Super Excited..

Well I was when visiting the lovely Doctor this morning thinking Id be able to be rid of that bulky bandage and have the ability to wear something other than those two shirts..today Ive got DHs oversized John Butler Tee on,if I tuck the hem in in a wee bit and let the rest fall it looks ok,the fabric gorgeously soft,anyhow i digress,Doctor looked prodded and declared antibiotocs and rebandaged with.. a stetchy sleeve to compliment the crepe,now Im back(never left)the sausage arm and boy he does them firm,no tight as, bugger..typing is painful so only using that hand for a few keys and relying on fast right hand motion..sigh
Anyway after that let down the super excited was back again when DH went to PO and retrieved our mail,woohoo,the Bendigo card for their new yarn is here at,wow I love it and the lovely Anne at Onemorerow has just posted (I just read it is closer) about her new vest project,when I saw it it hit me, perfect for this yarn,Serenade,  20% bamboo &80% wool,not soft soft but the silk sheen is so nice and the wool should give it a sturdiness,Im swaying between Asphalt and Clover though theres a nice bit of this colour being destashed I wouldnt mind so maybe the Merlot or Hibiscus,I just dont know yet,will sleep on it...
Spinning a bit at a time,found being right dominated the left is not needed as much,it just rests and acts as a platform..

 

This the last of the colours

Then I ll do the white como,wonder if its a waste of a lovely fibre,I have Polwarth too but wanted to spin it up to a sweater worth then dye before knitting..anyway Ill ply the white and coloured silk merino and I have grandose plans of a crocheted (if that fails knitted) wide scarf,saw a gorgeous sample at crossways,it looked like a ladder like sts with a crocheted border,food for though anyway..
Serenade..................

Closer.....

Should have cropped or found a better spot to take photo but anyone whos loves bendigo with have one anyway ")

Part 3

Now I thought I d better finish off the story of my surgical trip to the big city with a few more picks

Now isn't this simply the most gorgeous sample of specialist techie spinning,coils if I remember rightly(it was a sample of a spinning school by a visiting lady of reknowned ability but I cant remember her name ,bugger)..Ive looked at pictures before but never actually picked up a sample for the touchy feel,they were so pretty I was super careful thinking they were untouchable,dont know why perhaps I thought them a bit delicate? Anyway they were so soft and squisshy,(I didnt squish of course) but I could feel the softness,Iv never wanted to spin anything like these before but now Id love too,Toodyay Retreat has a spinning lesson of techies such as these so Im going to set myself up with the nescessary goods to try...now what on earth would you knit with this sort of sample. warpgirl suggested she would love to see how weaving would work and I agree,what texture...I actually have a dump of Charley fluff to try this...
Went  searching for some link for the art yarn stuff and came across this one I also foiund this one too not spinning still an interesting idea,maybe you could use seconds from fabric shops or mills
Now more on that fantastic day out..

I was a bit shy to take many photos in case people would be upset but the church was awesome and the hall wonderful,I havent seen such a community minded group for a long time...
the gardens again

and

Lush greens
which reminds me,this is what my wee garden looks like now...

just look at the silver beet,the beets and sugar loafs!!!Yes and look at the holes,I must pyrethrem them very soon....

Broad beans

Look carrots,only littel one but they are coming up in the droves

pity the parsnips are not appearing but I think if I remember rightly they are slower than carrots. These red ones are hubbies bred ones so they should do very well!

Spinning Ive done a little bit for sanity and a few rows as well on my sons Graham hat and my pink citron but onle a bit a t a time,my arm is still too sore to do much.This week I get the bulky bandage off and so Ill be able to fit into my normal clothes thank heavens,the weathers been nice so luckily i have needed to rug up which would have made problems seeing most of my stuff wouldnt fit...its actually been a good thing,its also made me look at the things I dont normally wear,like the two check cotton shirts Ive been wearing constantly over the last two weeks,they look great with a knitted vest,one of which I havent worn much at all,its like a waist coat with buttons and all in cornflower blue,Id knitted it at least 8 years ago but worn rarely due to being too bright but having it on last thursday I got heaps of great comments so maybe I should rethink..anyhow I bought all that Japanese prints from Spottie back in Dubbo so those peasant tops I had planned would have been ideal if only I could reach my dining table to cut out and sew them up...

Part 2?

