2paw

"Feat Part of Iron and Part of Clay" or " 'Alp Me If You Can I'm Feeling Down"

Exam question: 2paw is not stupid. Discuss.

Well, the iron part would be my knitting needles, and the clay?? That would be my brain. When I said in the last post I was having a Mental Health Week, I really, really meant Mental in all its glory. Not only will I be needing another big ball of wool, which is currently winging its way here in exactly the same way a brick doesn't, I also started knitting The Stargate incorrectly. Again. I unravelled back from the underarm cast off. Again. I started at the 30 row mark and I'm thinking that this time it is right. Again.

My TdF KAL has been a comedy of errors this year. I didn't hit a Labrador, but they certainly helped by being in lots of photos for scale purposes!! What I really needed was one of those doctors in a posh voiture rapide who could zoom along beside me and perform miraculous knitting and mental health cures as I knitted along at top speed. I want some of those support-team riders who would speed up beside me and hand me une tasse de the et un verre de vin as required!! I also want a nice stop along the way where a French chef would whip me up une delicieux repas avec my favourite things. The sleeves were a picnic and not at all representative of the alps that were to come. I should have done the fronts while my mind was working and not have struck out on the back straight away. Of course now I am back on course I am hamstrung by the lack of wool. I am considering doing a provisional cast on and knitting the fronts now, and then picking up the stitches and knitting the ribbing downwards with the new ball. Who knows what the dyelot will be? Something as far away as possible from what I have would be typical of my journey thus far!! So I am beetling (or Beatling) along on the back. Almost up to the point I reached twice, before the evil Team-of-Blocking-My-Progress struck. All I can say is thank goodness I don't have to appear in public in lycra. There would be a roaring trade in hot pokers with which to poke out one's eyes!!!

No wonder Harki looks thin in her video, she lost 1.5kg or 3 lbs 4oz last fortnight. Now I feel like such a bad mother, I think that's way too much for her to use though the Vet and Nurses were jubilant. This fortnight I am feeding her more food. Peri only lost 300g or about 10oz. This is because she stole a carton of real milk and drank it. Well I found the empty carton in the garage and no milk anywhere. They have been exceptionally happy and very playful and I think that is because they are hungry all the time and also more enthusiastic and not lazy couch potatoes!!! Harki won't put up with Peri stealing her toys and when I come home we have a big play instead of a food treat, I am their treat. With her new found fitness Harki runs up and down the hills in the bush and sometimes out of my sight. Luckily she comes whenever I call, well not luckily, she is just very clever. Peri is auditioning for being a leopard in The Lion King. She has rolled, selectively, in you-don't-want-to-know-what and given herself pongy green polka dots. They are even on her head. You can be sure this is when she will love you the most!!

The BlackSpot of Doomlight is having a sale so I have a new skirt pattern, a Suffolk Puff maker, and some wool that will be Guinea Pigs. I also managed to leave with my mind and body intact. Later on I was elsewhere in the queue to register my car, knitting away on the 'Too Much Sax and Violets On TV' sock,  when a lady called me over to be served quickly because I wasn't doing a licence transaction. Serendipity!!

Mr Madcage rang from the Southern Capital last week and now MrsDrWho and I are the proud owners of Gilmore Girls: Season 1 though 6. Season 7 wasn't there and wouldn't you know it's the one we need to finish watching?? The Southern Capital had snow this week, falling on the ground in the suburbs. The road to The Pinnacle was closed and the Midlands Highway too. No snow here but the night temperatures were in the minuses.

I would love write more, but it has taken an hour to upload the photos. I have The Broadband, though it is so slow I can't use the new ABC iview. So slow. PLUS The Typepad is still in Beta with the new compose. It would be quicker to write the post and paint the pictures and then send letters off in the mail at this rate. What an idea!!! Still, I am determined to reply to my giant backlog of comments. I know some people say not to worry, and I'm not worrying, I like to reply to my comments, I'm just slow!!

I'm thinking The X-Files movie this weekend. The Truth is Out There. Truly Ruly!!!

