ah the agony

The maths books had to be abandoned.
There was a Big Lie Incident.
How can you concentrate on Exciting Books when you're sleuthing and refereeing?
That's no rhetorical question - I have an answer.
It's quite simple really - I can't!

I can, however, make up a knitting pattern.
Looks quite nice don't ya think?


And while we're on the knitting theme, I finished this hat and vest this morning while the kiddos ate breakfast.


J11 has kindly offered to make the requested-by-M4-for-whom-the-vest-and-hat-were-made- pompom to dangle off the end of the hat. I valiantly started it myself, thinking how sweet it would be for me to make a *whole* something for my darling M4 all myself, but crikey, pompoms are BORING (and that's a word we don't use round here - except, of course, in Exceptional Circumstances - and this is one of them). J11 doesn't know it, but I would PAY him to do it! (I told you this was an Exceptional Circumstance). Now don't anyone go letting him know, OK.

(And yes, the vest is enormous for a four year old......but next week he'll be five....and next year when he's allowed to start wearing it he'll be six and I hope it'll last two years, by which stage he'll be eight....so methinks it's just perfect! Goodness me, it's nearly only one year till we go away!)

One last comment - I know I shouldn't have bothered doing a cable in a variegated wool, but I was finding the going round and round all the way from waist to armpits to be rather monotonous so I needed something *different* to do.......a pocket eventuated....and then I thought I'd better repeat the cable pattern at the top of the vest too. So even though you can't see it, I know that little labour of love and creativity is hidden in there;-) I had intended doing it up the hat aswell, but plain ol' forgot. So the hat is just plain ol'.

I really shouldn't have.

No brand new purchases-this-year-n-all-that-jazz.

I needed a button for my Kaffe Fasset-inspired blue bag. It used to be an open bag,

but I'm using it all the time and it bugs me that things *could* fall out (never mind that the whole bag fell off my shoulder in the carpark ~ I would never have noticed except that a lovely big burly workman shouted out to bring the misadventure to my attention. Bless his woolly worksocks.)

Anyway, I had added a "top bit" in very funky wool....


....and just needed two buttons to make it a closed bag. One had to be not too big, because one of the buttonholes didn't really work (not sure what I did wrong), so it will remain The Permanently Closed Side. The other one needed to be enormous, coz the buttonhole was gigantic (not sure what went wrong there either). I'd raided my own stash and found a suitable Permanent Button and put on the biggest one I had as the other, but it was too small and the bag kept popping open.

So I checked the local op shop clothes for Big Buttons.
No joy.
In an effort to support local business rather than The Big Red Shed, I ventured to Knitworld and they had Just What I Needed.
What's more, it was only 70 cents.

But did I have even a dollar on me?
No, not me.
And I felt silly using my Eftpos card for 70c.
So I had a quick sneak around hoping to find a cheap ball of wool to use for my last Sock Knitalong pair (it would be a reward for finishing all the unfinished socks, y'know)

There was no cheap wool.
But there was this:


Real sock wool.
Not chunky.
Will require more than 36 stitches to make a sock;-)
And needles so tiny you could mistake them for toothpicks.
But at the end of it I will have a pair of REAL socks.
Actually I hope to have four pair, all different.
All the girls have some purple in their Trip Clothes so this wool will be perfect.

I'm keen to knit both socks at once to avoid Second Sock Syndrome and I was fortunate enough to realize that if I did that working from opposite ends of the one ball of wool, the pattern would turn out upside down on one sock. Hence the TWO balls.
And that should be enough for six small socks and hopefully the tops of the last two!

something for *me*

I was meant to make *My* Travelling Things last, just in case I ran out of time - I don't mind freezing my own ears off, but it just wouldn't be fair for it to be one of the kids with no hat. However, I needed to start something easy-peasy and thoughtless while Sharon was here and I had just wound my wool, so that seemed a good place to begin. Besides, I had a pattern on hand and the right sized needles hadn't been put away from the last project. As it was, I had to start it twice because I cast on the wrong number of stitches. By the way, what is with The General Population? They all seem to think that women can multi-task. Either I have a few chromosomes mixed up, or I am a Different Kind of Woman (No rude comments thanks). I cannot multi-task.
End. Of. Story.

