redumbrella

Change of Address

2008-04-16T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Sorry to have been absent for so long but there have been great changes in my life lately. I shall not be continuing with this blog. I shall get in touch with family and friends in other ways.

Gillian

Is This Real Winter?

2008-01-25T14:54:00.000-08:00

Before xmas, I went out to trim some greenery off the local hedges and when I came back I made a window frame rather than a tree to hold cards and other decorations.

As you can see from the first pic I have a low valuation of TV entertainment. The old machine in the pic goes back further than it is wide but still shows all five "old" channels. I have estimated its age at 27years. It even has a remote control but the gadget tends to change channels when you press volume control!!!

Yes it did snow this winter. This second pic is the view from the sitting room window which is on the third floor, looking east, the next pic is from the window looking west.

I must admit that a brolly does not help much in these conditions.

After the greenery was removed from the window it seemed very bare but then I went to the twice monthly auction at the local auction house and bought this lovely book case as a partial room divider. It now divides the main room space from an office space and houses some of the more attractive and valuable volumes.

I continue to knit socks. This pair are in a 5/6ply marly blue and I'm using a variation of the "Monkey" pattern. Well I thought that was what the picture would show but instead you have another view of the sitting room.

The wind is howling around outside and I wouldn't be surprised if the "winter" follows it.

Cheers to you all, Gillian

Evidence of Endeavour During Blog Absence

2007-12-01T13:00:00.001-08:00

At last!!! I finished the top which I started on the bus tour of Scotland. I had finished the actual knitting but I let it "rest" a while before I sewed it up so I only got to wear it for the first time yesterday. It is really comfortable and fits well, being just the right width and length. I so often get one of those wrong.

The pattern was from http://www.garnstudio.com/ . This site has a great range of patterns to choose from. I did this with threex100gm balls of sock wool.

I'm settling into Darlington really happily and love being so near the centre of town and meeting people and getting out and about. I've loved my painting classes and hope to get to drawing classes next term and I have even been to the pictures for the first time in years, to see Elizabeth the Golden Age. I never miss my knit and natter club and was lucky enough to get a ride to the Knitting and Stitches Show. This is an annual highlight and thousands of women from the north of England descend on Harrogate over a period of four days. I went with Becky and her Mother Eunice who had come up from Hampshire. It was a grand day and I don't know where the six hours went. I came home with some recycled banana fibre, some wool and some mohair/silk and some sock wool and stuff like that. I shall do a separate post about it later.

And I have three pairs of socks on the needles at once. This demonstrates a lack of stamina and an attack of second sock syndrome.

There is a whole sock in the magenta colour but the brown and cream wool was a disappointing display of shades and has not yet reached the heel.

Also, I have decided to channel my hobby energies into starting a small business.I am buying and selling old and rare books. Mainly they are in the categories of Cats, Wool -crafts and the Wool-industry and sheep and Lace and Costume. A broad range but they are my own favourite areas. I have bought a couple of collections and have spent happy hours at the local antique auction house in town coming away with many boxes of mixed books. Some of these reveal a treasure or two and the rest mostly become piles of gardening, cricket and cookery books of no great renown or rarity. They seem to breed and are taking over the back bedroom.

So I have become Red Umbrella Books. Next weekend will be my first attempt to sell, at a bookfair in London. I shall be the one standing by my stall, knitting red socks.

More news when I return
Cheers Gillian

Highlands and Islands

2007-10-27T23:45:00.000-07:00

I managed to complete the cardigan while I was at Knit and Natter in Bishop Auckland on the Friday and Carrie Anne kindly took a photo of me in it to show you. Of course, dark grey does not photograph well but then, neither do I.
I wore it on the coach on the way up to Scotland on Monday and it was light, warm and comfortable. Sadly I now have to find a way to neatly darn up the large hole created by the kilt pin dragging on the soft wool!!!

To restore my spirits I have started on the football of tops I bought at the Wensleydale Longwool Sheepshop. It is a natural silvery brown and is so easy to spin. Yes that is my foot to the right to give you some idea of the size.

The journey to Scotland was long because we were based in the town of Garve and so we were well up into the Highlands. The hotel was very good and well organised to cater for the large numbers of people who all want to be fed at the same time. Our room is the top right in this picture and we looked over woodland and hills.

The nights were silent and black.
The days were spent visiting the Isle of Skye, lochs, castles, Culloden, Inverness and John O'Groats. We were very lucky with th eweather and were able to enjoy some lovely views and autumn colours.

This is a very small selection of the views.

I'm still searching for the best cheese scone and have a few to report on.
Since arriving in Darlington I have had a couple of local ones. The Arts Centre cafe does a formidable one for only a pound. It is the largest one I have ever seen and weighs in at quite a few ounces. It is tasty but hard going towards the end. Probably TOO BIG. 6/10
Coffee at Elliots did a pleasing-to-the-eye golden scone and I shared it with my sister ( that was so that we could fit in a slice of cheesecake as well). She declared it just right but I found it too salty and costly, so we gave it 6.5/10. We had one at Catkins too but I was a bit sconed-out and can't remember it so I will have to return soon.
Whilst in Scotland I had a towering, speckled orange one at a place where the coaches stop but I can't remember which one, so although it was surprisingly lovelier than it looked, it doesn't get a rating.

Cheers to all
Gillian

A Finished Garment (Well Nearly)!

2007-10-18T06:42:00.000-07:00

I have been sitting at the window shown in this picture, glancing at the town of Darlington while I knit. The urge to make a new garment came over me last Thursday and I searched the internet patterns and fell in love with "Montparnasse" by Berocco in their favourite free patterns section and then on Friday I headed off into town to find Becky at her stall at the craft market.

She had some fabulous wool from Wensleydale Longwool SheepShop.

I wanted it in the grey but there were only a couple of balls available so I headed off to visit the shop near Leyburn in North Yorkshire to get some.

You know what it's like when you want to start on something right away.

Luckily I found the place and they had a gorgeous dark grey called "Storm". It took half an hour to get there and an hour and a half to get home because school was out in Richmond (I did a little detour) and everyone in North Yorkshire seems to go to school in Richmond.

But at last I got back home with quite a few knitting hours left in the day and sat down and cast on. A couple of glitches.....My tension was up the spout and I had to start again after a few inches.....I was short by one ball of wool because I knitted it longer, but I phoned them and the shop had one to me the next day.....The armholes were too tight but instead of undoing the sleeves and re-knitting them, I knitted a gusset for each oxter.

There it is in the picture waiting for me to pick up and knit about 220 stitches around the opening. I managed to get some kilt pins and a circular needle in town. I love Darlington. It sells everything I want, on the doorstep.

With luck and a neat stitch pick-up I will be able to finish it in time to wear it next week on my holiday to the Highlands of Scotland. Highlands, Loch Ness, Skye and John O'Groats.

I would have finished it sooner but my waterclour painting lessons have taken up some time too. We've done a lot of trees, foliage and bark and some attempts at water. They look good from a distance!

The holiday is a bus tour so I shall take a couple of socks to finish to complete a couple of pairs as well as a sudoku book, a couple of paperbacks and a big map of the Highlands so that I can map-read all the way and keep a track of where we are going. I cannot travel without a map.

More news on my return.
Cheers Gillian

Moving Home

2007-10-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

I am about to close down and pack up the computer and all its attachments. I go off line here at midnight and PIPEX have not promised me anything closer than 3-7 working days to re-connect at the new address. I have employed WATSON'S from Darlington. They come in big, dark, green lorries with two "blokes" to do the lifting and carrying at....50 pounds an hour. They start at 9am Tuesday. I shall be waiting for them.

I found some lovely bedroom furniture on the internet, through M&S and rang up first thing this morning to fix it.

IT WILL NOT BE DELIVERED UNTIL MID-DECEMBER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I want it. I don't want other stuff...so I have no alternative but to wait. I could go on a long holiday and leave all my clothes lying on the floor.

I have packed everything and now wait for the Lorry to come

I shall sleep until about 3:30 or 4:30 am and then get up and make a cup of green tea with lotus flower and citrus.

Then I shall bathe and dress and climb up the step-ladder to take down the curtain rods and all the trimmings.

Then I shall move flats
Cheers Gillian

Pressure Makes Perfect

2007-09-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

Life needs sorting. Time is running out before I move.
I have been having a quick look through the stash and these balls of yarn seemed to go well together. There's a dark green, a multi-blue/green and a black. So I decided to put them together to make a top. They aren't in the right quantities to make it match back and front but there is plenty overall so I will just keep changing one colour every two pattern depths till I get there.

I have chosen "Ladders of Elegance" from the Knitter's Stash. This is one of my favourite pattern books and I have knitted the "Daisy Shawl" in many yarns and sizes. The top I'm doing is a thick, two strand one. It's a good stash-buster and I'm the sort of person who will happily wear a sleeveless warmer. I like my arms free. I will try to do more of a "boat" neckline though.

Anyway I can boast about my knitting because I have done all the ironing!!!!!!!!!

I had to start because there was no space left to hang the next lot of washing. I did two weeks worth yesterday and then this weeks lot, today.
I also got lots of stuff out of the freezer so that I can get rid of it next week....probably to the Heart Foundation who have a new Furniture and White Goods Store opening soon in Bishop Auckland. Unless anyone wants to come round and fetch it this week from Wolsingham. Please let me know if you are able to collect a freezer from here or from central Darlington. I also need homes for an old dressing table with mirror, small glazed china cabinet,a tea trolley and small stuff. Email me on fergussong8@hotmail.com

I made Plum Butter and Spicey Plum Chutney. It's a while since I made preserves and such...

The plum butter is really tasty but a bit runny and the plum chutney is sweet and hot!. When I went to visit my sister in Bedfordshire, where I got all these plums, I made plum sorbet...a la Jamie Oliver and cordial. I still have a bag of plums left in the freezer so I will have to make myself some cordial if I can find a bottle.

I thought English was English!!! Particularly as I spoke it. The long period of time I have spent in Australia has not affected my accent but it has impacted on the pronunciation of some of the words and common words are so differently used.
Australian = Other
Op-Shop=Charity shop, Thrift shop etc. from....Opportunity Shop
Lollies =Sweeties, Candy
Icy pole= Ice lolly
Chips = Crisps
Hot chips =Chips
Zucchinis = Courgettes
Cordial= squash, fruit drink
and I'm sure there are so many more.
Please let me know how the words we use on our blogs vary from place to place. Unfortunately I can only cope with English. They tried hard at school to give me a "Language Base" but the only thing which I remember is the Latin that I failed.
Pronunciation is going to affect me mostly with food items eg Yoghurt! Ask me when you see me!
Cheers Gillian

Is There Anyone Out There who likes IRONING

2007-09-19T13:31:00.001-07:00

I had a sore throat... always an indicator that I need to be less stressed, so I stayed at home so that I would not spread it around and while I was at home I did the Jigsaw of the map of Engand and Wales. 1250 pieces and still about 50 to go.

This means that I have not done the IRONING

I went out for a ramble this morning. As it stared to rain Sheila mentioned that she had left a load of washing on the line. I offered to come round with my lovely dry basket of ironing, but Sheila just laughed!!!

So I went home and did some painting and ignored the IRONING.

Of course I shall have to do it soon. I have no clothes to wear.

Cheers Gillian

Well Does Anyone have a Great Middle Name

2007-09-15T12:26:00.000-07:00

I think that the MEME doing the rounds at the moment is an absolute stunner! Let's face it, who likes their middle name?

Most of us have a middle name which is not very attractive but is bestowed upon us for family reasons. My middle name is MARGARET. I don't think any young girls are named Margaret these days. I'm named after my mother who is called "Peggy" and has never been called Margaret. An old aunt was called Margaret Rose and many members of the family were called...Meg, Peg and Maggy. But not while I was alive. Margaret is, to me, an old name!!!

So...Here I go with it!

M...Moving Again! Yes I shall be on the move in two weeks time. From the country town of Wolsingham to the city of Darlington.

A...Art Classes are one of the benefits of living in a city centre again. I have always wanted to have a go at painting classes and will be doing so at the Arts Centre in Darlington. I'm no good but I shall do some homework and hope to improve.

R...I love Reading. There is a small and delightful public library across the road here in Wolsingham. I think it must be one of the smallest in the world. It has a bit of everything and I have read all my favourites. I need a new set of shelves to browse. Mind you I will call in to the library, post office and bakery, here in Wolsingham, on my way to the caravan up in Brotherlee.

G...Geography and Geology. My favourite subjects and those which I taught happily for over 30 years. I worked in Africa as a geologist for an exploration company before I started teaching.

A...I adore, second hand and old stuff. "Antiques" are a real hobby. My furniture is second hand and my rooms are full of trash and tat. Nothing really valuable, just possibly worth more than I paid for it

R...Rambling around the Dales and Fells. I belong to a regular Wednesday group and we dont walk far but we enjoy it. There is so much history and geography in this area. After that I go off to Durham to have lunch with Mum.

E...Eating! Which leads me to FOOD. One small problem with the new flat I'm moving into in Darlington is.........There is no larder. There is nowhere to put the food. I am searching the catalogues for cheap, stunning, small larders to slip into the tiny space behind the kitchen door.The winning larder will take up no space, cost no money and house the contents of a medium sized supermarket.

T...THE is the only word to finish this off. THE internet, THE weather, THE best to everyone and of course have a lovely cup of TEA. My favourites at the moment are...Earl Grey with a touch of Vanilla and Green Tea with citrus and lotus flower.

Thanks Sue . It was fun trying to work it all out .
Cheers Gillian

All The Fun Of The Fair

2007-09-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

This was the view from my bedroom window during the Wolsingham Show. I stayed for the first night, and sure enough, it all got turned off at midnight, but it took another hour or so for all the excited youngsters to decide to leave the area. The rides extend up each of the roads leading out of town as well as filling the Market Place. No complaints, but I'm sure glad I had somewhere else to go for the next three nights.

Saturday was the start of the community section held at Scotch Isle Park a couple of miles east of town. I walked in along the "Weardale Way" along the river bank and it was so lovely. Then I back-tracked through the farm and along the road to the entry.

I arrived at 11am and judging was still continuing in some tents, so I had a general look around. The foot and mouth crisis had ended but not in time to release permission to transport livestock for the show, so there were no sheep, pigs or cattle and therefore, sadly to me, no sheepdog trials. But lots of dogs, horses, chickens, pigeons, rabbits and guinea pigs. There were farmers markets and I had some wonderful ice-cream from "Archer's". Real Jersey cow ice-cream made by them on their farm, in an old fashioned sugar-cone.

I always love the tent with all the produce in it. I couldn't believe the real size of these vegies. The bloke there is pointing to some ONIONS, each one the size of a small soccer ball and each of the leeks would make a vat of soup. The white things in between are the "longest parsnip" category!

There were slim pickings in the Knitting section after being used to the Sheep and Wool show in Bendigo, Australia, but that did not reduce the skill, talent or flair. My photo does not do justice to the excellent needlecraft that was on show. After a visit to a friend on her "Aloe Vera" stall and another wander around and watching a show put on by the local dog agility group, I settled in at a free place on the fence to watch this lot.

These are the ones who do displays at the Edinburgh Tattoo in the small arena. They gave them a bit more space here but for safety's sake, kept us all well back from them. They warmed up with the routine where every bike misses every other bike by about two inches in the middle of the field. Then the Gorilla came on and then the jumping over the cars began.

If you look closely you can see Danny, motorbike-leaping four cars. In this sorry photo he looks as if he is about to land on the second one but believe me, he made it.

After that I walked home along the road, regretting the fact that three buses made it back before me.

Then I went up to the caravan and spent a happy couple of days doing...

Sudokus, crosswords, reading, knitting nancy stuff with some stonewash white cotton (one day to become a braided bath rug), reading (a Hilary Norman), fixing the toilet leak (no success yet), getting my feet warm in the morning (yes! my own knitted socks worked) and watching the RAF fly low on their way to and from Otterburn and lastly, on the way home today....a red kite soaring above the dale. I'm not telling you where.

I might become a twitcher!

Cheers Gillian

The Show, The Show!!!

2007-08-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

It is the annual show this weekend. This agricultural show is the oldest one in England. BUT someone thinks it's a good idea to fill the market place with a small but flashy, fairground. It's already later and darker than when I got home and some of the trucks have unloaded amazing equipment. The lights have been tested. There was no warning of this. I hope that other people are coping better than me.

I shall go and see Mum tomorrow, visit Chris, shop at the Arnison Centre and get Mum a nice new Doonah. Then I shall try to get back and park somewhere within a 1/2 mile of this horrible display. The Big Show is a couple of miles down the road and I hope to get there on foot along the designated footpath.
Hopefully there will be more pics tomorrow or Friday when the real show stuff happens.

Cheers Gillian

Out and About

2007-08-27T03:12:00.000-07:00

This is the great water wheel at Killhope Lead Mining Museum at the top of Weardale in Durham. A fitting name for an old lead mine. The average life expectancy of lead miners a hundred years ago was only 45 and the blokes who worked in the smelters died much sooner. But Killhope is more likely a derivation of church (kil/kell) in the valley (hope) and the surrounding scenery supports that. The mine is very close to the divide between eastern and western England. We drove on a few miles and over the top of the Pennines and into Cumbria.

My brother John and his son Martyn donned wellies and hard hats and went on an underground tour of the mine. Both are 6feet+ so they had to spend much of the time stooped over and at one stage, bent double. The wellies were an absolute necessity. The miners in the old days usually died from "Trenchfoot". A rotting-away of the feet because of the continuously wet conditions, which led to blood poisoning and gangrene. It got its name during WW1 because the soldiers in the trenches got the same.

I spent the time up top with my SOL Anita and we fossicked for rock specimens. We were lucky to come home with some pretty quartz crystals, some shiny galena and some fossilised shells. Then we went and sat in the hide for a while and waited for the red squirrels to come out to play.

Anita put some nuts out on the feeder and within minutes two red squirrels came out of the pine forest to investigate. My sorry excuse for a camera managed to catch a shot of one of them racing up the pole to check out the feeder. They then went on to check out every place where food could have been left and lifted up the lids on the birds' nesting boxes. The hide was originally set up for bird watching but squirrels are canny and soon catch on to sources of food.

After that we adjourned to the cafe for a bite to eat. I was too hungry to try out the home made cheese scones and polished off a bowl of home-made macaroni cheese, which was great. The others had a snack followed by wonderful home-made puddings like apple pie and jam roly poly. I must return to try out the scones. The Cafe in Wolsingham, called Julie's, does a wonderful home-made cheese scone topped with ham, tomato and melted cheese. Hard to give it a score because of all the extra stuff on it but probably about an 8. My quest continues.

