Improvised thread cone holder

So I thought I needed one of these which cost about $80 and have to be mail ordered.

commercially available thread cone holder with heavy base

What I really needed was to identify the function of the item I desired and look around me.

So I made this, for nothing, and don't have to add another unitask object to our home.

Lazy Kate threaded through the loop of a safety pin on the sewing machine's reel holder

Large sewing projects just became more efficient by not having to change the thread.  And this weekend I have half a house of curtains to make and then there are 14 or so tablecloths and several hundred metres of bunting for the wedding to sew soon, too.

Here I was winding bobbins and taking photos.  It sews better when the Kate is on the floor.

The old Husky has been serviced and is such a work horse for jobs like this.

Another improvised thread cone holder is documented here.  May give it a go as well.

A Fig at the Gate

"I used to love nightclubs, now I love nurseries."

That quotation from Kate Llewellyn's "A Fig at the Gate", is a good summary of the book.

Published in 2014, it is subtitled "The joys of friendship, gardening and the gaining of wisdom".  The memoir documents a several years in Kate's life in the creation of a new garden, spending time with the oldest of friends and gaining new ones, and the consolations of age.

I wavered between enjoying very much being directly addressed by Llewellyn and reading her personal diary and having an uncomfortable feeling of TMI.  I suspect it is because I am starting to feel my age as well.  And while I am considerably younger than Kate, I am past the half-way mark by a few years now.

"It may be that gardening creeps up on one when some of the fury of youth falls away."

Some of my discomfort I experienced initially with this work is not the writing or the format (a series of diary entries), but that we see the joys of gardening differently. Llewellyn, initially, sees gardening as a subsitute for sex, I see it more a channelling of the nurturing impulse.

I became less uncomfortable as the years pass (she chronicles 2009-2012).  Perhaps the because really we have a simile for a relationship.  The initial obsessive and physical joy gives way to the creation and nurturing of new life and the grief of death.

Llewellyn explores the joys of the flesh through her garden as well as the more emotional connection of the company of her family, her oldest friends, creating new life, and making new friends.

I loved that this book made me think and address some of my own assumptions and it gives me hope for my own future.

My third book of 2015 and number 3 in the Australian Women Writer's Challenge.  Earlier reviews here and here.

SOURCE: Libraries ACT

A Draft from the Past - Overall or Sunsuit

I suspect that most of the patterns I bought in the bargain bundle were from the same family.  If I could put them in date order, I might be able to work out how many children and of which gender.  There's a lot of supposition in that sentence.

The second pattern I opened was another Madame Weigel's pattern.  This one for a child's overall or sunsuit (for Boy or Girl), 1 year.

Madame Weigel's pattern for child's overall or sun suit, age 1 year

There was no instruction sheet or illustrated list of pattern pieces for this one, but the instructions are on the back of the envelope and the pieces listed.  The only bit missing is the trouser patch pocket.

The pattern advises creating a waistband facing but provides no instruction.  A lot more assumed knowledge than on modern patterns.

My mother made us similar overalls as children, usually cut down from men's suits or corduroy trousers bought at op shops (yes, this apple didn't fall far from that tree).  She would have sewn down the straps to the back of the garment so there weren't buttons sticking into baby's back.  She would also have added length to the straps and sewn three or four button holes along the strap to allow for growth.

The bonus in this pattern is a redraft of the shoulder strap, or it could be a for a different garment.  The original shoulder strap is only an inch wide.  The sewer redrafted the piece on newsprint at half the length and double the width or the original.  I tend to agree with her - a useful strap for kids is quite wide.

Madame Weigel's pattern for child's overall or sun suit, age 1 year with hand-drafted pattern piece

The sewer used a pencil to write her cutting instructions:

FRONT STRAP FOUR OF THESE

Pencilled instructions on hand-drafted and altered pattern piece

The newspaper used is The Herald Sun, dated 1950.  That's as close as I can get and there are tantalising bits of advertisements on the paper.  On the side with the annotation is an advertisement for Ovaltine and on the reverse, part of a shop ad for New Look styled winter coats.

I wonder if the sewer attempted her own New Look coat?

A draft from the past - Carrying Coat

We were at a charity sale on the weekend (I know, how unusual!) where I found a small pile of vintage sewing patterns.

a selection of vintage sewing patterns from the bargain bundle

The price was low for the bundle, so they all came home with me.

