Sunday end of June

And another financial Year. I did manage this year to buy new work boots,the others Ive had for two years and giving me sore feet,having used them yet,probably give them a burl tomorrow.
the old Corriedale spun socks have been a wonderful find in the stash box,I washed them everyday except for the one night I forgot to hang in front of fire and had to use another pair of hand knitted think soxs.I have never had such lovely toasty toes before,normally i retreat to the shed to warm up on nasty days but no these saved my days!
And I found the other pair half knitted in the same box,as soon as I finish two UFOs Ill get them out and into service too,i had offered to son No 3 for his work experience day but no not for him,little does he know the value of warm fee,his loss my gain! the sole and heels have felted beautifully and its like wearing shearers moccasins! Roughly a DK,I have enough for a vest but I need to find a pattern that is easy wearing so not too much washing to save it from felting

Anyway I have some mail..
From Charly at Ixchel Fibres,this sooo colorful,definitely a shawl or wrap,two braids,Im spinning up Grasshopper first,its a camelbunny mix,very very fine and not fast to spin at all so it may be a while before this beauty gets on the wheel..dont have room to put two wheels out!

And a beautiful gift from a Friend in the UK,hand made and will be treasured forever.On the hunt for a tweedy style hat or I might weave the fabric myself!

My hat that got a work out last Sunday on the wet, wet day

The shawl thats nearly done,very hard colour to capture,its a real red raspberry,dont think recipient was that enthused as she did imply a raspberry pink but hey its a handknit!And Casbah! No more knitting for others for a while til UFO list has been diminished!!

,a solid hour I think will do it,but essay research comes first this morning,speaking of which is bright and sunny with a light cool wind,a comfortable winters day,still my in my PJs but with the house at last stirring ill be in the study uniform of trackies and jumper very soon
Oh cause its a lovely bright day i took this pic of Hubbys seedlings,celery and lettuce,I have to get busy and clean up my neglected garden,this week sometime before he tries to take it over and make yet another mess.(doesnt believe in weeding)

Edited to add,I saw these From the wonderful "Graduate Knits"
and went looking and found this...hmm too many things,not enough time
Not the colours I wanted as I really like the above Graduates Knits socks,sorry lassy for pinching pic but really wanted a record the colours and I have linked you!! Oh heres a nice one!!! Ok I must go

A Wet Weekend

I traveled with son No1 to Bunbury for the State round of MX,I enjoyed the trip down as Ive never been down that way and it was lovely and green and lots of sheep.
At the track we set up the tent ,it was dark by the time we got there and the grounds were filling fast. After staying the night in town ,Tom wanted to get there early next morning so it was up at 5am, no sleep in for two weeks was not going to be nice but I was Tommys Pit girl!!It was a bit damp and quite cool but by the end of the day it was pouring on and off ,the sandy track was swampy and how the riders stayed out there got me buggered. Tom did two races (in top ten place for first I think) and pulled out of the third after a few laps due to damage to his bike. He stacked it after he and another rider were knocked off by the third but after getting up and going again he took a big fall,cartwheeling himself the bike,I got a few good pics but had shifted to a different vantage spot, so missed him,probably just as well,thank God hes fit.
I dropped my assignment off Friday so I able to go with him as no one else would or could,I was worried he'd have a bad riding day and having to drive the 8 hours home that night for work at 4.30 next morning,it was bad enough I had to be at work at 6.30.Driving back was good but I was going to sleep after Southern Cross,got to drive sons beaut V8, old memories never die,hot and fast!

He didnt stay this color long....

On the way down i nearly finished a Turning Square hat in Black 10 ply Luxury for him but forgot to take DPNs so did it today though I think when he tries it on I ll reknit the crown on the 4.5 mm instead of the 3./34s I had in work bag.Id forgotten how nice Bendigo WM Luxury is,might make a Robin in it for me

Ok OK

I know Im supposed to be finishing the essay with all the stuff I found yesty,5 sentences per paragraph and intext citations at least one for each paragraph.. Ill get to it in a minute ok??
I have two projects looking at me,a nearly done top,Im dying to ply as its super fine and so that means a shawl of size..but hang how on, did I end up on the Fat Quarter Shop page..
http://www.fatquartershop.com/store/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?Shopper_id=1166106228116&Store_id=499&page_id=23&Item_ID=84208&Parent_Ids=
Im thinking that this would be nice for Son no 3,he doesnt want flowers yes of course but wants colour,he paints a little like me..

I think this will fit the bill
Im home sick with a horrible dry cough sort of,I think its bronchitis,hoping Hubby doesnt try dragging me off to shop,its been so cold at work,a day at home should help..
Ok some pics to share

 Theres a new cat in the neighborhood who doesnt know to stay in its yard,if Tilly gets close enough it will learn,meanwhile Bunnies have to stay inside and are not happy

 Saw this church in Subiaco, love it,wish I had big camera with me

 Misti Alpaca cowl made in feather and fan pattern and gifted to long serving lady at work

And this one,Casbah...hmm yum, I cant remember name but fast effective and simply gorgeous,gifted to another lady who helped last year in a delicate situation,it came a bit finer than I wanted but it still well received tears and all,aww I love gifting
the next one is the Berry Shawl,Im at halfway point,should be done this week! It looks like Im off to Bunbury this Saturday,i refused to let son1 drive down and back after a big race day without a co driver,Hubby thinks Im being too cautious but after sons tales of last trip to Perth,I cant let him go alone,if Son 2 goes all good. Ill knit his beanie on the way down and study while he races,prob get more peace on the trip than at home,hahaha
Oh Im nearly done with those red Patonyle socks too
Chow!!