This is my excuse for not doing any knitting.

Cheers to all Gillian

Cheese Scones

2007-08-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't any fresh photos but I have had a good read of all my favourite blogs and have made some comments on them. I noticed that I commented on how lovely the CHEESE scones were at the Bowes in Barnard Castle. At 1.60 pounds each ( my machine does not print pound sterling signs) they aren't cheap but they are always wonderful and their standard is dependable. I would give them 8/10.
Today I had a freshly baked one at the cafe in Westgate Department Store in Newgate in Bishop Auckland. It was not as expensive and I can't remember exactly how much but it was much lighter, however, it was sweet! I would only give it 7/10 even though it was lovely because the tea shop at the Bowes has set a high standard.
I hope that I shall find 9/10 and even the 10/10 standard soon. It seems to be a quest that is worthy. I hope to have advice from you all as to where to search and where and when to taste.
You can even try to direct me to "foolproof" recipes. I am, however, a major fool at scone baking.
Cheers for now Gillian

Sick of Socks Again

2007-08-04T11:47:00.000-07:00

I must admit that I have been trying to finish these socks but so much has prevented me from making them my primary concern. I have been given notice that the flat above the shop, plus the shop will be up for sale.This means that I must vacate this flat. I am booked and paid up until the 23 October.
Anyway, now that I have got over the gloom about it all I am looking for a new place.

In the mean time I shall continue to fit out the van for wonderful get-a-ways and whatever property I manage to rent will be great. I'm checking out a place in Bishop Auckland on Wednesday and went to one in Barnard Castle this morning, It was a bit small and pokey even though it was beautiful. I ended up in the Tea shop at the Bowes Museum where they do the best cheese scones.

Cheers Gillian

Would You Believe It???

2007-07-18T12:40:00.000-07:00

Hello.
Yes I have bought a caravan. In England this is called a static caravan. They are available on sites where everyone owns one and they are all plumbed and serviced.
It is situated between a stream and the River Wear (Picture left)areally empty bit of the "North Pennines Area of Natural Beauty"
This picture shows the bridge over the river Wear which is the start of the footpath into the village of Westgate. This is about a hundred steps from the van.

It's a 12x35 ft van with a double with en-suite and a twin bedroom with bathroom, followed by a pretty good kitchen, dining space and a very good lounge area which can be more sleeping area if needed.

It doesn't look great at the moment but I shall create some decking and a ramp for easy access. The stream at the back has been "landscaped" by other van owners. I shall see how it all goes but I hope to be in before the end of August.

The inside is quite spacious because it is 12ft wide, not 10ft and there are only two bedrooms so that the daily usable space is much larger. It even has a gas fire and is double glazed.

At the end of the run of vans there is a lovely grassy bank which gives you access to sit inside the rock shelter and fish!!!

Another disaster involving GAS occurred today. It is a bit nerve racking to be told that there is a possibility of another explosion, people were evacuated and the driver of the gas tanker died.
It is understandable to find that people are a bit jittery and questionning the traffic of such things through the narrow confines of the Wolsingham streets.
I hope people can return home soon and I am sorry for the family of the tanker driver.
I heard a massive roar earlier tonight and thought that it might have been the tanker but it was probably thunder.
We have had such dreadful stormy weather in the last couple of days. My mother says that her sister Julia's next door neighbour , sitting peacefully at home with the cat on her knee in the sitting room was struck by a lightning bolt which came down the chimney like a great ball of red fire. The cat is not recovered and Carol is now very shaky at the thought of what could have happened. The chimney is totally disintegrated and all the bricks fell and damaged the houses on both sides
There is no doubt that the weather is not just changing ....It is becoming so unpredictable that we cant even enjoy joking about the weather forecast.
Cheers to all, Gillian

In A Spin

2007-07-15T05:44:00.000-07:00

After the graduation celebrations at Durham University for my niece Sally, I put my sister (Sally's mother) Trisha and my mother in the car and drove south to Bedfordshire and dropped my mother off at Cathy's, my other sister's place. Then we headed off again, further south to Dorset to Trisha's place. I had a lovely time knitting, cooking and eating and watching the Morris Dancing competition in the local shopping centre. I thought I had loaded a picture but my blogging skills, which were never very good are a bit rusty.

A few days later I headed north to my brother's place, where we were all gathering to celebrate the 18th birthday of my niece Jenny. She had already received a pair of socks so I measured up my nephew, Martyn's long feet and set-to with the grey opal striping wool, to produce a foot-long-foot pair for him too. I also knitted the green ones with the Lana Grossa that I got from Tabbydashery. I think they will be mine.
My brother John has an allotment and so I came home with potatoes and salad from him (leek and potato soup) and blackcurrants from his allotment neighbour (blackcurrant and apple jelly). Apparently the wet summer has been a particular disaster for allotment tomatoes. The "blight" has got to all of the ones in John's area.

Trisha lives in Christchurch in Dorset where they are lucky enough to have a "Wool Shop". A delightful, tiny, overfilled and heavenly refuge on the main shopping street. I had just bought a couple of balls of the Town and Country sock wool and was about to turn away from the counter and leave when I noticed the colours of the Rowan Tapestry arranged temptingly on the shelf behind.
I dont need it. I dont know what I can possibly knit with two balls (NO, no thankyou! Please don't sugggest a scarf). Maybe I shall just get it out now and then and admire it. I think that single-plyed wool always looks better in the skein or ball than actually knitted up anyway. This particular colour combo reminds me of opals. A beautiful stone with sad legends attached.

After 750 miles of driving I arrived home late on Wednesday. On Thursday I decided that the spinning wheel glue had had enough time to set. The wheel held well and the conrod clip had arrived from Haldanes (wonderful Haldanes, prompt, polite, honest and so helpful) so the wheel turns without wobbling. However, as soon as I put pressure on the maiden bar it split. I got the glue and clamps and put it together again. While I waited I started on the fleece that had arrived. It is a very long-stapled, Teeswater fleece and needed combing rather than carding. I did a big boxful with a dog comb. The next morning was the moment of truth and I was much more careful in handling the maiden bar. I had drilled two new holes in the wheel support because one of the original screws had sheared off and I bought new screws and drill bits. It wasn't a breeze but I got it all together.
A year ago I would have left it all to Robert to fix in his workshop. He had put a lot of effort into teaching me how to use all the tools I would need so the least I could do was have a go. It was six months ago he died so I did a bit of crying and quite some swearing but in the end I had a wheel that worked.

And I made this.

It's meant to produce a lustrous yarn and mine is under-spun and under-plyed so it has come out too fluffy. At first I criticised the wheel for being wobbly but eventually it seemed to lose its wobble so I realised that it was me who was wobbly. I'm on the next two bobbins already. Of course they have extra spin and will be more tightly plyed, but these two small balls are more precious to me than the Rowan Tapestry. They signify that I have come a long way in a short time. Perhaps it's time to slow down a bit for a while now and just spin on a bit.
Love to all of you who have been so patiently reading my blog for the last eight months. The next eight will be better reading
Cheers Gillian

Some Fixed Some Broken

2007-07-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

I bought something called "Serious Glue" and borrowed some enormous clamps from the man at the hardware store and glued the hub of the wheel together and it seems to have stayed. So then I glued the Maiden bar together and screwed it back on. One of the screws had sheared off so it's only held on by the skin of its teeth . I'm now awaiting a conrod screw and a tension spring from Haldanes and I have a complete wheel. I have yet to get some fleece to spin and as I'm off on holiday for a week I shall leave the wheel so that the glue has plenty of time to set.

However, I dont think that the "Serious Glue" will do much for the next item. Another ebay purchase, broken in the post. I was so looking forward to this piece of lustre ware and had just the spot for it. Perhaps I should stick to the local secondhand shops. There are so many around here.

I had some left over wool so...

I knitted a pair of fingerless mittens for a friend of Mum's who has been ill and lost a lot of weight so that even in the warmer weather his hands get cold. I hope these will do the trick.

And to keep myself occupied I have got busy onn More socks. These ones are for my SIL who I shall visit next week and while I'm away visiting all the siblings I have selected another couple of balls of self-striping sock wool to accompany me on the tour.

Ipersonally want the green ones for myself, but I haven't kept a pair yet so we'll see who's around as they get finished off.
Cheers to all, Gillian

2007-06-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

I made it!!!
It got a bit boring now and then but once you've started, it's so easy that you can do it without needing to count or measure. I soon learned to recognise whether I was on an increase row or a follow-up by the shape of the stitch at the increase places. I made a few mistakes which show to the experienced eye but I hope they do not detract too much. Anyway I only discovered them when it was too late to turn back.
I bougt a 100cm addi turbo circular from Kangaroo, thinking it would do the job but, I ended up spending so much time squeezing the knitting around the needle that I trawled the net for a longer one. I ended up with a 200cm addi turbo from www.kcgtrading.com ( Knitting and Crochet Guild).
I have spent decades knitting without addi turbos. Why did I take so long to discover them? What am I going to do with all the shoddier needles that I own?

The pattern for the blanket was illustrated with a load of tiny pompoms sewn around the edge but I couldn't face making the necessary hundreds so I cast off using a "frilled cast off" method from Montse Stanley's book. I find "The Knitters Handbook "is a worthwhile investment. I learned to knit before I went to school and once I could read I taught myself to follow patterns but I never learned all those little tricks and finishes. This book has all of them.
I surfed the net for that illusive equation that allows you to leave just enough yarn to cast off with. Eventually I came to the conclusion that 4x the last row is good enough so I doubled it for the frilled cast off and then added a bit more. I ended up with a tail of less than three metres which wasn't bad seeing as I started with a ball of 200gm of 4ply baby wool which could have been well over half a mile in length.

I've done a close up of the finish here. It blocked out really well and drapes beautifully. The baby is due in August in Australia so I shall have plenty of time to pack it up in tissue and send it off.
I'm waiting for an insurance assessor to come next Thursday and check out the broken spinning wheel and the packaging it came in. Once they have been I can see whether I can do anything to fix it at all. I'm not too good with tools but I'll have a go. One of the things I have to do is remove the hub pin so that I can get the wheel off to see if it can be re-glued in any way.
Any advice would be most welcome.

Cheers to all Gillian

Got Rid of the Blues

2007-06-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

I have a penchant for 4ply. I like the less bulky. So, I bought some lovely, light blue 4ply cotton to knit a summer top.
That was six weeks ago and in the mean time the cotton has been the makings of three jumpers. I have not liked any of them. It has not knitted up smoothly and I think that I need to consider a smaller needle than that recommended but I certainly don't want to do that now. I have now decided to "bag" it all away and find it again one or two years later in the eternal stash.
Even the needles have gone away with it because not only do I have a pair of needles in grey metal, faux tortoiseshell and anodised in every size needed, my mother has the same again and tried for the third time to give me her collection three days ago.
but I needed something new to knit so..... Sue and Isabelle gave me Bloke the bear and he certainly agrees with the new project..
It was a bit tricky getting started with three needles and five stitches! After three goes I cheated and cast on on a straight needle and knitted it until I had ten stitches and then placed them into 3/3/4/. New row hits in when the four pattern section comes up. After a while there were enough stitches to fit onto a circular needle. I am still pulling all the stitches to the start and then joining them to the finish of the last row with a loop in the needle but the circular is now filling up and the routine of the pattern is easy once it has been established.
I think I probably twisted one of the original needles and so the pattern at the centre is not as daisified as it is meant to be but I'm happy with it so I will knit on.

I shal be taking my mother's friends to the hospital tomorrow because some serious tests need doing so I will be glad to have this baby-banket with me.

Cheers for now Gillian

Lovely People

2007-05-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely time last Friday when I went to my first ever Knit and Knatter session in Bishop Auckland a few mile away. Now I know why they are so popular the world over. All the people there were so lovely and friendly and were busy making such a broad range of articles and "knattering" all the time.
I am looking forward to more. There was also interest in spinning and dyeing and I am hoping to start up these hobbies again soon.
I bought an Ashford spinning wheel off ebay and picked it up from the post office this morning.
Unfortunately the flight has sheared off and the part under the hinge has broken in two. This was because the part had not been stabilised before transit and had been pushed around almost parallel to the main frame.The hub off the wheel has also split in half on a vertical plane and this has loosened all the spokes. The wheel wobbles dreadfully and has lost all its stability. I dont know whether anything can be done to repair these problems and have spent much of the rest of the day in a very weepy state. If Robert was here he would have been able to fix it but I only have some of his tools and don't know how to use many of them. The split hub looks like it has been like that for a while.
Anyway, I am in contact with the seller and will see what can be resolved. I can see it being a matter of blaming parcel force and fear that I shall be left with an expensive ornament.
I so badly wanted to spin, I was so excited, I turned down two others. Now I don't even feel like knitting and still have that sock to finish

Things will be better in the morning, I'm sure

Cheers Gillian

Good Things come in Pairs

2007-05-09T12:04:00.000-07:00

I bought this lovely wool at the woolshop in Christchurch in Dorset near to where my sister lives (in Mudeford). It stripes up beautifully and the colours are quite striking. the label says "Sirdar, Town and Country". It is described as 'wool-rich' which in England, means about 75% wool and the rest acrylic/nylon to help with the wear and tear on the heels and toes. It takes a bit of wastage to get the second ball to the same starting stage, so that the stripes match.
I have been saving all the left over sock bits to put together to make a hairy-rary Joseph coat one day.

These socks are being knitted with some 4ply baby wool from Australia so they won't last long because they are too soft and will be easily worn out. My aunt was thrilled to receive them yesterday as I sewed in the last thread of yarn. She says she will wear them around the house as "comfort socks"
I managed to get the pooling to match in both socks, although it's so colourful, it's hard to notice.
I can't wait to get dyeing again and create my own colour combos.

Very hard to see, but here is the last of the pairs.
This paddock contains two Shetland pony mares, both of which have had a foal in the last ten days.
The youngest one is standing in the middle of the field and the older one is lying down on the left, next to Mum. I'm keeping an eye on them. They are just over the bridge and can only be seen if you walk by because the wall on the bridge is too high so that cars and their passengers miss out!
If they come closer to the fence I'll get a better pic. Or I suppose could buy a better camera.

Cheers for now Gillian

New lambs...New life

2007-05-06T11:37:00.000-07:00

I have spent the last week settling into a flat in Wolsingham in Weardale. The view from my sitting room window shows the old market place which is now a car park for the town centre. The farmland and moors are in the background. There are delightful flocks of black-faced sheep with lambs all around at the moment. Some white, many patchy and some truly black. It makes me yearn for a spinning wheel again. I'm combing ebay already and will put a notice in the window of the local hardware shop which seems to be the spot for personal ads.
It is a very pretty town and although it is small it has an amazing array of services with everything from a butcher and a post office through to a Doctor and three pubs. The weather has been wonderful since I moved in and although the English are as concerned about global warming as anyone else, I think they are quietly pleased at what they see as an improvement to their climate.

This picture shows the road into town from a place called Tow Law which is one of the highest towns in England. Most of the buildings are built from the locally quarried stone and I am hoping to be able to buy one of the traditional cottages when my house in Australia sells. Everything is very much more expensive in England but I shall just have to live with it and must give up mentally translating all the pounds into dollars when I shop. It is too distressing.

The last shipment of my stuff from Australia is due to arrive on Thursday and it includes the pots and pans and plates ad glasses as well as many other necessities. I haven't cooked much yet and have managed with one plate, one bowl and a saute pan. Luckily I live above a cafe and next door to the bakery.
I got broadband on a couple of days ago and that has created serious inroads into my sock knitting time. I have done some ebay browsing and general googling to see what's on arond the place. Is there anyone nearby who loves to knit and spin? I hope to do some dyeing again too.

The batteries in the camera ran out so when I get some more I shall take pics of the sheep and lots of other nature marvels. I have started a collection of pressed wild flowers because there were so many I could not identify as I walked along the river bank the other evening.

I hope you are all well and events are keeping you busy and happy. Looking forward to hearing from you all.
Cheers Gillian

ps there is a lovely site on Wolsingham at http://www.wolsingham.net

Wolsingham

2007-05-03T06:12:00.000-07:00

I have found a lovely flat to live in. It is in the old Market Place in the small town of Wolsingham in the Durham Dales. The town is surrounded by steep hills, sheep with lambs and moors covered in heather. I should be able to get my own internet connected tomorrow and will be able to spend some time indulging in all your blogs and posting pics and more news.
Love to all for now Gillian

Enough Socks for a While

2007-03-28T02:34:00.000-07:00

I am sitting in the public library in Durham with my laptop plugged in to their power supply and my wireless stick picking up their internet access. It is warm and friendly and there is no time limit to use of the space so I shall be back.
It is only a very short walk from a flat which a friend of my mother's is letting me have for a very low rent. It is furnished and has one bedroom and is very comfortable. I am praying daily, though, that my house will sell soon in Australia so that I can get a place of my own here and have some of my own things around me. I feel very much "in limbo" still.
I'm hoping that blogging will help me to feel that I'm getting back to normal. Thankyou all for your kind thoughts and comments. I shall try to do a little news every now and then and let you know how I settle in.
I have knitted six and a half pairs of socks and am having a break by knitting a cotton top for myself.
Cheerio for now Gillian

Sad and Bad News

2007-01-11T10:12:00.000-08:00

I had news from Australia this morning that Robert has died from a brain aneurism. I am returning to Australia tomorrow with my sister to see to the funeral and sell off the house before I return to England.
I'm totally stunned and can hardly believe it. I shall be offline for a considerable time.
Gillian

Polly the Cat

2007-01-10T03:42:00.000-08:00

This is little, fluffy Polly, my sister's cat. The red felt mat was under the christmas tree and she loved sleeping on it, under the branches. When the tree was removed we folded up the cloth into a basket and put it where the tree had been and she has lived there happily ever since. She is a feather weight in comparison with fat Kittykate and is fairly disdainful of humans but it is lovely to have a cat around.

I'm about to start my fifth pair of socks and have knitted myself a woolly hat, so I have been busy with the needles. There is a treasure cave of a wool shop in the town of Christchurch near to where my sister lives and I shall have to make one more visit this week.

I am moving north to stay with my mother this weekend and I have appointments with the Housing Panel to see if I can be put on the list for accommodation. Wonderful and kind as my family are, I am looking forward to having a home of my own.