I adore vintage textiles and their patterns, and thought I might have a go at sewing some of the children's patterns.

Vintage garments often have such beautiful details which I would love to be better at. Practicing on child sized garments seams a good way of acquiring skills while not investing in a large-woman sized garment's worth of fabric and time.

These old ones are single-sized, so it doesn't matter too much if they are cut.  With more modern multi-sized patterns, I'm less likely to buy cut patterns unless they are cut to the largest size.

The  first task when dealing with vintage or other second hand sewing patterns is to check that all the pieces are there.  This can be challenging as very old patterns do not have the pieces marked, you have to check them against the instruction sheet, if there is an instruction sheet.

This first one, an infant's carrying coat, is incomplete.  It is missing the sleeve which I may or may not choose to attempt to draft.

The pattern illustration gives two suggestions for construction - a smocked front and back below the bodice or a simple gather.  There is no for smocking design provided.  The instruction sheet says "Smock or shirr as desired".  Madame Weigel assumes a lot of skill.  The instructions for the hemming are "Turn hem on collar ... and spoke-stitch, - or it may be a faggoted band of rouleau."

Madame Weigel's pattern for and infant's carrying coat

The illustration also suggests either a peter pan collar or a pointed one, but there is only one pattern piece provided, the peter pan.

Now these patterns are delightful remnants of the past in themselves, but sometimes there are added joys.

There was, though, an added bonus - a pattern piece drafted on brown paper with hand notation.

Madame Weigel's pattern for and infant's carrying coat with hand drafted pattern piece

The piece does not belong to this pattern.  I could tell that by it's size, and by the shape of the piece which did not match the schema on the instruction sheet.  I could also tell by reading the notation:

Handwritten instructions on hand-drafted pattern piece

Bodice for pleated shirt

for Melva 4 years opening down back

1" 2" pleats face right to left

stitch down back of pleat

I get a thrill when I find these whispers from past sewers.  Was it Melva's mother who drafted this piece and wrote these instructions in fountain pen?  The paper from which the piece is cut has been crumpled ironed flat before drafting.  What did the paper wrap before it became Melva's bodice pattern?  There are only a few pinholes in the paper.  Was Melva growing so fast she only had one or two blouses from this pattern? Was the new baby so demanding Mum didn't have as much time to sew?

Yes, I can let my imagination get away with me at times.

Reality check

While I would love my life to be all about reading wonderful, transportive and transformative books, and making useful and beautiful textile creations, sometimes the reality is this.

Table linens, fabrics for new creations and some clothing overflow engulf the ancient Elna Press

Clothes

A couple of weeks of external commitments and the ironing has rather got away from me.  These photos were 10.30am Sunday and there is also another basketful lurking under the racks.  By 2pm, when we had to go out, one rack and the basket were clear.  There may be less creating and more ironing this week to gain some control.

At least it is organised and prioritised.  That helps. As do podcasts.  I am so grateful to podcasters for helping me through the necessary evils of domestic life.

Crafting from Stash - Christmas Edition

At Christmas, I like to give small gifts to the volunteers and staff teams I work with.  Usually about 20 gifts.  This year, I also had about that number of people in the medical and care teams who have been treating me.

40-ish is a lot of small gifts to buy and the cost certainly adds up.

This year I found a use for several stashes of second-hand and reclaimed supplies to create lavender sachets.

I made about 40 tea-bag sachets from Christmas print fabric that I'd picked up at op-shops during the year.  Each was trimmed with a reclaimed shirt button and a piece of thin ribbon rescued from purchased tops and dresses.  You know - the bits of ribbon that make the item secure on a coat hanger.

The only element I had to buy was lavender, because our lavender is the ornamental French variety rather than useful English. Each bag only needs a decent teaspoon full, so it wasn't a huge cost.

I modified this tutorial by Mademoiselle Chaos.  My teabags are only one sachet, not a folded piece to make two, and I changed the hanging system to create a ribbon loop and lost the silly tag piece.

I figured these are a sweet, seasonal token.  They fit neatly into a small Christmas card making giving them easy as well.  The investment of time is about 10 minutes a piece (not the 5 quoted in the tutorial) and the money invested minimal.  If the recipient threw it away within seconds I wouldn't loose any sleep over it as I would with a knitted item.  Some of my colleagues have hung them in their cars, and others over coat hangers to ward off moths in the cupboard.

