Knitting

We’ve been busy doing all the things that need to be done. I’ve had my more treatment on my foot, a broken filling repaired and a new small cavity fixed…

I have managed to sneak in a bit of knitting. I seriously lost my mojo on this piece, especially after having a brain freeze and missing two of the lace rows. Blocking will have to wait until I’m reunited with my blocking pins. In the end I just cast off and called it done.

It’s a beaded lace cowl. I’m a bit disappointed with the yarn. It was so soft in the ball, but feels a bit scratchy on. Still it will keep me warm when I visit colder climates.

Today I’ve scheduled a reading day. Gorgeous Man and Gorgeous Girl are out for the day and I’m trying to get some books read before I have to take them back to the university library.

I’ve also managed to finish a cardigan for charity while driving in the car, but it needs the ends woven in and a photo session.

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I’ll never take my feet for granted again

I’m back in PNG after a week in Australia. Two orthopedic surgeon visits, an MRI and an injection later I’m able to mostly walk without pain and am hopeful that things can only improve.  I may need another injection in 6 weeks time, but we won’t know that for about 4 weeks. I’ve been instructed to take things very easy for a week (to let the pain be my guide) and to avoid anything strenuous for a month.

The staff on the plane going over were most concerned about the cane and the hobbling and provided me with a cushion and a blanket. Since I was wearing summer clothes and the air conditioning was freezing I appreciated the blanket.

I had three seats to myself and put my foot up and got on with some English paper piecing.

I made a thank you scarf out of some handspun silk for the friend I stayed with in Brisbane. It was hard to give this one away…

It is straight really.

There was beautiful colour variation in this yarn.

As usual there were lots of books to pick up from my long-suffering sister-in-law who acts as our post box while we are away. There was also some beautiful fibre for me to spin.

This is my first yarn/fibre purchase for the year (I’m on a self-imposed stash down) and makes up part of allowable purchases as part of my spin up two lots buy one lot scheme.

This is wensleydale fibre. My first time to spin this fibre. The test sample I did last night doesn’t have much bounce to it, though it isn’t as scratchy as I was expecting. I’ll try spinning from the fold today and see how that turns out. Any advice on spinning this fibre is most welcome!

I also knitted three charity beanies while I was away. I had a fair bit of down time waiting for appointments and stuff, they aren’t very exciting though.

Today my mum arrives for a visit for a few weeks so I’m not sure how much crafting I’ll get done. Now that I can stand without pain I’m very keen to cut the fabric for a quilt for my brother and his partner. I’ve had the fabric waiting for a while, but have been unable to get it cut.

 

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A scarf and a coconut

Another scarf finish. This is Diagonale. The pattern is for a stole, but since I only had a small amount of yarn I limited the number of repeats and made a scarf. The yarn is handspun seasilk. (The fibre is made from seaweed).

A close up.

My limited photography skills don’t really show up all the lovely colour variations in the yarn. I’m hoping it will still be cool enough to wear this when I head to Australia late next week.

Finally, if you leave a coconut long enough this happens.

There are two  that are sprouting. We’ll find a suitable place in the yard and plant them and watch them grow.

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Knitting

A little while ago I finished and blocked this shawl.

This picture shows the stitches better.

I also broke out the crochet hook and did an 8 inch square for charity.

Nice way to get rid of some stash yarn. I’ll post it when I’m in Australia next. Hopefully that won’t be  too long.

I’ve been having some problem with my right foot.  I acquired a cane to help me get around this week. Anyway our insurance company has approved travel to Australia for treatment, so as soon as they have found a Dr who can see me on short notice I’ll be off.

In other news, there will probably be a lot less crafting going on as I have returned to university.  I’m going to be writing a 60 000 word thesis over the next few years. My field of interest is the Republican Period of China (1927 – 1949).

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Odds and ends

We now have wheels.

It’s a small 4WD. It’s also an automatic as that is one less thing for me to worry about when driving. Having a 4WD is pretty much essential given the state of the roads in Port Moresby. This picture is taken in front of our temporary accommodation (which we are still in…).

I drove for the first time yesterday. Gorgeous Man was, thankfully, in the passenger seat. The traffic is pretty wild and the roads are not in the best condition. Recent rains have washed both lanes of the main highway away and caused large pot holes in many of the other smaller roads. Our trip home from shopping took over 2 hours (for what should be a 25 minute journey) and involved police directing traffic. The car behind me got friendly with his horn when I complied with the Nice Mr Policeman’s direction to stop and let traffic through. Given that Nice Mr Policeman was armed with a semi-automatic rifle, I was quite happy to let the car behind me honk as much as they wanted to…

The worst part of the trip was after it got dark, because it’s very hard to see people walking on the road, there are cars with no headlights and of course it’s hard to see the condition of the road as well. But we made it home safely.

I’m going to have to get used to driving on my own, as Gorgeous Girl starts pre-school on Monday – there is only two weeks of term left, but she is desperate to get to school again. She has been very good about amusing herself. She spent a very happy morning making a cubby for herself in one of our suitcases.

Speaking of suitcases, if you have (say for example) 178 kilos of luggage that you wish to take on a plane with you when you are moving to a new country (that is just the checked baggage), it is much cheaper to buy your excess baggage in advance than to just turn up on the day. It will take 2 phone calls and at least 2 hours to accomplish this. Also expect to take at least 45 minutes for check in (that is just time at the counter).