Cheers and Happy New year to all, Gillian

A Spell in Dorset

2006-12-27T05:15:00.000-08:00

I'm now safely at my sister's and have enjoyed a great xmas. I have access to a computer but at the moment I still don't feel like doing much blogging. I hope to get a council flat in Durham near my mother and when I have settled in I will be able to do what I want when I want. I'm looking forward to that very much. My family have all been wonderful but I can't wait to be able to make all my own decisions, eat what I want when I want and go out when I like. Most of all, I will be able to have visitors and friends. These are all things that have been difficult with a possessive and drunk husband.
I haven't heard anything about him or from him since I left Australia and am torn between needing to know he's alright and not wanting to contact him in case I get another barrage of verbal abuse. Time, distance and family are all helping me and I just hope someone is helping him as much.
Cheers for now Gillian

Moving On

2006-12-02T20:09:00.000-08:00

It's been the worst three weeks of my life but I am now at a friend's place awaiting a flight to England next Saturday. Alcohol is to blame. I've tried my best for years but can't cope with the alcoholic rages any more so now he must try to get sober without me.
Thankyou all for your support and messages.
I'll be staying with my sister in Dorset while I work out what to do next. I'll keep in touch from there.
Cheers Gillian

See You Later

2006-11-09T16:15:00.000-08:00

I have just made an appointment to see a solicitor about property division. Apparently divorce is really easy and cheap but property is a different issue. I must make myself cast on some stitches so that I can make something while I grieve.
Gillian

Red Skies At Night!

2006-11-07T02:20:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately the red skies are in the morning therefore they are Shepherd's warning. And they were appropriately coloured. i took the photo at about 6am from Mum's window in Durham.
I have been back for a day or so now and I'm getting ready to sleep.
One of the outings I really enjoyed was to a pub in Bedfordshire called the Black Horse. My mother, sister and I ordered the "Assiette" with three spoons for dessert. The creme brulee was decorated with, what I have later found out to be, a Physalis or Cape Gooseberry.

I was reluctant to taste it because it looked like a decoration with its papery leaves drawn back. It did, however, taste really lovely. A cross between a citrus /apricot flavour and a texture similar to a hard gooseberry/cherry. I thought I had a picure to go with this but it seems to have disappeared.
Tomorrow I shall post news of the knitting and particularly the tea cosy.
Cheers to all
Gillian

Off Again and Knitting-To-Go-With

2006-10-13T19:34:00.000-07:00

Karen from next door brought around a large bag of grapefruits from someone-down-the-road's girlfriend's tree. Karen returned home with a large bag of greens, quite a few loquat clusters and a bunch of parsley and I got some of the best tasting grapefuits ever.

I started by sizing them and then washed and used the smaller-sized collection on the right for juicing, zesting and rind cutting. That all went in the freezer for later marmalade cook-ups. The blood orange and red grapefruit marmalade with ginger sold really well at the market this week and the four fruits with cointreau was popular too.
I ate two of the large ones, cut up and sprinkled with dark brown sugar and I juiced and drank the last of them. Well actually, I still have one large one left but that is because I have two breakfasts to go before I leave to visit my Mum and family in England again.

Yes, I'm off again!

I have had quite a few comments about the frequency of my trips but although we are not well off I can afford to go, because I haven't got a car, I don't need to pay accommodation, I don't buy a lot of clothes and I'm a frugal shopper. I'm also lucky that Robert is happy to stay home and look after the cat and the garden and himself for three weeks, while I go and look after my Mum and sister Cathy, who has MS. I rent a car and we go places with her collapsible, motorised scooter in the boot. She has promised me that this time we shall go for lunch in Ireland!!!

OK, it's the name of a village not far from where she lives in Bedfordshire, and the beautiful old pub in the village does a top lunch menu. She also likes to do a shopping centre or two because her husband gets a bit sick of shops. Does she sound like she has a rare husband?
My other sister and brother and their families always manage to get to Cathy's for a big get together while I'm there and I shop, cook and put on a spread for 14 people.

Robert and I go to the airport on the shuttle-bus. It's so easy and stress free. Now we have had our pavements re-surfaced we should be able to drag the case a bit more quietly than with the old wonky pavers creating a terrible noise. It's only about 500m to the pick-up point at the roundabout. He makes sure I have got rid of my luggage at the check-in and then we have a drink and he tootles home on the shuttle bus again.

Of course, I have a problem with what to do on the flight. This time I daren't even take the knitting nancy that makes mindless metres of I-cord. It needs a POINTY thing to lift the wraps over. So, I treated myself to a couple of magazines on antiques and collectables to browse through and I have a crossword book to finish off from last time. My new knitting magazine arrived from England this week but I read it without thinking!!!!!

But..... what to pack in the case!
I find yarn is much more expensive in the UK so, although I might treat myself when I'm there, it will only be a ball or two, so I take projects with me. When I am sans-computer I knit a lot more. So I shall take...

1) The domino teacosy to finish and tart up a bit. I shall use the green to finish off the top and the lining with some stripes of the other colours. Shall I add mini pompoms to the lifting edge? And do you think the green is a bit dull or shoud I use a brighter or weirder colour finish?

2) I shall also take the black wrap, knitted with an old angora wool mix called Fuzzy Wuzzy. It is 4ply but it still doesn't look as lacey as the pattern, which uses Rowan Silk Haze. It's a two row pattern from the "Exquisite Little Knits" book and I'm doing it on 5.5mm anodised needles, because the old yarn has gone a bit slubby and breaks more easily than I would like, so I need nice slippery needles.

3) And of course there has to be a pair of socks on board. I've got the plain pattern with me but so many people have mentioned the Jaywalkers that I thought I'd take the pattern and have a go at them with the Miami yarn from Bendigo. I have all the necessaries in the transparent plastic zip-up pencil case and all of the above will be packed into the case awaiting my itchy fingers to unpack them at the other end.

I have not made any progress with the green cardi because the domino knitting has been such fun and also, I wanted to establish the black wrap on a needle size which would suit the pattern and I have got to my third, large swatch and am, at last happy with the 5.5mm and so will pack those needles and the wool.
The cardi will get in the case if there is room, but I'm itching to do a piece of ready patterned cross stitch and they do such beauties in England that I might just get one of those if I finish my other three knitting projects. Yes in fact that's a good idea. I shall leave the cardi at home.

Washing and last bits of ironing are being done now and packing will be done tomorrow. Lots of garden watering too.

Keep well all of you and I'll be back on line soon after the 6th November and anxious to read about how you have all been doing. This blogging gets to feel like part of the family routine after a while and I'm loving it.
Cheers Gillian

A Change is as Good as a Rest

2006-10-05T14:32:00.000-07:00

I swatched the lacy pattern for the cardi in the picture two posts ago, with some Bendigo cotton 8ply. The swatch bore no resemblence to the size indicated on the pattern. This may have been because the pattern required mercerised cotton or it may have been cos my bamboo needles seem to have swollen with age and use.
Anyway I thought "let's not bugger around anymore". I searched my patterns and came up with this one. OK, so maybe I still want to be blond and slim but I have always liked a jacket-style cardi, with a collar. Also it designated a non-mercerised yarn and my swatch was within my accepted guidelines of a stitch each way.

So here it is in progress. i have done the back and the left front and picked up the band from the bottom and knitted up and around the collar to the halfway point at the back. It's going quite well but it's one of those patterns that expects you to undertake three steps at once every2nd, 3rd and 4th row to get the tailored shaping at the collar rever.

I drew up a chart and scratched it off as I went and so I will have to do the same for the other side too. At least the sleeves should be a cinch.

To keep myself sane, I have started the teacosy in the recent interweave news letter here .
I'm using some 5ply Bluebell and Heirloom crepe. I have done two diamonds and am enjoying the challenge of it. I hope it turns out as cute as the one in the pattern.
Cheers to all
Gillian

Luscious Loquats

2006-09-28T16:54:00.000-07:00

Robert cuts down bunches of loquats from the tree every few days while they are ripening. The ones at the top are left for the birds...crimson rosellas, yellow winged honey eaters, blackbirds and wattle birds mostly. A bucketful will make about 5x250 ml jars of jelly.

The larger yellow loquats are about three cm long. I try to use a mixture of ripe and half ripe ones so that the jelly sets well. The fruits can be eaten raw when they are yellow but are small and fiddly. That's also why I make jelly and not jam. For jam I would have to peel the darned things.
Inside are some large brown pips which we push out with our thumbs and because the flesh goes brown quickly they get put straight into a saucepan of water. When they are all done I make sure that the water just covers them and then I put it all on to cook for about half an hour , till they are mushy.

I strain them through this amazing gadget that I bought on ebay a couple of years ago.
I line it with a clean cloth and leave the juice and pulp to drip through it overnight.
The juice is saved and the pulp is chucked into the compost.
This gadget was made in America and is part of my growing collection of Kitchenalia. It's lovely to have something collectable and usable too. I use it for the crab apple jelly as well.

For every cup of juice I add a cup of white sugar, and to the 5 or 6 cups of juice that I get from each bucket of loquats, I add the juice of two lemons, a tablespoon of rosewater and 2 drops of cochineal. Any more cochineal would make it look luridly coloured. The two drops is just enough to give it a blush.

I boil it all till it reaches setting point. I test this with a thermometer and when it gets to 104 degrees C I start to chill bits on a saucer in the fridge. If you push your finger through a cold sample it should wrinkle up as if a skin is forming on top. This means it should jell if bottled and left well alone till it is cold.

It is too sweet for my own taste but it's delightfully delicate and perfumed and so very pretty.

Please can reader/s let me know what they think it might be best used for. Putting it on breakfast toast is an obvious one but I think it deserves more and I would love to be able to make some daring suggestions to the people who come to my jam stall and show an interest in it.

More on cardis next post!

Cheers Gillian

Cardi Capers

2006-09-22T23:25:00.000-07:00

What is it, that pommies have about cardigans? Rhetorical question, because I'm about to theorise at length.

1 We have been brought up to believe that the ever changing weather can best be accommodated for by carrying and if necessary, donning a cardigan. (and carrying a brolly and wearing a vest.)

2 Lord Cardigan, who invented them by turning a jumper into a cardigan by adding buttons down the front, was a time and motion expert and it has since been acknowledged that a cardi is easier to put on than a jumper. (He didn't call his invention ...THE CARDI...someone else did that.)

3 You would think that knitting one to fit would be easy-peasy because you can adjust to fit at so many stages. (and I do!)

4 A well fitting one is a pleasure to wear. It hangs at the right length. It covers other mismatches of clothes and body-figures and it mixes and matches with most of your other things AND it can be taken on and off in flash without losing your ear-rings.

5 You can move to the antipodes and live nearby in Melbourne and still need a cardi because of the 'weather patterns' (Melbourne is famous for having four seasons in one day). So you can accumulate a wardrobe of eight cardis and still believe you need another.
e.g.
It is a lovely cardi and I have finished it. It has sewn together well. Often garter stitch is a bit stretchy and doesn't hang or drape but this one is fine. It does up nicely as designated by the pattern book (Paton's 1250 Jet). I made it out of Bendigo Rustic and managed in the end to complete it with 5x200 gm balls of the 12 ply.
I had at the end some scraps for a bird's nest which I put out for the blackbirds and a small ball of 5 metres. I was so thrilled at my achievement.

But then I put it on.

I am the wrong shape for this kind of cardi. I am uncomfortable with my bulginess. I have put on 10 kilos since the chemo and am still not used to the shape I have become in the last couple of years. I shall have to be more realistic and less trendy-seeking.
I shall hang the cardi on my stall and maybe someone else will be delighted with it. I tried to take a photo to prove it but the flash blanched the image in the mirror. I showed Robert. He agreed with me. He gently asked me how disappointed I was and I said not as much as I could have been because I now know, not to knit bulky cardis in 12ply for myself and to get out and do some more exercise.

But I wonder how much I have really learned. My next major project is a CARDI. I got the pattern out of the English Women's Weekly a couple of years ago and will use some bargain Bendigo 8 ply cotton.
This one is long to start with so I don't have to do any messing about with the sizes. It does up with buttons, partially down to the bottom and I usually leave the bottom buttons undone anyway. It's a four row lacy pattern and easy to memorise and repeat and I have the 8 ply cotton in my stash.

I'm just off to knit a swatch. Not because I think the cardi will fit any better if I do, but because it will be easier to fiddle with if I know how it knits up. It came in skeins and I wound it into balls this afternoon while the "Spicy Tomato Relish" cooked.

Cheers Gillian

Frightful Frogging

2006-09-16T18:52:00.000-07:00

I haven't done much knitting at all this week. I ran out of dark green wool far too soon even though I knitted as fast as I could. So then I left it for the fairies to come and fix at night but that didn't work either. By the end of the week I had myself believing that the band was only a few centimetres short but this morning I laid it out and the truth was there in front of me. NOT ENOUGH WOOL TO FINISH THE BAND AND TWO SLEEVES WHICH WERE FAR TOO LONG.
The obvious solution is to frog the sleeves to a couple of inches below the oxter (armpit) and reknit to fit the armhole better. This should leave enough wool to finish the band!!!

As you can see from the pattern, the sleeves are a bit long and I dont like my sleeves to end below my wrist bone, so this should be a fine finish.

I still haven't picked up the stitches and started again. The weather is lovely, though, so after lunch I might sit on the verandah and do the pick up stuff.
I only seem to have one pair of 51/2 mm needles out of the millions that I own. Okay, that's a slight exaggeration. I need another pair. So maybe I can justify procrastination until the LYS opens at 10am tomorrow morning. No thanks Sue! Please don"t pop over with a pair. I want an excuse to delay.
I always have trouble with garments fitting. It's my own fault because I fiddle around with different yarns and needles and even though my tension swatches measure up , my garments dont. So I suffer from fear of completion. I will never look like the picture on the pattern so I think I have got it wrong.
Cheers for now Gillian

Five Foods To Eat Before You Die MEME

2006-09-08T20:14:00.000-07:00

I was sent this MEME by Melissa from Tummy Rumbles this morning and I'm on to it straight away because I couldn't wait. I've been wanting someone to ask me for my favourite foods/tastes for so long that I had them ready. I have many more than this list but because it's FIVE, I have put them into my own food group classification.

FISH...I can still taste the "Halibut with Prawn Sauce" from a little pub in Hull U.K. in 1974 and the "Steamed Sea Bass with Thyme" home cooked at my sister's place in1984. But unfortunately both these species are now seriously endangered and so if I want you to eat something before you die, and not endanger them further, please buy some MUSSELS from the Mussel Shop in Port Arlington on the Bellarine Peninsula. The season has started and the little beauties can be bought for $4 a kilo. I have eaten many mussels but these have been the best in Oz.

MEAT...I love roast chicken and minced beef in particular but my most memorable taste was something called "Bokkie". This was a goat steak about the size of a small schnitzel. It had been barbecued over wood embers and we ate it under starlight in a prospectors camp in Namibia. I dont know how you can replay this one but you could try a BBQ outside one warm evening soon. Goat meat can be bought around Melbourne. As far as I can remember, it was quite crusty and brown on the outside and only just cooked through and I have absolutely no idea what bit of goat it was.

VEGETABLES...By now you will have noticed my colour co-ordination!
There is only one answer for this section. JERSEY ROYAL NEW POTATOES. These are worth a trip to U.K. for, in their spring. The first ones come in by air from the Island of Jersey in the British Channel ( Le Manche, si vous est Francais). They cost a fortune and are worth every penny. They can only be eaten washed/scrubbed, boiled and then with butter and a light sprinkling of a non invasive herb such as chervil or young parsley.

DAIRY/EGGS...I've often wondered what I could live without most easily. I'll go for a combination cooked by myself as the easiest, tastiest and most delicious quick meal and that way I wont have to give up anything. A MELTING CHEESE OMELETTE MADE WITH FREE RANGE EGGS AND CHEESE SUCH AS MILAWA GOLD, IN A PAN WITH LOTS OF BUTTER.

SWEET...The most memorable sweet taste I have ever had was a HONEYDEW MELON that lived up to its name in 1996. I had to go and wake up someone else to come and taste it for breakfast, because I wanted to make sure I wasn't imagining it. This is probably the most difficult taste to replicate. So many melons, cantaloupes etc taste so BOOOOORING these days I have almost given up buying them. Hey and what does Banana taste like ? Now I know what those children felt like when they got their first ever bananas in England after WW2. My mother used to buy them and cut them into slices about the size of a lolly and we got a couple each.

I shall now send this on to five more "happy" recipients. I dont think there are any rules about the number five so if you are not on this list and want to be please let me know. I suppose you can also claim to hate food and renege.

Taphophile at Unravelled
Beverley at yarNZ4knitters
Becky at Moonlight Frogger
Sue at Knitter Sue
Dot at Twisted Stitches

Cheers for now Gillian

More Marmalade

2006-09-08T18:08:00.000-07:00

This batch is Blood Oranges, Red Grapefruit and Ginger. I was going to do Mellie's recipe on Tummy Rumbles but I fancied adding some ginger so I tracked down this one from the internet.
I must admit I'm not a ginger fan because of having been forced to eat preserved ginger with my semolina pudding when I was five. The nuns who fed us our school lunches were tough and even at that age I was not allowed to go out to play until I had cleaned my plate and considered all the poor starving children in the world. Of course I would have been only too glad to share my plate with them. I was watched by my sister, through the window. She had a bad heart and was not bullied so much by the nuns and indeed, she had been allowed to leave her ginger. I loved her dearly but it was such an unfair thing for the nuns to do.

Quite a few people at the market, have asked me if I have ginger in my jams. So I decided to have a go and make something to suit other peoples' tastes and not just my own.

RECIPE

600 gm Blood Oranges
600gm Red Grapefruit with most of the pith cut off but using the flesh and hard peel
50 gm grated Ginger
125 gm Crystallised Ginger
1600 gm Sugar
3 litres water

The oranges and grapefruit were de-seeded and blitzed in a food processor. (I've never done this before, usually I hand cut all the peel, but I decided to follow the recipe for a change). They were put in a pan with all the other stuff except the crystallised ginger and boiled for about an hour.

When it reached 103+ degrees I started testing in on a cold saucer but it took another 15 minutes before it wrinkled when I pushed my finger through it.

I cooled it for a bit, then added the crystallised ginger and then bottled it.

As you can see here, it is quite a reddish colour and looks a bit like broken mozaic. It made just over 9x250 ml jars.

And it tastes divine. Robert and I both had some on toast and the ginger was just right. In fact it was so good that I shall add ginger to more things now. I have some rhubarb growing in the garden and apparently that goes well with ginger too.

On the knitting front, I have completed the main cardi pieces and am now doing the lacy band. It will be a close finish. I have to force myself to do a pattern block at a time because I've now got the worries. If it's not finished then it still might be alright!!!