And the fact that I had to cast on my stitches twice just proves it. Actually, it's not QUITE that bad. I cast on the right number according to the pattern. But whenever have I been known to follow a pattern? They told me to change my needle size to get the right gauge (does that mean I did a tension square? You've got to be kidding! I just measured another item I'd already made out of the same type of wool). I liked *that* tension, so I just upsized the pattern a wee bit.
FYI, JUST was used rather ambiguously in the last sentence. It does not mean "only" or "that's all I did to the pattern". As well as upsizing, I knit "just a wee bit more" before decreasing (and I'm so glad I did) and then instead of casting off "in knit" at the end, I did a fancy little number - I do love picot points. They are not only for baby pants (I could've said JUST instead of "only", eh) ....they are for Big Grown Ups too!

But I haven't finished with it yet; it needs to be a bit longer at the back. If I don't run out of wool, I'll use more of the same, if I do run out before the cardy is finished I'll use a contrast - the same as I'll have to use on the cardy. And what will I do with it? I'm going to add another flappy-brim-type-thing to the back, gently easing round to the sides. Well, that's the plan!

PS Do you like the collar? It's not getting any rave reviews in my face-to-face encounters! As far as I can see, either it's too *different* or my temperate-townee friends just cannot imagine being really truly cold. Yes, that must be it. I'm sure if they knew the meaning of COLD, they'd think it was a Fantastic Creation.

what a wonderful weekend

It started early on Friday morning with a trip to the airport to pick up Sharon. I had only met her face-to-face once before and on that night the time had flown by all too quickly. This time we would not be returning her to the airport until Monday evening - and the children would have a car-picnic on the way home.

She was the Most Wonderful House Guest Ever. She made her own bed and took the sheets off on the final day, she washed dishes and vacuumed floors and made her own coffee when I didn't think to, she engaged children and even offered to take one of them home, she didn't leave anything in the bathroom sink and she didn't snore.

Not that we slept much.

Friday night I had a group of friends over ~ Sharon went out to visit with her own sister, but left us Brand Spanking New Only Just Arrived From Amazon The Day Before craft books to pore over......and she still managed to spend a couple of hours with us all as the other friends* didn't leave until their customary 12:01am......*these ones: Jenna who doesn't blog, Jess and Karen.

Saturday night we had even more crafty-type friends over. Fifty of them if you count the kids and partners. For Dinner. But my Father Bear went out! Well, do you blame him? He marched back in the door along with Midnight before All The Guests* had taken their leave.....*I'm not listing the blogs of all that lot!
On Sunday we dropped some kids off at church, picked up Karen and headed out. Sharon and Karen disappeared for the morning to a slightly-disappointing eco-tour. I took J12, K8 and L6 to make felt in a friend's garage.


This was a Massive Hit and there are now Big Plans to make a fullsized blanket! Thankfully the expert-felt-making-tutor who had never done it before, but had googled a lot was happy for me to sneak inside to the house and play with yet another friend's swift and wool winder.

Was it the wildly spinning swift or the bright roaring fire or the two-late-nights-in-a-row to blame? I wondered if I looked as cross-eyed as I was feeling to the girls sitting round the table with me - girls whose blogs I would link to if they wrote them, but they don't.

Dropping off Karen after lunch was.........well, it should have been deeply-something. I mean, it was the last time it would happen for a Very Long Time. She would be leaving town the very next day. Maybe the momentousness of the occasion was softened by the fact that she'll be back for a midnight craft night in three weeks!

We returned home to Chocolate Cake in the Late Afternoon.

The problem with this is that it always means dinner is late and the smallest kiddlies who didn't get chocolate cake end up scratchy. But hey, as I said, Sharon was an impeccable guest and her only comment was that her own son squeals much louder and longer and at a higher pitch. How polite can you get?

Fortunately when you get to that time of night anything is bearable, because you know it's now a matter of minutes and not hours until the angels will be tucked up in their beds! And so it was not long until we were sitting in the lounge with yet another bowl of chocolate cake (*bowls* this time, to contain the overly generous dollops of whipped cream).