Be warned, though - these are addictive, and I have MANY ready to be filled with lavender and finished as little gifts during the year.

The Engagement

No, not ours, although that progresses well, thanks.

Chloe Hooper's second novel, The Engagement is my second Australian Women's Writers Challenge read of 2015.

It is a modern gothic novel of psychological suspense.

The premise is that Liese Campbell, deeply in debt and working in her uncle's real estate business, begins charging loaded Gippsland farmer Alexander Colquhoun for sex.  When Liese announces her return to England, Alexander invites her to his property for a final weekend.

The novel is not about sex, and certainly isn't erotic, but there are sexual passages.  The novel is about power and control and desire and fear.

The set up is a bit clunky and belief must be suspended, but go with it - the psychological thriller bit is worth it.  And it certainly does prompt thought. 

I read Chloe's first novel, A Child's True Book of Crime (2002), last year and this is, in my opinion, the better of the two. 4 stars from me, and would be a good book for a reading group.

Finishing this presented me with a dilemma, though.  It seems I have become a monogamous reader sometime in the last few years.  I forgot to bring a new library book home - there are two waiting for me - and I finished this book early in the evening. I am reluctant to have more than one novel on the go at a time.  Just as I was about to download a magazine from the library, I found a literary solution with a volume of short stories.  I can read a couple of short stories without fear of cheating on my next book. 

While I try to borrow from the library where I can, in this instance a small number of unread books at home is a blessing.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

I think I am the last person to read this book.  It is justifiably well-regarded and has won 9 literary awards and been shortlisted for as many again.

TOF and I listened to most of the audio-book borrowed from Libraries ACT on a recent journey and I finished it yesterday.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book - it is a "speculative biography" of the last woman executed in Iceland.  Firmly based on historical research, the book reproduces a number of translated documents of the period, which appealed to me as an archivist.

Another appealing factor - the historical detail of women's work, in particular their textile work.  Knitting, spinning and weaving are inherent elements of the text and I thrilled at each mention.  I could imagine a pattern book based on traditional Icelandic patterns for socks and mittens based on this book, just as we have seen other "inspired" pattern books.

The book is a satisfying, fresh, feminist reading of a moment of Icelandic history and you don't need to be a knitter to enjoy it.

If this wasn't enough to make me just a little bit in love with Hannah Kent, this quotation from a recent blog post sealed our relationship.

"If you can't afford new books, buy second-hand books. If you can't afford second-hand books, get a library card. Get a library card anyway." Hannah Kent's Rules for Writing, blogged 26 November 2014

SOURCE: Libraries ACT

Booked

For the last two years I have joined the Australian Women Writers' Challenge.  The Challenge was set up to help overcome gender bias in the reviewing of books by Australian women and encourages readers and bloggers to read and review writing by Australian women.

In 2014 I pledged to read 4 books by Australian women writers.  This is the Stella level.  Circumstances were such that, I read 20 books by Australian women writers.

Some were brilliant, others were meh, but it was very much worth the time.

So I'm signing up again this year.  I can't guarantee another few weeks of of bath rest (yes, bath rest - long story), so I will sign up to the Miles level - 6 books read.
Want to join me? The details are on the AWW blog.

Don't know where to start?  The Stella Prize long lists are a very good place to start. 2013 is here and 2014 here.

Resolutions 2015

1. Marry the love of my life
2. Kill no-one

These resolutions may or may not be related.

Burping Babies

Apparently burp cloths are a thing.  I don't remember them being a thing 19 years ago when I was last involved in baby raising - we had old nappies to throw over the shoulder or lap for burp time, but there are fewer of these around now.

I do seem to remember my mother making some for my sister-in-law when my nephew was wee - he turns 16 this month.  Mum raided my stash and used vintage flannelette which had come from a friend's grandmother's stash.  It has to be at least 40 years old now.

I had many metres of mint green and a slightly fewer metres of white and it is so much softer than anything I could buy in shops now.  But plain flanelette isn't very visually appealing.

My research showed that a cute print on one side and flanelette or a soft knit on the other is the done thing. I found a simple downloadable pattern and then lengthened it by two inches in the middle because one thing I do remember about burping babies is that it can dribble a surprisingly long and sitnky way.