Cheers Gillian

B.O.M. Site

2006-09-07T23:34:00.000-07:00

If you live in Victoria, Oz then the site I shall link you to here will provide you with a moving radar screen of the rain...if there is any!
I haven't fiddled around for the rest of Oz but it is sure to be there if you live elsewhere.
I post this because it has been raining off and on for the last three days and it is wonderful to be able to see it moving across the screen. Such badly needed and much loved rain.
Cheers Gillian

Trips Away!

2006-09-07T04:24:00.000-07:00

Okay. This picture was taken last May when I was in England to check up on the health of my mother(left) and we went out to lunch with her sister and husband.
I show you this because I have no pictures of my last excursion but I shall tell you about it anyway.

Robert and I decided that we needed a bit of a day-away. So I put my hand up for Warracknabeal and he put his hand up for Halls Gap. We managed both.
We set off on Tuesday morning at 8.30am and drove to Ballarat and then north to the Mallee towns of Donald and Warracknabeal. I say this bravely but wondering in fact where the Mallee finishes and the Wimmera starts.
I had seen in a book of "Women's Arts of the 19th and 20th Centuries" that the items in the photos were held in a museum in Warracknabeal. It was wonderful. Marg from the Historical Society opened up for us and gave us an hour of delight. This museum is only open in the afternoon from 2 till 4pm by volunteers but it must be the best museum of its kind that I have encountered. It is housed in the old State Bank and has a wealth of collectables and some very valuable pieces. It is nearly four hours from Melbourne but is a must if you are ever going anywhere within a 100km.
There is also the best second hand shop in Warracknabeal that I have come across for ages. Much cheaper than the city stuff and generally good stuff. Everything from old kitchen whisks to old wooden ladders and lots of books and videos and old furniture.
We ate at the Palace Hotel and then travelled south through Horsham and pulled in at the Best Western in Halls Gap, just past town on the western side. we had done about 400+ km and the last 50 were windy and a sheer drop on the passenger side. Not the sort of road that you want to keep checking the drop from.
We went for a short walk before dinner to check out the shops etc and on our return were just ahead of a mob (family) of kangaroos. Typically, the two young adults bounded across the road but the young one and Mum stopped in the middle of the road to check traffic, the joey popped its head out for a look too. They all made it safely across.
The next morning we ate our breakfast in the cafe which looks across the lake and paddock to the area where about 40 kangaroos were grazing their breakfast.

No pics. I wouldn't have done justice to any of it with my minipixel kodak.

We drove home in the rain all the way but were so thrilled to see water. The previous day we had watched many square km of newly planted wheat looking very stunted because of the lack of rain. We raced home to make sure that we were getting some of it in our own back yard. Lovely wet stuff.

Kitty welcomed us and yes it had been raining quite a lot and is still drizzling even now.
I made some more marmalade today which I shall post about tomorrow. No knitting!!!
Cheers Gillian

To Market, To Market and How to Get There

2006-09-03T20:22:00.000-07:00

It has always been a dream of mine to have a market stall. Probably because I love going to markets so much myself. They seem to promise all sorts of untapped treasures. When we moved to Bacchus Marsh I was thrilled to find out that there were three markets...Darley Market, outdoors every first and third Saturday of the month. Art and Craft Indoor Market, every second Thursday of the month and a Farmers Market. The last one has since closed down but the other two continue strongly.
In order to set myself up I had to
* Get my kitchen renovated and registered by the local council
* Get myself trained in safe food handling techniques.
* Buy equipment such as digital thermometers, jam jars and lids and pans
* Work out how to label everything.

As you can see above I have three basic labels. I hand-write the ones with the red umbrella on them and they give the name of the product, its batch number(in case of recall) and its best before date.
Then on the Food Standards site here I put in the ingredients and print out a food nutrition label. I work out the % ingredients and type that up and cut and paste a label with it all on.
And I have a reel of printed address labels to show the location of manufacture.

First of all I stick on the product label. Then I stick on the address label.
Then I fold up the nutrition/contents label and secure it to the top of the jar with a circle of red cellophane and an elastic band.

To do all this forabout 30 jars, takes a couple of hours, but it is relaxing and it pleases me to see the completed product, totally hand/home made.

Back to knitting! I am halfway up the second sleeve on the "jet" cardigan which I am knitting with Bendigo 12ply Rustic. I have my heart in my mouth because I'm just about to attach the last ball(200gm) and I have all the lace edging to do too. For those of you with the book, it is pattern 1 and as you can see the lace edging takes up quite a bit of yarn. The trouble is you cant shorten the edging like you could the sleeves in order to compensate for lack of yarn and I have already had an emergency call to Bendigo and there is no more in this dyelot. I shall knit on bravely and faster in the hope that I can reach the end before it runs out!!!

Cheers Gillian

Time for Tea

2006-09-02T20:24:00.000-07:00

We've had an exceptionally, early mild spell of weather and the garden has burst into bloom thinking that it is Spring. It isn't and today the skies are grey and the temperature has dropped about eight degrees. Real spring isn't for a month or two yet! It got warm enough to sit out on the back verandah a couple of times though.

I slammed my middle right finger between the freezer door and the sharp-edged shelf above it. Then a couple of days later I sliced a fraction too much off my left thumb while I was chopping stuff to cook. The two injuries stopped me from knitting for quite a few days because they were right where the wool goes over the finger and the thumb moves the needle. But all is well now.

Here are the makings of a tea-cosy knitted in the Daffodil pattern from here It's a very forgiving and stretchy pattern and is easy to fit to any teapot by adding or dropping a tier of flowers.
For this three-cup teapot, I'm doing three tiers in flower colours and then a reduced tier in green. I will be doing nine flowers which is a cast on of 120 stitches.

I adjust the basic pattern by varying the number of flowers or the number of tiers and then I finish off the top to suit whatever colours I have used. The pattern is written for 4 ply but in Oz that is usually baby wool and therefore "baby colours" so I got some 5 ply Paton's Bluebell and some 5 ply Heirloom in more suitable colours. It's a real plasure to knit fine wool on small guage needles and produce dainty and pretty items once in a while. This pattern grows really quickly because the number of stitches decreases rapidly during each tier of flowers and all of a sudden it's done.

I finished it off with a green calyx and stalk. I think I shall call it "Foxglove" Most of the ones I have knitted before have resembled a particular flower and have had floral names.

It is being modelled on a teapot that I hope is about the same size as the recipient and I shall post it off to friend tomorrow so that they can give it to a friend of theirs.

Now I suppose I should get back to the dark green cardigan, or the silk/wool scarf or the black fuzzy wuzzy bolero!

Cardigan it is! It has got a second sleeve started already.
Good knitting and cheers to all,
Gillian

A Spoonful of Offal Helps the Medicine Go Down

2006-08-26T23:34:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of a dessert spoon and half a pet-antibiotic-tablet. When we got Kittykate to the vet on Friday afternoon, she weighed in at 8kg. Not only is this double the weight of the average adult cat but I had just boasted to the vet that I had been very careful with her food and I thought she had lost a bit of weight! She was up 0.2kg since her last visit in February. This meant that she had to be given DOG tablets!!! The vet said half a tablet, twice a day and don't worry it's really easy. She made me hold Kitty's front paws and then whipped back her head and in the wink of an eye had popped one of these monsters down her throat. Just keep her paws down and her head back, she said. Oh yes.

The next morning , I explained the routine to Robert. He elected to do the front-paw-holding I got the mega tablet ready. I got scratched, Kitty spat out the tablet and Robert said "It's not going to be easy is it?"

Oh yes it is!

Kitty is such a "little" glutton that she doesn't mind the little pink sprinkles on her chopped liver. Here she is wolfing it down and we are now half way through the course.

We had a lovely trip to Ballarat today, on the train. We visited the upstairs of the Fine Art Gallery, having done the downstairs previously (OK, so we love culture in small and memorable doses). The Gallery has a delightful cafe and Robert returns in the hopes that they will repeat a risotto favourite that he had the first time we went. It was a savoury one with mushrooms, pumpkin and chorizo. The next time, there were no risottos on the specials board so we both had lamb's fry, greens, potato rosti and onion gravy. It is always lovely to have someone else cook your offal so that it comes to the table finished. The lambs's liver was perfection. A slight crust on the outside and still just pink but not bloody inside.

It came to mind because that is what the cat is eating and loving...lamb's liver. This time we both had fresh salmon, broad beans, lemon, fennel and herb risotto and it was a delightful combination of flavours.

There was an offal dish on the menu but I'm not so brave with sweetbreads and brains, even though this is obviously a chef who is brave and clever with offal. The Cafe adjoins the Art Gallery but can also be accessed from Federation Square. It is called Cafe Companis and info about it can be found here.

I have an order for a tea-cozy from a friend who drinks tea from teapots with others who do the same. I use the daffodil stitch pattern because it can be so easily adjusted, height and width ways. The trouble is the order is for a tea-cozy which is not as big as that but not as small as this, in a sort of maroony red colour. The pattern looks best in 4ply but most 4ply in the shops is baby-wool-colours. Not "maroony-red". I might have to do some dyeing again.

Cheers to all Gillian

Roasting Chicken in a Wood-Fired Oven

2006-08-25T03:20:00.000-07:00

One of the things I wanted really badly when we bought this 1930s weatherboard in Bacchus Marsh, was to have a woodstove/oven in the chimney in the kitchen. I managed to get a Nectre Baker's Oven and you can see it roasting a chicken for tea. The wood is burning in the top half and the chicken is roasting away in the bottom half.
There is absolutely no control that I have worked out yet. There are three heats. Hot, very hot and hell!
Kittykate has been to the Vet because of a wound on her tail which has not healed. $55.50 later we are at home with 5 tablets!
One of the things that happened way back on my birthday in May was that Robert bought me a wok, which has been great but he knew I really wanted a new OVEN GLOVE THING. So he got me the best! And then I went and got a roasting pan and now I want more of this stuff

The chicken was roasting in the smallest of the pans, with a rack inside. It was great. I must admit though, that the wood oven is small and I did the oven chips in the electric oven on one of those pizza pans with holes in the bottom. There is another oven shelf to insert in the wood oven but it's all a tight fit. You could survive quite well with it as a cooking medium, but you'd need to do a lot of planning.
More Scanpans for me as soon as I can afford them.
Cheers Gillian

Strange Strawberry Jam on the Left

2006-08-24T03:01:00.000-07:00

All of a sudden the price of strawberries fell from about $3.00 a 250gm punnett to $1.49 a punnett . This cheap bonanza was at the gloriously named fruit stall on The Avenue, on the way into Bacchus Marsh...."The Fruits of Life".
I went to inspect them and found them to be small, hard and red and, therefore, ideal for jam making. So I bought a couple of kilos. Or more.

My market stall is a bit short of jam at the moment. I have the last of the berry concoctions and I have made some "Dried Apricot" jam but I am about two months off the spring fruits and jelly fruits. I make lemon curd/butter just before each market and it "walks" off the table before lunchtime. But I needed some jars of fresh red jam.

Anyway....this week, Aldi, the price-busting supermarket, had large, soft, red ones for 99cents a 250 gm carton, and so I bought another three kilos. Well, actually Robert has got to the stage of coming back from the fruit stalls and Aldis with a few kilos here and there, so WE bought three kilos. Luckily strawberries can be prepared and frozen so I have been laying them to rest in the freezer.

I then checked my recipes and cooked up a few jars of "Whole Strawberry Jam". Then as I was surfing through a few more varieties , I came across "Strawberry, Balsamic and Black Pepper Jam" . Well I have now made 6x250 ml jars. I love it myself, and Robert, who is not a jam eater, loves it, and I shall take a couple of jars into Melbourne tomorrow where I am assisting in the preparation of the morning tea for a colleague who is retiring.
The picture above shows "Whole Strawberry Jam" on the right and the wonderful "Strawberry, Balsamic and Black Pepper Jam" on the left. Thankyou Mellie for the recipe.

You will notice that I have been able to fix up my links bar a bit, thanks to Sue who only lives about 18Km away and "popped" by today to help me. She and Isabelle were able to show me how to load all that stuff and if you all give me another week and I might be able to add more fancy bits.

Fatkitty is not as big as she seems. We just have a small TV. Well fairly small or perhaps medum sized!
Fortunately she is not big enough to affect the weather. It still looks fairly ordinary around the state

Cheers to all, Gillian

Adding A Few Things

2006-08-21T03:31:00.000-07:00

I've been at this blogging business for quite a few months now and I've got into a comfortable rut. I cook, I knit, I blog and I love reading other blogs and joining in with their events and their knitting and other things they want to talk about.
I was always a diary keeper and a pen-friend-letter writer. This is all just so much more direct and selective and I love it.
BUT I must now get real and admit that I need help to enhance my site. People have previously offered wonderful help but I haven't been able to follow the steps easily enough.
Please help me do a few things.
1) please can you let me know how to list all my favourite sites on my sidebar?
2) please can you let me know AGAIN how to put things like the time and weather on the sidebar.
There's lots more I want to know but I can't do it all at once!
If anyone is passing through Bacchus Marsh in the next couple of weeks and wants marmalade, please let me know because I have been cooking up a storm with the Sevilles and also the limes and lemons from the garden with the Cointreau.
Cheers Gillian

Marmalade and More

2006-08-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

There is a very short season for Seville Oranges in Oz and so when I spotted them at one of the local farm produce shops, I knew it was time to make some more marmalade. I'm down to half a dozen jars from last year's marathon effort so will attempt to make only about 40 jars this year.
I shall make quite a large batch of plain stuff and then a couple of smaller batches with added extras. Last time I came through Duty Free on the way back from England, Cointreau was on special and I got two 1.25 litre bottles for Aus$4o. So it's Cointreau in everything for a while!Here is Robert's hand stirring the peel which has to soften to "squishy " and then rest for 24 hours. The sugar gets added and boiled up tomorrow. The produce shop across the Avenue from the other one had Strawberries on special and they were lovely small ones. Small strawberries are so much better for jam making because you can leave them whole. So many strawberries these days are gigantic and white in the middle and so unsuitable for jam. They were selling at Aus$6 a kilo which is lovely and cheap for winter. Of course they have come down from Queensland because such fruit is not growing in Victoria yet.
I do try to use local and particularly, garden produce in order to reduce the food-miles as much as possible but at least Queensland is in the same country. The asparagus in the supermarket at the moment is from Peru!
I'll stick with the broccoli, celery and silverbeet from the garden till the local asparagus hits the markets in just a month or two.
I'm also expecting to wake up any day soon and find that the Loquats on the tree in the garden are turning yellow. Then it is a race with the birds, particularly the Rosellas to harvest them to make Loquat Jelly. The tree is very high so they get all the stuff I can't comfortably reach anyway.

Kittykate has suffered a wound to her tail, probably from Bob, the cat from next door. She is a bit of a sook and is resting up indoors, on my armchair and sharing my morning coffee with me. I think she will probably sleep with short breaks for morsels of tasty food, until it heals. At this stage it is less traumatic for her (and me!) to be spoiled at home rather than carted off to the vet in the carrybasket, which she detests.
In between the cooking and cat-nursing I have knitted one more washcloth. It will need a touch of embroidery to enhance it's features but you can see already that it is indeed an angel from here

A couple more batches of pickled onions have also been bottled so that the supply should see us through the year and provide lots of gifts for happy pickled onion lovers at xmas.

I'm off outside now to plant some sugar snap peas along the back fence. There are plenty of snow peas coming up around the archway already and then the bush beans can go in next.

Cheers to all, Gillian

Keep It Local

2006-08-13T00:03:00.000-07:00

We managed to save enough pavers for Kevin (the gardener) to lay a path with Lilydale Toppings (sharp gravel) between the slabs. I wanted it to look like stepping stones on a gravel bed and he did really well
I have been busy this week with the market and we came home from that to make some more pickled onions. People are coming back for more!
It's about time to make some seville orange marmalade too. The oranges are only available once a year. I'm on the trail of some cumquats too. Just to keep my hand in I have been adding to my "cloth" stash. I have given some away as gifts, sold a few and also tried a few new patterns.
It's really lovely to complete something so quickly. I've been using Paton's Stonewash cotton bought as a bargain on ebay and some Bendigo-back-room 8 ply. They are unmercerised so they are wonderfully absorbent, can be machine washed and are relaxing to knit.
The one on the left is a simple "basket case!" inside three rows of garter stitch all round. I used two strands of 8 ply cotton and used 4.5mm needles, mainly because I have some new anodised ones that size and I love anodised needles and I always knit one more row than the number of pattern stitches. eg If I knit 5 stitches plain then 5 stitches purl all the way across, I knit it for 6 rows before I change round because it makes it nice and square.

Yes, I think that is why it suits me, nice and square.

The second one from the left is a lovely new pattern I found called Bubble Wrap
Because I was using two strands of blue and white, I only used one white strand for the bubble and then picked up the two strands at the end of each one. With the bubbles in white and the background in the two-colours they stand out really well.

The third from the left is a simple fan and feather design and the last one is a really cute sheep pattern, done in bobbles, which I might do a bit of embroidery on to bring out the shape of the sheep. It is from the same site as the bubble wrap one...here

It's a bit SAD to find so much satisfaction in completing a cloth, but it is at least a completion and relieves the guilt feelings about the cardi and uses up some stash. And I was thinking I might get some dolly pegs and hang them all from a line like the picture in "The Knitters Stash"
Must admit I haven't come across any LINEN yarns or even blends and would love to know if there are any available locally.

I think that my efforts to reduce food-miles by cooking up all the produce in our garden and neighbourhood should reach across to yarn-miles. I'm lucky to live where so much is available so close to home.

Cheers for now Gillian

No. I didn't make it!

2006-08-08T21:11:00.000-07:00

This wonderful concoction came from the local bakery. It seemed so long since we had all had a full scale pavlova that we thoroughly enjoyed it and it was so huge that I was able to send portions home to those who missed out. We lit the eight candles for the eighth of the eighth (Robert's birthday) and all blew them out so that we could share all our germs! It was so delicious and light that many of us had seconds. I'm sure you are all very happy for us. We keep filling up the garden with new plants. The motto is "More plants less weeds"
These three pots of ferns came from Gibbons, which is a wholesale fernery near us and which seems to supply quite a large area. It was lovely wandering around the shed (about 1/4 acre) choosing from the enormous variety.

It's market tomorrow so I have just loaded the ute with the tubs of jams etc and boxes of knitting. Robert does the tables, chairs and stands for me.

We are supposed to be there from 9am till 5pm but I always get a bit bored at about 3.30 and start to pack up to come home. I think it might be the result of years of finishing at the end of the school day!

Chhers for now Gillian

P.S.

