oPam's Labyrinth

Before OPAM, a quick thank you to my mum, MrsDrWho and all the other kind people who said that my sore, swollen throat was just that, not anything more horrible. I have some antibiotics to take and must keep up my rest and fluid intake. Ordinary healthy people would have been fine, but I need a boost for my poorly immune system. I should start feeling better anon. I have to wait two more hours till I can take my first tablet. So no Trivia for me tonight. Last week I won The Baffler, which is a Bottle of Wine voucher. Here are the four clues, there are two more but I guessed after these:

I am a liquid.

I may have an odour.

If you forget me there may be some damage.

My number is important to you.

I'll put the answer at the very end of the post.

Another One Project a Month post, the eighth!! My goal this month was to draft a pattern and sew a skirt. I achieved my goal. I drafted the pattern on Saturday and sewed my skirt on Sunday.

I always face the top, rather than use a waistband, but after a little while the zipper stop stops working so I added a rouleau loop and I have to find a button with a shank or make a shank for an ordinary one, and that should keep it fastened. My new machine sews beautifully, I had a minor malfunction at the start of the zip, but I am too lazy to fix it right now.

My skirt is for Self Stitched September, henceforth known as SSS. I have some more fabric ready to sew, I just have to cut out and whizz it up on the machine. I must also finish The TARDIS scarf, my Ducky Socks and catch up on embroidering dates and sewing my Coin Quilt strips for August.

I am on the look out for new green Summer shoes. It is almost eleven years since I had to leave work and so gradually my shoes have gone to the great shoebox in the sky, with few opportunities for green replacements.

Peri and Lorelai Gilmore have been posing especially for pictures on my blog. Peri is still looking slim, and she hadn't rolled in anything smelly before this picture. For which my nose is grateful!!

Lorelai Gilmore is just looking so gorgeous and so lovely!! She's getting to be such a big good girl now, a little less of a puppy. Which I am strangely sad about, because I do prefer Big Dogs!!

My new beaters arrived, courtesy of George, and as soon as I am feeling better I shall email him. 

Oh, I have remembered the thing I wanted to share: Fi at InkberryBlue has designed her own crocheted fingerless mittens. They are called What The Dickens!! Meet them and make them!!

Now I am off to the couch with my hot water bottle and little quilt till 9-10pm when I can take my drugs and then go to bed. I've already been to bed for most of the day. I did take The Labradors for their walk, I trudged along and the gambolled through the bush, and I went to the doctor.

It's raining again, so if The GardyGardeners come tomorrow, I shall send them home with yesterday's cake!! Other than that, I plan to rest and wear things I've stitched in some way, shape or form. I expect I shall be posting every day to share what I have/am/will be wearing. Gird your loins, as I shall be girding mine!!

The Baffler Answer is: Sunscreen.

When The Vote Comes In

So, the votes are in but probably won't be finally counted until two weeks from now. There will have to be some kind of deal made between a major party and Independents. No-one has a majority. It will be a long wait to find who will be in charge of our Federal Government. In our Island State 1 in 5 people voted Green, so I am in good company. The Best Company came with me to vote. We parked a way down the road after our walk and then there were all the front yards to peer into and nature strips to smell. Peri and Gilly looked a bit worried that I would disappear into the room and never come out!! They are so cute and Peri is a bit drippy after her dip in the creek. What lovely girls they are!!!

Meanwhile, I have been cooking!! Uncle and Auntie Dutch gave me some biscuit cutters.

I went to MrsRosenberg's house for Morning Tea and I was already making some heart shaped Kiss Biscuits, so I made Uncle and Aunty Dutch some as well, with silvery 100s and 1000s. The Labradors also benefited with some wholemeal carrot and honey biscuits shaped like bones and hydrants and some that snap in two. I cooked some sticky pork ribs, and though they are tasty, I think I like crispy crackling better. 

My first Garden embroidery is still a work in progress but I picked up buttons #2 and #3 on Friday.

And the lovely lady at Esme's made me a green cupcake of Fat Eighths!!

Uncle Dutch's scarf is coming along nicely, I am half way through the second ball of wool.

MrsDrWho and I went to The BlackSpot Of Doomlight (tm) to use their Spend $100, get $40 rebate voucher. I bought some lovely green fabric to make a skirt for OPAM and Self Stitched September. We also purchased zips, Heat'n'Bond, cotton and wool. Tomorrow I am off to spend my voucher on cotton batting for quilts. 