The children's print fabric in stash was quickly used up so I cast about for other fabrics.

And I had a lone fat quarter purchased secondhand.

1 fat quarter - 2 burp cloths

 I've been saving lovely cotton fabrics from shirts rescued from the free bins at the local tip shop.  I harvest the shirts for buttons and other trim but can't bear to throw away gorgeous fabric with a lot of wear left in it. The fabric was intended for hankies or other small projects but if the fabric is soft enough for hankies it's soft enough for burp cloths.

Fine cotton from woman's pyjama top

This soft cotton twill was a large Pierre Cardin man's shirt.

Burp on that, baby.

I Obey

Look what I liberated from Skaro (aka Salvos Weston) yesterday for $5.

I am trying to figure out how I can get an eyestalk on it to enhance its resemblance to a Dalek.

Any resemblance to an Ikea thermos is purely coincidental.

RE-HY-DRATE!

So what's a knitter to do when she's home from work in a heatwave?

Knit icord.

Lots of icord.

And embellish with stashed buttons to make jewelry.  Can I call it jewelry?  Certainly they are accessories. Meh, whatever, they are pretty and achieved not only from stash but from scraps.  That must score off the scale on the thrift-o-metre!

Here TOF's nameless childhood teddy models Garbo Garnets made from scraps of 4ply maroon wool left over from a matinee jacket and booties set.

I bought the yarn in a HUGE bag of industrial leftovers from Marrickville Reverse Garbage 12 or more years ago.

The buttons on the necklace came from a shirt I picked up from the free bins at the Green Shed recently.  The button on the bracelet is from button stash.

The yarn weighed 6 grams and there are 3 grams left, so more bangles may be in order.  The necklace is 57cm long, the bangle 19cm long.  Both are finished with a button loop.




































This necklace, Noose, is from scraps of Woollen Rabbit Pandora (Wool/bamboo/nylon blend) in the colourway Robin's Nest.  The button is from my mother's stash.  Originally I had planned to embellish this all the way around with pearl buttons, but I really like it this way.  It will look great against my predominantly black wardrobe or over a white shirt.  The sheen on this yarn is delicious.

The necklace measures 240cm and also has a button loop. The yarn is left over from a shawlette that is currently blocking and there are still 9g of it left.  I think I will make another pair of Saartjes booties from it - this yarn doesn't feel like it wants to be bangles.

My ways of mending

One of my secret pleasures is hand mending and its friend unpicking.  I love the feeling that using a skill like sewing on a button and making small repairs without resorting to a noisy machine gives.  There is an immense feeling of satisfaction to be derived from hand-hemming.*

I'm not so fussed on sewing in the ends of my knitting, but that's a whole other story.

Unpicking garments to recut or reuse the fabric is something I learned from my mother and her mother, as  was unravelling knits to resue the wool.

This little hand made sewing caddy was $4 at Salvos Fyshwick this morning.

I love that someone made the little wooden rocking chair with orange corduroy upholstered seat/pincushion for a sewer.  It has the feel of a school woodwork project.

I also appreciate that it holds all the basic threads I use for hand mending, a thimble, some pins, sewing needles and the tools of the unpicker's trade, a quick-unpick, small sharp scissors and a fine gauge double pointed knitting needle.

*Yes, I will do hand sewing for other people.  And yes, I will charge in cash or kind.

Cross Posted to I Op Therefore I am Canberra.

The voices in my head

I am not at work this week.

There is a LONG list of tasks, domestic and creative, to accomplish.

One thing on that list is both a task itself, and a task that will help me accomplish the other tasks.

LISTEN TO ALL THE PODCASTS.

Podcasts are my entertainment medium of choice.  I currently have about 8 days' worth loaded to an iPhone3 which does duty as an iPod. I won't get through them all this week, but I will give it a good nudge.  Even if I can catch up with some of my favourite Radio National podcasts before they come of summer break in February, I will be happy.

It started with knitting, this fascination, but has extended into further fibre podcasts and to other areas of interest.  I have a many hours a week habit encompassing fibre crafts, books and writing, history and biography, food and current affairs.

When I come across a new-to-me podcast I tend to download the back catalogue.  This may not be the most efficient way of doing it but it works for me.  If I don't enjoy the podcast and choose not to continue the subscription then I've only lost a few mb of download and if I really enjoy it, I'm not waiting until there is time to download the rest.