We sat. We knit. The tv was on. We browsed through the craft books again. We knit some more. We hardly even talked. I realised it was a moment of "companionable silence" I had first read about in Trixie Belden (at the time I thought I'd plagiarise that phrase one day! The Day Has Happened!)

Monday we sat, knit and talked lots. It was The Last Day. So we made the most of it.

Sharon finished a wonderful baby cape, I finished a project I had started the night before from one of her new books (using wool I had wound into balls that afternoon). It will always remind me of Sharon, of the weekend, of the new friends....even when I'm wearing it in deepest Mongolia!

You see it's a little collar to keep your neck warm - just like a scarf but without being as big as a scarf - we're trying to keep our packs Not Too Heavy remember! This will be just perfect.

But back to the present...yesterday's airport trip was just to the domestic terminal.

And Sharon flew home.

a personal challenge

Look what I'm doing!

I've joined up for the Sock a Month Knitalong.
Actually that's two socks you're meant to knit every month!

And I'm on target. I joined two days ago and have already finished the first one. But I can't finish the second for a couple of weeks - because it has to come off the needles during the month of August. The problem with this is that I'm all keen to get my next one done and actually finish a PAIR....for once, I'm not suffering from Second Sock Syndrome.

Generally speaking, I tend to start things with a whizz and a bang and loads of enthusiasm.....and precious little thought about whether I actually have the time or resources - and I have proven time and again that I don't have the staying power to see most things through to completion.....(everything seems like such a good idea when I hear about it)....but at least on *this* occasion I know I have the resources, socks take so little time and I'm sure I can do a five-month-challenge...it's not like I have to keep going for my my whole life!
Maybe I'll start my September pair now as well while the interest factor is sitting on HIGH...and perhaps even the October and November and Christmas ones too; then I'll really be ahead of the game! In fact, in my possession are three or four carefully-knitted-but-still-waiting-for-partners-socks, so I am halfway there already. I'm going to use this challenge to finally finish the sock-mates.

double trouble

Virtually once a week I get asked if these two are twins. For the record, they're not. They are, however, very often partners in crime;-)

But that's not the point of this post.

The point is:

I just made two sweatshirts in two hours. Go me!!!!

Special thanks to Sandi at Portabellopixie for giving me fantastic instructions on The Easy Way To Set A Sleeve In A Small Hole - it worked perfectly! I think I love sewing again!
OK so if you look very closely you'll see one of them isn't hemmed yet...but give me another five minutes....they were done *enough* to get the camera out....and once you've got the picture you might as well do the blog-thing. (Please to announce I finished the hem while the pictures were uploading...AND I put the camera away - wonders will never cease!)

I did a wee applique on the sleeve - just for fun.

And now a wee note to myself, something I don't ever want to forget.
M4 has been having "laughing parties".
He starts to laugh and he laughs and laughs and laughs.
It's actually infectious and others join in too!
Yesterday he laughed so hard he fell off his bike.

tada....to do

Here followeth an awfully mundane organisational post.
I certainly don't expect *anyone* to read it....but I want it here on my blog, because then I can be certain I will not lose the piece of paper it's written on if there is a backup copy elsewhere....and frankly, here seems as good a place as any!

TO DO LIST

Sub-heading 1: SEWING
*winter clothes (really must finish them before winter is over...on the other hand, I've learnt the boys can get by on two pairs of trousers each)
*summer clothes
*The Trip clothes
*Christmas stuff I've been doing for three years *this is the year*
*pencil rolls (started right back at the beginning of this blog....hmmm, the kids keep asking about them)
*quilts (should be a subheading of its own given that there's Father Bear's to bind STILL, J12's to finish before her birthday, a pink one cut out and half sewn, fabric for at least four more sitting there)
*redwork embroidery wall hanging (though I did tell Father Bear I wouldn't have time to do it and so he really shouldn't get it for me for Christmas last year and that was before we even decided to do The Trip and so any spare time I thought I might have had has gone into that...and rural-block hunting which we also were not going to be doing up until a month ago...so no wonder that one's not done...but I do feel a bit bad about it coz I haven't done ANY since Christmas Day and it was the most expensive present I've ever been given!!)
*snowman wall-hangings...don't ask!

