Monday, March 31, 2008

OOOh A Parcel!! STR Spoiler

I was expecting this and had a peak at the Club Blog and knew what it would look like but in person...one word.. DEVINE!!!!!!!!!..but then again they'll all be devine,LOL!

What do you think Rachael? I know Im thinking this pattern appeals 'cause there appears to be cables..I loove cables.."Lucky", appeals to the Irish in me!!(Havent had a good look yet just enough to squeal at the PO,but they're used to me now!!)

I have the yarn in the hand with a pattern worked out for the ISE 6 ,post apiccie when its abit bigger,so that will have to get a move on but if I can get a fair bit done, this gorgeous sock wool will be my reward!

The last Club Issue,Serendipity, which I forgot to post about,a beautiful colour but didnt call like "Lucky",I just fondled it....Kids were fascinated by the mini skein,LOL

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Bugger!!

What would you do if you were stuck in Perth with no wallet,no money,no ID,NO LICENSE in a new ute and you have to be back at work ,like today........lucky he's got a good friend and a pliable MUM...

Saturday, March 22, 2008

The End to a Weekis(or two) Horibilus

To pinch a phrase from the Queen herself during a speech a few years ago? These last two weeks were not the bestest time Ive had, but with that I think things have been cleared and I know where I stand...wherein,that area of my daily life will not be revisited on here and only the good things will preveil!


The two older boys at school recieved a merit certificates,P recieved 3,Home Ec,Maths and English,H was Science! I m very proud of the two of them for being recognised (though I believe theres was and I suppose will always be jealously from others that,sadly I ve been too blind to see).

P.. has been the object for bullies since early Primary but being a Big boy now(hes in bigger sizes to his oldest big Brother) is holding his own and not afraid to tell them to F*** Off, I solved the problem in his earlier years when the school failed to do anything by telling him to hit back,it worked,LOL. H.. is a kind of young fella,however, that seems to be able to breeze his way through and come out unscathed,maybe I could get a hint or two from him?LOL

It a marvel to see the different characters merging from each of them.One thing they have in common is a rather strange sense of humour for whichI beieve they may have inheritedfrom my dad(not me of course,giggle,giggle)...


Anyway Im enjoying the break,been spinning,knitting madly to finish two pair of socks('cause I really need the needles to do another project,despite having ten or more sets of 2.5mm,Im waiting for Cheryl from Chezs Crafty World in Kalgoorlie Boulder to get some more stock in...)I really need to clear some projects to be ready to get the wool or yarn to make a scarf for the ISC6.



Ive been talking to Pals on both sides and nearly reveiled who I was when I got a little mixed up with who I was takling to!!




This is a shot though not very clear, of the last bit of spinning I ve done,angora wool plied with a strand of silk,after washing the wool plumped right up and I want to dye it a darker colour to makea wrap,there should be in excess of 600m, so enough for a nice dainty shawl.I tend to wear a lot of white shirts so any colour will do but for a winter one Im tossing between an autumn or a vibrant wintery purple or dark red , a mossy velvety green? probably varigated for interest!Im trying to steer clear of blue as its a colour Im always attracted to and would like something different,orshould I say should look for something different and not be so boringly predictable!!
This spinning result is by far the,I mean ,THE softest I have ever felt,its almost too nice to harden up with dye as I found some of my previous work has been,it would be cuddly against the skin so am really at a loss to decide on the final pattern!



Now Allittook put a video up of the sites around her spot and I know someone(cant find that person...Donyale ...or I Heart Knitting?) else put out a call for us to post a vid to highlight our voices etc,Well heres my current submission until something else comes up(maybe when my full uniform arrives, a spot of working the rake or mowing(AKA driving the mower),got to have a laugh...


Earlier this week I decided Fluffa was just getting too daggy,his tail alone was all matted...now his tail's but a ghost of what it was,a mere little stick with a bit of fluff adhered to it!!




Hope everyone is enjoying the long Easter break,these kids have until Tuesday when they are back to school for two weeks before the Autumn break! We;re off to Perth for S... to see some specalists in Behavioral Optometry and the Lions Hearing Centre also for other tests in another bid to help his progress in school,cruel for him,year 6 and he cannot read....the new Deputy has tracked down some further help with him too with a new programme called Click,where the student uses a computor to aid his learning path,lets hope this bloke gets it right!! We have a few things to do while there so I very much doubt I will be so lucky to even get to Spotlight....

Monday, March 10, 2008

Ive been tagged.....

Ok!!!!! Donyale from Indulging My Inner Knitter tagged me for this one!!!!

THE RULES:

1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you. Done that

2. Post THE RULES on your blog. Done That

3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog. OOOOh now its getting hard

4. Tag 7 people and link to them. Let me think.....

5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged. LOL sucked in!!!!! No really its fun,makes the old grey matter work and gives family friends and co-workers something to ragg you out with!!!



