread, beat the living daylights out of the pumpkin soup and added coconut cream, orange juice, cardamom, garam masala and jalfreezi curry paste, put on a Christmas pudding to boil, made quiches and felt dreadful – sandpaper throat, earache, cough – had been hit by lurgy in the night – drank around 44 gallons of blackcurrant juice (possibly a slight exaggeration) and only 1 latte!
Everything went off without a hitch – the presents were wonderful, the children were angelic, the food was fine, the weather was pretty good (the flood having gone down by then) and the Accountant and I looked like fabulous, well organised parents. How wrong impressions can be!
It was the old saying about the swan all over again – you know, the one about looking serene and unruffled on the surface, while underneath the water the legs are going like egg beaters? Well, the main fridge and its associated freezer died on Monday. The man is coming tomorrow to take it away and install a new compressor. It’s currently an extremely expensive gallery for children’s art and shopping lists. Hooray for the beer fridge.
This is much smaller and means that much of my wine and San Pelligreno mineral water has been unceremoniously tipped into the pantry. The pantry is cold enough to crystallise honey and make my olive oil go solid, but it really isn’t properly cold enough for wine. Or mineral water. There’s certainly much less room than in our usual fridge.
On the up side – at least it forced me to clean the other fridge out properly.
As soon as everyone left yesterday, I promptly collapsed. I didn’t even quite get the Turtle Walk sock finished. I’m halfway through the toe decreases – photos tomorrow, I promise.
Then in the middle of all this I realised that it was a really good friend’s birthday yesterday – AND I HADN’T KNITTED HER ANYTHING! Luckily, I won’t see her till Friday, when she brings her kids over for Destructoboy’s birthday and I actually have ‘Last Minute Knitted Gifts’ out of the library (a book I think I must buy) and I will knit her the wrist warmers. So tonight’s job is to get those wrist warmers going – I have the yarn (Silk Road) and the needles in my ziplock project bag, all ready for the off.
I think the reason I didn’t finish was that we watched the last Starwars film last night. We’ve had a bit of a fest over the last week or so and watched all six in order. I must say that doing this shows how poor the most recent three (first 3 in the sixology) are in comparison to the first three. (last 3 in the sixology) The ones from the 70s and 80s are better scripted and acted, have a better story, more humour and take themselves far less seriously. The special effects were amazing for their time, but the films didn’t rely on them – they were much better all round entertainment.
The most recently made were portentous and took themselves much too seriously. Despite the stellar casts, Anakin was a pretty crappy actor and the films relied on special effects, rather than great script and story, to carry the film. They seemed too much like a cash-in exercise – too bitty and badly edited – too much jumping about.
There. That should provoke some comment. I will say that I saw the films in the 70s and 80s when they were released and loved them, and time hasn’t dimmed that love – I really think they are great romps and despite seeing them heaps of time, I still think they’re pretty well perfect – I love the mixture of action and tongue in cheek.
From the toilet training battle front – Destructoboy finally had his first poo in the big toilet – and event inspiring much praise, a present (dinosaur underpants), jellybeans and a caramello koala – I want to make sure that I don’t many more pooey pants to wash, believe me.
I have no problem with bribery – none at all! I am happy to bribe my way into old age. ‘Anything that works’, is my motto. I would have been appeasing and negotiating with terrorists and paying ransoms with no qualms whatsoever. See – it takes an attitude like this to be a really appalling parent – oh, and a pantry full of jelly beans and caramello koalas!
Everything went off without a hitch – the presents were wonderful, the children were angelic, the food was fine, the weather was pretty good (the flood having gone down by then) and the Accountant and I looked like fabulous, well organised parents. How wrong impressions can be!
It was the old saying about the swan all over again – you know, the one about looking serene and unruffled on the surface, while underneath the water the legs are going like egg beaters? Well, the main fridge and its associated freezer died on Monday. The man is coming tomorrow to take it away and install a new compressor. It’s currently an extremely expensive gallery for children’s art and shopping lists. Hooray for the beer fridge.
This is much smaller and means that much of my wine and San Pelligreno mineral water has been unceremoniously tipped into the pantry. The pantry is cold enough to crystallise honey and make my olive oil go solid, but it really isn’t properly cold enough for wine. Or mineral water. There’s certainly much less room than in our usual fridge.