Sub-heading 2: KNITTING
*vests (ER1, M4, L6, K8, K9, J11, J12)
*hats (L6, K9, J11, J12, me, Father Bear)
*mittens for J12
*cardy for me (just a plain old sensible boring one....and if I ever get time, I've seen some really funky patterns for wild ones)
*socks (I sooooo want to learn how to do two at once - I suffer badly from Second Sock Syndrome, a condition that disempowers you from making the matching sock once the first one has been completed)
*giant cooking bag
*needle holders (really not an essential item at this point in time, but I started on this project and would like to FINISH it)
*cotton dishcloths (some for us and some for Helen - as promised)
*nativity collection (well, when I bought that booklet, I *knew* it was a put-away-until-much-later thing, but I just love it and so I can hardly wait to start)

Sub-heading 3: READING (books on my shelf that I want to devote some seroius time to)
*Don Quixote (it's only been three years so far)
*The War on the Poor
*American Adventure Series (I need to know why my eldest two enjoyed every single one of the 42-or-so books so much! 42 is a number I plucked out of the air, but it really must be close to that...they take up almost a whole shelf)
*Mollison on Permaculture
*The Blessing (I borrowed this one from a friend adn then came home to discover I already owned a worn second-hand copy - now to read it!)
*Endangered Minds (funny thing about this is I think I've read it all, but I can't remember what it says!!!! oh the irony)
*The Hurried Child (haven't found the time to finish this one yet!)
*The Overload Syndrome (in light of the above two comments, this should probably be further up the list, but given that the list is in no particular order, I guess its placement doesn't matter, except in a metaphorical sense)
*Complete Charlotte Mason Series
*Houses That Change the World
*A Landscape with Dragons
*Is There Life After Housework?
*Pilgrim's Progress
*PET (well, it's not on my bookshelf, but I have asked to borrow it from a friend...I don't even know exactly what the letters stand for...something like Parent Effectiveness Training)

Sub-heading 4: THINKING
*non-adversarial parenting
*response to The Continuum Concept
*my work

Sub-heading 5: OTHER
*Christmas scrapbook (so very nearly up-to-date...quick finish it before another Christmas arrives)
*J12's childhood scrapbook (actually I've filled one album and hardly made a start on her photos...I'm wondering about getting all the photos we want printed out and then presenting them to her to do herself! Or maybe we'll work on her pages together or something)
*Website
*Garage sale (or do I just take everything to the Sallies and cross this off the list?!)
*Book purchases (Latin, Sonlight, watercolour text, ?polyface books?)
*sort through photos
*the paper pile (sigh)

anticipation

T3's vest is DONE....all ends woven in and buttons attached. She loves the buttons....and I remember having some exactly the same when I was a little girl! Red, I think they were.

But she doesn't get to wear it.

For one, it's too big.

For two, it's a when-we-go-away-item.

All the when-we-go-away-items are residing on a shelf that is standing as a tantalising reminder of Things To Come, Adventures To Be Had and Places To Be Visited.

soTOASTY

toastyTALE #1

M4 won't be cold again this winter! He wore his new longies last night and LOVED them.

"They were soooooo warm Mama"

toastyTALE #2
Father Bear was cold last week and nearly bought a beanie...he wouldn't be convinced that I could make him one for well under the $30 they are in the shops....well, he knows I *can*....it's just that he would like one with a funky little tag on it! After seeing some young surfie dude on tv with one just like I was proposing to make, he conceded to let me give it a go so long as it is very fine and not at all bulky. That means teeny tiny needles....sigh....and the first one I started just wasn't big enough, so it's now undone *double sigh* and I've started something else! I'll come back to the 130 stitches for his big-full-of-knowledge-head after I've done a vest for a little boy!

before the un-ravelling party

LOLLIPOP LOVE

I am having such fun knitting up the lollipop wool.

The pants and mittens I did almost entirely in hospital a few weeks back with L6. Although I must admit the legs went on F.O.R.E.V.E.R.

