Sunday, February 21, 2010

A new family addition

On Saturday my Cousin Christopher and his fiancee Annie, a friend of mine from primary school, welcomed their first child into the world after a bit of a fuss. Lilly Cheryle was born at 1:01 pm by emergency caesarean, but both mum and bub are well.
Here is one of my first photos of her, with Annie looking like hell, doped up on endone. Christo is over the moon, being the last of his siblings to start a family. Being born during the KV Show everyone in our small community already knows of her arrival and she is only a day old. She will definately be a child raised by a community, as all KV kids are.


Her booties were finished days before her arrival and were very much appreciated. BTW, theyre more green than they appear.After beginning a gwen slouch I realised my collection of stitch markers were getting stretched as a lot of them are being used on my springtime bandit which Im slowly working on because the rustic yarn is a bit scratchy in the heat of summer. So I went searching for my bead collection to knock up some simple markers. Here are some of my results.
So my move to Goulburn is fast approaching, Im starting to get a little freaked out that Im being let loose on a ward to look after patients by myself. Im taking some stuff with me to help me feel at home, a fish tank to fill when I get there and maybe a bird if I have a room which facilitates its comfort on the verandah. The nurses quarters are comfortable and if I find ways to feel at home Im sure I wont get too bored.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

A crazy holiday, craft and my lack of ravelympic-ing!

So our Vic holiday was awesome!


I spent over $200 on yarn from BWM and Wangaratta Woollen Mills.
Mostly I bought Luxury in various plys and colours but also got hold of some Harmony to try out, one ball of 4 ply cotton in Wild Lavender. But best of all was 600g of 8 ply cotton in Papaya and 950g of 4 ply cotton in a yellow called Primrose which must have been a special order cos its a random colour. The papaya I am undecided about what it will morph into, but the yellow is already destined to be myrtle cardigan. Which will be my first cardigan and I think to be rather ambitious for someone who hasnt been knitting a year yet. Swatching will start soon and then Ill know if Im being crazy.




At Wangaratta I got mostly got bright colours of 8 ply in blues, purples and greens. I can see lots of beanies being knitted for family for years to come. Melanie and I caught up for lunch and I dont think I shut up the whole time I was there, telling her about everything thats been happening (Im a chatterbox!)


Apart from knitting related stuff on holidays, Maikha and I enjoyed lots of scrumptious meals, relaxing in the spa, went down into the Deborah Mine in Bendigo, to the Chinese Museum and along the tram route. We also got drowned getting on and off the Emmy Lou in Echuca and went to the great Aussie Beer Shed and took photos of trains for Maikha to sell to the train magazines he writes for.


Since getting back to Shellharbour we have been swimming lots, Ive been knitting baby booties for a cousins who is expecting any day now and I even took an overnight trip to Sydney Childrens Hospital with a cousin and her youngest who has CF. He hasnt been putting on weight and has a scope to check out his insides. All was good and we got home within 24 hours of leaving.


We found a new beading and scrapbooking shop in Oak Flats and bought the supplies to copy a scissor toggle mum has had for years. Of course mine had to include an owl! Ive also been roped into making them for everyone else who bought them, cos I was the only person under 50 in the caravan park, therefore, having the sharpest eyes.


Ive decided not to do any ravelympic-ing this year. Kangaroo Valley show is in the middle of it and I dont think I would get anything finished. Ive got too many projects on the needles which I need to get finished off to streamline my knitting bags to take to Goulburn in March.


Speaking of Goulburn, I made a massive purchase to take with me! A WAECO CF 50 DZ. The DZ stands for dual zone, so it has a fridge, freezer and dairy comparment which all work at once. Its 47 litres and so much easier than a bar fridge which is hard to transport. It cost me a pretty penny but will be worth it in 30 years time when its still working. Dad has 38L and 40L Engel fridges which he loves and go to Qld with him every year.


So thats my crazy life at the moment. I feel like I havent stopped all summer. Today Im off to one of the local cafes to join into their knitting group. Unfortunately it will only be a one off cos they only meet once a month but Im having withdrawals from my Wagga knitting group and will be happy to see what everyone else is knitting.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Crazy Warm Weather Knitting

Yes I am officially knitting nuts! I have just finished a 10 ply meret in the middle of summer! Mostly because I am sick of 4 ply and wanted a change from my current shawl obsession. So here are pics of it being worn by my marigolds:


Myself in a singlet top and a winter beret, lol:



And Mums Royal Doulton, hehe:

And now that it is finished I am moving back to a shawl. I thought a springtime bandit with black BWM would be something fun to attempt in the middle of summer so that I will actually be able to see the stitches! I have no idea who will get any of these projects but I am still making things, and making things........... and making things.
On the nursing front..... I have confirmation of my start date and my rotations during the year. Medical, Surgical, Peri- operative then Mental Health. Three months at each. Ive also been given my annual leave dates in September, so a cruise is probably my best option. Been looking at one that leaves from Brissy so I will be able to look around the city, which Ive never been to before and probably see Ma and Pa who will be around Qld as well.
Next week Im heading south for Maikhas and my long awaited Vic holiday! Lots of things planned in Echuca, Bendigo, Wangaratta and a detour through Myrtleford to see a mate. Photos will follow soon after we return.
BTW, I would have posted a photo of my Registration Certificate but I dont know how to do the fuzzy out thingy to block out the personal stuff on it! I am so proud of it I am willing to tell everyone, even blogland!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Me and my Pup

SO, FINALLY! I have a new camera and considering my two most constant companions in 2010 so far have been my dog and my knitting Im dedicating a post to them.
What a great model, after I tried to untangle him from all the loose ends he decided it was a game and sat on it and didnt give it back without a fake bite fight.