On the up side – at least it forced me to clean the other fridge out properly.
As soon as everyone left yesterday, I promptly collapsed. I didn’t even quite get the Turtle Walk sock finished. I’m halfway through the toe decreases – photos tomorrow, I promise.
Then in the middle of all this I realised that it was a really good friend’s birthday yesterday – AND I HADN’T KNITTED HER ANYTHING! Luckily, I won’t see her till Friday, when she brings her kids over for Destructoboy’s birthday and I actually have ‘Last Minute Knitted Gifts’ out of the library (a book I think I must buy) and I will knit her the wrist warmers. So tonight’s job is to get those wrist warmers going – I have the yarn (Silk Road) and the needles in my ziplock project bag, all ready for the off.
I think the reason I didn’t finish was that we watched the last Starwars film last night. We’ve had a bit of a fest over the last week or so and watched all six in order. I must say that doing this shows how poor the most recent three (first 3 in the sixology) are in comparison to the first three. (last 3 in the sixology) The ones from the 70s and 80s are better scripted and acted, have a better story, more humour and take themselves far less seriously. The special effects were amazing for their time, but the films didn’t rely on them – they were much better all round entertainment.
The most recently made were portentous and took themselves much too seriously. Despite the stellar casts, Anakin was a pretty crappy actor and the films relied on special effects, rather than great script and story, to carry the film. They seemed too much like a cash-in exercise – too bitty and badly edited – too much jumping about.
There. That should provoke some comment. I will say that I saw the films in the 70s and 80s when they were released and loved them, and time hasn’t dimmed that love – I really think they are great romps and despite seeing them heaps of time, I still think they’re pretty well perfect – I love the mixture of action and tongue in cheek.
From the toilet training battle front – Destructoboy finally had his first poo in the big toilet – and event inspiring much praise, a present (dinosaur underpants), jellybeans and a caramello koala – I want to make sure that I don’t many more pooey pants to wash, believe me.
I have no problem with bribery – none at all! I am happy to bribe my way into old age. ‘Anything that works’, is my motto. I would have been appeasing and negotiating with terrorists and paying ransoms with no qualms whatsoever. See – it takes an attitude like this to be a really appalling parent – oh, and a pantry full of jelly beans and caramello koalas!
Friday, August 10, 2007
Floods, moats, socks and ponies
Woke up this morning to discover we have a moat!
As this house is big and old Victorian Italianate, it actually has a tower – so we look just a bit castle-y, and now we have a moat!
In the 7 ½ years we’ve lived here, this has happened 4 times. Next to our garden is a low (and usually dry) area marked in old maps as ‘Slacks Creek’. Usually it is the opposite of a Creek, but when we get lots and lots of rain and the Mersey River floods – the water takes a shortcut from river to estuary via Slack’s Creek and we have a moat.
More prosaic people may suggest it is an arm of the river, but we know what it is!
While the wind blustered and the rain came down – often horizontally - over the last 2 days, I figured this would happen at some point. Further along the north west coast people have been evacuated from their homes, and down past the Southern Capital there’s been flooding – we just get a moat.
On the knitting side of life, I should finish the first Turtle walk tonight. Last night I finished the heel and gusset– will post pictures Monday – tomorrow the entire clan of in-laws (minus my favourite sister in law) will descend upon us to celebrate the birthdays of Princess and Destructoboy. This means I need to engage in thankless drudgery involving dusting, vacuums and Shower Power. Bleuggh!
I also need to make soup and quiches, French bread and desserts, apple teacake and various other bits and bobs. I would much rather be knitting, even though I love cooking. I pulled out the yarn for Juno and I’ve investigated getting a different wool winder. Still trying to find a nice swift (one that doesn’t make sarcastic remarks would be good).
Thinking about animals again, I mentioned the horses. My second pony was Gilligan, a very Irish pony with an odd sense of humour. He loved nothing better than messing with your mind – he would pull a saddle cloth off a fence for hours – and once tiptoed (or should that be tip-hoofed?) up on my mother and removed a heedful of curlers before she even noticed! She suddenly realised that the ground around her feet was littered with them and she hadn’t felt a thing! Gilligan gave her a horsey smile (you know, the one with the upper lip pointing skyward) and ran away.