My Frozen shoulder is playing up again today, and my neck as well, so I am planning to take up residence on the couch and watch Tom Hanks' film Big, and then have an early night.  After all, I have Monday Munchies tomorrow.

Special thanks to Leonie who helped me fix my 'ahve' dictionary problem Hurray!!!

I have a mind like a sieve at the moment, I am sure I was going to post about something, I promised I would, and now I have forgotten again. TARDIShcloth I made for Linda at TwoPinkPossums?? (Her photo!! Thanks Linda!!)

OPAM Shut Them, Open Shut Them, Give A Little Clap!

The Puppy Gloves are complete. They were actually complete on Friday but I just haven't got around to posting them. I also didn't want to wear them walking until I had a fairly clean and tidy photo, so I am looking forward to warm fingers tomorrow morning!! These are my seventh OPAM project. I made two pairs, one for MrsGardyGardener and one for me.

Mine are knitted on 3.75mm dpns and I knitted the smallest size with the middle size length options. I also made the fingers much longer again. I used Zara Extra fine Merino wool. I love the colour. I think they are expensive gloves without fingertips, they cost $27, but then I'm worth it!! I used the Bhren's free pattern again.

They need a wear and a wash to make the ladders in the cuffs settle down, but other than that, they are perfect: the fit, the colour, the scrumptious warmth. Perfect!!

For my August OPAM, I will be sewing. I will be sewing at least one skirt. I will have to sew more than that because I have signed up for Self Stitched September. I was thirteenth. I must have had a rush of blood to my head. The rules state that you should endeavour to wear something you have stitched every day in September. Doesn't have to be a new thing every day. It can be knitted, crocheted, embroidered, woven, sewn, even refashioned or maybe jewellery. I am going to exploit the rules to their very length, breadth and width, but I do need a few skirts. I think September will be warm enough for me to wear some Spring skirts. We'll see!! 

And now the Labradors. Peri has been having a wonderful time on our walks in the rain and mud. She is so happy her tail swishes with joy quite a lot of the way. I'm sure that's how she burned off those two kilograms!!!

Lorelai Gilmore, who added two kilograms but that is OK because she is still growing, often wonders where Peri goes to roll in all that wonderful smelly stuff. Somewhere up this hill??? (Yes)

I have finally caught up on answering all my comments- from four months ago, way back when Harki died. It was lovely to look at her pictures and see how happy she was. The GardyGardeners planted a rose for Harki in my garden: Gold Bunny. It is a bush rose with lots of big, double yellow roses. I can see it from my front window with the three other roses. They only stopped blooming a few months ago, and any day now new shoots will start appearing.

Last night our Trivia team went out for burgers with our vouchers. I had a chicken burger, with a grilled chicken breast, egg, Cos lettuce and other yummy bits and bobs and two quite nice cups of tea.Today I had a long breakfast with The Dutches, and I took Brunchy Frittata, some special chocolate biscuits and a mud cake to say thank you to The Uncles for putting my oven in. Baby Electric was there and she momentarily wore her hat!! She is so cute!!! I had a big catch up nap this afternoon, and I am longing to start my Garden Patch embroidery but I think I should wait till I am wide awake tomorrow!!

I Said My, My, My, I'm Once Mitten, Twice Shy, Babe!!

Ta Da!!! I have finished the Smittens. I like them so much I am making myself some Smittens for my July OPAM. I used the Bhren's pattern, which is free. I knitted the smallest size with Helix 8ply and 4mm needles. I did make the fingers all longer with ribbing but next time I am going to knit and just have two or three rounds of ribbing at the top.

Here is the start of my first mitten, as yet un-named. I am using  Zara Merino, in green and on 3.75mm because I want them to be more dense and the knitted fabric to be finer. This sounds like a contradiction in terms, but I know what I mean.

It has been so wet recently, that we are inside most of the day. On Sunday we don't walk and so today there has been the unexpected opening and distribution of a box of tissues (guess who??) and a lot of manic leaping about inside. Peri prefers to nap, on the couch, under a blanket. Peri is sensible, she sits outsde in the Sun.

But Lorelai Gilmore says, in the rain today, "Nothing to see here, move along"....

"Nothing to see here at all, really...".

But when I go up the stairs I can see that my attempt to stop her digging a hole in the mud has failed. Dismally. She's just made a little paddle pool for the lemon and lemon juice to float in. 

She is slowly, but surely, whittling away the grass and making mud. I will have to plant something there, but I have no idea what. What grows in muddy, lemony puddles??? You may be sure that the inside of the house is muddy too.