Im really happy with my gaenor Ive gone to 15 lace repeats on the increase section so it will be 30 repeats in total and now Im onto my 5th lace repeat on the decrease section. Peewee is always sitting next to me or watching me from his bed. He stayed up til midnight to welcome in the new year with me and when Im home alone never lets me leave his sight so he can always protect me, cos I need saving by a dog who stands at 1 foot tall, lol.



In other matters I have received a visit from Maikha and had a day off work, my first for the new year, and now my darling grubby brother is home to play poker, hang out with mates and generally never be at home. My camera is wonderful, a Canon Ixus 95 10 MP and is green, Maikha helped me get a great deal at Hardly Normal (Harvey Norman) cos Im too much of a baby to wangle a deal out of anyone.


Oooh! I almost forgot, I am officially a registered nurse, I was added to the register of NSW on the 4th of January 2010. I received my certificate of registration in the mail today and have showed it to everyone, even some random customers in the shop while I was showing it to my Nan. All is well, my life is moving forward and Im earning money at the same time!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Lets have a blog whinge

Ok, so Christmas was awesome, and so was my cousins wedding but I have no photos of either because I have flogged my camera to its last photo and nothing I do will make it come back from the dead. My Mums ruby isbel is complete and has been blocked in he bedroom which is empty because Im the only one home. I didnt even get to see mum for her birthday : ( Ive been working at my cousins lolly shop in KV and Ive been very good as to not eat all of the stock, only a few sneaky lollies while Im bagging them up. However, Ive been packing a very health lunch and walking to and from work each day which is making up for the lollies.

Im starting to think about what the new year will bring, a holiday (with my boy in Vic, BWM here I come), my Dad turning the big 6-0, the Valley Show, a move and new career in Goulburn, graduation ceremony, hopefully a few more holidays, maybe a bit of studying, and the best bit, planning for 2011; where Im gonna go after my new grad year!

My knitting planning is also on my mind, pavo real is a pattern I have been mulling over, damson is waiting for some awesome sock yarn to fall into my lap and my springtime bandit will start soon in some beautiful 8 ply from BWM. Im also thinking about if the pavo real will be my ravelympics project but then it wont be ready to be entered into the Valley Show. After years of wandering the pavillion I will finally have somethings worth entering!

Hope everyone a great NYE, Ill be on the lounge with my knitting and dog, how sad, lol.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Holidays and such



I've had a very hectic week so the first thing to get neglected was my blog. Last friday night Maikha and I travelled to Wagga for my end of uni cohort party where everyone had a smashing time. Here we are looking all loved up before the do, aww!

Next morning, after a wander around Wagga, we headed back to the coast to pack, in readiness for my families holiday to Shellharbour on Sunday. We left the puppy and home after promising him a holiday next time we took the van somewhere, he was very sad :(

But... after a wheel fell off the van and Mum and Dad sat on the side of the highway for 5 hours waiting to be towed we were lucky that Peewee wasnt with us. The first two tow truck drivers did more damage to the van and the third was a godsend who finally got us to the caravan park before dark. Seeing our 16 ft van in the air on a truck with one wheel was a scary sight, but atleast it is still in one piece and we can have our holiday before the final repairs need to be carried out in February.

The weather on the coast has, so far, been a mixed bag, with rain, wind and sun all in out first week of holidays. Yesterday I knitted for atleast 5 hours getting stuck into the lace for Mum's Ruby Ishbel, which I will hopefully have done by Christmas, depending upon how many A-B repeats she wants.

Today we're back in Kangaroo Valley for my cousins wedding. There will be alot of family around and I'm sure we will party late into the night.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

I Love Knitting

After many problems I finally have photos of recently finished projects to brag about. My herbivore was worked on as I tripped around with Mum and Dad so not only is it green and hand-dyed with a friend, but I worked on it during a trip around our beautiful state of NSW.


The photo was taken in a relatively dark room with a flash so the colours arent as accurate as in real life, although I am waiting to get some action shots.




Cowra Japanese Gardens and Dubbo Western Plains Zoo were the highlights of our trip around NSW with one of my Dads younger brothers, his wife and two and a half year old daughter.





My colonnade is my other recently completed project and after blocking it I am totally in love with the colours and the drape around my shoulders and it is still light enough for on a summers afternoon.
Ive just started a gaenor with some of my stash picked up in Wangaratta, Im loving the pattern and after working from the written instructions for a while Ive progressed to looking at the chart to jog my memory, hopefully I may become a chart reader! Mum has also requested an ishbel, so some BWM Luxury has been ordered in Ruby and my Gaenor will be set aside to try to get it finished by Christmas or Mum's birthday which is soon after. December is always the busiest month and trying to get orgainised early is my only hope of staying sane until New Years.
Safety and best wishes to all, xoxo