2006-08-06T01:10:00.000-07:00

I had to trim the lime tree because I could see those nasty swollen bits that the Gall Wasp leaves behind, when it buries next years eggs. So I had a few limes.
I made something I will call "Blueberry, rhubarb and lime jam with vanilla and juniper"
It's a long name to write on every label so if you have a better suggestion I would be thrilled to hear about it.
Cheers Gillian

Bits and Pieces

2006-08-05T23:03:00.000-07:00

This is what the footpath used to look like. As you can see there are a thousand cases of possible litigation resulting from a "sprained ankle" and "broken wrist" to frighten the local council into fixing things up!
The last picture was the other side of the road which will get fixed up next and this picture is our side.
A very neat job done by lovely blokes. I did rather prefer the not very neat job which was left from 50 years ago and also done by very nice blokes.

I got sick of knitting the garter stitch pattern for Jet No. 1 Cardi, so I finished the green vest that I had worries about earlier. I threw caution to the wind and used graph paper and no designated pattern.
It was basket stitch, which I love because it grows quickly and I just trusted myself to knit it to the right size with measurements against an already fitting vest.
This is 8 ply/double knitting, with the main body on 6mm and the ribs on 5mm. I cast on 100 stitches and it fits without making me look like a sack of potatoes, and I'm a big oz, size 16Back to the "jet" cardi now, or a bit of the sampler scarf or even the cushion cover from way back. Oh bugger it! think I'll start a new wash cloth.
Cheers Gillian,
ps yesterday's garage sale at a local old grand house, netted a lovely bronze bird and a J.Hassall print in a very old frame.
When did Australia move from letters and numbers to just numbers as a phone number?

Pavers and Marmalade

2006-08-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

We probably have a few too many pavers now!. The bobcat brought another twenty from the other end of the road, first thing this morning. Robert had to be down there at 7.30 to load them onto the scoop. Kevin, who does difficult and heavy things in the garden, will come round and lay them properly next week.
They have started pouring concrete already. The strange thing is they are only doing our side. They said a team of outside contractors will come and do the other side later.

I have another batch of the chutney simmering and so here is the marmalade recipe as promised. I can keyboard it in between stirring.
I use Seville oranges which are a bitter orange which can't be eaten raw. Beverley in NZ has grapefruit to use up. These could be what we call ugli in OZ. They are orange coloured and bitter like a grapefruit. They should make really good marmalade too. I use the recipe from Stephanie Alexander's book called The Cook's Companion. I have had great succes with all the recipes I have used from this book except for the marmalade one, but I persevered and by reducing the water from 1.8 litres to 0.8 litres I seem to have it licked.
Here goes...

Seville oranges or other bitter citrus fruit
Water
Salt
Sugar
*Thinly slice the fruit having removed the pips and central white membrane. These can be tied up in a muslin bag and boiled with the fruit, then they get squeezed out and thrown away. The pectin in the pips helps the stuff to set.
*For every 500gm of prepared fruit add 0.8 litres of water and 1/4 tsp of salt. Simmer until the peel is really soft and squishy...about half an hour. Leave it in a glass or ceramic bowl until the next day.
*Measure it with a measuring cup into a preserving pan or kettle. Bring it to the boil and for every cup of it, add 1 cup of sugar. Cook at a gentle boil for about 30 minutes and then start testing for setting point.
*It should set if the temperature is 105 Celsius, or if it forms a skin when a spoonful is chilled on a saucer in the fridge or both. Bottle it in jars you have heated to 18o Celsius in the oven for twenty minutes and then leave it alone until it is quite cool.

I have ruined a few by turning them upside down to see if they are setting while they are still warm and I have learned since that this destroys the set. You can reboil runny marmalade to reset it but it will go dark. Oh the lessons I have learned the hard way. I have even resorted to phoning my mum in England for help and advice on non setting preserves.

I hope this works for anyone who tries it. I add things to some of my marmalades like whisky and cointreau and use some rich brown sugar as part of the sugar component and sometimes I do fine shreds and other times chunky and it seems to work well with any bit of fiddling about now that I have it down pat. Good luck with yours.
Cheers Gillian

Books Paths and Recipes

2006-07-31T23:19:00.000-07:00

I borrowed this book from the North Fitzroy Library quite a few years ago and have been unable to track it down since. Then I thought of Amazon.com and of course they had a copy. it arrived today. It is my all time favourite pattern book. It has a wonderful chapter on washcloth patterns. I know this is a weird reason to want a pattern book but it is done so well. It also has the most gorgeous ever Daisy shawl pattern and so much else. Another bit of news is that they are digging up our front path and re-doing it in concrete. This is very sad as far as I'm concerned. The pavers are hand-made-and-laid concrete set in a diamond pattern. This was a job creation scheme after WW2 and employed many soldiers returning from the war and was the first lot of real footpaths in Bacchus Marsh. Up until then it had been mud and grassy bits. We were so proud to live in one of the streets with period houses and the original footpaths.

Until 7.30am today!
Then the bobcat dug them all up!
After some discussionat home, we agreed to rescue half a dozen and find a home for them somewhere in the garden as a sort of historic monument. Then it became apparent that they would make a really good paved path where we were going to put gravel.

I went and asked the workmen if I could have some more and they brought round forty on the bobcat and left them in the carport. We must now get up before 7.30 am tomorrow to help load as many more as we can onto the bobcat from the pavement at the other end of the road to finish off the path.

I had some requests for recipes so here are two of my popular standbys

ENGLISH PUB CHUTNEY

As I said before this is a green apple, green tomato recipe as follows

1kg Green Tomatoes, chopped (and cored if necessary)

1kg Green Apples, peeled, cored and chopped

500gm Onion, peeled and chopped.

This all goes in a large saucepan and you add to it....

250gm raisins, 500gm brown sugar, 500ml brown vinegar, 1tbs/15gm salt, 1tsp/5gm mixed spice powder and 1/2tsp/2.5gm ground ginger powder.

Stir while bringing to the boil and then chug/plop/simmer with a bit of stirring now and then for a couple of hours until it is thick and dark brown enough to suit you.

I put jars in the oven at 180degrees C for twenty minutes and then bottle the hot chutney straight into them. This saves having to process them. It makes about 8-10 250ml jars and it lasts for ever.

I'll put the marmalade one on tomorrow

Cheers Gillian

Not So Much Knitting and a Bit More Cooking

2006-07-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

I've been busy making jars of stuff. Actually I should say "we've" been busy because Robert has been very helpful with the tedious chores. At the market, once a month, I sell about 50 jars of stuff and so every month I have to make about 50 jars of stuff, to keep up the stock.
What I have here is (in clockwise order from the top left) English Pub Chutney, Summer Berry and Juniper Jam, Dried Apricot and Almond Jam, Lime Curry Pickle, Kashmir Chutney and last but not least Gherkin Relish.
Only a couple of jars of the relish because a woman asked me to have a go at making some. Her daughter lives on it and the only brand she can buy in the supermarket is really, bright, emerald green. She wanted to know if I could make some without all the added numbers on the nutrition label that designate the colours and preservatives. I did quite well and then to my own dismay, realised I had used gherkins with numbers on the label! This year we will plant lots more cucumbers so that we can overcome the number s problem by making our own gherkins.
Next week I will make the Lemon Curd/Butter so that it is fresh.

I'm in the process of making some more "English Pub Chutney". I call it this because it attracts people's interest and they taste it and like it and then buy it. It is a very simple green tomato, green apple, onion and raisin chutney and is the sort that they seem to serve in English Pubs with a "Ploughman's Lunch" or even a plain and simple cheese sandwich. Please let me know if you want any of my recipes. I don't post them because this is primarily a knitting blog but if I'm not knitting I'm stirring away in the kitchen.

I also show you this picture of a tile that is behind the gas cook top. The tiles are scattered amongst the plain cream ones and each show a different herb and a rhyme from a Mediaeval Herb book. I didn't realise what this one said for a few months after I had the tiling done and then I read it more closely.
The herb is Solomon's Seal, which I don't know about but the advice is ...
The root of Solomon's Seal stamped while it is fresh and greene and applied, taketh away in one night, or two at the most, any bruise, black or blew spots gotten by fals or women's wilfulnesse in stumbling upon their hasty husbands fists, or such like. Gerard's Herbal
Thank goodness I don't need any for the prescribed causes but it might be handy for a general bruise.
I have done some knitting and the Jet Cardi No. 1 in Bendigos' Rustic has reached...back and half a front...stage
Last but not least, next door's Camelia tree which I can see from the kitchen window and in which the blackbirds return to nest each year, is blossoming. There is always one branch which gives a mutant with light pink outer petals with dark pink inner petals. Here is one alongside it's unitone siblings.
I shall go and ponder it again now while I do a steak and chips lunch.

Cheers to all, Gilian

Bendigo Bounty

2006-07-23T02:07:00.000-07:00

I bought some really lovely wool from Cheryle at Andyle while I was at the show.
She has sheep which produce wool of this beautiful, almost black shade. I just bought one skein but she can provide more if I need it because it is undyed and plenty more where it came from. She calls this colour "midnight" and it is. At the Wool and Sheep Show I also got some lovely little bits of wood. On the left of the picture is a mini niddy-noddy. It slots together to make a small hand winder if you are "out and about" and need to take a niddy-noddy in your pocket. Ashford make them but if Taphophile
wants to add one to her woodwork list I'll draw a template for her. The two pieces slot into one another and make a niddy-noddy which winds a really small skein.
Then I treated myself to a hand-turned crochet hook. I say "treat" because I rarely crochet and I have to get the "How To" manual out if I feel the urge and also in the picture is a turned cardi-pin. All I have to do now is knit the cardi.

We wandered around and checked out the working sheep dogs and the prize winning sheep and alpacas. The alpacas are really cute and many are taken for walks around the show by their owners because they are very tame and can be patted as they go by.

Then we headed off to Bendigo Woollen Mill. It was busier than usual, probably because of people making a day of it with the show on too. There weren't any really cheap bargains that suited me in the back room but I was thrilled with my purchases of some more sock wool to dye,

Some 12ply in a discontinued colour for half price and
Some 12ply Rustic in a lovely dark green tweedy look, to knit myself a cardi and
Some light green cotton 8 ply at half price for a summer cardi.

Yep. My English origins are definitely showing up here. How many cardis can a woman need?

A "couple more" is always the answer.

Cheers Gillian

Blue wrens and Bendigo

2006-07-19T23:42:00.000-07:00

The other day, we had a couple of wonderful little visitors. A Blue Wren and little Mrs Brown Wren, as shown in this steal from a bird watchers book. Each bird is about 3inches/8cm across and the male is as startlingly blue as this picture and his tail is irridescent. The female/s follow behind him, tidying up the left overs as they go! When we lived in Melbourne we never had something so transfixing in the garden, and neither of us can remember ever seeing one so close up.

We were so transfixed we didn't dare move for fear of frightening them off so.....OK this picture shows, with very careful scrutiny, Mr. Blue Wren sitting on the front gutter. I have tried to centre him, but my camera is too poxy-pixel to allow me to enlarge it without turning it into a police "wanted" poster with the face pixelled out. So.....
I now show you a picture of a garment section that you have seen before. It is my attempt to make a garment out of "not quite enough yarn". I have a love for bargains and experience a thrill when I get one. This is half of a sleeveless top made from "not quite enough yarn" to do it properly and knit it to a suitable tension. I have made allowances for the NQEY by using larger needles than advised. I am still wondering whether to continue to do a front to match or frog the back. I have had advice on this before. Thankyou. But I just put it away without making a decision and I need some more advice now.
I am trying to teach Kittykate how to knit. She is not the slightest bit interested. I have high hopes of getting her 15 seconds of fame on this

I know that it is really me who wants the 15 seconds of fame so here I go with my latest efforts.
The wool/silk, sampler scarf is progressing well and I'm enjoying finding new patterns to keep it square as I go.

I had a lovely day yesterday, dyeing some yarn for becky who won my competition and although I have pics I'll wait till she gets it.

Bendigo tomorrow. I shall be up really early cos it takes two hours to drive up there. First the Show, then the Mill shop, then lunch at the pub round the corner from the mill (really good and well priced, it's called Lakeview even though you can't see a lake). Then maybe some other venues and then home. I am even prepared in advance with food for the evening meal and only have to grill the lamb chops to go with the rest of it. BLISS, BENDIGO, BOUNTY

Cheers to all Gillian

Competition Results

2006-07-16T15:34:00.000-07:00

In a gallant attempt to rationalise the English language, Heide plugged "bestly". There's no doubt that it could catch on but the best way to alter a language rapidly is to make the wanted change part of a memorable jingle or pop song (true, that for many of us a memorable pop song is an oxymoron but back to the point). Perhaps we can work on that one next. Thankyou Heide, for entering the comp and for helping me out so kindly.

Dot modestly claimed that it was all beyond her and and then belied that statement with "I would best leave that to those who have a better clue"!

pbnj was also accurate and to the point and I hope that we can all "laugh last so that we can laugh best".

Daring Dave was spot on and pithy and he badly needs to win some sock yarn!!! and sheeprustler displayed great talent by using best as an adverb and verb in the same sentence.

The entry from trek came very close to winning. It read well, it was simple and clear and was a wonderful example of the comparative use of well/better/best as adverbs.

But flattery will get you everywhere becky . The winner on all counts...best use of best as an adverb, clearly and simply written and it made me smile when I read it!
Congratulations to you. Please email me with your contact address and colour preferences and I will get dyeing as soon as the weather gets milder or before.

Thanks to everyone. It gave me a great opportunity to meet more of you out there and I've enjoyed reading your blogs and will keep in touch
Cheers Gillian

Finished!

2006-07-15T18:23:00.000-07:00

A friend of Mum's asked me to knit her husband a new vest. This was while I was in England so it was a fair while ago now. It had to be this exact colour, which is actually a bit greener in real life and it had to match the old one which he had worn out. I managed to get a pattern at the op-shop. I knew it would be fine because that's the era of the original. I got the right colour from Bendie in "Persian" which is a lovely soft mix of wool, mohair, alpaca and silk. I even have enough over to knit a beanie and socks to match!!!(OK. I won't)
But it all took so much longer than I planned. I had THREE goes at the v-neck. For some reason on the first two attempts, I was a stitch out at the decreases for the ribbed edging and it looked like I had just knitted a blob at the point where it angles.
I dont remember having such angst with v-necks before, but it is a long time since I've done one.

This is the lovely bag which Sue made me. It holds small to medium projects like this scarf. Yes, the wool is familiar. It used to be the start of a cable scarf but I lost concentration and buggered up the cables and couldn't unfrog it to a useful pick-up point. It is now a moss stitch scarf but it is getting boring so it may became a "sampler" scarf. This means I can play around with blocks of different textures and patterns. It is the lovely merino and silk that I got from Cheryle.

I'll be hoping to get some more at the Sheep and Wool Show this weekend.

Last but not least my competition ends today but I'll wait till tomorrow to announce winners because not all of the world is up and about yet.

Cheers for now Gillian

Doctor Who was Fantastic!

2006-07-08T18:25:00.000-07:00

I'm in love with the new Doctor Who already. The last one was wonderful but the new one already feels familiar, perhaps because I liked him in other stuff. Real Goodies and Baddies Stuff and a lovely twist from the Prime Minister at the end. I'm still wondering if I would have given the order to fire or not. If this is all double-dutch to you check out this
Anyway back to reality and knitting.
I sold the first little jerkin to the first person I showed it too so I started straight away on knitting another one and then just for the fun of it, one more. The blue one was finished during Doctor Who, so it got cast aside and now awaits blocking, edging and ties. These are using up my stash and the "spare" stash I got from Sue

The pattern is very simple. It's all knitted in one piece to the armholes, and then in three pieces and a three needle bind-off at the shoulders. I then blanket stitch or crochet round the edge and add a couple of double, strand, chain-stitch ties. You can find it here on the internet.

These are also good stash busters. I finished and fringed the large poncho and here's the toddler size to contrast. Trouble is, I have no idea how to size these little garments for sale on my stall. Will they fit a one-year-old or a two-year-old or what? Is there a standard chart someone could link me to. Thankyou in anticipation.

My stall will also have the addition of some of Sue's delightful baby hats and DH's pickled onions. It's alright. I have two tables and hanging and draping space so they dont have to be close. I shall take a pic of the scarf fence on Thursday cos I'm still needing inspiration on how to improve the display without opening a shop. (You may have noticed that "pic" and "cos" are my contribution to the dynamism of the English Language). I dont have a mobile phone, so I haven't got into texting. I spend more than enough time at the computer so my gr8 efforts will have to shine here.

I am very much into "food-miles". This involves obtaining food from as close to home as possible so as to reduce the energies put into transport and numerous levels of processing and storage.

So yesterday I took DH off to taste the products at the Mt. Atkinson Olive Grove . It is only a twenty minute drive and very close to the western suburbs of Melbourne in an area called Rockbank. It's the middle of winter here and it was just past noon so we were the only ones there, but we enjoyed our oil and olive tasting so much, we stayed to lunch in their cosy, licensed cafe. I had a delightful mezze plate with great ciabatta for only $10. DH is a very plain eater but thoroughly enjoyed some mini spring-rolls, prawn cutlets etc with sweet chilli dipping sauce for $4.50! AND I bought a lovely bottle of cold pressed oil.

My competition is growing!. I must admit I didn't prepare it as well as I wish I had, but if people can produce such wonderful responses then I shall keep up with the challenge I set.

Cheers and have a great weekend , Gillian

Unintentional Felting

2006-07-06T02:58:00.000-07:00

Fat Kittykate is always well behaved around my knitting but she showed an unusual fondness for the Alpaca/Wool mix that I got from Bendigo. I think it was the furry smell. She would walk in the sitting room door and her nose would go "sniff" and she would aim straight for it. So in the end I knitted her a blanket from the left-overs from fave niece's poncho.
She sort of ignored it like cats do. Then on a trip home from the cattery she had an "accident" on it so it had to go in the wash.
DH is really great about doing the washing and hanging it out so he did it.
As you can see she now has a very small felted head-rest on the 1930s "modern brick" fireplace.
She seems to like it better than before it was accidently felted.
Moral of the story is... Cats do seem to like felted stuff and alpaca seems to felt really well.
Cheers for now Gillian

2006-07-05T03:18:00.000-07:00

I"ll start this again!
I clicked Publish Post and my wonderful Prose with Alliteration disappeared. I'm pretty good at spelling, really good at vocabulary and absolutely brilliant at grammar. The trouble is, that I think I am the only person left in the world who cares about it.
The thing is, of course, that the English language is dynamic, it changes, it simplifies itself. There is no need to use ADVERBS any more. So people are no longer using them. When I pointed this out to my fave niece who is doing really well at Durham Uni, she actually looked at me as if to say "Wow"
When did you last use an adverb?
Oh! Gosh! I know I'll get Heide to respond if I make it a competition!!!
OKAY ITS A COMPETITION!
No matter where you are in the world, I will eventually dye and skein enough 4ply/sock weight for you to make a pair of adult socks, with some interesting dye stripes in your chosen colours.