1. I have a fairly large personal space that people are always invading,friends are fine,its the newcomers.....especially the ones that are taller and leeeenover me...I hav zee urge to run.....



2. I have an addiction to all fibre things,but this isn't really weird, only to my family,I nearly break out in tremors when I step into a wool shop...rarely come home from town without something related to knitting or yarn....



3.T (son 1) thinks its weird that I fix my hair the night before, only to sleep on it and go to work the next day...my hair is quite thick and flat and it looks awful if I dont give it a lift with the blowdrier!



4.I feel a whole sense of peace when travelling into the real outback,arid and dry,the city can be exciting but I don't realise how tense I am,maybe claustrophobic until I see and smell the gum trees and the open country side!!!



5. I love a lot of my kids music,not all but a fair bit to annoy my Hubby,LOL ... Jet, Grinspoon ,Marylin Manson(one song) anyone? Not really weird either but when you consider Hubby likes John Williamson,Don Mclean etc I stand out in my music choice...Speaking of which I found one the other day..Save A Horse,Ride A Cowboy!!!!But I do like Beethoven and Strauss



6.I love Tom Sauce on nearly everything,even on a roast!!!! No Gravy..



7.I ll take countless photos of subjects that only I can see the reason for collecting these images,insects,flowers etc,filling my camera up and I just hate emptying the SD card for fear of loosing one....

Ok ,I read back see that I dont really appear weird but it was fun to have a go anyway!!!
I Tagg.....
Allittook
Bellsknits
Shazza Knits
Arletas Motley Wool
Woolly Jumper
Random Knits
Metal and Knit

I hope Im not going to annoy anyone doing this! It gave me a reason to sit and think and take a break from another awful week,hey that ryhmes.... abit..

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Hi all!!

This week Ive managed to finisha large bobbin of angora wool from a bag of the soft luscious stuff found at the Bendie woollen Mills nearly five years a go on a trip through there(very disappointed that I couldnt do a tour of the joint)
It was fairly matted and needed fluffing up to spin, with Mandies help in acquiring a carder its just as fun to card it and much quicker than doing it by hand,hence I was able to do a little bit of spinning each night to get it to the stage of plying it with some silk thread I got ages ago from the Hawthorne Cottage(think thats right) on Ebay.
The effect isnt coming up like I envisaged but there will be heaps so a nice broad wrap may develop.The Louet S10 has large bobbins and fine spinning can result in a quite a bit of metreage! I wanted to emulate the skein that I gave away a couple of years ago but remembered half way through plying that I actually plyed two strands of the angora/wool and on the Ertoel which although was a nightmare in the fagility of the fibre(fairly short fibres),was an absolute delight in the end, soft and plump,all squooshy and elicious,AND I gave it away..... anyway Im hoping that this week to take a break from the angora and try to finish one of Mandies last Club Issues... took one out of the cupboard looking for the silk thread....amazing what things you find stash wise when hunting something else down....and thought,oooohI really want to do this one and seeing the other and ooh I really want to this one toooooo, one for the colour and other for the fibre...big decisions.....
Knitting....
I finished the first Opal Snake sock for H. and made a head start on the second,it was a secret but he has big feet and I just had to get him to try it on to check, very happy with them he is..big feet I mean by 14 years and size 11/2, the 12 year old is already 11 so its a competition to see what sizes they end up,Son 1 I think is 12.....Hubby is size 10 1/2, Im a 8 1/2 to 9, even the younger boys have big feet compared to their friends!!!!
Anyhow I have to this week get a hold of the Opal Frog socks for P so hes not too insulted,hes a wonderful boy,helps out heaps so I have to get a move and do his sockies soon...
I havent touched anyother knitting or UFOs though I look and want to,spinning has taken much of my very small free time this week,I really want to finish a couple of things before the cooler weather gets here,likethe CPH and JoSharps Wrap Jacket,I remain sceptical if I have enough wool (Alabaster Silkroad Aran) It seems like a thick yarn for an aran especially compared to Bendies Aran

Onto this week,I again earned myself a dubious record to solving problems,you see we have an increasing population of feathered friends,Pideons to be exact,24 at last count but they dont all seem to hang around much, anyhow they leave an auwful mess and everyone seemed to be stumped to how to get rid of them,no one ,in short,wanted to ,too much effort and dont know how? I went into work early one morn and while doing my rounds I came up with the idea that these birds were so secure they totally ignored meas I walked bywhere they were roosting. Next day at 515am ,found me with

  • A box and milk crate to stand on.
  • Place quietly under window ledge where fluffed up pigeon were sleeping
  • stand up and quick as a flash grab a bird by the wings where they cross over
  • Place in box and
  • repeat.....

6 birds down and a possible 18 to go..though they are getting wary.....

Ill be back,about to loose power, action here house at Renovation Central!!!!Ill do some spinning til its back!!!

Saturday, March 01, 2008

And this too!