Just a Sound

Its a Grinspoon song Ive been listening to from their Black Rabbits Album,I love this one,the cellection I mean..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmWnO3vQIZw

Humming along to it as write here and enjoy the last few minutes of quiet before everyones home and hubby makes his presence known...
pics to feast upon  PS i dont seriously remember if Ive blogged about any of this but indulge me for this one time..
More stash

Not socks,a shawl or scarf

 Finally got enough for a vest,its so scrummy!

 this will be socks

 This will..I dont know.sort of wondering about finishing off the rest of top,working out how much and hand dying it a color like blue or raspberry tone and making a large shawl in a diamond pattern maybe

Oh Bear made his appearance so I put him in pride of position,I have to get his offsider out and made

 just had to share this again

 Pillaga pottery,love its color

 new shawl nearly half way in Casbah which dosent feel like Casbah,some colors I found make the yarn harsh to feel and this is definitely not as soft as the other chocolate skein I got with it

 The Rikke hat I will be wearing this weekend,its a heavy Dk and I would have used it as a worsted weight

 Patonyle DK,what can I say, these are the highest socks Ive ever knitted but I wanted to use up the entire three balls so I weighed it until nearly half way through so Ill just a bit left for darning later

 with a 2x2 cable on every 5th row~

It was sooo cold at work today but yesterday was worse,1' this morning yes but yesterday,it was overcast and cold all day, the frozen soup hubby brought down in the morning and left in the car but didnt tell me..was still frozen that afternoon when I got home,beat that!

Oh Dear

Ive been a little disorganized,well more guilty than any thing else,Im about two weeks behind with reading for the current uni,Australian Art History, so have made time to write,well I could have but Hubby was waching,lol
Currently Ive got the Bibliography and reference page done,and the first paragraph sort of , today Ill do the essay plan and read enough to get some citations organised as well,its due Friday week at 5pm,It will be done as I ll probably have the normal fast paced red eyed puffy face look by that day,this coming Friday is my RDO from last week but as my new offsider is due for his RDO on my essay due date I cant take it then.
I have a sneaking suspicion my health is not very good but not having a good female doctor any more it ll have to wait, there are two new doctors due in town this week after several months without one,but I dont think they ll be the ones I can use. Yes I am burying my head in the sand,its old age catching up sort of thing I keep saying and keep busy with things...
Anyhow pictures,Im sure a few of you who visit will want to see some pics of my 2013 trip to the Retreat,
THIS year there a special occasion for us to to watch,the Back to Back by the Toodyay Spinner Group. For those who dont what that is,world wide on that day there were teams of spinners and knitters who raced the clock to produce a jumper (a set pattern) from a freshly shorn sheep,the knitting of the yarn has to be started within I think 40 minutes of the sheep losing its coat,also if I remember correctly the record is just over 4 hours,the Toodyay team took about 9 hours to completion.

 The hectic stitching up of the seams,there were three or four there before I took this,lol

 The final photo of the group victorious with the finished garment

The warm spinning corner of our girls,so many different wheels,I took my little  Victoria (Louet), looking to get another wheel next year even though its a beaut wheel,a Kromski or a Spinalution maybe,the little Hitchiker is also in the running

The conference room AKA yarn market

 I missed the kookaburras that were up there on the Saturday morning,these galahs were my consolation prize

 The gardens are very lovely to meander around

 The meals are set to provide for those who have diet requirements,this was one lunch time selection,that was a little chicken pie in there but the others were for gluten free,etc the menu was awesome as ever,theres a push to involve more spinners and knitters for next year so we can fill the Homestead due to various reasons but the main one is being able to be ourselves and noisy when the need arises,also the mess are yarn and wheels and baskets of suppiles,tables littered with projects etc,makes it easier if its only us yarn people. If anyone reading this would be interested in coming next year,let me know and I can pass on information

 My knitting spot,as I couldnt sit in a lounge chair with the pattern and a cup or glass of something

 The first finished skein I did on the Saturday

 The work done on the grounds

 The second skein I washed on the Sunday and set to dry in the sun,it was from EGMTKs and was a mix of merino,targee,and a couple other fibres i cant remember at moment,most of the stash I brought home was limitied to a ball of Fibrespates DK which I nearly finished on the weekend as another Rikke hat,a skein of EGMTKs sock yarn for a gift for Southern Cross Friend who couldnt make it,two more fibre packs from Mandy and some destash yarns,enough for a vest in discontinued Jo Sharp DK,a strange plummy brown color, two balls of the marvelous velvet purple Jo Sharp,another hat,two balls of Debbie Bliss aran cashmerino in deep red and charcoal,a striped hat it will be,a ball of fine mohair stuff from Rowan for ,you guessed it a hat,Im into hats at the moment,my hair has grown so long I can wear a hat nicely now

 Natives abound through the gardens,with nooks and little quiet sitting spots,I want to go back in Summer for a quilting UFO weekend in January

And there you have it,count down to next year! the time I look forward to dressing nicely for four days and spending time with wonderful like minded people and talking to the best hosts Delvene and Peter who try every year to convince us to move the shop down there,lol
Currently Im working on this in between study and work (the house is a mess too but who cares)