We're back from our family holiday, which was really well appreciated by everyone and lets just say a little overdue for some of us. We went to the usual place in the bush which is secluded, no phone, no tv, no radio, no mobile reception, no internets; just perfect! We cooked porridge for breakfast, warming soups for lunch and good hearty food for dinner each night, accompanied by a little red wine, to ward off the cold, of course ;) We did some bushwalking, snoozing, played board games, that kind of thing.
It was
not exactly freezing, but at least we all got to wear our winter woolies!
I took knitting, and lots of it. Of course, I took more than I could pos
sibly knit and still be responsible for the supervision of small children, and some of my estimates of what was possible were based on sitting up late into the night just to get extra knitting done, but this did not eventuate, as catching up on sleep proved to be more important on the day.
And not just for me, it seems.
I got to read my new book, Buddism for Mothers (recommended reading), using the bookseat. This next picture is pretty typical of what the first 2 or so days looked like:
And, what about the knitting, you say? Well, I got roped into making some socks for the kids. I always tell myself that "socks don't take much time".
Note to self - socks do so take time! Last week, DS Ian was allowed to wear "odd or unusual socks" to school, and well that brought out the first request. Except to make an odd pair, requires the eventual knitting of 2 whole pairs. And what is good for one child is also good for his or her sibling. They chose the colours themselves. Sigh.
The Fo' s for the family knitting retreat are:
These socks are purposely non matching, and the wool was a lovely and unexpected present from Donna. I cut out the yellow colour on the first sock and put in an afterthought heel. By using an afterthought heel, and by leaving the yellow in, the socks (would have) had a reasonable chance of matching. These socks are cast on over 60 stitches and the foot is not overly long.
The yarn does catch on itself, which can lead to lots of unnecessary tangling. I countered this by not pulling very much out of the skein at one time (makes sense, right?), and
by pulling on any tangles from the skein end of the yarn. This helped a lot. I have a reasonable amount of yarn left.
These are the socks for Ian's odd sock day at school. They have been on a few bushwalking adventures, and somehow missed the washing machine this morning, and are presented for your viewing pleasure in all their red mud glory.
These socks are cast on over 50 sts.
These are the "what about me?" sibling socks. Purple Opal sock wool from stash. Cast on over 50 stitches as well. Call it insurance for next year's odd sock day. (Can I just whine for a moment? My socks are only cast on over 60 stitches! Whinge over!)
Same as for the purple sock, above. Except mercifully without partner for the moment. I could take no more of the stocking stitch fest that was our family knitting retreat. I am so over stocking stitch!
This is a bit of a cheat - all the knitting, and felting has been done for some time, it just needed some sewing up.The yarn is the left over Silk Garden from my Clapotis. I added blanket stitch in Dream no Colour Smooshy "Strange Harvest". I cut the size piece I needed without fear or favour - the pot has no real need of further insulation, having a double wall already. But this coffee pot is something I use absolutely everyday (yes, it comes on holidays with us), and I liked the idea, having been inspired by 2007's tea cozy swap (but being too busy to play at that time).
I am still on holidays today and tomorrow, and looking forward to some more knitting time. Yay for holidays!
Oh, one last thing - family portrait time!
It struck me that they were a lovely assortment of gifts for the Hubster, surprise socks, some made in response to requests from the kids with them hand selecting the colours they were after; patterns written by friends and knitted up by me; yarns bought by me for special occasions; even the plainest of socks reminds me of a dear girl (and now mother of 3) who taught me to knit in Germany many years ago... It was good to take the time to admire what is the achievement of one of my knitting goals - to clothe my family in woolly goodness and warm them from the inside out with love as well as wool. 