Then I started the vest (my first time ever using a real bought proper pattern), but it just wasn't going fast enough for me so I whipped up the soaker for a wee break. My parents brought me up to finish something before starting something new....but it's just not me! I believe in having at least three projects on the go at once!

an easy-peasy-no-thinking-one

a need-to-concentrate-one

and a long-term-one

I had lots of fun trying to create blocks if colour interspersed by only a row or two of contrast...lots of short rows and knitting from three balls of wool at a time! And having worked out how to do it, I then forgot to on the crotch and just zipped back and forth. Ah well, never mind, I like it all the same. I'll do a cord once I've finished the vest - don't want to run out of wool!!!!!

knitting round the world

the needles are continuing to click.......hats hats and more hats.....

these are a bit on the big side....because....it really doesn't get cold enough here for hats so these are for when we see winter in China and hopefully Mongolia and Europe...and that's 18 months away.....they should fit perfectly then!

they grew with you

In the "olden days" when everyone sewed their own clothes and darned holes in socks because it was a lot less work than knitting new ones.....mothers made clothes that would fit their babies for longer than 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months....you get the idea.

And I did it for ER(1).

Not because I tried to, but because I was a novice knitter and wasn't the best guestimator when it came to newborn sizes! Although, she had a few woollies that were true newborn size and only fit a short while (like this licorice allsort soaker)

these three pieces were worn from her very first week....right through to now:

OK, so they're rolled up twice and keep her ribs warm - but that's not a bad thing!

...and they're a perfect fit now!

baggy then...

and baggy now!


from longies...

to shorties!

from little feet.....

....to toddler feet.

And just for the record, she has NEVER worn a disposable nappy. NOT EVEN ONE.

We've been camping and tramping and travelling and visiting friends and shopping and to parks and playgrounds and museums and all sorts of places.....we just take our cloth.

It's one of those issues that seems INTRICATE to my generation, but is really quite SIMPLE.

Our grandmothers didn't have the choice to use throw-away nappies, so they just held their babes out over pots and washed their cloth squares. It needn't be any different today - except that we have become accustomed to the convenience of throwing things away. While it may be convenient in the short term, it's not a simple solution in the longterm. We clog up landfill and leave chemicals to leach out into the surrounding soils.......but you've all heard me say it before!!!

with mittens to match

the mittens were so much fun to make in the end (even though I had to redo the second one completely because I picked up the wrong size needles!)

two down.....eighteen to go!!!!!!!!!!

a *H*A*T*

it looks so simple....but don't be fooled.
I called this blog intricate simplicity for a reason;-)

It was meant to be a simple K1P1 rib hat. And it was simple....until I came to do the decreases at the top.
I didn't have a pattern, but didn't think it could be that hard.
THINK AGAIN!

The kids groaned as they saw me undo round after round after round.....nice to feel their empathy!

But triumph came on the second try. I wanted a nice round top....and a nice round top is what I got.

Now I just need to finish the mittens. They'll be my first ever and I'm looking forward to doing them. I have my usual *what if it doesn't work* angst....but by now I know you can just undo it and start again!

(and if you're wondering why I started the mittens and didn't finish them.....I only had a little of that variegated wool left and I knew I wanted the mitten cuffs and part of the hat made out of it....so I did the cuffs and then just used up the rest on the hat....why didn't I finish the mittens before starting the hat? Coz I knew I could make a hat, but the mittens were scaring me! I need to work on the little hand-warmers when the little hands that will wear them are in bed....may 7pm come quickly!)

of clothes and comfort

I've been enjoying reading Kelsey's blog * Where Am I Wearing? * over the past couple of weeks. He's an American travelling the globe in a quest to find out about the places where his clothes are made. This post in particular was a goodie. What you buy and who you buy it from and how much you pay is certainly not simple.

But the more I find out about fair trade, the more I realise it can make a difference.

That's one of the reasons I have started making our clothes. Especially if I can refashion something found at a thrift store or use second-hand material. Sometimes things are perfect just the way they are in the store - like T3's gorgeous little crocheted-with-lots-of-love-I'm-sure vest.

When I am making things myself, I am much more aware of the amount of effort that goes into them and I am more likely to choose fewer items that work well together than fall into the trap of buying lots of things because they are cheap.