Angora wool going nicely (accept for the fluff up the nose)!!! As you can see,housework was Not a priority......Carder was...

Something new!

Ive been busy!

This my postage stamp quilt Ive been working on for a while,shoved in the sewing box for time out and then revived last weekend! All these squares are from a big shopping bag of scraps, left over from various projects!!!!

Very happy with it now!

Long Time No Write

This last couple of weeks have been the lowest I had for a while.No interest in anything much,running on auto,making it through each day with no enthusiasm for much at all.I love to cook,knit and spin,have a laugh with friends, lately its been zero and zinch(accept for socks)had an invite to drinks Friday with some great Staff and Hubby was all ready to go but I just couldnt do it,I was in the Poo Bucket there for a while,hmm he got over it...maybe an intimate dinner out might perk him up later?!!

Days started at 4.45am, after checking the clock every hour through the night,average of 4 hours sleep,broken at that,

At work at 5am

Back home at 6am to pick up Son No 1 to run him into Kal for Tafe block, a round trip of 120ks, 8 days of this,dont think of fuel at $1.48/L.....and lunch money for him as he spent his wage on a new bike, Question!!!!! How On Earth can someone eat $50 in 2 DAYS....

Back at work at 730am to work through til 2.30 (3pm on a couple of days) and hopefully cover the time I was away off site,

Deal with crapola at work (friends understand this part) and other unmentionable stuff,I work with some fantastic staff,a chat here and there can make a day so much more uplifting!

Back home to deal with tired cranky kids whinging about homework and one going through issues as Autistics do,try to remember where everyones clothes are at that particular point,make sure all is ready for the next day(no time in that 15 min space when in Zombie mode) get some nutritous if not always appealing tucker on the table....sorry anywhere there happens to be a chair as I havent cleared the junk off the table as no amount of yelling will get anyone to shift their own!

The dog and the Rabbit are moulting too, so its like a snow storm in parts of the house(isnt it funny how you never notice it until a visitor arrives? like spider webs)

The one thing I make sure happens to hold it together,always make the time to have a that first Cuppa in the morn and just before bed,an enforced relax time that has made it all possible to come out the end a wee bit sane?

But in addition to all that is a good friend and a good friend who can quick as, send over the one item Ive been waiting for so probably 20 years,oops that makes me sound old,make it 15! In a moment of revelation, emailed through a request and its here and already been put to work!!!

A hugest thankyou to Mandy over at Ewe Give Me The Knits as a wonderful Ashford Agent,was able to make little dream come true!!! I havent even taken a picture yet so this Ashford site one will have to suffice! And of course for the chats,thankyou Mandy,imagine a big bunch of flowers!!!!

Ive been carding a little bit each time Ive managed to get it out and now have enough to finish a bobbin of angora wool which I want to ply with some silk thread and dye! I had a gorgeous skein of pure angora wool that I gifted in a Spin to Knit swap last year? and really miss it and hope to emulate the colours I used.Really its the colours I love,and often the skein exists to fondle and show off only,I couldnt bear to knit it up,LOL!

Im so happy with the carder however as it used to take ages to fluff up the fibre to spin and that took all the fun out of spinning but now the bags of wool filler,tangles masses of alpaca laps,little roving ropes of compacted angora wool,bunny fluff that has to be carded to be able to spin as its too short in fibre length,badly mixed alpaca wool,cut off the mill carder by the looks all are now spinable!Ive been slack with photos but hope this week to update!

Speaking of which I really need to update Ravelry too,much more stash enhancing going on and no records!!!

On the work front,Ive been elected OHS Rep,the duties of which Im lucky to fall back on Hubby for info as hes been there, done that, sort of thing. I hope to take this further and do additional courses over the next two years so I can move onto a job that will get me out of the sun.The area is of an interst to me especially after doing a unit of Law Of Tort years ago and did very well with 97% if I recall. The only disappointment is that the training is at this stage done in Kal and is so because I was told it would be Perth one and I was sort of looking forward to a plane ride,I love flying,but theres a question over through who,Union or Department,not many seem to know what goes.Its fortunate I have some info to start with and also a friend who was a rep years ago and did all the courses.Unfortunately I have a feeling it may not earn or keep friends in the work area,I wont go on, a bit of a sensitive area! I have checked the employment bit on the net and there some great jobs that I could go into later with an average of 45k income with training. Only have to be in the right spot at the right time!!!!

I dragged Hubby down to work yestarday and this morning to help me put up the new weather station for a teacher who has project for the class to send in the weather results to GWN for Kambalda next week,first time too I think,wouldnt have been able to do it without Hubby either,though he did get a bit toofy while painting lines for the canteen yesty,hes just too much of a perfectionist,pity he didnt think of the house like that,there might be some more progress there,LOL It was in all a bit of Mum and Dad Time or should I say C and B time?

Oh to add something of interest for family that may check in! Me and my Boys(Hubby as well) Im getting shorter......