What makes a good podcast for me?

Production values

Good production values are important.   A decent microphone, pop filter etc seem to be mandatory equipment.  There are one or two very popular fibre podcasts I can't listen to because the presenter sounds like she is recording at a distance or through water.  I am often listening through earbuds or in a car with competing sources of noise around me.  I almost never listen through a computer in a silent house.  I need to be able to hear without squinting, so to speak 

Recording through the internal microphone of your computer usually guarantees a switch off from me, as does trying to record on a crappy portable device in a car or other noisy environment. I have noticed, though, that a decent quality is possible using an iPhone microphone or similar, but the best quality comes from a decent external mic in a controlled environment.

File naming

Consistent naming of files for the podcatchers is really important.  I don't care about branding logos etc (although the podcasters might), but I do care about being able to arrange the files on my listening device.  My device is on old iPhone 3 but previously I was using my Android phone and consistent naming and numbering to be able to listen in order was essential.

Format 

mp3 is fine, although the mp4 functionality to divide into "chapters"to enable easy fast-forwarding etc is a nice thing to have.

I cannot be doing with video podcasts.  Quality is usually woeful and editing almost non-existent.  Having someone wave their knitting at a poor quality webcam doesn't enhance my appreciation of the knitting or the podcast.  Also, they take forever to download and don't fit in with my life.  I listen to podcasts on the go.  For me, they are not TV substitutes and just listening to them is not enjoyable.

Length

I respond well to a predictable length.  I don't really mind how long the podcast is if it is informative/entertaining/not painful to listen to, but I like to know that it will be a similar length each episode. That being said, if a podcast is more than about 50 minutes, I reckon it's generally self-indulgent and needs editing, but there are exceptions.  I really appreciate the podcasts that come it about the 30 minute mark.  Yes, I know I have a stop button but I prefer to listen to an episode in one sitting/standing/shopping expedition/journey or very close to it.  I can efficiently do this if I've got a fair idea of how long standard episodes are.  Some devices don't tell you how long a podcast is until it is playing, by which time I've lost valuable time selecting a podcast for my activity if the timing is wrong.  I know a typical journey between my workplace and central office is 25 minutes.  Radio National's Conversations with Richard Fidler are about 50 minutes, so a trip to and from is one episode, or two episodes if I listen at double speed. I like to allocate my time efficiently

Schedule

A predictable schedule is great.  It helps me organise my listening and also gives me something to look forward to during stressful weeks.  Also, I miss my favourite podcasters when I don't hear from them regularly.  I also appreciate knowing if there will be a haitus or if the podcast is winding up.  Podfading is disappointing and a bit rude.

Shownotes

These are rarely of importance to me, but the best ones I've seen lately are on the iMake and the Knitmore Girls podcasts.  Very useful.

Point Of Difference 

I really don't care about your cats or your kids. I prefer their contact with the podcast to be limited.  Louise at Caithness Craft Collective handles this with style, by having her kids recorded to introduce regular segments with an occasional short, separate podcast of the kids.  I can chose to listen or not.  As her children are charming and don't play a musical instrument with limited skill, I usually choose to listen.

Knowledge of presenter

I like a knowledgeable presenter.  I don't mind learning along with the presenter if it's a more advanced skill.  I don't need to listen to you learn to knit.  Similarly, if you know a lot about your subject but are unable to convey it well, I'm not going to invest my time.

Advertising/consumerism

I have cancelled several podcasts that are all about what they bought recently or what they think I should buy (often what they are selling). Sure, some podcasts are attached to businesses and are part of the business communication of the presenter. That's fine, but I like to know that up front, not have it sneak up and then have a whingy podcaster complaining that no-one appreciates how hard she works for us for no return.

I have no problem with sponsorship announcements/advertisements.  They are usually annoying but short and  I ackowledge they are necessary for some podcasts to keep going.

Related to this, reviews.  When conducting review, please be honest.  Don't just tell me how wonderful everything is, I want to know your experience of the product and its problems as well as its good qualities.  And while we are on it, a review is not looking at a magazine's website and describing what you see - I can do that for myself, thanks. That is lazy content and drives me crazy.

Communication skills

Educators make good amateur podcasters.  They are used to imparting information in a logical and disciplined fashion.  A lot of knowledge does not make up for good communication skills. Excellent examples are Happy Spider Knits and Tales From the Plain.