I dont know how to do this properly but here's a starter..........I'm after the BEST use of the adverb "best". In order to show how you know it's an adverb, you have to use it in a sentence and then let me know that you know it's an adverb by doing something to it.

I'm off to bed now sow I will check this stuff in the morning
Cheers Gillian

A Variety of Ventures

2006-07-02T23:31:00.000-07:00

For a long time, I wondered what the purple veined leaves were, growing in the vegie plot. They weren't the right colour or season for beetroot but after a patient wait they turned into Kholrabi.
I love this vegetable in parsley sauce but Robert is not so keen. Fortunately the next one is not so large so I will simply eat it all myself.

I visited Sue
and flicked through her knitting books and traded some of her stash. Sue has a considerably larger collection of both of them than I have. I was able to relieve her of a carrier bag full and have been busy turning some of it into toddler garments for the stall. The pink poncho is the "two rectangle" style and knitted from a lovely soft yarn called Fiddlesticks by Panda. The little jerkin is in Meteor also by Panda and edged with some unknown knobbly pink stuff.

This, of course, has prevented me from finding the time to undo and correct Mum's friend's top. I have finished the big poncho, though. It just needs sewing together and fringing. Hopefully these two items will be on the next post. I just left my post for half an hour to watch "Antiques Roadshow". I just love the things people wrap up and bring in and I love watching their faces when they are told to insure an ugly piece of pottery for $5000. I'm also amazed by the really large pieces of furniture that must have taken a removal truck to shift. They stand beside them and say things like"I don't know what it's worth but we think Oliver Cromwell hid in it!". They are then tragically disappointed to find out it was made in 1954 from British war surplus rolling-stock parts. Today one woman came all the way in to the show with an enormous "engraving" of Marx only to find out it was a framed poster, and she narrowly avoided a parking fine for more than the poster was worth.

Robert and I have spent some time developing the new labelling system for all the jars on the stall. Up until now I have had a large updated list of the products available and prices etc. I must admit that it has been a waste of time because everyone comes along and ignores the list and then bends over nearly double, peering at the labels to see what it is and then asks "How much?".
So I am now going to pile the jars up in pyramids and each one will have its own label.
They are pine with dowel in them which has a fine cut at the top and a card slots in.

Voila!

Cheers to all,

Gillian

Evidence of effort

2006-06-26T19:49:00.000-07:00

Well as you can see we having been busy bottling chez "Redumbrella". Robert is thrilled with his pickled onions and has been helping with the lackey work in the kitchen! At the moment he is skinning, coring and chopping 2 kilos of tomatoes because they were only $1.99 a kilo in Aldi and brown onions were only 99 cents. The great goddess in the sky is obviously telling me to make more Tomato Relish!

There has been some knitting as well. Robert doesn't help with this but he did sit around for quite a while at the shopping centre in Geelong while I checked out the Lincraft sale. I got a mixed bag of acrylic novelty stuff plus some "Zhivago". The plan is to make a poncho and a throw and add some new stuff to the stall for winter. The next market is not until Thursday 13th July so there may be time. This picture shows some zhivago and rosetti in beges and some himalaya and gypsy in dark red and some heather in silvery grey and last but not least some turino in the combo colours.
In fact, I have turned a lot of it into the makings of a poncho already. It is one of those ones made out of two rectangles. I was very pleased with myself for having no left over wool after the first half( which I used half the wool for!) and I used some stash in some of the stripes to extend it a bit and so that the fringe can be made of that same, stash-yarn and co-ordinate with the body of the poncho . I just did random stripes and shall match them for the second half. I used 8mm needles. They seem to cope well with chunky weight stuff that needs to be loosely knitted. I tried 6mm needles and the fabric was too stiff.
I thought I had finished the main parts of the sleeveless vest I was knitting for a friend of my Mum's in England, but by following the pattern, it has ended up an inch or so too long from the armholes, so I will have to undo the tops and re-size it to go with the measurements I had from his worn-out favourite one. He wouldn't look very good with the armholes half down to his waist. This was a lovely yarn to knit with. It is "Persian" by Bendigo and is in a colour called Teal. They have discontinued it but there was plenty left for this top and tons left over from just two balls.
Last but not least is the merino/silk from Andyle's
It is being knitted into the "Here and There Cables" scarf by Norah Goghan from the Scarfstyle book. I'm doing it with one less pattern repeat and I wish I had used 4.5mm needles instead of my favourite pair of 3.75mm short anodised ones. The fabric is a little stiff but maybe blocking can work some magic. It's a lovely pattern because it's reversible, which for a scarf is ideal and you only have to cable every seventh row. I must make a big decision about the size of the needles before I go any further. Perhaps if Lois at the LYS has some needles just like my favourites but in the 4.5mm size it would be worth re-starting. Perhaps I shall go down now and have a look. It's only ten minutes walk and it's not raining.
Cheers Gillian

To See the Sea!

2006-06-23T13:34:00.000-07:00

We went away for a few days, to the seaside and stayed in a cabin right on the edge of Corio Bay, overlooking the You Yangs in the distance across the bay. It was very foggy when we first arrived and we could see nothing but although the second day dawned with a splendid sunrise (pink sky in the morning, Shepherd's warning) the skies cleared and we caught the ferry to the other side of Port Phillip Bay and drove to the stunning coastal area of Cape Schanck.
We did more looking than walking and were lucky, that even though it was school holidays, we were almost alone.

There are some quite, awesome rock features and a boardwalk takes you right down to the bottom of the cliff in safety...and then up again! It is an area for spotting seals, whales and dolphins but we didn't.

The views are spectacular and beyond the headland is more!

At the end of each day we returned to our cabin to watch the pelicans, ducks, black swans and cormorants come in for the night and parade past us, while I knitted. The mussel place was open at Port Arlington and we feasted on fresh mussels for supper.

To complete the break, we stopped in Geelong on the way home so that I could indulge in a bit of "Lincrafting". Just a few cheap balls of flashy stuff. I'm always attracted by shine and glitter like a jackdaw.
Lots of yarn and WIPs in the next post.

I'm off to do my walk. I have decided that I am becoming too large around the middle and the only exercise I can do successfully is walk. So I'm off at daylight each morning (this is my second go!) for a brisk half hour. There are plenty of roads to travel in all directions so I shall be able to have a really good sticky beak at people's house-gardens and also, what's growing in the market gardens.
Cheers for now Gillian

Once Again that link is...

2006-06-15T23:15:00.000-07:00

Let's try fitknit and the cartoon site is this. I did it really carefully this time so I hope it works.

Too Much Acquisition; Not Enough Achievement

2006-06-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

I berate myself but with a frisson of pleasure! I found some bounty in an op shop just like Tapho seems to do every day. Ive been so jealous, but I've started with some thick, fluffy, beige stuff with flecks. It looks totally boring in the pic and only a little less so up close but it will make a nice, cheap swinging poncho for my stall. I need some new stuff to revitalise it.
I also show off my latest ebay scoop. A trolley for $6.13 to cart all my jams etc from the ute to the stall. It is quite large and of course these are 100gm balls of wool. Jars of jam are very heavy and this should do the trick nicely. OK it was $19 delivery but that was up front and so I was aware that I was bidding for it with the delivery cost in mind. I hate it when you secure a real treasure of a bargain on ebay and then find out it's $12 a gram for p&p!
Anyway, all this is to cover up for the fact that I have not done much knitting. DH has decided to become a gourmet chef and has produced 30 jars of pickled onions from the 8 kg of pickling onions that he snapped up at the local farm-produce outlet. Isn't it funny how "men" love to make things like pickled onions.
I have been waking early still so I have had a lovely time surfing the blogring. My real favourite this morning was a link on fitknit to a selection of great knitting cartoons. Surf over and enjoy them too.
Cheers Gillian

Flying Without Knitting!

2006-06-15T00:04:00.000-07:00

I took the Knitting Nancy with me on the plane to England. It was not questionned or looked at askance. In fact, I was asked what I was doing and what I would do with it when I had finished.
Ha Ha I said, so many things, so little time!

In the end you can see that on the journey there and back I have not made more than 10 metres. It will, however be made into a bathmat. It is really absorbent cotton and I'm planning an attempt at braiding, using the cord and a couple of other strong left overs like old denim jeans.

I had dreams of finishing off a load of this french knitting in cotton, then dyeing it and then knitting it with other fabric strips into an oval mat. I did get some sleep in the end and that is much more important on a trans/time-zone flight than getting some knitting done. I do also have some use of low dose sleeping tablets which help me to recover more quickly.
Cheers for now Gillian

Healthy Wealthy and Wise.

2006-06-13T13:44:00.000-07:00

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a "man" healthy wealthy and wise. Well that's a big fat lie. I've been trying my best. Every night I say to myself "A good nights sleep and you feel much better in the morning" It hasn't worked.
This virus takes me by surprise and lets me feel well for a couple of hours and then hits me with a "must lie down and groan" feeling.
Some knitting has been done but not much to show. The lovely jade coloured wool is from Bendigo and is a wool, alpaca, silk mix. It is luxuriously soft and I'm using it to knit a plain sleeveless vest for a friend of my mother's. I really needed to do it in 4ply but it has to be this colour and the 8ply turned up first. Anyway I haven't got a pattern for a 4ply one, although I could probably work one out.

I also made some purchases at the Coburg Town Hall. I'm so glad Andyle were there. I have been wanting some of the silk and merino blend and treated myself to the white (snowdrop) which I think will make a lovely cabled scarf.
Something classically aran perhaps. I fantasize because I'm not a good cabler, but maybe now that I have got the hang of a handful of dpns for sock knitting, I will have greater success with a cable or two

Then I bought a couple of skeins of 8ply wool. Such lovely soft stuff, it was impossible to put it down and Sue grabbed the third and last one.
Actually, she kindly swapped her longer skein for one of my shorter ones so that I might have enough for a sleeveless vest.
I am knitting this for myself so I risk doing it without a pattern and in order to make the yarn go the distance, I am using large needles and a loose tension. This has the advantage of letting me knit a long enough vest for my tall frame but the pattern and the regularity of yarn are lost in the looseness. I shall be able to press it into some sort of smoothness but it is a lesson on using the right sized needle for the yarn. I have been doing a loose basket weave effect on it to camouflage its irregularities. I can almost hear myself thinking "frog it". The yarn is too lovely to misuse...
Alas we will all have to wait for the next instalment, to find out the kismet of this piece.
Cheers Gillian

Sick, Sock, Suck

2006-06-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

I have been sick for a week and have spent much of the time feeling sleepy and weepy. Today I am feeling a tad better and have not had to lie down at all. I cheer myself up with the picture showing the view from Mum's sitting room window in Durham. The Cathedral is in the background and on Thursday evenings they practise the bell ringing and the sounds float out over the city. She has house plants and flowers all along the window-sill and crystals and mirrors hanging down to reflect the light and stop the birds from flying into the window.

I got sick of socks too. In fact I got to the stage where I had decided that "socks suck". That's probably because I knitted so many without a break. I did them from right to left in the picture.
I had pinned them up from left to right and then spun the Hill's Hoist around to get a better bit of garden as background.
I've worn the blue ones but the rest are all still virgins. In fact I now have this dreadful maternal instinct about them. How can I give them away and who too?

I dont know why I feel so possessive about them. They are not beautifully done. Although I admit that I have "improved" the amount of ventilation at the ankles as can be seen here. Red sock is sock one/pair two and still has fanlights at the ankle turn and pick up. The Motley sock is the most recent and shows no light through the same stitches at the turn, only through the slightly lacy pattern.

Okay. I have not knitted a sock for about two weeks or so now and I'm getting over the sock-saturation. I was able to get them out and photograph them for posterity. I have started other projects. I have even looked eagerly at "Knitting on the Road" by Nancy Bush which Sue lent me. More socks!

But, now I have started I can understand why other knitters always have a sock on the needles. I shall just go and cast on "Dalarna" before I prepare a very late lunch.
Cheers Gillian

Travels with Socks

2006-06-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

The picture to the left shows the view from my Mother's kitchen window. She lives in Durham, a city in the north-east of England. It is full of history and grand and wonderful buildings such as a Cathedral and Castle but this structure is my favourite.
It is the Railway Viaduct, built over 150 years ago to carry the Great North Eastern Railway from London to Edinburgh. The "Flying Scotsman" still crosses it regularly as do countless goods trains and commuter links.

I woke early each morning at first and so I sat and knitted until the rest of the city stirred. I finished the striped socks and beanie and the blue-grey pair I had dyed some wool for before I left.
They suffered a grave misfortune when my mother swept up the knitting which I had left on the floor, in her wonderful battery powered carpet sweeper. Many metres of wool were lost in the workings and it took a bit of time to unravel but fortunately there was still plenty to finish the socks
They were followed by three more pairs in two weeks!
I obviously spend far more time on the computer than I realised and without it was able to make super progress on all the socks and even visited Polly's in Wingate to purchase more sock yarn.
I'll show this to you tomorrow because I need to do something about my jet-lag right now.

Last Post for a while

2006-05-12T01:49:00.000-07:00

To my great disappointment, I can't get my camera to transfer pics to the computer. I had some pics of the grey/blue sock wool I had dyed and the finished jewel-coloured socks and matching beanie to take to England for my niece.
I shall take the camera with me anyway and hope to resolve the problem on my return. It's an old kodak with kodak-easy-share software and has worked like a breeze right up until today. Perhaps it has just got too old! Shame because I had it down pat and I'm not good with new technology.
I'm all packed and shall be off to the airport in the morning and be with Mum in England on Sunday. She lives in the northeast and a quick check on the internet predicts 10 degrees for my arrival.
Cheers to all, I'll be back in just under three weeks
Gillian

2006-05-08T03:25:00.000-07:00

I have spent a few hours preparing some more self-striping yarn to take away with me. I used the same colours as the "jewel" socks, but this is 8 ply and I didn't scour it first so it did not absorb the dye so well and is more pale and opalescent. I made two 180m balls so that I can make a pair of socks and maybe a beanie or something else with the left overs.

I wound the long skeins on door handles and then when finished with the dyeing and drying, wound them on to the niddy-noddy and then put them on the swift to go from there onto the ball winder.
I have done some more, using the bulk grey 5 ply I bought off ebay and dyed it with varying dark, medium and light blue. I did two hanks at once and will have plenty for two matching socks. At the moment it is drying on the "rapid dri" over one of the warm air vents.

It did occur to me that I could get away with using a Knitting Nancy while I'm on the plane. I got it out last night and did a quick reminder of how it worked. Fine! But if I can knitting nancy/ french knit/ I-cord at 30 cm per 15 minutes, how much will I do in 25 hours each way?
But Yes! Dear Reader, will someone yank it from my clutches and use it to throttle an unsuspecting person?
If they don't, what on earth do I do with 40 metres of I-cord (counting return journey too, and allowing for eating and toilet queues)?
It will keep my fingers from twitching during the journeys and I eagerly await your suggestions. I can't think of anything else to do and news is that even Domestic/Inter-State flights in Oz are still knitting no-noes.

This last picture is from Mason-Dixon Knitting page 51. I love this book because it breaks rules. I read somewhere, only last year that there was no real rule about knots in the middle of rows. It was just a fussiness. Sometimes you feel like being fussy and other times you dont. This picture shows satin bra straps holding up some finely knitted linen and I think they look lovely but I wouldn't wear them myself because I should not frighten the world by being that exposed, but others would look stunning in them.
Cheers Gillian

Just a Little Show-off!

2006-05-05T23:48:00.000-07:00

It has been a lovely day. I had to move my stash to have the room re-carpetted and it has been living in a giant garbage bag for a while now. As you can see I have a wonderful old set of pigeon-holes that they gave me at school when I left. The stash was in yarn types but I put it back in colour groupings. I had to force myself not to do it in rainbow or Derwent Pencil order! Obsessive is my middle name.

I also got two lots of the "Simply Knitting" magazine from England, two days running in the mail. These will take some absorbing. So many little details.

Then Mason Dixon Knitting came in the mail from Amazon, and it's just wonderful. I would take it with me to read on the plane but it's a very heavy hardback.

And I got Lavish Lace a while back and have been sorting through the patterns to decide what to do with my hand-dyed yarn.
It has charts, which I haven't used before so I need to start with an easy one.

So much to do and so little time and then...no knitting on the plane for 25 hours! I find it understandable as a safety issue. I'm not going to use my needles or scissors as weapons but someone else might grab them off me. But I still get withdrawal symptoms as I wriggle down into my seat for the journey. Not a comfortable ride when your are six foot tall!
Cheers Gillian

Lovely Day Out

2006-05-05T03:06:00.001-07:00

This first picture is a rather lovely shot of the back garden with the young Crepe Myrtle changing colour with the autumn and the DIY garden Arbour and absolutey nothing to do with KNITTING...but it will happen!
It was my birthday today so we went to Werribee Open Zoo and went for a Tour in the Safari bus and saw...

Cheetahs. They are behind glass and do quite a bit of pacing, but they are very important because they are part of a shrinking gene pool. This one walked back and forth while we were there. That always worries me as a sign of STRESS in Zoo animals.

We took a short walk before the Safari Bus ride and woke up this little red-necked wallaby. About up to my knee tops but I am tall.

The Rhinos were asleep.

I got a wok for my birthday. I have never had a proper wok before and when we got back this afternoon, I cleansed it and had the first go at seasoning it. I have also got Kylie Kwong off the shelf so this weekend will be "Stir-Fry" with sichuan salt and pepper. Anything will get tossed in! OKAY so no knitting!. I took a sock with me to the Zoo and didn't need to. The red pair is finished and the second stripey is on the way. I'm hoping to make some self-striping yarn to take with me when I go to visit Mum next weekend. I know I can't knit on the plane but.....

Got lots of lovely books to talk about tomorrow

Cheers Gillian

Tagged!

2006-05-03T05:22:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Heide and I must do it cos she sent me the simple way to do the links like I have just done to her name. (highlight the word then press ctrl,shift,A. If you are lucky a box will appear for you to type the url into, then enter)

It's strange that having a "blog" is such a public thing to do and yet answering a "meme tag" is so difficult and in some ways so exposing but here goes and if you start to read it you had better keep going till the end in case you are one of the seven to be chosen by me.