Run Away Runaway Jury*

I have had a Mental Health Week. I know most people have a Day but I needed a Week. I had some doctors' appointments and also I was summonsed to Jury Duty. The letter was very legal and threatening and it scared the willies out of me. I'm just not well enough to fulfil my civic duty, but in my usual panicked way I catastrophised!!! I had 7 working days to try and make appointments to see my specialist (luckily I already had one) and my GP (It wasn't an emergency so I couldn't see her till Friday) I was finally able to contact The Sheriff (of Nottingham) and his office was all sweetness and light and they took my name out of the box (???!!!) I still haven' t posted the forms off. I have to do it today when I go out. MrsDrWho had Parent -Teacher so she'll be leaving home today at 8am and not getting home till after 9pm. Unpaid overtime all this week, so I'm going to spend an hour or so with Cleo and Caramello at teatime and feed them and annoy them: Cuddle them A Lot!!!

I imagine my life as a graph, a line graph which potters along at 99% all the time and it doesn't take much to push me over the edge into a few days in bed with a migraine. I seem to have subsided below the critical level again for the time being!!!

There has been precious little knitting, whereas there had been an enormous amount of lying on the couch watching DVDs and eating out. I have re-knitted about 5 rows of the actual Stargate and I am marking the middle of the row with the one of the cute Dog stitch counters that someone lovely made for me!! The Stargate Cardi just isn't Knitting-Away-From-Home friendly. I cheered myself up by starting MrsDrWho's birthday socks : Sax and Violets. They are the Waving Lace socks from Interweave's Favourite Socks in gorgeous Crystal Palace Bamboo/Wool in Violets from Yarnomat. It is so soft and light and the pattern is a dream. Mind you, we were watching the last episodes of Stargate Season 9 (again) and I did the whole first repeat incorrectly and had to unravel it. 

Harki and Peri have been revelling in the Winter weather and they are happy to present their version af an Esther Williams Film: Dangerous When Wet!!! And you had better believe that it is very dangerous to be anywhere near a wet Labrador!! They shake like a very shaky thing.

They are also training for The Labrador Olympics and hurdling over the tree that fell over the walking track. They could be great Steeple-chasers!! Tomorrow they are off to The Vet to be weighed again. Fingers crossed!!!

Glenna posted some scone recipes and by coincidence I have had some scone photos sitting on my camera ready to be recipe-ed too. I made one basic mixture and then halved it to make two different kinds of scone: one savoury and one sweet!!

Cheesy Snails and Apple and Sultana Scones

• 4 cups self raising flour OR almost 4 cups of plain flour and 2 tablespoon baking powder
• 120g butter chopped

For the Savoury scones:

• 1 or 2 teaspoons of mustard. I like Hot English, but it's VERY hot
• 1 cup of grated cheese. I like a mixture of tasty and Parmesan
• snipped chives or parsley or even spring onions
• 1/2 cup milk

For the Sweet scones:

• an egg, whisked a little
• 2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 Granny Smith or cooking apple peeled and then diced quite small
• 60-80g sultanas
• 1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 200*C and line a tray with baking paper. Sift the flour into a bowl and rub the butter in with the fingertips. Shake the bowl slightly and any big lumps will come to the top. The mixture should look like breadcrumbs (they say!!)  Divide between 2 bowls.

To make the Savory scones: make a well in the centre and add the milk and mix with a knife until a slightly stick dough forms. You may need to add little extra milk, it depends on the flour and the atmospheric conditions!! Turn onto a floured surface and knead lightly then, making sure you always lightly re-flour everything, roll out into an A4 type rectangle about 1/2cm thick. Spread with the mustard and sprinkle over the cheese and herbs. With the long side facing, roll up the dough and seal the edge with a little milk. Use a sharp knife and cut off slices. Lie them on the tray and you can sprinkle them with a little extra cheese if you like. I made some without the chives as well.

To make the Sweet scones: add the sugar, sultanas and apple then make a well and add the milk and half of the egg. Mix to a dough and knead as before. Pat out into a rectangle about 3cm high and then cut with a knife to make scones. Place on the tray, close together and brush with a little egg and milk mixture and sprinkle with extra sugar.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Check after 10 and you may need to turn the tray around. Then eat. The Cheese scones are great as they are but the Apple and Sultana are delicious with  lemon curd and marscapone.

 

*Monty Python and John Cusack!!!

