This is why....

In a previous post, I mentioned two family “issues” which I should have called “situations”.

The first was a good one, resulting in a closer relationship with my husband, a Wonderful Man (WM).

The second one is painful… heart-breakingly so  – well, at least for WM and I.

DD and SIL have decided to move 585km (365 miles) away to a small town on the NSW mid-north coast.

SIL has quit his job in Sydney because of high stress levels. He has accepted a job working in his family business as an office administrator and part-time receptionist.

They will rent in their new town and will put their current home on the rental market so that they will always have a foothold in the Sydney real estate market. They are currently packing and will be gone before the end of March.

This news is sudden and, although not entirely unexpected, leaves WM and I bereft. DD is our only child and her sons -- the joy of our lives -- are our only grandchildren.

We cannot follow; WM has a job here and at his age, finding another is unlikely.

If you are a praying person, we would appreciate your prayers, especially for DD who has always been close (physically and emotionally) to her parents.

In preparation for the move, we have been child-minding and/or helping them to get their house ready for the rental market. We are both sad and tired. Is it any wonder I haven’t been crafting or blogging?

And if you're wondering how I cope, I lose myself in the alternate reality of reading fiction!

still a bag lady!

Last week I showed you a small rectangle of linen stitch which was my preparation for a workshop held last Saturday at my local knitters’ guild.

The workshop was very well prepared and presented and obviously very inspiring since that little rectangle has now become this:

A fast and easy knit. I think the most tedious part was the linen stitch handle. I foresee some more of these in my future.

The bag even has my very first i-cord closure:

Thanks WM for modelling!

on and off the needles

Firstly, thank you all for your kind comments and emails regarding my internet fiasco! I really appreciated each and every one of them. Yesterday, I spent over an hour (knitting and) watching a fourteen minute video from my course. I watched two minutes of the second video in half an hour – time to give up when it gets that slow!

I have been knitting and sewing as well as spending a lot of time on the computer. Today the knitted objects have the limelight.

I have continued to knit cowls and mitts for the charities I support.

I indulged my interest in stranded colour-work to use up some of the left-overs from previous cowls.

As winter approaches I appreciate having a roof over my head and a warm bed to sleep in and I really feel for the homeless and less fortunate at this time of year.

I also couldn’t restrain myself from seeing how this yarn knitted up. DD won a ball of novelty yarn, Carmen by Mondial (Italian), at the Knitters’ Guild meeting last month. I didn’t take a photo of the ball but here is a snippet of the yarn – it’s basically variegated blue tape with little dangling yellow pieces every couple of inches. The second picture is the detail of the knitted yarn.

DD gave the ball to me because she doesn’t have the patience to knit novelty yarns. The vendor at the meeting claimed that a scarf could be knitted from one ball.
As you can see, it’s a very small scarf even knitted on needles one size larger than recommended (6.5mm - 10.5 US). This one is approximately 10cm (4”) wide and (90cm) 36” long. Ah well, some young girl will probably like it.

Mothers’ Day is approaching and I found myself wondering about a gift for my mother. I have already knitted a pair of striped socks which she knows about but have added a second pair. I hope she likes them because they are fraternal not identical!

On Tuesday evening, I foolishly thought I could get another pair finished before Sunday. A cuff-down pair with baby cable rib and a gusset heel (instead of my usual hourglass heel).I am using Cleckheaton Cocoon (70% wool – 30% polyamide). This is the first sock at the time of writing.

Do you think I can get them finished given that WM and I are leaving for northern NSW this afternoon and will be at mum's late morning tomorrow?

I do so knit!

Cast on 1st January.

First sock finished second of January (I had a stomach bug so was at home in front of the television alone for most of the day).

Mum admired the sock, tried it on and it fitted! So the socks will be hers.

Second sock cast on 3rd January, heel turned last night. The colours in the photo below are more accurate.

What's on your needles?

still not home

But at least I have access to the internet!

It's a long tale that can summed up in one phrase: "too much rain".

Yes, you guessed it; last weekend, Moree, the town where my mum had her cataract operation, had the second highest flood on record!

We were trapped until yesterday. Mum needed to be home becasue she had another appointment (which was made nine months ago) in the town of Tamworth today and needed to come home first to collect ehr x-rays,etc.

Even when I made the decision to leave by the "long way home", I had no idea that the planned route (due to flooding in other areas) was 631 kilometres (395 miles). That is really the loooooooong way home - Moree to Bingara, mum's home town, is just 117 kilometres (73 miles) by her preferred route.

This map shows the route I thought I would be taking; the road between Narrabri (B) and Bingara (G) is the one I wanted to take!

View Larger Map

Anyway,  I was about 40 kilometres (25 miles) out the Narrabri-Coonabarabran Road when something told me to stop and check mum's phone. Sure enough, there was a voice message from mum's friend at the tourism office in Bingara, telling us that the road from Narrabri to Bingara had just been reopened. So, of course, I turned around and headed back into Narrabri, through town, and onto the Bingara Road! Yay!