He had a strong bond with our extraordinarily dim blue Persian. I would be riding him full tilt up the hill and Kimi would streak out and throw himself down on his back right under Gilligan’s front hooves. Gilligan would screech to a halt and blow gently up and down the cat’s tummy.
I would sail over his head and land hard on my bum! This happened a number of times and was almost impossible to anticipate – I almost always ended up on the ground.
Gilligan rather liked that – he had a tendency to jump brilliantly until it really mattered. We were well known in local pony club circles for leaping enormous practice jumps and then being disqualified for refusing the first jump in the actual competition 3 times. I think we made it to the second jump once!
My other pony, Anna, was so good that it was sickening – but she couldn’t jump – she was great at gymkhana games like the bouncing pony and barrel races, but that was it. Anna was such a goody goody that if you dropped her reins in the middle of a paddock, she would still be there 3 hours later, looking virtuous. She was a sweetie, but nowhere near as interesting as Gilligan!
Someone found my blog by searching for Labrador Retrievers! – Strangely, no-one has found it yet by searching for paraplegic budgies – but I’m sure they will in time!
As this house is big and old Victorian Italianate, it actually has a tower – so we look just a bit castle-y, and now we have a moat!
In the 7 ½ years we’ve lived here, this has happened 4 times. Next to our garden is a low (and usually dry) area marked in old maps as ‘Slacks Creek’. Usually it is the opposite of a Creek, but when we get lots and lots of rain and the Mersey River floods – the water takes a shortcut from river to estuary via Slack’s Creek and we have a moat.
More prosaic people may suggest it is an arm of the river, but we know what it is!
While the wind blustered and the rain came down – often horizontally - over the last 2 days, I figured this would happen at some point. Further along the north west coast people have been evacuated from their homes, and down past the Southern Capital there’s been flooding – we just get a moat.
On the knitting side of life, I should finish the first Turtle walk tonight. Last night I finished the heel and gusset– will post pictures Monday – tomorrow the entire clan of in-laws (minus my favourite sister in law) will descend upon us to celebrate the birthdays of Princess and Destructoboy. This means I need to engage in thankless drudgery involving dusting, vacuums and Shower Power. Bleuggh!
I also need to make soup and quiches, French bread and desserts, apple teacake and various other bits and bobs. I would much rather be knitting, even though I love cooking. I pulled out the yarn for Juno and I’ve investigated getting a different wool winder. Still trying to find a nice swift (one that doesn’t make sarcastic remarks would be good).
Thinking about animals again, I mentioned the horses. My second pony was Gilligan, a very Irish pony with an odd sense of humour. He loved nothing better than messing with your mind – he would pull a saddle cloth off a fence for hours – and once tiptoed (or should that be tip-hoofed?) up on my mother and removed a heedful of curlers before she even noticed! She suddenly realised that the ground around her feet was littered with them and she hadn’t felt a thing! Gilligan gave her a horsey smile (you know, the one with the upper lip pointing skyward) and ran away.
He had a strong bond with our extraordinarily dim blue Persian. I would be riding him full tilt up the hill and Kimi would streak out and throw himself down on his back right under Gilligan’s front hooves. Gilligan would screech to a halt and blow gently up and down the cat’s tummy.
I would sail over his head and land hard on my bum! This happened a number of times and was almost impossible to anticipate – I almost always ended up on the ground.
Gilligan rather liked that – he had a tendency to jump brilliantly until it really mattered. We were well known in local pony club circles for leaping enormous practice jumps and then being disqualified for refusing the first jump in the actual competition 3 times. I think we made it to the second jump once!
My other pony, Anna, was so good that it was sickening – but she couldn’t jump – she was great at gymkhana games like the bouncing pony and barrel races, but that was it. Anna was such a goody goody that if you dropped her reins in the middle of a paddock, she would still be there 3 hours later, looking virtuous. She was a sweetie, but nowhere near as interesting as Gilligan!
Someone found my blog by searching for Labrador Retrievers! – Strangely, no-one has found it yet by searching for paraplegic budgies – but I’m sure they will in time!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
