Matching Pegs

Michaela has some strong ideas on how she likes to dress.  Yesterday she dressed to camouflage with a rainbow.  She got smiles where ever she went.

Here she is rocking along to music, and rocking her new arm warmers at the same time – all with her bossy face on.   As soon as I finished knitting the arm warmers, on Easter Sunday afternoon, she put them on.  They have barely been off since.

Lotta nearly prevented the completion of the arm warmers, when my knitting was unattended for 5 minutes one evening.  Thankfully I was able to untangle the yarn, and re-roll it into a ball, and luckily the knitting, that I had already completed, was not harmed.  Perhaps it looked too much like one of her toys.

I must admit that I have been enjoying my arm warmers as well, especially when I’m reading in bed.  Now my wrists don’t get cold, holding the book.

We have had a very quiet Easter/Anzac Day weekend.  I hope yours has been lovely too.

PS: Michaela didn’t want me to finish this post without a picture of her (and her arm warmers) holding an egg too.  Enjoy.

I have been continuing to take things very quietly, and am getting better every day, all of which makes for a very boring school holidays for the kids.  Currently, I have outsourced Rory’s care (he is playing at a friend’s for the day) and Amelia has her “besty” over to play.  The three girls are playing some kind of spy game, involving multiple disguises.  A bit of boredom never hurt anybody.

Today I actually finished making the arm warmers you see in the picture above.  I have not felt up to any machine sewing, and do not have any hand sewing prepped, so knitting has been the perfect quiet occupation.

Initially I started knitting them up using moss stitch, but settled on the 2 x 2 rib, because I thought it suited the yarn better, and would be more snug.  The yarn is “Yoshie” in colour 03, which is a blend of 80% Wool and 20% Acrylic.  They are simple rectangles, sewn together along the side, leaving a gap for the thumb.  Today was too grey to take a picture, Autumn is well and truly here.

Before I ended up in hospital, I cut out these squares, for a large quilt I have planned for a very special person.  This person wears a lot of black, but I always associate her with Ruby, so the squares range from Ruby, Garnet and Coral through to Chocolate – Chocolate is precious right.

Another purchase from before the surgery was a tag-along half bike, which will allow us to ride as a family (thanks ebay – it was an affordable option).  This will keep us together, because Michaela’s little legs don’t allow her to keep up on her little bike.  Luke and the kids went for two rides last weekend, and everyone had a lovely time.

Lastly, this was the last day of term one at school – Crazy Hair Day.  Mum was good enough to go out and source the hairspray, and I got up from my sick-bed to play hairdresser.  Everyone was happy with the outcome.

Oh, and here is a question to throw out there to Internet-land.  Since my surgery and antibiotics, my taste has gone haywire.  All sweet things, particularly, taste yuk.  Has this happened to you?  How long did it last?  It has been 19 days since my operation, and 12 days since I finished my antibiotics, and I miss the pleasure of a cup of tea, or a piece of dark chocolate.

Well hello, it has been a long time, hasn’t it.  I know I disappeared, but I had a good reason.

Last Thursday I went to hospital in a great deal of pain, and on April Fool’s Day I had surgery, to remove a ruptured appendix.  Quite a length to go to to avoid April Fool’s Pranks really.

I came home on Monday afternoon, to continue my recovery in my own bed (how nice it was to leave the noisy ward behind).

Because my appendix had ruptured, I have been having major doses of antibiotics since then, which continue to make me feel quite ill, and I expect to be pretty quiet until I finish them, and build up my strength again (just in time for school holidays next week).

It has been a humbling experience.  I am keenly aware that only a few generations back, I would not have survived the experience.  My Mother and Husband have been working super hard to keep the family going, and they both deserve a medal.

You will find me blogging again when my energy levels are better.

I finished my Mossy Scarf, which has a lovely texture and weight (as it should – I used 6 balls of yarn).  The yarn is Patons “Jet” which is a blend of 70% wool and 30% Alpaca, which I purchased on sale at the end of last winter.  I went back a second time to buy more (I started with 4 balls) because of the reduced price.  The sale price must have affected my brain, because at no point did I pay attention to the dye lots, which I had heard was an important thing to do.