What could have been an nine hour trip turned into a four hour trip (counting lunch stops, asking for information about road conditions, buying fuel and heading 40km in the wrong direction before being turned around! Thank you Lord!

I have managed to change my own ticket and will return to Sydney tomorrow - three days after I planned!

I will have photos of the flooding (if they worked) for you on Thursday!

And, mum's operation was very successful. Hopefully the other eye will be done next year.

I like chocolate cake batter

On Saturday 12th November, Baseball Nephew had a training session at the Olympic Baseball Park in western Sydney. My sister and nephew stayed with us on Friday night.

In honour of their visit (we only see them two or three times a year), DD made a chocolate cake.

Older Grandson learnt the delights of licking the spatula

...and the beaters.

Younger Grandson watched on but only smiled when he was tickled!

I just had to share this with you

- found on Mary Lou and Whimsy Too!

exciting news

It may surprise you to know that baseball is not one of the most popular sports in Australia.

It is not broadcast at all on free-to-air television.

It is certainly not the big deal that it is in USA.

However, my uncle (dad's brother) played baseball for many years. Dad's first cousin also played baseball, as did his sons, and at least one of his son's sons.

My sister's son, my only nephew, started playing tee-ball when he was much younger.

From tee-ball he graduated to baseball.

So, in summer he'd play cricket (one of our most popular national sports) and in winter - yes, that's right, winter - he'd play baseball.

This is a photo of him after the Grand Final of the B-grade earlier this year. He also played in the A-grade grand final.

photo copied and cropped from Cougars Baseball Club Facebook page

This summer he will not be playing cricket.

Instead, he has been named in the 2012 Under-18's NSW Country Baseball Team as a pitcher. So he will spend the early part of the summer travelling around the state for training and then compete in the national championships in Geelong, Victoria, in January.

This is very exciting news in our family. He has made a state representative team and may, if he plays really well, make it to the national team.

That is great news in itself.

But my nephew is still six weeks short of his sixteenth birthday!

yarny gifts

Back in September, I was supposed to tutor a workshop on knitting socks from the toe up. It didn't happen because I was sick. A very dear non-blogging friend, D., was going to assist me with the workshop. She always has socks on the needles and normally knits her socks cuff down but she is willing to give other methods a try.

We met a couple of weeks before the date of the workshop to talk and to correct any mistakes in my sample pattern (which D. had test knitted). That day, D. realised that I did not have any hand knitted socks of my own.

A few days later these arrived in the post. They are Nanner Socks from "wendyknits" and the yarn is Julie Spins Superwash Merino (colour: Pickle). Unfortunately the socks were too small; I couldn't easily get them on over my heel. But I was very grateful to be the owner of such gorgeous, beautifully knitted socks.
About a week later, another parcel arrived from D. Inside were these socks in my favourite colour. They are Simple Socks by Cat Bordhi knitted cuff down in Hedgehog Sock yarn (colour: Hush). Before the weather got too warm for socks, I wore them on several occasions.

I am very blessed to have such a wonderful and generous friend. Thank you, D.

On top of that, Sally, who blogs at PomPom, celebrated her 2000th post with a give away. I didn't write the 2000th comment but apparently I am the person who has commented the most so I also won a prize. Thank you, Sally.

Some yarn-y goodness arrived at my place a couple of days ago -- sock yarn made in Germany by Schoppel Wolle. Sally wrote that she has never seen this yarn in Australia, so I can only assume she bought it on a recent trip to England. Looking at the packaging, I think the colour way is called Sputnik Welle (which translates, according to Bing, as "Sputnik Wave"). It is 100g of very soft hand-dyed yarn -- two strands dyed together to get identical socks. The packaging even comes with instructions to unwind the two strands without getting into a tangle! How cool is that?

knitting progress

I don't seemed to have achieved much on the sewing/quilting front lately but I have done some knitting.

Last Friday my next-door neighbour had their second child and second son, William, by Caesarean. I was hoping she would have a girl (there are so many pretty things I want to knit) but it was not to be.

Last night I cast on Tate by Melissa Leapman from "Quick Knit Keep Sakes Book 2". I'm using lemon coloured Cleckheaton Fiddle De Dee cotton (discontinued) on 5.00mm (US 8) Knitpicks Harmony needles (borrowed from DD). I haven't given you the Ravelry link because there is no photo there - it seems I am the first knitter on Ravelry to cast on for this pattern! The photo below is copied straight from the book and has been photographed sideways - the cast on edge is to the right of the photo. It is knitted on 151 stitches and has an eight row border of moss (seed) stitch then an "intermediate" lace pattern involving "slip two stitches knitwise, K1, P2SSO". I have done only ten rows so far - I don't know if it was the humidity or my tiredness but I just couldn't seem to knit quickly last night. I have taken no photos of my knitting because who wants to see rows of moss stitch?

In other knitting news, I have finished the body and sleeves of the striped baby jumper. The pattern is Mexicali Baby Ole (Ravelry link) by Mary C. Gildersleeve. It is knitted from the right cuff to the left cuff.The pattern says to block and sew up seams before adding collar - I'm wondering whether to add the collar first: what do you think?