I popped into Knits, Needles and Woo (not a typo, their sign at the entrance to the arcade displayed this for so long that the name has stuck) to buy the Zara and I saw this lovely wool:

It is the same wool I used for MrsDrWho's socks and I am considering the greens on the right, there"s a bright green and one with more teal. A cardigan I think!! Of course first I have to finish my Stargate Cardigan and that's next after my OPAM mittens.

I have been proof reading some reports today, thus far I have read twelve and now I have a slight headache from concentrating on something important!! I'll have a cup of tea and maybe a nap before Little Dorrit tonight. The Labradors have woken up and are in desperate need of pats and cuddles!! I must oblige them immediately!!!!

Such A Dazzling Vote Of Many Colours

I hadn't thought that people from other political systems might not know how our Westminster system works. We have three tiers of Government: Local, State and Federal. This is about the Federal  system. Here is an explanation, of sorts.

Our Federal Parliament is bicameral: two houses.

The House of Representatives is the Lower house and all the States and Territories are divided into Single Member Electorates containing roughly the same amount of voters. Tasmania has fewer people and so fewer members than NSW, for example. The political party with the most members in the Lower House forms Government and this party elects the Prime Minister from amongst their number. The Lower House alone can introduce Money Bills and that is why the PM is there. Apparently!!

The Senate is the Upper house and is basically a house of review. Each State has the same number of Senators, 6, and the Territories have 2 each. The Senate can block the Supply of Money bills.

The ALP has the numbers in the Lower House right now, but the Liberals plus some Green/Independent have the numbers in the Upper House. So that makes for some 'fun' times.

The voters do not have a direct vote for the Prime Minister, unlike the Presidential elections in the USA. Although many campaigns here are Presidential in style, it is up to the winning party to elect their leader, who then becomes the PM. That's why our PM can be peremptorily changed over night: the party in Government can just vote in a new PM.

Thank your lucky stars I don't have the inclination to explain the Hare-Clark system our state uses!!

OPAM time is here again: One Project A Month. Magically, my mittens have transmogrified themselves into an Eyelet Cowl for MrsDrWho's birthday. It is from Vogue Knitting (Designer Knitting here now) and I used one whole ball of Bendigo Luxury plus a little 8ply to finish the last few cast off stitches and the drawstring. I used a  5mm circular needle. I cast on 102 stitches instead of 90 rather than use 5.5mm needles. 5mm really are my comfort limit. It is so, so, sunny that it is hard to take a photo, so this is just to be going on with. Oh I have named this George Cowley!!!

I also finished MrsDrWho's socks. I have walked around with one sock looking for its pair to no avail. I know there are two but I can only ever find ONE. So I have named these the Mr Spiggott Socks. I based these on the Thuja pattern and just knitted a K2 P2 rib. At the heel I juggled the stitches so the top of the foot would have a K2, P2...K2 set up. I used almost one ball of Naturally Loyal 8ply for each sock. Again, this is just a photo to be going on with until I locate the other sock. I am sure it is staring me in the foot...

This week I have been Rip van Winkly: I slept in till 10-35 on Monday morning, on Tuesday I didn't even get out of bed apart from feeding The Labradors until late afternoon and Wednesday I plonked myself on the couch until tea time. Today The Labradors had a lovely walk, it wasn't raining like Monday or Wednesday, but there were plenty of puddles and little extra creeks.

And here's a close up:

The Australian Women's Weekly has a list of their Top Ten Cakes and I am thinking of having a little bake-a-thon of them over the next few weeks. Here is the list:

1. White Chocolate Mud Cake
2. Lemon Sour Cream Cake
3. Raspberry Hazelnut Cake
4. Mississippi Mud Cake
5. Strawberry Hazelnut Gateau (MrsDrWho prefers raspberry)
6. Moist Coconut Cake with coconut icing
7. Tiramisu Torte
8. Grand Marnier Fruit Cake (Hmm maybe closer to Christmas??)
9. Black Forest Cheesecake
10. Pistachio Buttercake with orange honey syrup (no honey for MrsDrWho though)

I like a list to work my way through and the Gentle Readers like step by step photos too, which is not a problem!!

I am going to have another nap soon because tonight it is Knitting Dining Out!! I must organise some knitting to take with me, maybe my mittens which are now for July.

As it is the start of a New Year (albeit financial) I have decided to start my new quilt. For quite a long time this will mean sewing one rectangular piece of fabric to the previous day's piece: day by day. Obviously there's not much to see today so I'll post a photo tomorrow. Maybe!!