This is how I ended up with balls of yarn from 3 different dye lots.  The first three balls I knitted up happened to be each from a different lot – I didn’t really notice the difference between the first and the second until later, as the colours were quite similar – the second ball just being more “stripy”.  The third ball was much paler then the others, but I persevered.  I convinced myself that it would not matter – this would be the section around the back of my neck.

I mentioned my problems to a friend, who explained how to blend the remaining balls, by knitting two balls at a time, so even thought the remaining 3 balls represented 2 different dye lots, the second half of the scarf looks much more cohesive.

On a completely different note, Michaela has become enamoured with a cape I made for Amelia when she was about the same age.  Recently her big brother and sister saved up and purchased the “Lego Harry Potter” computer game, which finally came out for Macs.  Since then, Michaela has taken to “dressing as Harry” in her spare time – in that she asks for the scar on her forehead to be drawn on with face paint, and wears the cape.  She doesn’t really know what Harry wears, not having seen the movies.  Homemade improvised costumes seem so much more endearing to me then mass-produced and marketed ones.

Tomorrow, when the entries close I will show you my entry for Project Selvage.

So have you ever made a dye lot mistake?

Like the rest of the world, I am watching the unfolding events in Japan with shock, fear and hope.

I am hoping that things will not get any worse, for a people who have been battered in every way possible already.  I am hoping that food, water and shelter can effectively be distributed to the people who are most in need, as the snow joins the challenges that natural and man made disasters have created.

I know quilters of the world will eventually send quilts to metaphorically and physically wrap survivors in love.  At this stage donations of money, to the organisations that have experience in disaster relief, seem like the best place to start.  We made a donation yesterday to the Red Cross.  I urge you to think about doing the same.

Today is Australia Day, and I thought it was the perfect day to share some snaps from the very start of the year, when we went back in time to 1854 and visited the historical gold mining town of Sovereign Hill.

It was a fantastic day out, and brought back memories for both Luke and I, who had both visited Sovereign Hill (separately) while we were in Primary School.  I think every Victorian student goes there at some stage – it is such a fantastic place to visit.  Don’t you just love this tiny house – much nicer than the miners tents.

We watched the soldiers march, rolled a few balls in the old time bowling alley, panned for gold, (sadly, no luck there) visited the apothecary shop, looked at how coffins are made and watched the blacksmith working.  This was a horse waiting for a new shoe.

The kids attended a school, and all tried using ink and quill.

The school teacher was probably nicer (went easier on them) than she would have been.

We listened to a band, and the rest of the family went on down a mine (I didn’t like the sound of the three metre ladder, and stayed under the blue sky.

The kids finished the day with enormous lollipops, after the boiled lolly making demonstration.  It was a wonderful family day out.

Have you had a fantastic family day out these holidays?

I finished my first quilt for 2011 some time ago, and now that it has reached it’s destination in poor waterlogged Brisbane, I can share it with you.

As you can see from the label, it is for our niece in Brisbane, whose family was amongst the lucky ones, to live in a part of Brisbane that was not flooded.  The flooding there happened a short time after I mailed it, so I was very relieved to hear that it arrived safely.  I had visions of it in a floating postal van, or flooded post office.  As it was, it was just delayed.

If it was just a toy or letter, I would not have worried about it, but there was a lot of love and time put into this quilt, and I am pretty proud of how it turned out. It features Far Far Away fabric by Heather Ross that I have been hoarding for a whole year.

I found the double gauze a little tricky to use, and recommend starching it before you start cutting.  The blocks are, of course, ‘wonky stars’, and there are four blocks that feature larger pieces of the Far Far Away fabric.

This little darling is the Princess – that delicate slip of a girl that can feel a pea through many, many mattresses.  I borrowed my Mother’s beautiful sewing machine to quilt it, and have been in quilting heaven ever since.  My lovely quilting friend, Anita, gave me the beautiful variegated quilting thread that matched perfectly.