Faux Paw

No knitting again yesterday. I did use the short amount of time I was up wisely: I found the other big ball of Bendigo. It was attached to the knitting in the bag. Sigh. So you can just see the bottom curve of the Stargate itself starting to form. I am now a bit worried I will need extra wool. It took 2x50g balls for each sleeve, and I reckon it will take more to do a front than that. It will now be a race against the wool, rather than the clock.

Peri's sock didn't stay on her little foot today. I didn't get up for very long yesterday so I didn't buy any keeping-a-sock-on-tape. So in her special collage you can see a sock on, a sock coming off, a sock off and how Peri feels about the whole Sock Off thing!!!!

 

Harki ran up the hills and down towards the gorge, and now she is always very hungry she keeps 'Coming' even when I don't call her, just in case I have a treat!!!

Here is The Madonna Hat I made for MrsDrWho. I think it is the Vogue Wide Brimmed Hat from their 25th Anniversary Issue. It has a casing inside where the brim joins the crown. You pick up 72 stitches and knit 4 rows stocking stitch and then you knit the live stitches from the brim and the casing together. It is fiddly and tricky but not hard. Needless to say, as I knit so tightly, the hat isn't floppy enough to warrant any elastic through the casing. MrsDrWho said that it is there if the hat ever stretches. I would knit another one of these, it would be much easier without the casing.

Et, alors!! my Amuse Oreille: The Doctor Who Talking Keyring. It is very amusing, it has 6 sounds, including The TARDIS, K9, Daleks and Cybermen. I love it and if only it had a place to keep my licence I would use it everyday. We need to carry our Driving Licence with us at all driving times and I don't always take a purse with me so my keycase has a place to keep my Licence.

You're So Rain, You Probably Think This Song Is About You.

It has been raining. Really raining. Raining for 48 hours. It's not that we don't need the rain, but did we have to get a month's worth in two days??? Everything feels wet and soggy and The poor Labradors, who are apparently made from sugar, won't go outside in case they melt. Instead, while I was out, they had a biscuit party. They are organic biscuits and must not be very tasty because there were some left in the box.

They are quite happy to go for a walk in the rain and play in the little creeks and puddles though, as these pictures show.

I have a new cookbook,  the AWW's One Pot. I just made the Creamy Chicken and Vegetable Casserole. It is soooo delicious!! I'll take a picture tomorrow. What is even better is that the chicken was incorrectly priced and it was FREE. I only wanted to pay the correct price and be refunded the difference, but it was FREE. I used thigh cutlets and just stripped the cooked meat from the small bones. 

Now here is a picture for Day to Day's son, StarWarsBoy. It is too dark to take a proper photo, but next time I post, I'll open these up and you can see what's inside!! It is a sad, but true, fact that I chose the colours for my loungeroom based on a Star Wars framed print.

   

I am making a scarf for WWKIP which is at the QVMAG on Saturday. People may, or may not, knit some of the scarf. I have wound up little balls for this Fibonacci scarf and if they don't knit any rows I'll finish it. We are donating the scarves to a charity. I've also, with MrsDrWho's assistance, made some cards to hand out with some handy information for knitters, or would-be knitters.

I am having Picture Insertion issues today. They can only be on the left, not wrapped, and there is a script running. I have no idea what this means. I have also bitten my tongue. It really hurts.

Tomorrow I am helping MrsDrWho cook a birthday cake and then there will be an outing to a Greek restaurant. I went to the BSODL (TM) today because they rang to tell me that a pattern I ordered in Summer had arrived. When I arrived there the pattern had departed, mysterously. They asked me all sorts of questions about it, but I had already abandoned all hope. I bought some Vintage Hues. I bought and opened some short 6.5mm needles and knitted while I waited. I waited so long I had to claim my Golden Parking Token and move the car. I didn't cry though!!!

I've been reading my Doctor Who books, I read three the other day and I have three more to pick up soon. Hope to watch some more of the new season of Doctor Who before school goes back too!!!

Elizabeth Aaaaaargh

Nothing as wonderful as Glenda Jackson in the eponymous mini-series, but we do have a holiday today for E2R's birthday. I am of course philosophically opposed to a holiday for the monarch of another country's birthday, and also the honours when they go to people like the ex-PM. I can't think of anything he did that I, as an Australian, am proud of. I vote all volunteers and carers and the like get awards, not people who are awarded for the jobs they are paid to do, and nothing more.