Then.....because I am buying less, and if possible getting it second-hand, I have more money to be able to go to Trade Aid and other such stores and make purchases based on justice rather than the dollar - the K-Mart equivalent may be cheaper, but it is less likely to be ethical.

And doesn't she look just as happy as if she was wearing a brand new exclusive designer piece?

And it's not just me on this soapbox! Father Bear brought home some Oxfam and Trade Aid Literature yesterday. Here are some quotes:

* Half the world's population (2.8 billion) live on less than US$2 a day. 1.1 billion live on less than US$1 a day.

* Poor countries account for 0.4% of global trade. Their share has halved since 1980.

* If Africa, East Asia, South Asia and Latin America each increased their share of world exports by just 1%, the gains could lift 128 million people out of poverty.

* If these regions increased their share of world exports by 5%, they would generate US$350 billion - seven times as much as they receive in aid.

Something's not quite right. Are we in the developed world willing to forgo some comforts to see justice come to the rest of the world?

how organised is this?

All my RL friends will be rolling their eyes and saying "That is so Rach"....but I'm going to put it on here anyway! Even though I have always bought whatever clothing we need a year ahead in the end-of-season sales, I've never been quite *this* organised before;-)


A few weeks ago I had sorted the winter clothes, but somehow between then and yesterday, all the trousers had disappeared so I had the kids drag everything into the lounge, I got out my faithful spreadsheet and filled in the gaps....this served two purposes.
1) it made sure nothing was hiding anywhere
2) it meant my list of things "to make" diminished rapidly, because I changed the spreadsheet from "four complete sets of clothes for each person" to "let's see if the list I've written for travelling is going to work" (ie considerably fewer items for each person).


I was on a roll and dragged the kids back inside to bring down all the summer clothes aswell and I sorted through them for NEXT summer. Clothes that are still in acceptable condition were noted on the spreadsheet and immediately packed into this box, not to be touched before the sun warms up again. (The pile beside the box is stuff to be refashioned - all op-shop finds coz I haven't gone near any Brand New Shops this year - those things are highlighted in blue on the spreadsheet - LOL, go on, you know you want to). The frayed-stained-don't-wear-this-out-where-anyone-will-see-you clothes have been kept out, along with one nice set Just In Case it warms up again before winter sets in.


All I have to do come springtime is buy two shirts for J11 and sandals for most.

intricate simplicity

(but right now I'd better get sewing those blue-highlighted winter items....especially as the ones with a box drawn around them I have to sew from scratch!)

the 39-piece wardrobe

I read somewhere recently (can't remember where sorry) about someone who limited their entire wardrobe to 100 pieces. I've also been reading about the 100-mile wardrobe where you try to buy all your clothes from places within 100 miles of where you live (just like the 100-mile food thing)....and while I'm not quite ready to make that jump, I warm to the concept (in fact I like the idea of MAKING *all* my own stuff, but I'm not quite there yet either).
We are thinking of travelling a bit round the world in the next few years. And that means taking only what can fit in a backpack. Having already travelled with Far Too Much Stuff and barely been able to stagger through London from one lamp post to the next, we will take far less next time. If we were only going for a few months, we'd stick with a couple of pairs of pants, three tshirts and a sweatshirt each......but I'm hoping we'll be gone for much longer than that and so we will take more. But when I itemised everything I thought we'd need, I was surprised to find it only came to 39 pieces.

01. skirt
02. skirt
03. trousers
04. trousers
05. jeans (heavy and slowdrying, but I love them!)
06. short-sleeved buttoned shirt
07. short-sleeved buttoned shirt
08. short-sleeved t-shirt
09. short-sleeved t-shirt
10. long-sleeved buttoned shirt
11. long-sleeved t-shirt
12. long-sleeved t-shirt
13. fleece vest
14. handknit woollen cardigan
15. fleece jacket
16. rain jacket
17. undies
18. undies
19. undies
20. undies
21. undies
22. undies
23. bra
24. bra
25. bra
26. handknit socks
27. handknit socks
28. handknit socks
29. ankle length sports socks
30.thermal skivvy
31. thermal skivvy
32. thermal long johns
33. handknit winter hat
34. handknit mittens
35. sunhat
36. togs
37. crocs
38. sandals
39. leather hiking boots

Today I packed it all into my pack and discovered it only weighed 12kg (including sleeping bag, towel etc). I could carry that on the road....especially as I would actually be wearing some of the clothes!
This is very encouraging because I have been wondering how we would manage the little kids' gear....now I know I can fit two little kids' clothes in my pack (they'll carry their own sleeping bag, toiletries and eating utensils) and I'll have both hands free.

