KnittingNatty

Branching out - a new direction

I have been dabbling in the paper arts, and having a lovely time of it these holidays. I made this lovely kit 3 x 3 drawer unit for my dear ol' Mum's birthday:

 

You like-y? Me like-y a lot. I almost kept it for myself. With the rainy and humid weather we had been having over these Easter holidays, I had to wait between coats of paint nad lacquer etc. I also spent a lot of time choosing the papers and working out how to do the steps, as there were no instructions provided.

 

I am very inspired by the paper crafts at the moment (card making, decoration of knick knacks like this and scrapbooking). But the knitting is still a constant. I have to take it a bit easy these days as my hands tell on me if I do too much and they ache and feel hot. 

Re-entry (of sorts)

Caitlyn (now 6) yesterday, to me: When I'm an adult, I'm going to have children.
(PAUSE)
So they can do my jobs for me.
Me, in reply: Let me know how that one goes for you sweetie

TypePad Conversations » Answer this question!

Time to go

It was my 6 year blog anniversary on 25th September just gone. For the third year in a row I completely missed the ocassion.This has helped me to realise that it's time now to call it a day and take down the blog. I have gone past the stage of needing to blog, and even wanting to blog many of the things that I used to. I have lost momentum since returning to full time work a few years ago. For a long time blogging was a link to an outside world that I felt I had little day to day contact with.

Many of the folks who used to blog along side me have now called it a day. There are many more people who are continuing on, and whose blogs I adore, and will continue to read them - I think they know who they are. I will comment when I have time, perhaps more so now that there will be no blog.

I will keep going with Ravelry - I love it over there!

Thanks to everyone who has been a part of a very important part of my life. 

I may come back with a different blog in a while - we will see what the future brings. Ciao! xx

DIY dog bed

So Sunny has a bad habit of chewing everything. The upside is that his teeth are lovely and white.

Not even a week after I bought him a new insert for his dog bed, he had chewed it to bits and pieces, and was sleeping on the cold ground again. And I took a little while to get around to buying him another insert. They are not exactly free, even if it is winter.

Yesterday morning I relented, thinking about Labrador hips and arthritis etc and bought a new insert. When telling the nice lady at the pet shop of my puppy's sins, she told me I could make a spray with chilis and oil, and mix it 50:50 with metholated spirits and it will deter chewing. The Hubster was not keen on me spraying the bed with this mixture unless he was sure the dog was not going to avoid it altogether, so he wanted to rustle up a home made jobbie for the dog bed. So, yes, the dog now has 2 dog bed inserts...

So, I give you "DIY dog beds" (shadecloth and kitchen twine):

(Don't be fooled - we both did the stitching).

It was one of those priceless mastercard moments.

• Cost of the chilis - free from the garden (even better!)
• Cost of the olive oil - $0.50
• Cost of the shadecloth - $8.90
• Spending our Sunday morning using up the kitchen twine that has been unused in the drawer for 3 years this Christmas? Priceless! 

I even made the mistake saying "next time we do this, we could soak the cotton  in water so it tensions tighter when it dries."

"Next time?" came the arch reply from my spouse.

Drats. Here's the recipe if you are interested

Purterb'd puppy potion

Chilis

Olive oil

metholated spirits

Smoosh up the chilis (we used birds eyes) in a mortar and pestle. Heat the oil and the chilis in a saucepan and allow to cool. We taste tested it to make sure that it was hot to the taste.

Mix the cooled chili oil 50:50 with the metho and spray on the surface you don't want chewed. We sprayed the edge of the frame on a grassy area away from where Sunny habituates.

Meanwhile ...

The kids entertained themselves by conspiring with the dog. That involved some of the humiliations that visit every dog where they live in a household with kids:

The "mush mush sleigh dog ride" game:

Although as the lead was never taut, I think the dog may have had the last laugh.  You can tell who is the mastermind behind this game can't you?

And the (doggy) verdict on the bed?

 

Sunny says "what do you think? Woof!"

Aran for Mr T

 
Today I finally finished sewing together the Aran jumper/ sweater for my dear Hubbie. It was ready for him when he returned from work this afternoon:

 

 

Sunny the dog had to get in on the action!

 

I think they both look pretty pleased with themselves, wouldn't you say?

I am now gunning for the next WIP, Orleans (with some side tracks into the Comfort of 2 Hearts) ...

The comfort of two hearts - backstory

As often happens in a long term love affair, there are ups and downs, swings and roundabouts. Tony was very good about moving to Brisbane but finds himself now without full time work. Which can be hard for a fellow, I am told (by others).

So, in my dear fellow's case, the comfort of 2 hearts can provide enormous refuge. Which is why I have knitted him a jumper on nice big 5.5 mm needles, and with  just a bit of finishing, will be able to be worn this winter.

Which isn't to say that this is a crawl job, far from it, but a new knitted garment always goes down well. All being equal, there will be pics of the new FO this weekend!

The comfort of 2 hearts

As I took the kids to school today to the "stop drop go" area, I was abused by another parent for "getting out of my car". (I was undoing Caitlyn's car seat restraint, as she has trouble getting herself out of the car seat. She is 5.) What a way to start the day! Because we are so new to these parts, I decided to talk to the school to find out the rules, and was assured that I had done nothing wrong, and to continue as I had done this morning.

I decided to comfort myself by casting on a jumper/ sweater for me and knitting for myself exclusively all day, and hence the name - the comfort of 2 hearts AKA Two Hearts by Lisa Lloyd, published in A Fine Fleece. 

I am still having trouble with this new camera, and have decided that it is not to my liking, but I must grit my teeth for a while yet.

Progress has begun:

 

 

I enjoyed knitting this today and the process of letting the bad stuff go. Let's hope that tomorrow is a good day!

The dog and I

Brissie! Here we (all) are!

Well, we've been in the house for 3 weeks yesterday and it has been hectic around here. The Hubster has unpacked most of the boxes and looked after the children's holiday and scool needs, whilst I continued to whistle whilst I work.

Whilst I was all alone in Brisbane, I got a whole stack of knitting done, but since the family has all arrived too, meh, not so much.

Anyway, here are some long overdue photos: 

I was very lucky to win something from Donna's etsy shop, and a skein of knitabulous's yarn

Caitlyn has claimed the yarn for a scarf and "glubs"  - hense the skein's state of deshivellment (Is that even a word?)

As for the knitting, firstly, the Peak  Islands Hood: 

 This will have to be an update in parts! How about some more later? It's a start, right?

Today is moving day! Our new house is shiny! The boxes are many - come back soon for some photos!