Before we left South Africa I knitted a comfort shawl for a friend. Finally managed to get the photos from camera to computer.

Pattern can be found here (Ravelry link) or here if you are not on Ravelry.

While in Australia I kept seeing a hand-piecing block of the month club advertised in the various quilting magazines and was umming and ahhing over whether to get it. Then I went to see my friend Lisa. (Lisa is the person who started me on my quilting journey by helping me make a cushion cover (my first project) and then sending me home with her spare machine and a pile of Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazines.)

Well, Lisa the enabler struck again. She had the pattern from the block of the month club and let me sew a few blocks. I was hooked. I rang the company and asked if they had any of the kits left and if they would sell me the entire block of the month kit at once. I have to give a shout out to Quilt Fabrics Delight  she was out of stock of the fabric range I was after, but once she heard I was leaving for PNG any day she had it express posted to her so she could make a kit up for me. I ordered on a Monday and had the kit by Thursday (I did pay to have the kit express posted to me in Brisbane, but the turn around time was impressive).

I’ve done about 30 blocks so far. Here’s a sample of a few of them.

They are lots of fun to make, quite addictive really. You can find out more information here.

I’m planning on making a queen sized quilt.

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A birthday and a finish

Recently a certain Gorgeous Man had a big birthday (starts with a 4 and ends with a 0).

We took the opportunity to head away for the weekend. We stayed in accommodation with some interesting recycled decor.

There was no electricity, so at night we used these lamps and solar powered lanterns. I don’t know how people did handwork at night back then.

We saw some wonderful scenery.

And Gorgeous Girl had her first experience with sparklers.

A little while ago I finished a shawl from some of this handspun.

It was my first, but not my last time, adding beads to my knitting.

 

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Making a shawl

A few years ago Gorgeous Man brought me some fibre.

It was one of the first things I spun on my Ladybug spinning wheel.

Here is the single.

Which I then turned into this two ply yarn.

The coins are (from left) 1 Euro, 1 penny, 1 Australian 5 cent and 1 South African Rand.

Then I cast on and knitted for a few months.

Blocking:

And in all its glory…

Fountain Pen shawl from the Spring 2009 issue of Interweave knits.

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And we return to regular programming

Thank you for all your well wishes about the fire. We really are counting our blessings. I saw a friend today who had been at our house during the night of the fire and he told me that “I really didn’t think they would be able to save your house.” So we had a very close call.

Gorgeous Man would like me to give him the credit for the fire photos in the last post.

On to more mundane things. Gorgeous  Girl has finished her first yarn.

It has already been knitted into a hat, but since it’s so fresh off the needles that she hasn’t tried it on yet (she’s napping) there is no picture of that.

Last year I made a hat for Gorgeous Man from some of my very early handspun. It got lost, and although steps were retraced it was never found. He requested a similar hat. I didn’t have quite enough of the burgundy yarn left, so I combined it with some handspun alpaca/merino.

I finished a shawl.

and a close up.

Gorgeous Girl has been very sick this week with a chest infection. The antibiotics seem to have kicked in and she is much better today.

Next week we are heading north to visit some game reserves/national parks. It will be good to get away and relax. We will have someone staying in the house to feed the cat and the chooks (chickens) and the fire is well under control now, just a few smoking spots left, but there is no real fuel left for them to burn.

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Christmas gifts

Now that Christmas is over and gifts have been delivered. I can share some of the handmade goodies I gave this year.

I made my Mum a little Grandma brag book.

I know that my scrapbooking skills have a long way to go.

My friend Kerin sent over a package of goodies with my mother. Including the bag for Gorgeous Girl shown in this post some Australian Chocolates for Gorgeous Man and some scrapbooking supplies for me. Today my mum delivered this (and a few other things) to her.

Handspun silk. She tells me she likes it

Mum stayed in my office/craftroom while she was here and so we rearranged the furniture to accommodate her better. I actually really like the way it’s set up now and it has made the sewing machine more accessible which has meant that there is a new quilt under way. Photos when I have more than one completed block finished.

Wishing everyone a happy new year filled with lots of crafting time.

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Surfacing

The wisdom teeth are all out. They gave them to me in a little jar after the surgery which I thought was weird (they are in the bin now). The surgery went well, better than the surgeon expected apparently, but the aftermath was a bit brutal. I burned through the pain killers they gave me pretty quickly and was thankful that we still had a few strong ones left in the house from previous prescriptions.

I had my follow up appointment with the surgeon yesterday and he admitted to being “very surprised” at how well I’m healing after only 12 days. I guess the no smoking, no alcohol 90% of meals being vegetarian does make a difference to healing time even if you are 37 and overweight.

I’ve been doing some crafting, some Christmas gifts, so you will only get to see them after the recipients have opened them.

My latest craze is making these.

I have adorned all the presents I’ve wrapped so far with these little flowers.

Some spinning (no surprise there).

This is 50% superwash merino and 50% tencel. It was a glorious spin.

My take-along socks are finished.

Handspun superwash merino.

And last, but not least I’ve finished this:

I’m quietly pleased with how this has turned out.

My Mum arrives on Christmas Eve from Australia. It will be nice to have Christmas with her, the last Christmas we had together was in 2005 and the last time I saw her was 18 months ago when Gorgeous Man and I took Gorgeous Girl on her first visit to Australia.

If I don’t get to post before Christmas I hope those that celebrate have a wonderful day with those they love and those who love them.

 

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