I am really pleased with the star quilting.  Apart from suiting a ‘wonky star’ quilt, the stars gave me a place to stop quilting (with the needle down) and reposition my hands.  I have found smoother quilting patterns harder to achieve without leaving little awkward angles where I have stopped.

Do you have favorite quilting pattern?

This December I unexpectedly went missing from my blog due to a whole new level of busyness that took me a little by surprise.  We had so many end of year events, concerts and commitments.  Several big ones involved Michaela finishing Preschool, where I surprised myself by shedding a tear or two.  My 6 years of involvement at the Preschool are now over, which will take some getting used to, as I spent lots of time over the years on the Committee of Management.  The Preschool has nurtured all three of our children and the people there have meant a lot to all of us.

Another surprise this December was a very welcome one from our garden.  We had so much rain this year, compared to previous years, that I was surprised by Christmas Lilies growing in our very own soil.  I didn’t even know they were there until these blooms appeared.  What a gift.

We had another Christmassy surprise in our garden, a Christmas Beetle came for a visit – I have not seen one of these for years.  Although I have no photographic evidence, we were also thrilled with a frog sighting, in our backyard, earlier in the month.  The months of rain have been fantastic for the garden and wildlife.

I managed to get all the presents for the teachers finished on time, and have almost finished the Christmas presents.  We have had lots of friends from “far-away” visiting Melbourne this month, which has been wonderful, and last night we hosted a festive gathering at our place for some of our dearest friends.

This Christmas is in sharp contrast to the last, which was a very dark time for our family, as my brother was very, very ill.  In spite of how much happier it is, I am very much aware that this time of year is very hard for many, especially those that have someone missing from their table.  I hope this Christmas (or as my American friend pointed out last night – Holiday Season) brings you more happiness than sadness, and some peace in amongst the bustle and noise.  Enjoy a cuppa in the sunshine if you can.

I have been so busy that I seem to have disappeared from the “interweb” without meaning too.  With so many end-of-year events to plan for, attend, and ferry to and from, I am feeling like I need to clone myself – just like the clones of my Christmas Angels pictured above.  These ones are being made for the Preschool teachers.

This is what I am making for the school teachers – an embroidery that goes in a frame.  Amelia is stitching herself, (she is the one with the headband – she always wears one) and then it is finished.  This was my original design, from last year, which we started stitching much earlier in the year.

For the one for Rory’s teacher, I have redesigned the faces of my kids, making them more cartoon-like, to fit in better with the other children on the stitchery.  It also gave me an opportunity to add glasses, which they now both wear full time.

Here is Rory.  I will show you a picture of the completed version 2 once it is in the frame.

I have almost finished the wonky star quilt top, but it has been so overcast and rainy that I will wait to photograph it, once complete.  I am pretty tired of the humid weather caused by the rain – but not the rain itself.  After over 10 years of drought, the rain is so welcome, and makes me so happy – Melbourne’s water storages are actually over 50% for the first time in many years.  It is so novel and wonderful to look around and see so much of the bright green of new foliage.

Are you making anything for your child’s teacher(s)?

A: A Wonky Donkey.

These are, of course, Wonky Star Blocks.  I am finally making up a quilt using Heather Ross’ “Far Far Away” fabric, and really wanted a way to highlight the beautiful creatures it contains, so thought these stars would be perfect.  The blocks finish up at 12″, and there will also be several 12″ squares of the “Princess and the Pea” fabric in the quilt – if the pieces were any smaller, the whole stack of mattresses would not have fitted.  You can find a tutorial on making Wonky Stars here.

In my scraps, I found a discarded Frog Prince that I could not bear to throw away.  I decided to make a tiny block (5 1/4″)  which I finished as a little wall-hanging.  With a message on the back, it is like a soft card.  I made it to tell a friend that I am thinking of her, so I hope the little froggy brings on a smile.

This quilt is destined to be a Christmas present, so I have at least started on my list.  How about you?

Oh, and here is another Donkey joke, to brighten your day…

What do you call a three legged donkey that plays the piano?

A: A Honky Tonky Wonky Donkey.