Each of these is a list of seven but not necessarily in order and I shall try not to prolong things with too much explanation. (Can't help it! Was a teacher for too long)

SEVEN THINGS TO DO BEFORE I DIE
* Do something really good to someone who doesn't know I did it
* Journey to the South Seas
* Get a black toy or miniature poodle
* Get some pekin bantams
* Have a positive impact on the place where I live
* Lose those 5 kilos that make me feel and look lumpy
* Have my 15 minutes of fame for a good reason

SEVEN THINGS I CANNOT DO
* Push-ups
* Jump
* Pretend. My face lets me down
* Play the piano. Did violin for ten years but never even got to Grade One
* Sing. I lost my singing voice with the chemo 3 years ago. I have sung at The Royal Albert Hall in London with choirs, four times, but now I can only sing in the car when travelling on my own.
* Make edible bread, unless I use the wonderful No Knead stuff.
* Speak any language other than English

SEVEN THINGS THAT ATTRACT ME TO MY PARTNER
* Physical stuff like...Height, almost as tall as me and I'm 6 feet
...Voice, has a lovely, deep, resonant voice
...Strength and Stamina
* Mental stuff like...Does anything I ask
...Eats anything I cook
...Says I always look great
...Lets me buy anything I want

SEVEN BOOKS WHICH HAVE HAD AN IMPACT ON ME
* The earliest was "Pookie the Rabbit with Wings". I was shattered when I went to school and was laughed at for thinking all rabbits had wings like Pookie
* Winnie the Pooh and * The House at Pooh Corner because my Father read them to us so well
* The Map that came to Life. I have loved maps ever since
* The Hobbit
* Catherine Cookson novels. So close to so much that I hold dear
* The Famous Five stories by Enid Blyton. It was a fantasy of mine to be a tomboy who had adventures.

SEVEN THINGS I SAY
* Well I Never!
* Phooey!
* Shall I get tea now?
* I'll be back in an hour or so
* Really?
* Hello Kitty
* Time for a drink!

SEVEN MOVIES I'VE LOVED
* Carousel. The first movie I ever saw
* Hitchcock stuff especially...The Birds
The Thirty Nine Steps
The Lady Vanishes
* Prizzi's Honour
* Brassed Off
* Billy Elliott

So I shall tag Beverley, Taphophile, Sue, Lori,

Limericks and Odes to Knitting

2006-04-29T22:11:00.000-07:00

Kitty has been trying to work out how to get the gas-log heater to work. She has discarded the alpaca blanket that I knitted her and is looking for the "on mechanism". She can't get through the glass or she would be inside it .

I got Robert to light the woodstove so that we could have a roast dinner from the lower oven. We have had it and it was lovely. I have now got a percolator sittijng on top and bubbling away with some coffee.The kitchen is very warm and it is at the heart of the house so it's cosy for the colder days.

The sock looks like it is pink, blue and white. It is really ruby, emerald, sapphire and amethyst! I'm thrilled with it and every ten rows on this sock, I do two rows on the red sock. I don't want that "forgot about it" look for the red sock and that ridge where the stitches have been left on the needle for too long.

I shall post a more realistic colour next time. It has been very rewarding doing the dyeing and then seeing it knit up so well. I can't wait to do more but must be careful not to enhance the stash too much, without realistic plans for items to knit.

There was an old teacher whose knitting

was, not always very well fitting.

So she cast on some socks

from stash in her box

and made plenty from where she was sitting!

Cheers to all, how about some more knitting limericks or even an ode to sock knitting? I'd organise a competition but I dont have the computer skills. Anyone want to join in. I'll do my best to do my share

What a Wind-up!

2006-04-26T23:13:00.001-07:00

This is the dyed skein on the swift. Once again I hung the long skein from two door handles at each end of the passage and walked carefully back and forth winding onto the niddy-noddy as I went. From the niddy-noddy, I loaded it onto the swift. I bought both the swift and the niddy-noddy on ebay. The swift is an old one and cost about $20 two years ago, because no-one seemed to know what it was. The niddy-noddy is a new one and was about the same or less and the bloke had more.

From the swift I wound it on the ball-winder. I bought this about three years ago from Wondoflex for $80 plus p&p. I was done and I knew it, but I was desperate to have one. The sad thing is that Wondoflex is now "off" my list of places to go. It is possible to buy them on ebay for $40+ depending on how lucky you are and be careful to check postage.

Ebay is getting really professional now and the old, amateur garage-sale atmosphere has gone. In the early days I was quoted postage which turned out to be a bit too high so the woman sent me some stamps as a rebate! Now people charge for putting stuff in an envelope and call it a "handling fee".

Here is the complete ball from the winder sitting next to the remains of the original white Bendigo Mills wool. The dyed ball weighs just over 100gm so should be plenty for a pair of socks and all you need to do to match up the stripes is start with the same colour again.

So here I am in my favourite knitting spot on the back verandah, enjoying a wonderful calm and sunny Autumn day and ignoring the second red sock!

Will the second red sock ever see a foot or will it be for ever a UFO?

Dyeing at Long Last

2006-04-25T23:57:00.000-07:00

At long last I got on with some dyeing today. I decided to start with self striping yarn for socks and chose four jewel colours of emerald, ruby, sapphire and amethyst. I now have very pink hands and some lovely yarn drying in the shed/studio.

This is the table, covered with a house-painting drop sheet. On the drop sheet are long stretches of gladwrap. (Gladwrap ended up being the most costly item, because self-striping yarn done in a 40m skein needs 40m of gladwrap) The yarn is placed across the gladwrap and painted with suitable dyes, then wrapped up in wrap and put in the bucket.

You can see in the second picture that I have just finished the green/emerald stripe. 40m of yarn for four colours, means paint a quarter of the yarn in each colour. I had the ruler handy to check the lengths. Wrap each section in gladwrap and proceed.

When it is all done put it in a plastic zip-lock bag with a bit of the zip open and steam it or microwave it. Steam for 20 minutes or microwave for 2 minutes, then rest and cool then 2 minutes more. Microwaving is more risky so watch it carefully and keep sniffing in case you get a whiff of burning wool! DH asked me what I was cooking because I don't think he fancied it for tea.

When it is cool, rinse each section and then press out moisture in a towel and hang to dry. I shall wind the balls tomorrow. If I wind half of it in one ball and then start the next ball with the same colour, I should have two matching balls of self-striping sock yarn. I counted the skein rounds as I went and did 42 so the sums should be easy!

I shall have to make an effort to finish the second red sock first. Can't have two pairs of socks on the go at once. Can I?

Handling the long skein can be a bit of a problem. I wound it, originally from a cheap ball of Bendigo machine washable 4ply/fingering from one door handle to another at the end of the passage. This worked well but be careful not to cross over the yarn! This can result in an unseemly display of tears for someone my age.

Tomorrow, I shall look for some well placed door handles again and walk back and forth and be a lot more careful. Now is not the time to bugger it all up. I could hand wind it but I think I'll niddy-noddy it as I walk, then put it on the swift and use the ball winder so that it looks more professional for pics.

My next dyeing will also be stripes but I smugly thought that a double ended skein would be fine for make two matching balls and now I realise that separating it afterwards into two balls will indeed, be tricky. Serves me right but I'm still thinking it over and may even follow advice and get another ball-winder. I must admit I would have bought another one long ago but couldn't think of a reason for having it! Also I shall have to teach DH how to use it and wind at the same speed as me. At the moment, that's the best idea, thanks Taphophile.

It all takes a lot more time than I thought so off now to make tea

Cheers for now to all out there

2006-04-24T21:13:00.000-07:00

We went into Melbourne yesterday to go to my friend Peggy and her partner Mitch's wedding. It was in St. Kilda, which is an old suburb on the Bay. We decided to treat ourselves and used a last minute internet booking to get $50 off what would otherwise have been an horrific price so that we could have a view of the bay.
I took the red socks ; sock two, which has been going for a while now and I posed for this pic with it. To be honest, the mistakes in it are getting to be too frequent and obvious so it has sinced been frogged a good couple of inches and re-started
The actual view from the window was so splendid that we did little else but get changed and leave for the wedding which was a short walk away. St Kilda is one of those suburbs that does food, and food and drink, and drink and food.

This view shows the pier and breakwater to the right and the refurbished Sea Baths to the left. There were people in the sea when we walked the pier , the next morning. They were hugging themselves with the cold of the experience and none of them went in over the top of their legs! There is a wonderful memorial in the middle of the gardens below for the "Boer War" soldiers from the area.

This amazing stucture is not a wreck but a sculpture of a wreck (I think).

On our way back we had some breakfast at the Foreshore Kiosk because the newly re-built one, at the end of the kiosk (the original one burnt down) wasn't opening till noon.
It was lovely and we had the freshest rolls and coffee and fed the pigeons and sparrows with our crumbs. then we walked from the Lower Boulevarde to the Upper Boulevarde over the footbridge. In that short time we must have seen at least two hundred cyclists in full gear and large, friendly, vocal groups "going somewhere".

This second sock of the second pair of socks is not going smoothly. It has been frogged three times and the last time was this morning while Robert had a bath at the hotel. I took it back about two inches and got it back on the needles with 97% of the glitches and mis-stitches removed. I must admit I didn't want to explain to people for the rest of my life, why the front of my hand-knitted socks had obvious blobs on them.

As you can see, I love crosswords. Particularly, cryptic and esoteric general knowledge. I love commas too and try to use them judiciously rather than vexaciously. In fact what has happened to punctuation? Was it all too difficult? I notice that the "Adverb" has died a death and no-one seemed to complain. Was it all too hard to do the 'ly' ending onto the adjective. I was greatly pleased to hear Peter Harvey and others, today, talkabout a ceremony rather than a cereMOANy.
Cheers Gillian

2006-04-23T02:03:00.000-07:00

Lesson One: Dyeing Wool with Cats

2006-04-23T01:10:00.000-07:00

This is the hank that I wound from the "Bendigo-Knitting Mill-back room" machine washable 4ply. It was sold really cheaply because it had two ends! I thought to myself that two ends can't be too bad, so I bought it and some more. I wound two threads of 4ply white, machine-wash pure wool on my niddy-noddy.

I worked out that each full wrap of the niddy-noddy was 150cm. So I wound it 120 times. Most sock wool is 130-160 m a sock-ball so,... I reckoned that after dyeing and rewinding, which can lose up to 25%, but usually about 12%, I would have enough in each ball to knit a sock.

I took the white wool from a ball onto the niddy-noddy to do this and counted the times I wound it through one full wind. You can see the anxious look on my face as DH takes the pic and I try to remember where I was.

I ended up with a hank made from a ball of double ended wool. This means that I can make a pair of matching socks because two strands will be put through the same dyeing process.

All I want to know now is...How do I separate the two strands when all is done? Any ideas out there on how to separate two twin-strand-dyed wool.
I'll have to do something soon because as you can see FatKitty has already taken to kitty-nesting in the next hank of wool to be dealt with next.

My Picture

2006-04-18T23:54:00.000-07:00

This is the picture of me that I want to appear as my pic on my blog , which transfers with me when I send a post or comment. Will it be easier to get this up than all the other things I've tried? Any help would be gratefully received and if you're within 50 km you could even score some jams and/or chutneys.
Cheers Gillian

Better News But Still No Pics

2006-04-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

I spoke to My mother last night and although still croaky, she is much better and at Sister2's. Sister1 was coming for her to take her home to Durham and stay with her for a while. The problem was an infected and impacted wisdom tooth that she didn't know she still had. They have removed it and she is still on anti-biotics for a few days and her face is still swollen. But it was so lovely to hear her voice and she was so glad to be going home to her own little flat.
She had had her other tooth fixed and I must apologise for doubting her.

I have been consoling myself, the last few days by cooking up a storm.
*Pink Grapefruit and Cointreau Marmalade
*Muscovado Sugar Marmalade with a hint of Ginger
*Lemon Butter/Curd
*Green Tomato and Apple Chutney
*Crab Apple and Rose Water Jelly
and this afternoon I shall skin the tomatoes for some Spicy Tomato Relish, make a Shepherd's Pie for tomorrow from the left over roast lamb from Easter Sunday's lunch and make a Chicken Florentine for tonight's tea.

Every time I picked up knitting needles I made a mistake and had to frog, pick up and re-knit. The second red sock is back to where it was but the black waistcoat is still a bit of a tangled mess. It's a novelty yarn and dropped stitches disappear and then seem to dissolve away the surrounding fabric till a very large hole makes it obvious that it's not just a variation in the yarn!. I'll have a go at that later because I was hoping to wear it to a friend's wedding on Monday. Not very long to go now!!! (Monday is not such a strange day for a wedding because Tuesday is ANZAC day which is a serious Public Holiday here in Australia when wars and military personnel and nurses, are commemorated with dawn marches and due solemnity)

I had some lovely mail. I bought a niddy-noddy on ebay and it arrived quickly, was a cinch to assemble and I've already made a hank of wool out of a ball so that I can dye it . AND so that I can dye it, I have received in the post a lovely catalogue from Bonnie at KraftKolour, because their new web site is not up and running yet as promised, and shall send away this afternoon for some dyes. I also unearthed my swift and think that I have established its true purpose. And last but not least, I purchased this morning, a stainless steel pan with two layers of steamers and a glass lid/set at the reject shop for $18! All this will be put into a photo essay about my first attempts at dyeing some wool to knit socks....very soon.

It turns out, from a quiz I did on www.abc.net.au/catalyst from a programme on "Choices", that I am an Excessive Maximiser. This is why I spend so long getting ready and researching things to be absolutely sure I have maximised my benefits from the choice I will make. It also suggests that such people are prone to depression because all the preparation before decision making is too much for them. I haven't ever been depressed but OMG do I burst into tears easily if something goes wrong after I've worked it all out not to go wrong. I have found myself relying on numbers to make choices, eg "I'll buy the fifth pair of shoes I try on". Today I took them back and swapped them for a size larger. Wonderful Nigel at the shoe shop just took the next size out of the box and put mine (unworn) in and textered out 10 and wrote 91/2 .

A man in an enormous truck has just delivered a timber arbour/pergola for the back garden. It is a put-together-yourself-one so it may be a while before a picture of it appears. The $10 Reject Shop one will go to join its twin over the vegie patches and support the peas and beans.

Cheers Gillian

Obedient Children

2006-04-15T00:25:00.000-07:00

My mother is in hospital!
That fills me with dread because not only is she in England and I'm in Australia, but she has a leaking heart valve and is on blood thinning medication. This means that she cant have the abscess drained or the offending tooth removed until they take her off the warfarin or she will bleed to death. While she is off the warfarin she could have a heart attack.
She had accompanied my sister and family on holiday to a little village miles from anywhere, in Norfolk for the pre-Easter week. She had the offending abscess before she left but had us all believing it was just a cold and sore throat. Like the obedient children she brought us up to be, we all did what she said. She had previously told me, my brother and her sister that she had been to the dentist and had the tooth fixed up to shut us up.
Of course, eventually the pain was unbearable and BIL had to drive around trying to find a doctor/dentist who would do anything. When they find out she is on warfarin and has a dodgy heart they wont touch her. So they ended up at the local hospital who put her on a drip with antibiotics in it. She is more comfortable now and is getting some much needed rest and sleep. My brother has driven up there from London ready to drive her back to Durham in the north of England. They will probably leave the tooth till she gets back to her own blood specialist at the hospital there. My other sister will go up to check on things in May. I am booked to go home for a visit in October but will change that if needed.
I know that I cannot do any more or any better than my siblings are doing but as the surviving eldest for fifty years I feel I ought to be there making sure. Quite likely, I'd be doing just what my 85 year old mother told me to do! It's reached the stage where we are all going to have to gently take over.
I know that she fears the loss of her independence terribly and that is why she misleads us about her general health. She wants to stay in her lovely little flat in Durham with a wonderful view of the Castle and Cathedral. You can hear the Cathedral bells every Thursday night and see it all lit up, and when I wake early with jet lag when I visit I can tell what time it is by the type of peal the bells give. Three fifteen is different from three thirty and again from three forty-five!
She wants to catch the little bus to the shops when she feels like it and chat to her friends and acqaintances. She wants to visit her sister and dear friends, Chris and Alan. She wants most of all to keep on doing it.
I hope she can for a lot longer yet.

Stash Additions and Socks

2006-04-10T04:21:00.000-07:00

Well! On the way home from the Murray River and after we stopped at Elmore to buy the best tomatoes to make the sauce and relish, we went to the Bendigo Woollen Mill's factory shop. Especially to the back room where real bargains can be had. On the way into the backroom there was a special on "Miami" sock wool, so I got two packs, then out the back was some baby wool (machine washable) in 4ply in undyed white. It was really cheap because it had two ends per ball. Well I think two ends per ball is perfect for home-dyeing into two matching balls of sock wool

And then I found some pure cotton in lovely colours, which I use to knit face washers, so I got some of that in a lovely blue
I'm still having a go at my socks and am now on to the red pair and finding the needles much easier to handle. I'm still having trouble with a hole at each ankle but, like my computer skills, I manage without developing as long as I can. Robert has been doing a "Basic" computer course at the local Adult Education Centre and is really loving it. He brought home a folded, printed Easter card. It's lovely when you can demonstrate what you have learned so easily.

I bought some Paton's Creme de la Creme today to knit up a waistcoat for a wedding in a couple of weeks. I wasted ages looking for a pattern and then decided to go without. News on that soon!

Jerusalem Artichokes Escape From Nextdoor

2006-04-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

Well here's a picture of my mouli sideways! It was a godsend for squashing the tomatoes through and because it is stainlees steel it went straight into the dishwasher. I used to have an aluminium one which worked well but always looked discoloured and a bit tatty.

This next picture shows the bumper crop of jerusalem artichokes (I think they are also known as sunchokes) . Two kilos of them from the two plants that escaped from next door and grew as tall as sunflowers behind the garden shed.
I have roasted some of them with potatoes, parsnip and pumpkin to go with our Sunday lunch and I cooked up a heap in some stock with thyme and lemon rind and a dash of cream and then put it all through the mouli to make a tasty soup.