So the next step was to work out if what I have chosen is a sustainable mix. So I went through my wardrobe and set aside the items I want to take away and then just worked with what was left and tried to pare it down to the above list to use this winter. I had to make some substitutions (I have lots of skirts and only one pair of trousers), but I've essentially ended up with what's on that list....minus the thermals and hat coz it doesn't get cold enough here...plus a denim jacket, corduroy jacket and full length woolen coat, any of which can take the place of the as-yet-unbought-goretex jacket while we're still here. I don't have my hiking boots yet, but I've got a pair of brown suede boots....as well as my pink No Sweat hi-tops, a pair of fancy sandals I only ever wear to weddings, running shoes, "nice shoes" and a pair of slippers, none of which would come on the road. Falling into this category are also PJs and a dressing gown! Even still, my item count remains below 50. (I am guilty of holding on to a little pile of "just in case" things until I'm convinced that what I have is plenty).

As an aside, I find it intriguing that I should consider having 50 items of clothing to be "limited". To many people in the world it would be an inconceivable extravagance to have so many things. I am reminded of Jesus telling us to give away our second coat if we've got two......my extra gear is off to the op shop....and hopefully the just-in-case items will make their way there too soon.

Bloomin' Winter

This is what's been on my needles for the past week:


100% wool longies for ER10mo to wear over her cloth nappies and under her little pinafore Grandma gave to T2 two years ago.
Although I churned out gazillions of knitted items last year, this is the first one I am truly totally 100% happy with. There are no mistakes at all, the short rows didn't leave holes at one end and the gusset even looks professional. Fortunately I wrote down the pattern as I went - now I can do it again and make "Hot Chocolate with Marshamallows". This pair is being affectionately known as "Bloomin' Winter";-)



Now I'm using up the rest of the ball of wool I bought for the embroidery and am making a hat to match. I think I've got enough of the longies wool to make a little jacket too. Anyone got a simple pattern?

simply beautiful

After sewing my skirt

I have decided once again

that I actually quite like sewing!

I don't like hemming - but my skirt didn't have a hem

I'm thinking of making something a little bit like this.....not for my little girls.....not even for my big girls......but for me. I don't see why not! Maybe you will tell me that it's really too fussy for an adult and a Mama who has had eight kids should steer clear of two layers of fabrics over her hips and I've got enough clothes now and I'm not *that* kind of person....I might listen;-)

busy busy busy

I've filled a whole album with photos for my eldest daughter...and haven't made a dent on the photo pile!!!!! But it feels good to be underway.

I'm on a knitting bender....longies for ER, a soaker and hat set for a charity auction (watch this space), two pairs of slippers lined up to supervise, lots of socks to make.

The sewing pile is looking decorative in the bedroom until I attack it next week (we're going to have a "holiday week" and the kids will look after themselves while I sew sew sew)

The winter clothes are all sorted and the boxes stacked away again.

The house is even mostly tidy.

The garden is doing a final burst of fruiting before we need to replace old summer stock with winter yummies.

Charlotte's Web came to the end and we're adventuring back to Germany and the advent of the printing press.

ER10mo has finally learnt to crawl....FAST....and even up stairs.

The eldest two are making a special-order-muesli to go to Wellington in a couple of days ~waves at Sharon~

Another couple are making a pumpkin soup out of our first pumpkin this autumn.

I've painted beads to make a handle for my knitting bag. It's sooooo close to finished and I'm really pleased with it (apart from the fact that it shrunk really quickly in the machine and came out shorter and shallower than I wanted)

All the little things of life are going on.