I am not an iron woman in the usual sense of the word, but MrsDrWho will affirm that I am more than slightly addicted to ironing my fabric stash!!! There is nothing I enjoy more than taking the freshly washed fabric and ironing it smooth and then folding it and pressing in the creases and stacking it up. I abhor any other ironing, but can while away a happy hour at the ironing board, with The Labradors looking on, ironing my fabric.

The Labradors stared me into an extra walk this week. I was moving books in a box to the back of the car and they stood at the gate and looked at me with their big pleading eyes and cried pitifully. I took them for a walk!!!

 

The run to the gate and wait for me to open it, and then we're off. Today there were flocks of black cockatoos, squawking and swooping. I was worried they might swoop down and carry Peri away because she was most interested. MrsDrWho said it would take a whole lot of pterodactyls to carry Peri away. She is a cruel and unnatural aunt. Harki explores up hill and down dale, jumping over branches and through the grass.

When we get home, Peri needs a big nap, and she has started to steal my spot on the couch.....

I am knitting and sewing at the moment but I am working on Belafonte ( the Dayflower Lace Scarf ) My friend, Mrs Mauritius, thought she had lost the chocolate coloured Zhivago Branching Out I knitted for her, but she found it at her mum's. I am knitting her a new scarf as an early birthday present. It is quite good TV knitting, as long as I tick off the rows as I go. I can see there is a rhythm to the pattern in the chart, but I need to check each row if I'm watching Stargate at the same time!!! This is definitely going to need some serious blocking.

Last night I watched Persuasion. P&P is definitely my favourite Austen, but this adaptation has moved Persuasion up to equal second alongside Sense and Sensibility. Next week it's Northanger Abbey and then Billie Piper (Rose from Docotor Who) is Fanny in Mansfield Park in the last week. The six books and another docudrama are being shown as The Jane Austen Season in the USA, but we won't see P&P or S&S or the doco. I must say that Persuasion was awash with emotion and Rupert Penry-Jones makes me swoon!!

This afternoon I am off, as Avon would say, to visit a sick friend. (I have been reading my Blake's 7 episode guide in bed this weekend.) And then I hope to do some embroidery. Tomorrow I am having lunch with both The Knitting Coven and my Sewing Group at the same time in the same place - It's all very sitcom!!!

Oh, and I can't add Categories today. Typepad had decided I can't see them, let alone select any.

Next day: there are  Categories, all of them, not just the ones I have selected. Beggars can't be choosers though!!!

It's TypePad, Bad, Leroy Brown, Baddest Man in the Whole Damn Town

So I sat at my computer two nights ago, yesterday and this morning trying to upload my post and pictures. I keep getting error messages. Typepad had updated their Compose page which means that something that worked perfectly well before, now had a bazillion bugs for me and won't work properly. I tried to ask for Help, but they're not playing (they might be now): They're from Typepad and they're not here to help and there's not a cheque in the mail!!! The BlackSpot of Doomlight is also enhancing their system which means it takes at least twice as long to transact a purchase. I know I have to move with the times but I  wish times would slow, ever so slightly.

Here's a helpful tip: Don't spill a whole cup of tea into your shoe while you are wearing said shoe. Just saying, it's not a worthwhile experience.

After such a long time I am finally feeling better and back to the real world, though I seem to have passed on my cold to other people!!! I think I have pretty much managed to reply to all my very kind comments but I still have so many posts from other people to catch up on. The weather has been wonderfully warm and sunny and even rainy. Harki and Peri love the temperate climes. It is the perfect weather for walking in the morning, lying in the Sun in the afternoon and then snuggling up on the couch in the evening. At home they have been paying long games of Tug-of-War and generally running about a lot in and out, up and down. Finally they are so exhausted they go straight to sleep and Harki snores!!! Peri sleeps on the ottoman, on which she barely fits, but is determined to do so. She takes her Trophy of The Games with her.