To continue
Myrlene took me to Kings Park and although it was drizzling it was a fantastic morning out after a trip to the very nice Crossways Wool Shop in Subie

Where it was superbly green

the banksia garden but not much was flowering

though I did find one very nice one

And this poor tree was in the news some time ago when they dug it up and carried it all the way from up top of WA,the Baob Tree,similiar to what we have here in Kambalda, kurrajong or Brachychiton.

It had a lot of holes drilled into it so I presume it was the doctoring side of re establishing it in the Park.

and another shot..

Down further there were some wonderful inlaid stone near the other side of the banksia gardens in front of a lovely bench seat  that also had design features that was linked to that garden.I didnt get a closeup of the bench seat but if you look carefully theres the banksia leaves running along the back rest ")

After we went off to the markets and Ive never seen so much dry goods in buckets...

pepita's!!!
On the Saturday I was a traveling companion out to Mossman Park for the Eco Fair with Ruth who was such a lovely lady, we had great conversation and Im eternally thankful to Myrlene, Ruth and Helen who went out of their way to give me  a lift to these places and home rescuing me from being locked up in a room all weekend.Myrlene also organised a trip to the Bilby Yarn shop too, naughty enabler,hope I can go back soon to source the wool for Hubby whos nodding to another knitted garment...

Spinning demo which involked a lot of interest and laughter and community gardens...

These grounds were beautifully kept,looked productive and a lot  of care went towards keeping them that way.
GARDEN UPDATE SOON.........Im typing one hand so forgive any funny bits..

Home and on the mend

I imagined what it would be like comimg home but I didnt think of the annoyance of not being able to do much,I wont say nothing cause I still have my right hand which is the dominant one but boy dont you need that left one...heaps..
This is myself three days after surgery...

This was my quiet corner til the weather turned damp and windy

My room exited out onto this shared undercover,it was lovely on the Wednesday when I came out of hospital as the pain killers were not very friendly..

The knitting community came to the rescue after Hubby went home( he was my carer for two days after operation) and Myrlene took to the me off to the bestest knitting shop I have ever been,Crossways Wool and Fabric in Subiaco, the people were so nice,friendly and genuine,they were also very popular and on their feet full time,who said knitting was a dying art..while there I managed to add to stash

These beauties I got for shawl production,thinking of the Dream Strip Shawl but not sure if the orangey red will be too much but also theres this pattern too, Juliana and I have some Tart in Malbrigio if I remember right to go with the peuple for the stripe shawl too....I saw this combination and loved it
This one I couldnt leave behind,if only you could feel in through the monitor,seriously good stuff

you will be my quishy and I will hold and pet you forever...

And of course more bits for projects I needed well bits for...the tulip hat in the Interweave mag,a spare ball for Sons hat etc
and I couldnt resist these but not sure if i could make them into sock for combine with maybe black for an awesome shawl

then I went to Bilby yarns........ the lovely lady on appointment let us in for a quick shop..I snaffled 1400m of 4ply which looks more a sport,600 grams of charcoal merino top and that lovely packets of colour at top of this post.Im hoping to make Finnian for my Hubby one day so will need to go back and order 8ply but the 4 plyI might make this one simple yet still a bit of cable for interest.

Pinched from Knitty.com

Sample of different silk merino ,I got two packs which I want to spin in lace singles and then maybe chain ply on its self or spin up some gorgeous cormo so I have enough for a scarf,maybe a crochet one,saw some very nice ones in the shops in Perth that wet my appetite for more than just blankets

4ply Western Dream in Charcoal,hoping to get at least a kilo of the corriedale which looked a lot darker than this yarn and the top I brought home

On the last bit of stash I also got this book Knit Noro and already Ive been hunting for yarn to go with at least three of those in this book!

Taiyo!

or this one........

but even I would try this one too

The lovely Myrlene took me to the Botanic Gardens at KingsPark where we had a bite to eat and a walk around,the Banksia gardens were my favourite but only one was in flower,we also nearly got caught up with a wedding ,lol werent happy with us but with the showers we were moving pretty well anyway!

More on this next post I must deal with progeny.........