Lots of podcasters do interviews.  Not all succeed.  Want to know how to interview someone, listen to Margaret Throsby or Richard Fidler.  I know they are professional broadcasters, but they are brilliant.  There are some professional broadcasters who don't do it well. I am very intolerant of gigglers and those that insert themselves into the interview. I am primarily interested in the interviewee and appreciate a well-researched and interviewee-focussed interview.

Personality of presenter/relationship

Personal charm is equally important.  I do feel that I build a relationship with the podcaster.  Usually this is very one-way, in that they don't know I listen and don't engage in any other communication with me, and that's fine.  If I'm going to regularly have you in my intimate space for 30-90 minutes, I need to like you or at least respect you.  I don't think you can do anything about that - the ways of human attraction are a mystery to me.

Just as I tolerate annoying things in my friends and loved ones, I will put up with a fair few of my "don't likes" if I find the podcaster enjoyable to be with. 

And the above are all reasons why, despite thinking about it and planning for a couple of years, I don't podcast.  I couldn't meet my own high expectations.

New Year, New Challenges. Craft.

This year will be all about celebrating the stash.  Or rather the stashes.

The yarn stash is, despite much pruning before we moved last July, vast.  It deserves to be enjoyed, not just in the having but in the creating.  .

The fabric and sewing stash has enjoyed a bit of growth in the last few years.  Mum's stash came in for a start.  I am blessed with fabrics, threads, notions and buttons and continue to rescue them from landfill faster than I can use them. Time to get creative.  I've made a start in the last few months, but I want to really revel in this stuff.

Fibre. I have an abundance of raw and processed fibre that should get more attention.  Spinning has been off the agenda for some years but I hope to make up for lost time when the weather cools a little.

I'm not saying I won't add to stash, that would be foolish and self-defeating, but I will play with my pretties before adding more.

Image courtesy Surachai,  FreeDigitalPhotos.net

New Year, New Challenges. Reading.

Once upon a time I was a big reader, voracious even.  A couple of books a week was a slow week.

Since returning to Canberra 10 years ago, though, there just hasn't been the brainspace for reading much.

Mid 2012 I joined Goodreads and attempted reading through a couple of lists of the best Australian and New Zealand fiction.  It didn't "take" as well I had hoped in that I didn't build a new habit of reading regularly, but I did read and I discovered some truly enjoyable new-to-me authors.

My renewed desire to read also coincided with the development of the Stella Prize and an unprecedented level of public misogyny in our literary, political and social world. I read the Australian Women Writers Challenge blog and cheered Carrie Tiffany when she won the inaugural Stella Prize with Mateship with Birds.

So this year I am taking a very small plunge and taking up the AWW Challenge at Stella level, to encourage me to read and to support Australian women writers.

I commit to reading 4 Australian Women Authors this year.  I will not be reviewing them.  I reckon this is do-able.  Of the 10 books read in 2013, 6 were by Australian women so perhaps not much of a challenge, but this is not about setting myself up to fail, it is about ensuring that good things are done. So 4 is my minimum goal.

Of course I am not starting well.  My first book for 2014 is Booker Prize winner The Luminaries, by New Zealand author, Eleanor Catton.

Ask and.

Christmas baking began this weekend Chez Taph and TOF.

No sooner had the first fruit cakes hit the oven than I realised we didn't have enough cake containers for the 8 cakes to be made.

I blame the massive cull we did when moving house and finally consolidating collections in August.

A moan about not having enough Tupperware left our Facebook friends incredulous and a little gleeful at our predicament.  In a reply post I suggested a visit to the Green Shed might yield some cake tins but I secretly held little hope this close to Christmas.

Such sanguinity is borne of years of op shopping disappointments. It is a truism of op shopping that one cannot expect to find the exact thing one is after first off.

A lunchtime trip to Mugga Mugga yielded not only two Christmas themed tins in the exact sized required but a piece of furniture I described to TOF that morning to store our laptops and portable devices that I didn't know even existed.



cross posted from I Op Therefore I am Canberra. 

Oops

TOF and I were anticipating a move later in the year.  He had been offered an interstate transfer and for the last little while we'd been looking at the real estate market in Melbourne, discussing where we would like to live and how we would like to live, what was important in a home and what was optional.