Last Saturday we has our second Ravelry Outing. Some knitters dressed for Winter but it was actually so warm they sweltered. Such fun was had and I met some blogging friends in real life: Hi SlimSuzi!! I have been knitting my Diamonds in the Stream socks, in fact I have finished one and started the other. I also knitted a One Row Pattern scarf in some gorgeous green handspun alpaca. It is perfect and I have worn it a lot. I sat on the couch and watched Dexter while I knitted. Dexter is weirdly good, but might be too confronting for those of a delicate nature, of which I am obviously not!! I also, shock/horror, cut off the GiTNEB's buttonband and reknitted it with my favourite buttonholes and I also made it just a tad wider. Now my happiness is complete!!!

In political news, Big Red has resigned and we have a new Fearless Leader . I am not sure about him yet, though he has decided not to fund Gunn's Boogelly Pulp MIll PipeLine. The ANZ has also decided not to fund The Mill itself. Well done ANZ!!!

MrsDrWho and I have pushed our cinematic viewing experience boundary by going to the pictures twice in a fortnight!!! We saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I went along not expecting very much and so I was pleasantly surprised to find myself having a good time. It is no Citizen Kane, or even Citizen Indiana, but it is a good finale to the series. There's humour, adventure, scary bits, snappy dialogue, some fantastic chase sequences and great 'in' jokes for those in the know. I reckon I liked Iron Man better. We have some more films to see: The Chronicles of Narnia-Prince Caspian, The X-Files 2 and another one, maybe The Dark Knight?? I have only seen the first Batman movie, and to be frank, I liked the camp TV series best. I also have to confess I have never seen The Princess Bride. According to MrsDrWho this makes me a Film Barbarian!!!

Thank you to Inkberryblue who's awarded me this. I don't ever think my life is really interesting, I just potter along, but I am glad my wittering on is able to amuse and entertain others!!!

I love Amy Johnson. Amy Johnson is delicious, and no, I haven't suddenly turned cannibal, Amy Johnson is a delicious slice from The Olden Days. You never see a recipe for Amy Johnson anymore, or even the slice itself. I baked Amy Johnson for MrsDrWho, and one bite was enough to bring childhood memories flooding back. My nan would always cook Amy Johnson slice (going for the World's Record in Amy Johnson mentions here!!) for us. It is not too rich, so you can eat quite a few pieces if you want to. And it is one of the things I do want!!! Here's the recipe. It has a few parts and steps, but it is quite easy and definitely worth the effort!!!

Amy Johnson Slice

Pastry Base

• 1 cup of self raising flour
• 2 tbspn butter
• a little milk

• about a cup of dark jam: raspberry, blackberry, whatever
• 1 or 2 cups of currants

Cake Layer

• 135g butter
• 135g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 tbspn milk
• 1 tspn vanilla extract
• 225g self raising flour

Icing

• juice of a lemon
• 500g icing sugar
• a little hot water

Preheat the oven to 180*C and grease and line a lamington tray ( or any tray approximately 30 x 25 x 3 cm) with baking paper.

To make the pastry, rub the butter into the flour and then mix in enough milk to make a dough, not too sticky. Knead lightly and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Then roll out on a floured surface until quite thin and cover the base of the tray. Thin is good, I even had a little dough left over. You can cut and paste to fit, it is the base after all!!

Spread the jam evenly over the base and then scatter the currants generously over the jam in a Nigella kind of way.

Next, the cake layer. Cream the butter and sugar, add the eggs one at a time, and the vanilla, and then fold in the flour and milk. You may need to add a little extra milk to make the mixture easier to spread. I used the back of a big Ruth-like spoon dipped into a cup of boiling water to spread it evenly. It works really well.

Bake for 35-45 minutes..You will know it is cooked when the top springs back and is golden brown. It will also come away from the side of the tin. Make the icing and spread over the cooled slice and then cut into small pieces. It makes a lot. Then eat it. Yum!!!