Last hours of freedom

Well its feels like it...
Tuesday Im in to get this retched arm fixed,six weeks off work in a splint for god knows how long,no knitting sewing or motor bike for a fair part of this time..I can see an aweful lot of TV,Books and web browsing,maybe property shopping? it seems a lot of my close aquaintences are also deserting this part of the woods.
Today I went into town for Son 3 to play Hockey but they mixed up the times and he missed out,he was mortified of course and DH was not happy with that p[oint of veiw,well I suppose its like arriving dressed up for a special day to discover it wasnt so and everyone else was in jeans,been there done that and Ill never get caught again..
Anyhow Son 1 was racing for the first time so we went out to track to find him absolutley nackered,they race the circuit for 15 minutes full on,hes got a Kwaka 450 and theres a lot of power under that seat,he went back and raced again and out of a field of 20 odd he got 7th place as they go through flag but I m not sure about the final placing,I think he did so well but scary as hell for a Mum who lost a brother roughly his age on a bike.Watching them take off and come together at the first turn is just undescribable,I saw him through and it was just all go from there.One rider was hit in the face with a rock and pulled out straight away,a lot of blood dripping down his face,half way through another two riders went down,one went away in the Ambulance with probably two broken ribs while a friends son came a big buster and lost bits of his bike,secretly I though he still looked a bit shaken at end of race though he and his younger brother were up the front across the line..

My boy in his Aussie colours with Son3 next to him

Lining up at the starting line

And they re away!

Im very not likely to ride this track but it doesnt stop me thinking about it,a casual ride mind you certainly not the racing kind.....

Knitting I doing well with citron,about to start the second ball,

and the SCF vest Ive taken the plunge and stuck to the 5mm needles,cast on for the medium size on 4.5mm but Im looking at it being a bit loose so by increasing as per small size Ill be able to keep it closer to fit by continuing on with the small size.I dearly hope I dont have to frog but its a fairly easy,no!! casual knit and a great TV or radio knit,I can almost knit it without looking,the colours are beautiful and knit eough last night to see a bit of dazzling blue slip though..

Anyhow I fly off tomorrow to be in Perth for the pre-op and into day clinic on Tuesday for 11am...scared,you bet I am..I havent had anymore info from Docs except the appointment and they never sent though the file with all I need so i dearly hope alls good as the insurance peoples will not be happy if I land down there with Hubby in tow as carer.Aparently I m to stay in the big city for 5 days maybe 7 for follow up,I have some wonderful Ravelry pals coming to my creative rescue probably on Saturday for a meet up,I know its going to be cruel to watch everyone else knit,Im wondering if the fine lace will be ok if I dont move the left wrist?
One more of that lovely Corriedale

Ive used my little Kodak so it not as clear as the Canon but feeling lazy,it was closer that the big one...
I dont think Ill be back here for a week or so but as I said before I do have the link from my phone,depends how bored I get ")

Last free day

Its my last day,although Anzac Day is a public holiday I do still veiw it as part of my break..lots of shuffling and trying to finish off projects before next week.I have two days of work and if all according to plan Im off to the big city for the chop,I just hope they can sew as good as me(maybe a bit better,LOL)
Its the first time I going to have something more than just a coupl of sts for a cut etc,Im truely hoping this will fix my some what debiliating injury from last year.I sometimes feel that hand is there for good looks not purpose,it doesnt do as its told more and more so the charming Dr Ecker is hopefully of a 98% recovery.
Anyhow Im running around trying to get ready to go back to work however briefly,get the boys organised for back to school and then set things up for next week when big brothers are taking time off to care for the house and siblings, which will be funny in itself.
Knitting: I got to the point of deciding that I will continue on with Citron and use up the second ball,it should be more a wrap that Knecklet
Havent done any more on those socks,though will pack it in case I can do some gentle finger stuff,yer right,books maybe the thing or maybe some fine sewing theres no weight there...which is something not on my list,round off the cottons and find the needles..
Ive also cast on that SCF too,doing an 8 ply round kneck,hopefully the slightly lower sts count will allow a looser fit..
I cast on the Mink yarn from Charlie while in Dubbo and started a plain shawl which I will end in a pattern of some find,its like cotton to knit,theres not much give and very fluffy and aslo shreds,rather funny snuffling and carrying on at the airport with fluff floating around and sticking to nose
Spinning..I finally got Irish Pub out of Victorias Bag (Louet) and finishing spinning the second baggie and plied last night,its been skeined and washed and now dry next to me,very fine,somewhere around 250 to 300 metres,now on the hunt for either a pattern for it alone or I'll dye up some BFL and a pattern for a two tone,Stephen West has some beauties..this one? or maybe this one,me thinks last one would be nice...
Its about a light fingering and being BFL plus bunny from memory i wouldnt want it near kneck too much but a drapey shawl would be excellent,thinking a dark grey or an aubergine as the background or contrast.The pic below is pretty close.

Well I better go keep organising..........