I have been googling for an hour, looking for moire recipes because they dont keep more than a couple of weeks. The list seems limited to soups and sliced, layered creamy bakes like scalloped potatoes. Any ideas anyone? I must admit my favourite book (see previous post) had all the google research knowledge and recipes in just a few pages and I could have saved myself the search time but I'm always hoping that there will be something wonderful, tasty and easy to make that I dont know about. In fact, I think I could write a recipe book called "A Meal In Ten Minutes From An Armchair"

Saucy Tomato Ketchup and My New Mouli

2006-04-07T22:51:00.000-07:00

Once again I can't get more pics up on blogger so I'm using picasa which lets me do one pic per blog when I really wanted to do three. Anyway this pic is pivotal to the story so it wins. The other pics would have been my lovely new stainless steel mouli and my finished bottles of tomato sauce.
We call tomato ketchup, tomato sauce. This should not be confused with passata or pasta-type sauce. So this is about the stuff that people put on their barbecued snags (sausages) and steaks and chips etc.
The recipe like many others I use for garden vegie gluts is from the book shown here. It was written by three NZ sisters, Mary Browne, Helen Leach and Nancy Tichbourne. It was first published in 1982 and my paperback (limp edition) is from 1986. It is subtitled "For cooks who garden and gardeners who cook". Obviously this was well before the ubiquitous take over of THAT for other pronouns such as WHO and WHICH.

It not only tells you how to grow the stuff but how to cook it and how to deal with seasonal gluts. It's fantastic and I have used it as my vegie growing and cooking bible for 25 years.

The reason for this telling is that on the way home from Echuca we stopped at Elmore and then Bendigo( more about Bendigo later ). Once upon a time, a few years ago I stopped and bought a 10 kilo box of tomatoes in Elmore for $10. They were amazingly red, had very few seeds and hardly any watery stuff ran out when they were cut open. Absolutely wonderful. So we stopped again and bought a box. YES they were just as good and I have just finished making 15 bottles of ketchup and have enough cut up and salting for ten jars of spicy relish.

But I don't know if I will be able to make the ketchup so easily again. Even though I bought a wonderful new stainless steel mouli I have run out of a vital ingredient...glacial acetic acid.

This was available at chemists in the old days but now pharmacies deal in ready made tablets and just put labels and instructions on the boxes and I shall have to go to a "Compounding Pharmacy" to get this ingredient. The great blessing about it is that you add 2 tablespoons of it instead of about cups of vinegar so you don't have to boil it all down for so long. In fact with good tomatoes the boiling down takes only about 10 minutes and the acetic acid is always the last ingredient to be added.

This wonderful book also gives the best recipe for green tomato and apple chutney and lots of others which I adhere to. My best selling savoury product on my market stall is the chutney.
Fortunately my SIL has a BIL who grows hydroponic tomatoes so that I can get them any time of the year to stock up.

If anyone can't get this book and would like recipes please ask in the comments section and I will email them to you. It doesn't just have to be about tomatoes. This book deals with everything you can grow in NZ and OZ. I love it!
Cheers for now Gillian

Redgums and Bluegums

2006-04-07T13:34:00.000-07:00

This is the view from our motel window and although the area around Echuca/Moama, on the Murray is known for its Redgum forests, I think these are Blue Gums. This is a generic term for eucalypts and corymbias which have blue tinged leaves when they are young. We could walk straight out and through the trees to a billabong and although we were woken each morning by a kookaburra laughing I couldn't spot him.
There were plenty of magpies around and the ubiquitous sulphur-crested, white cockatoos but none showed up for this photo.

2006-04-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

We have just returned from a few days on the Murray River. But not without a sock to knit! I have finished the blue ones and am wearing them in this picture and I am now knitting a red pair.

We had a lunch cruise on a lovely, old, restored paddle steamer called the "Emmylou" which is powered by an enormous engine fuelled by red gum logs from the local forests.

It is a quiet spell and there was only a handful of people riding each of the paddle steamers up and down the river. As you can see the weather was bright but cool, until the last day when all of a sudden it turned into winter. We are now back home with the heating on!

I cant get blogger to load more pics so will try again later .

If The Sock Fits...Knit Another One!

2006-03-28T21:44:00.000-08:00

I was pretty sure all the way through this sock, that I would be searching for a person with ONE very slim, long foot, to wear it. In the end though, it fits so well that I can't believe it. So I have started on its pair straight away.
I have been so enthralled with it that even though there have been some mini-disasters along the way, I have been searching for sock wool to dye at home so that I can make some unique ones. I shall stick to 4ply. The Patonyle was really good to work with although it has a tendency to split up as you knit it and it's so smooth, dropped stitches ladder right down very easily. The LYS has a few shades to choose from but dyeing will be more fun. I tried Spotlight in Geelong, yesterday, but they don't seem to do sock wool, only baby-wear 4ply. Couldn't ask the assistant. She was busy on her mobile!

Anyway, for any other beginners out there, here's a list of the things I found I should have known before I started

1) Research a few patterns and read a manual or two. eg Creative Knitting (OZ) Issue 4 for 8ply/double knitting and Knitting Pattern for Basic Socks for a 4ply/sockwool thickness. http://www.knittingonthenet.com/patterns/socksbasic.htm This helps you to get used to the terminology.

2) Don't bother with a fancy cast-on if you've never done one before. I used the cast-on my mother taught me when I was five, but I thought it would be nice to have a tubular cast on like in Montse Stanley's Knitter's Handbook but I wasted a day trying it and some other easier looking ones. Just make sure it's not too tight and will constrict blood flow!

3) Use a straight needle to cast on and then transfer the stitches to the dpns on the first row taking care not to twist them.

4) I followed the diagram in Standfield and Griffiths' Encyclopedia of Knitting, which shows the knitting coming up through the needles like a crown as you knit and each time you put an empty needle on the last needle is above it and the third needle is below it. That really helped because I was all needles and not much knitting for quite a while.

5) Each time you join a new needle, keep the first AND the second stitch tight a la EZ. Take care, when you select a needle from all those clasped in your left hand for the next section of knitting, that it is the one with NO stitches on it!

6) If a stitch drops (never blame yourself, stitches on dpns have a mind of their own) try a fine crochet hook but after a couple of hours, give up and frog below the dropped-stitch-round and try to pick them up again.

The second sock is on the needles now and I suppose the proof of the pudding is in the completion date of the entire PAIR of socks not just a stitch perfect first one.

OK, I'm not perfect so please tell me what I can do to get rid of the gaping holes at each ankle?

Going to make some more efforts on the blog site soon, Thanks to all for great advice, Cheers Gillian

Links, Help!

2006-03-23T21:24:00.000-08:00

redumbrella I thought I had the routine right but the last post does not link for sites I've chosen. Please let me know in simple terms, what I have done wrong and how to link to a name instead of a whole URL, cheers Gillian

Well I Never! Socks!

2006-03-23T19:36:00.000-08:00

There is no doubt that SOCKS-R-IT. Everyone else's blog has their socks on it. So here IS mine.
This is my first ever foray into 4dpns and I've had a few reviews and froggings to get to this stage. I'm hoping that I will get more comfortable with the 4dpns and be able to complete a pair. The pattern is from www.knittingonthenet.com/patterns/socksbasic.htm and I am using good old reliable Patonyle in denim blue. As a confident straight knitter, I went for the 2.75 needles rather than the 3.5s which were the only ones available at my LYS. Mind you there are some anodised ones in 4.oos which I love the feel of and if this sock venture is successful, I will invest in them and try them out with some Bluebell or similar. Typical of me...planning ahead when I haven't even achieved today's targets.
The main reason I have slowed right down with the sock and taken to the keyboard, is that they are obviously going to be too small for me with a 56st cast on and the needle size. BUT I need to get through the pattern once to feel that I know what I'm doing and so these will probably be sent to Jenny, one of my English nieces. She has my height but is willowy slim.
I took another photo to show off my lovely kitchen. I have spent the last thirty years making the most of a small place in an inner-urban renovation. This house has a whole room of it's own as a kitchen. I installed a wood-burning oven, as you can see on the left, in the space where the old one had been removed. Out of the window you can see Karen's rusty rainwater tank and the camelia tree. I spend a lot of time sitting at this table and enjoying the whole room. I have a little TV perched on top of the fridge (which I have not shown, like they never show them in magazine articles on kitchen design, cos they look dreadful). The wood oven has two glass doors. One at the top half is the fire and the bottom bit is the cooking oven. It's called a Nectre Bakers Oven and they are made in South Australia.
Last but not least today is my "nearly finished" bag.

It has a knitted coating along the lines of the pattern in the English magazine "Simply Knitting" issue 7. and I made a lining and straps with wonderful advice from Dragonfly Designs at http://thebagladysplace/blogspot/com/ . I got a lot of help from the local fabric shop on this.
I have also got a couple of giant plastic curtain rings on which I plan to create some Dorset Buttons as described by http://yarNZ4knitters.blogspot.com/ Thanks Beverley!

I haven't said thanks to Lori for showing me the routine on how to get more than one picture on one post. I eventually did it and soon I hope to follow Beverley's guide to a clock and a counter. As you can all tell I'm still having trouble with the fine tuning.

Dyeing very soon!

cheers to all, Gillian

2006-03-20T01:19:00.000-08:00

Fat Kittykate is normally "black and WHITE" but when the sun shines on a patch of dark, brown, dusty earth, she can't resist rolling in it! Robert has brushed her but she is still very dusty and is complaining with loud squeals, at her treatment.

She is fat, but of course, it is not her fault. She can't open the fridge or a tin of gourmet cat food. We can and I also purchase trays of steak specials and then cut them up and freeze them for titbits. She expects these titbits every day.

She is very well behaved regarding my knitting but she hasn't been able to keep herself off some alpaca I got at Bendigo Knitting Mill Shop (backroom), so I have knitted her a small comfort blanket with the remains. We spend a lot of time watching out for BOB from next door. He knows she is on to a good thing and regularly enters any open door and heads to our kitchen for a taste of what she is having. He's a lovely looking cat and I hate to chase him away but we can't have a yowling competition every time he comes in.

The grass/turf is looking lovely. Kevin laid it today and Robert put the left overs round near the yet to be completed chook run. Wow, we have the makings of a garden at last.

I shall go and knit a bit more and see if Craig Mottram lives up to the hype. I'm dying to start some socks. I know, I know I'm also dying to do some dyeing. Today I made my hookie rug sample into a padded cushion for the chair I painted and I made a plain white blind for the space under the sink, so I have made some progress on my list, love for now Gillian

Cockatoos and Collard Greens Recipes

2006-03-18T21:42:00.000-08:00

If you look very carefully, you can see a "Sulphur Crested Cockatoo" sitting in the upper branches of the Gum tree(Eucalypt) next door at Karen's.
We have had quite a few through this last year or two because the drought has brought them in from the bush.
They are very noisy and splendidly showy. Late last year quite a flock descended on the Hill's Hoist which is the magic, wind-drying contraption that many Australians have in their back yard/garden.
But even more magic are the Jerusalem Artichokes which have grown under the "tin" fence from Karen's. Apparently, like potatoes, once the flowers have died down the roots/tubers can be dug up and used. They have a reputation for producing flatulence and although they are really tasty as a soup constituent, they could be as bad as "pease pudding" in the windy-garden-product list. We grow some greens called silver beet also known as swiss chard. We also ate something called spring greens in England when we were young but none of them are spinach and I think collard greens as described by Heidewww.heideho.blogspot.com comes close to silver beet. It all depends how you cook them and what else you put in them.

I zap a dozen , small to medium, silver beet leaves in the microwave for a few minutes.

Then I "dress" them (in other words, slosh them around with) a sprinkle of salt and pepper a la Kylie Kwong, and add some fresh lemon juice and some butter.

I cried today when the Aussie woman won the Marathon. Such wonderful dedication. I cried as well for the Kenyan woman who had kept up with her all the way but was not competing in front of her home crowd, and didn't win. After watching such an effort it is clear that "Silver" can sometimes be so sad.

2006-03-18T20:25:00.000-08:00

A Very un-Victorian Display of Legs

2006-03-17T21:16:00.000-08:00

Well, I did a bit of task 2). Here's the painted chair and very ungainly! table legs. They've been given a coat of mat white. Gloss only really works if you use oil-based paints and the sort of semi gloss you get with acrylic isn't much shinier than the plain all-over-useful stuff.

The table has a wonderful old baltic pine top but it has been badly stained. Robert sanded it with the lovely, little, cordless Bosch sander and then with the big belt sander. He was getting rid of the stains but he was also getting rid of the table!!!

I shall paint the top in the slatey blue to match the floor. The left over stains would only niggle at me and staining and varnishing will only make the stains darker.

The "Laundry" part of the new shed is shown here and it is this that I will have to make curtains for soon. On the left is a combination washer/drier and on the right is a small extra fridge. In the facing corners are an upright freezer, a storage chest of drawers for jam jars and a storage shelf for jam and chutney stock. In between will be the table and chair as a work space and around two sides are foot wide shelves (I have discovered, at head-hitting height) which hold tubs of gear and on the leftwall from this picture is one of those drying hoists that goes up to the ceiling.

I shall put a coat of paint on the top of the table tomorrow and think about the curtains.

Right now, I shall go and cut up some beef and broccoli stir fry and marinate the beef a bit.

Last thing is, I've worked out that BTW is by the way but what is LOL? And are there any more that I should know? Can I make some up? How about WIN, my mothers favourite exclamation. Small, thoughtful response to the first to work it out.

Dying to start Dyeing

2006-03-17T15:32:00.000-08:00

I'm a fickle female. Always wanting to start something new before the other things are done. But you all know what a new book does. I did some dyeing many years ago with onion skins, gum leaves and other bits of flora but this all looks so exciting I can't wait to start. Before I do, however, I must...
1) make curtains for the new studio/laundry
2) paint the old table and chair I bought from ebay
3) finish the knitted bag with lining, handles and stiffening with the help of the instructions from Jade http://thebagladysplace.blogspot.com.
4) make more tomato ketchup, chutney and raspberry jam
5) get the ironing done.

My spinning stuff is all up in the loft so I shall test out the dyeing on some Australian Country Spinners undyed 8ply which I bought cheaply in a large hank and when I'm happy with it I'll treat myself to some merino/silk which Cheryle http://www.andyle.com.au told me she had spun. It sounds lovely and she described it as having a lustre from the silk. I would expect the dye to take with varying intensity because of the blend of fibres. She dyes her stuff using "landscape" dyes and the effects are wonderful so I shall forego the flora for some ready made dyes if I can find them.

Planning is often the most pleasure. Everything falls into place in daydreams and projects seem to finish themselves effortlessly. I must wake up now and make an effort.

No Pictures With This News!

2006-03-14T22:17:00.000-08:00

We took off to Ballarat on the train today. It was a lovely ride of about 40 minutes and then we walked a couple of blocks to the shopping mall where I had a particular errand. "The Lingerie Shop". A simple name for a wonderful shop with such friendly and helpful people. It was such a luxury to be fitted with a bra that is so comfortable, I dont know I'm wearing it. I was also shown how to use a small prosthesis (boobie) which makes it look like I have two matching boobs, which I didn't even have before a couple of lumpectomies. I can throw away the rolls of tissues I have been using to stop the bra cup crumpling up. I've ordered two more bras and treated myself to lots of "sloggi" undies.
The strange thing is, delighted as I am, I put it all away carefully in a drawer when I got home.
I wonder if I will wear it tomorrow?
News Flash
I have just had to interrupt my tale of the day to chase a chook out of the kitchen, where it was eating the cat's dinner. It's the third one in today, from nextdoor. Damon came round and crawled around under the house waving silverbeet leaves at it. I caught it as it did a runner to the hole in the fence where it came in and Robert nailed up the paling.
After the successful shopping we wandered through to the Art Gallery area and Federation Plaza, where the big open air party is on tonight to celebrate the Opening of the Commonwealth Games. Lots of characters in weird costumes wandered around keeping us amused as we ate a delicious lunch at the Art Gallery Cafe.
My "studio" is nearly ready and tomorrow I shall start moving in my stores and boxes. I have bought an old table and chair on ebay and shall go and collect them in the next few days. I have some lovely toile de Jouy in the traditional blue and white which will make up into attractive curtains. Joe, the builder has put up shelves for me, while we were out today, but they slope down to the front and this will have to be rectified as soon as!
Tomorrow, we will be awake early to welcome the man with the excavator who is going to dig up and remove the horrible grass and weeds beyond the verandah. This area will then be levelled and covered with "roll-on turf" from a turf farm down the road. I presume this means I will be able to walk bare-foot over springy lawn in a few days!

Labour Day Holiday Market at St Anne's Winery

2006-03-13T02:14:00.000-08:00

I just took the jams and chutneys with me today. I will take the knitting next time, though. I sold 65 jars which is a record for a day out. In fact Robert went home to get some more supplies. Fortunately we are only a few minutes away.
We have never seen the weekend traffic on the highway, so busy. It's partly the school holidays and also the escape from the Commonwealth Games.
Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit more relaxed. Then a trip to Ballarat by train on Wednesday and then a trip to Werribee to pick up a table I bought on ebay, to go in the new "studio".
Off to a well needed sleep,
Cheers Gillian

Time For A Cuppa!

2006-03-12T00:57:00.000-08:00

I've just finished this little tea cosy for a friend-of-a-friend of the vicar! I think it will suit nicely and is sooo easy to knit, and quick, even on 3 mm needles and using 4 pl. It took three days (with everything else going on). The previous link but one goes to it.
I was asked to make it in purple and green stripes. I did. The purple looks blue and the greenstripes have got lost under the daffodil petals.
The mug is a Maebata porcelain from Japan and originally I had six. Nearly twenty years later, I only have two perfect ones left but the rest are in a box waiting for the day when I have a go at MOSAIC! As yet an unattempted craft.
Should I add some pompoms/pompons to this tea cosy?
Looking forward to having some advice, even criticism, as long as it is well intentioned and helpful. Cheers Gillian

2006-03-10T13:27:00.000-08:00

Market day was on Thursday and I'm still recovering. We pack the day before. Two long tables, two chairs, a clothes rack and a stretchy piece of trellis for the scarves and a trolley to shift it all. It takes a good hour to set it all up because I have three tubs of knitting and four tubs of jams and chutneys and this month I decided to show off the "Berry" jams on a lovely wrought wire stand. It's always a bit quicker packing up and going home because I've sold a bit and there are a couple of empty tubs. There's another market on Monday at St Annes Winery a few km west but we had to unpack it all because today we are off to the coast to get some more old bricks from my sister-in-law, in order to finish the brick path outside the new laundry/studio. Unveilling soon!
Thursday's market coincided with the Queen's baton relay through town. This baton is on it's way to the opening ceremony at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne this weekend, where it will be handed back to the Queen! I'ts been all round the Commonwealth on it's way here, being carried by local people and accompanied by a motorcade of buses and police vehicles.
I'd love to post more pics but I'm still struggling with the methods of getting more than one per post. A good weekend to all Cheers Gillian