And The Company Jumps, When We Play Ravelry

There was no Boogie-Woogie on Saturday, not even any Rum and CocaCola, but the company was delightful. The Northern Apple Islanders had a Ravelry meet up at Blue. We were all so excited, well I was so excited that Kate who'd ratherbeknitting* had left by the time I took the picture!! So the Ravellers are, from the left: MrsDrWho, Shrekgirl63*, AmandaJ, Magdalena* , Katt and Sharon. [* Ravelry Link] We were all so excited that we plan to meet again in three weeks for some more Ravelry!! Amanda made me a giant brooch, well actually it's Cuzmo [whom I want to call Cuzco] a Knitted Babe, and he matches my new Cardigan. He is lovely and came with a wonderful letter warning of the ill effects of Labradors on a Knitted babe!! Here he is, pinned safely to the corkboard above my computer, like a green guardian angel. Amanda was right: Harki and Peri did want him. They wanted him a lot!!! Thank you Amanda, and rest assured while he has a holey head, at least he's not holey all over!!

I started some new socks at the meet up, but I unravelled them after the gusset decreases because my high instep refused to fit. I have started them three times, and the third time's the charm: Diamonds in the Stream. [I sing along to Dolly and Kenny in my mind] The wool is from the Wonderful Katie at Live2Knit and it's Rita dyed in the 2paw colour!! I wanted to highlight the colours and so I needed an expanse of stocking stitch, but I still wanted a pattern. I have ladders through my purls. I don't have ladders through my knits. I hope they block out. This wool is so nice to knit with, it's delicious. I'm using 2.25mm and 72 stitches and doing my usual sock thing.

MrsDrWho and I went to the pictures to see Iron Man on Friday night. Excellent film!! Well we thought so, and so did the rest of the cinema-goers who were geeky boys. I think we may have been the only females there. I'm up for comic genre films, happy to give them a go, and I need to see this again. Two hours and twelve minutes and I didn't want to check the time once. Lots of nice Robert Downey Jr muscled arms and a plot that didn't let up for a second. Stay till after the credits. We did, and so did five other males. Does no-one else check out the Internet before they go to the pictures to see if it's worth sitting through the credits???

I have been buying myself some Fat Quarters as they take my fancy. I am going to do some sewing (See Katt and Sharon!!) and not all for me, obviously, as they are not all green!! I am attached to them though.

After our walk this morning we were quite late, it was almost time for Elevenses when we came home. I bought some yummy French Earl Grey tea from Tonic, good sourdough rye from the bakery and some Chilli Salami from the deli at the trendy shop at the corner. My teapot has lost it's little knob and I was at a bit of a loss and then I did some Girls' Carpentry and found a nice green wooden bead and Voila, it's fixed!!!I didn't eat and drink at the same sitting, the one would have destroyed the taste of the other, but Harki and Peri really wanted some salami. I offered them bread. See what happened. The slight shaking is when I laughed!! We do 'Sit and Wait' but this time they were taking it way too seriously......

Now my blog is sidey-waysie, Toni doesn't like it. I'm not sure, I put all the 'business things' at the right and the reading at the left. I'm not sure I don't want to have it symmetrical again. It is ever so slightly weird.......

We-e-e-e-ear: Is Love?

Does it come from skies above? No, The Love comes from my Green Is The New Black (Ravelry link) cardigan. It is so warm and soft and it fits really well. I sewed on the buttons this morning and I have had it on and off all day. On and off because it is so warm and it's just not really cold enough yet to wear it. I will persevere though!!! The GITNeB, or Basic Black Cardigan by Glenna, knitted on 4.5mm needles in Grundl Dolce. It is variegated greens and so it goes with everything.

I sewed up the fronts and back in less than an hour last week: far less time than I expected. I put it off, and it wasn't as bad as I anticipated at all. In the meantime I finished the Harry Hat (Country Silk) and the It Ain't Half Hot socks (Buttons) for my mum and posted them off. I loved knitting the hat and  the socks took just two separate days to knit. Harry is modelled by MrsDrWho. It was either her, or my round sewing basket balanced on top of The BareNaked Lady. I wanted to buy my mum Sally Wise's new book: A Year in a Bottle, but it hasn't been published yet. The Saturday morning radio announcer raised my hopes that it would be available for Mothers' Day and Agfestm but alas my hopes were dashed. Luckily my mum is fine with delayed present gratification!!!