Then the last Federal budget hit and although nothing was said, we suspected the move may not happen.  This suspicion proved correct last week.

However, one foggy, freezing Sunday morning a month or so ago we were out door knocking for the Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal.  As we finished our area, a house was being opened for viewing.

A week later.  Oops.

We settle in two weeks and are looking forward to living in the same house for more than a few days at a time for the first time in more than five years.

And so the consolidating, the culling and the packing begins.

I have culled about a third from stash, finding welcoming new homes for all of it.  This is what stash looks like now, in our new garage (we have access to the garage for storage).

We have also moved most of our preserving equipment and stash over.  This is the great wall of Fowlers Jars (added to since this photo was taken).  There will be no further accumulation of jars.  Ever.

 And will we need all those jars?  Spring will tell.  We have a lemon, a lime, several yet to be determined stone fruit trees, an olive, an apple and this sweet espaliered miniature pear.

Test Post for Angelo



Me and the Papal Visit Committee, 1986
SOURCE:  ACT HERITAGE LIBRARY, Canberra Times Collection

 Showing Angelo how easy it is to add content to Blogger.

Further Information at http://www.library.act.gov.au/find/history

Hot in the city

We've had a week of hideously hot weather.  Over 33 degrees Celcius, most days much higher.

The absolute best part of knitting in public on really hot days?

Being able to answer the incredulous stares and comments by slowly smiling, peering over the top of my glasses and in a deadpan voice, saying

Getting a Grip

The stationery section of any shop is always worth checking out.

The local $2 shop (Hot Dollar, Woden Plaza) had a packet of 5 pencil grips and umpty ump pencil topper rubbers for ... wait for it ... $2.

The supermarket stopped carrying the pencil grips I've been using for a couple of years so I was very pleased to see these.

Not for use with pencils, obviously, but for knitting.

While this solution doesn't protect the needle tips, it does prevent stitch slippage. These work well on 2.25mm and larger needles.  They will stay on the 2mm needles, but not as securely.  That's ok, most of the socks I knit are on 2.25mm needles anyway.

The pencil toppers might work as point protectors on larger straights, or perhaps I could join two together with a length of elastic for a combo dpn point protector/stitch holder.  Hmm - will get back to you on that.

At the carwash, yeah

I'm sorry, our staff member has a lot on his mind right now - he can't possibly help you.

Aren't they though?

Carmelite Fete, Red Hill, 10/11/2012

Where else would they hold it?

Maribyrnong Primary School fete, Kaleen, November 2012

Tonic

One of the underpinning truths of my life is that there knitting is suited to every mood and circumstance.

Late this week I needed knitting that was without deadline, entirely unrelated to any thing or event, or anyone else, that was achievable, sensually immersive, and that was uplifting.

From deep in the boodle came a skein of 100% angora yarn, hand-dyed and given to me by the Happy Spider.  The colourway, Ophelia, is randomly variegated in greens, ranging from soft leaf, through lime, sea green to a deep teal which giave me a thrill of pleasure each time it appeared.  The yarn is two singles held together but not really plied and it is blooming as I knit.

The pattern was already in my queue, Elinor Brown's Ridged Lace Cowl.  I was a bit low on yardage for the pattern (155m instead of 183m+) but as I have a short neck to start and several added chins a smallerer version is fine and this yarn just demanded to be worn on the neck. As it turns out, it will only be one pattern repeat shorter than the pattern. More details on Ravelry.

There are a couple of bonuses in this knit.  It proved to be an easily memorised pattern and totally portable, so it enjoyed a sit and knit by Lake Burley Griffin between commitments one night and it ticks a pattern off the queue.  Don't underestimate the deep satisfaction that gives this compulsive list maker!

It was cast off over breakfast on Saturday and was just the tonic needed.

Table turning

ABC Canberra came to film at work this week.  They were a delight.

This is Toby the cameraman

and Kathleen the journalist.

My bit in the story was very, very small.

None of these things are not like the others

The only visible difference between these models is that one of them is blonde.

Who does Levi's think it is kidding? Perhaps it thinks its customers are stupid. Advertising fail.

The little things make all the difference

We were travelling recently and I discovered that my car is the perfect knitter's vehicle.

Socks for TOF in Lang Jawoll cotton wool blend with vintage Patonyle for cuffs, heels and toes (yardage on the Jawoll is a bit skimpy).