Harki and Peri just love the cooler weather. They are off up the side of hills, and down the face of almost-cliffs and there are so many new smells and things to see. We met Chocko and Jessie/Jazzie, not sure which is right, and their mum today and Peri was so excited. She ran about with the two other dogs, around in circles and even off up the track with them. Harki is less effusive and likes to keep an eye on things. Just when I thought Peri was going to run away with the other dogs, back she came at top speed, ready for a big pat and a treat!!!  They have some new Kangaroo/Lamb treats from MrsDrWho and they will turn inside out to earn one.

I went to MrsDrWho's classroom this week to help make Mothers' Day gifts. We made mobile phone covers from felt, decorated them, and added a drawstring to the top. You can see some of the finished ones here. The children are quite well behaved and have learned from Easter time how to thread a needle and tie a knot in the end!! I came home and sat on the couch and I was totally overcome with tiredness. My head kept dropping and I could barely keep my eyes open. I had to go straight to bed for a long nap. I am feeling quite well, for me, at the moment and I have to be careful not to do too much. I am wont to try, and then I am worn out!!!

I am Apron Sewing Along, with Sew Mama Sew.  They call it a smock, but it is an apron to me. I have  cut out the paper pattern and Harki has surveyed it for me, making sure everything is A-OK, and it is!! I have to choose some green material and then sew away!! This will be the third apron I have sewn this year and I saw there are patterns on sale at The  BlackSpot of Doomlight, so I might buy a new apron pattern next week.

There has been much loud machinery noise lately. I looked out the window and I saw giant machines working across the highway. The area was once marshland, covered in bulrushes. Vundy and Tori would run and leap through the stalks and get all wet and smelly when we went for a walk. The Council has been filling the area with the silt dredged from the river. You can see how awful the river is: so narrow in the middle and then all choked with silt. No-one wants to accept responsibility for fixing the problem, so they fiddle while the river dies. It is also very smelly, though we can't smell it way up here. The big machines drone up and down and raise and lower their appendages. I will be glad when they stop.

This weekend there's an exciting Ravelry meet up here in town, and MrsDrWho and I may occasion the cinema and Iron Man!!! Now it is very dark and I am off to watch Friends, the expurgated version, and knit the back ribbing for my Chappa'ai cardigan, I am alternating with The Pop Tartigan to save my shoulder muscles, and I'll wait impatiently for The State Within.

People Will See Me And Cry:Flame!

I am in a state of ambivalence. When I was teaching The Olympics was a time for celebration, excitement, lots of interesting research and often our own Olympics with fun events. This year I am not so sure. This year we have the official Chinese pale-blue track-suited flame 'attendants'. This year the flame has more security measures than APEC. This year we have actual violence against spectators and non-violent protesters for Tibet. This year the gloss of the Olympics seems to have been tarnished. This year I am not sure whether I will watch the Olympics, or if I do watch, will I enjoy myself?  In other Flame related pondering: Yesterday was ANZAC Day, and though it is good and proper that we remember the past and honour the people, we apparently don't learn from History. 93 years later and we are involved in an illegal war. Happily the troops will be home soon. And then some Happy Labradors on their way somewhere to cheer you up!!!

There are no such doubts about my knitting. I have finished the Ing Time socks. I actually finished them last night but I grafted the toe this morning. Very happy with them, the fabric of the knitting is very smooth and even though the 'speckly' bits have made different spiral pattern on each sock, I am not too concerned!!! The Ing Time socks on 4mm needles using 2 balls of Buttons wool. They are just a basic 44 stitch top down sock to fit a 30cm foot.

I have started The Pop Tartigan for MrsDrWho. The first sleeve is complete. I am making up the pattern as I go using the Ann Budd Book of Sweaters. I like doing this as I can really personalise the Tartigan. I am using black Jet for the bands and Moda-Dea Vixen in Licorice Whip for the body. It knits up quite quickly, I knitted 40 rows watching Pie in the Sky . My imaginary wool from Bendigo turned up. It took a whole week. Three 200g balls of Classic 8ply in Mid green for The Chappa-ai Cardigan which will feature a Stargate on the back!! I showed such self -restraint (again) by starting The Pop Tartigan first!!!

Yesterday there was a mini Knitting occasion!! Amanda , and Kate and her family, and I met in town for a cup of tea, a few rows of knitting and a good catch up. How lovely to see everyone. Kate gave me a Spring Arbour patterned face cloth which I haven't used yet!! I am looking forward to it though. I saw her Jacobean socks and some other projects too. Amanda had her socks on two circular needles and reminded me that it was 10 years ago that we first met in my classroom. My . how time flies!! Soon they were all gone but there's talk of more catching up soon: Amanda has tasked me with the organisation!!

This morning we went for our walk and saw a rock. Yes, it's the same rock we see every time but today it was imbued with special Rock Powers that needed about 5 minutes of concentrated sniffing!! On the way home we rescued Muffy and his two Humans. Their car was stopped and I saw in my mirror that they were pushing it. I reversed to see if there was anything I could do (Ha!! Like I know anything about cars or could push with any force!!) And so they availed themselves of a jump start. Muffy was a bit grumpy at first, but then had a nice pat and a treat from my pocket. Harki and Peri had extra pats from the Humans and were very excited.

Later Peri went to have her stitches out. Was she apprehensive or tentative?? NO, she was not. She made long noises of excitement and was too overwhelmed to drop and roll over. In the end, I supported her head and the Doctor 'gently' pulled her legs out from under her. Then she kept very still and calm while her stitches were whipped out. What a good girl. I bumped my neck in the process though!!

On a Jennifer Fallon note, I have it on good authority that she is writing a pentalogy. I of course realised this as I got closer and closer to the end, thinking all the time, 'Wow, she's really going to have to wrap this up quickly.'  Well it does mean I have two more books to look forward to!!

Now I'm off to have lunch with MrsDrWho and Mrs House Of.........

The Lady's Not For Turning Straps

How cute it would be, I thought, if Peri could sit outside in the Sun, with a little sign that said 'Thank You' and I could take a photograph and everyone would go 'Awww'. Right, like that was ever going to happen. Peri is feeling almost back to normal: she is playing rowdy games with Harki (who loves her and is very tolerant!!), she is stealing the newspaper and trying to escape out the back gate at every opportunity. She is back to being Peri Naughty. The only reminder apart from her stitches, and I have restrained myself from posting a picture of her belly, is that she tends to sit down a little gingerly. That's it. Everyone's kind wishes, thoughts and virtual pats and kisses passed on with enthusiasm have obviously done the trick!!! We are very lucky.

The enforced sabbatical at home (and here I wonder can you actually have a sabbatical at home if you are always at home anyway??) has led to some more sewing and knitting. I made another Lotta Apron, this time for MrsDrWho, from some vintage (and this sounds so much better than old, I think) fabric given to me by Cathy. I added a pocket and I think I have mastered the strap length. This apron is hot, and I don't mean hot in the 'oh it's the man from Burn Notice, he's really hot' kind of way. No, I mean the added two layers of fabric in the apron make it almost too hot to wear!! It's definitely a Winter Apron. The fact that I am not for turning straps led me to make a Pointy Strap Tutorial. You can find it in the side bar under My Patterns. It is but a small and whimsical thing, yet I like it!! It is my first photo tutorial foray!!!

The next sewing projects will be fixing the zip in MrsDrWho's handbag and sewing myself a Lotta backpack from the lovely Dog fabric LoopyLouey sent in my Bag Swap parcel. It is drying outside now and as soon as I have posted I will make the pattern pieces.

I started the first Ing Time birthday sock for Mr Madcage and you can probably guess his first name!!! It is a quick knit from 8ply Buttons on 4mm needles and 44 stitches. It grew very fast as I knitted away in waiting rooms this past week. No other socks for me as yet, and no Bendy wool has appeared so I'm wondering if I did order some, or I'm just delusional!!!   

I do have a new cooking magazine: the AWW published a Christmas edition last year and that was quite good. This Winter one has a delicious Moroccan soup with chick peas and lamb that I will cook tomorrow. Also Chile Con Carne with Corn Dumplings and Pea and Prosciutto pasta. Y.U.M. And there is a whole chocolate section.

Right now I am reading the final book in Jennifer Fallon's Tide Lord series: The Palace of Impossible Dreams. It has many story lines happening simultaneously, and they get a chapter each, concurrently. It hate it, she leaves you with a cliffhanger ending and then it's off to another character. I am rationing myself to make the pleasure last as long as possible!!!