Oh and I forgot to show my new cardigan. Mrs Valley found it Garage Sale-ing. It is a lovely Granny Smith apple green and matches my new top perfectly. It is very lovely and I have worn it every day. Best of all, it cost Two Dollars, yes $2!! I am very lucky. Mr and Mrs Valley also gave me a set of Jamie Oliver DVDs and some lovely lavender soap that is gentle on my skin. Happy days!!!

The World's Mine Oyster, Which I With Sword Will OPAM*

So a little late, but here is my May Finished Item for OPAM. I finished it early and then with my cold, forgot to post. I have now added links to each month's finished items in the sticky OPAM post at the top.

I wanted to use all the fabric I received in the swap, so I added a few more green ones and then made a simple nine square pattern on the front. The emerald background colour is found in every square, so that was very lucky. On the back I used my favourite lime colour and a strip of the other three fabrics. I wrote the names of the swap participants in the corner and I will embroider over them anon.

Not a very good photo, but I was determined to post and it was already dark outside and I had to battle not only the encroaching night, but The Labradors as well. The weather has been unseasonally warm: 17*C on Monday.

Here's Peri luxuriating in the Sun and possibly rolling in something smelly.

Here's Lorelai Gilmore at full pelt!!!

I am feeling slightly better: thank you every one who left well wishes for me, the cold has gone and I am left with a twitching eye, which is so annoying, and an ear ache. Mind you I have lain in bed, and missed a walk and not even knitted or read at all. Being poor is par for the course, I just get cross sometimes and forget to be glad I'm not worse off.

Thank you MrsDrWho who gave me a present today: some lovely dog fabric which I adore!!! I have it in my mind that I want to sew a kind of coin quilt with my green and dog fabric stash. I quite like the idea of doing one piece a day and I think I could achieve that goal. I might start in July, the beginning of the financial year. We'll see.......

* The Merry Wives of Windsor

One Door Closes, Another Door OPAMs.

And now, the final OPAM post for my 2010 goals. This month I made three small quilts, one for my Aunt, one for WeeNephew and one for BabyElectric. I used, respectively, some Saffron Craig, Thomas the Tank Engine and Very Hungry Caterpillar material. Here they are:

I have made a mosaic for all the OPAM things I made. One Project A Month really gave me the impetus to finish things I started, once it was written down I felt compelled to complete the task. I shall be having a rest from OPAM this year: much as I enjoyed it, I think a little sabbatical is called for, a gentler pace in 2011 I think. Thanks to the hosts, Kris and Peg for the lovely year, and to everyone who left such lovely comments and gave me encouragement.

This post is no longer sticky. It will be a novelty to see something new when I post after a year with the same post at the top of my blog!!!

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I have joined the OPAM. Although I managed to add the One Project A Month badge to my side bar I couldn't make it properly clicky, so I'm just making a sticky clicky post for the year. I have, strangely, worked out how to make the picture a link but it makes my blog slow to load- for me, so click on the clicky words.(See how technology is here to help us in the 21st Century??)

January: I have sewn a dress, which I do not love sufficiently. I shall sew another.

February: I have re-upholstered the new foam cushion for the Ottoman, I have finished the Wee Spawn's Ark embroidery to be sewn onto his quilt.

March: I finished the Tempest Cardigan. I may have finished the Stargate Cardigan (ran out of wool, had to order it online) and the Otto, but Harki died and so I lost the urge to carry on.

April: The base of the Otto was easy to cover and I love the new ironing board cover. It is so nice to iron on a firm foam top. The Chappa'ai Cardigan is complete but I don't like it and it needs fixing.

May: I have finished my quilt, made with lovely fabric from the Fat Quarter Swap.

June: I want to design and knit myself a pair of ribby mittens with an opening in the palm so I can whip my fingers in and out to give The Labradors treats and take a picture if I want to. I would also like to sew myself a tunic top. Now my sewing machine is broken I can't sew a tunic so I am knitting a pair of socks instead!!! The mittens morphed into a cowl for MrsDrWho. I was all swappy changy this month.

July:I stuck to my goal and knitted myself a pair of lovely mittens. Green and snuggly!! I am going to wear them tomorrow morning for the first time.

August: I met my goals, I drafted a skirt pattern and sewed a skirt so I am very happy indeed.

September: I made my camera case, it is very successful as I dropped my camera on the floor and it was very protected!!

October: This month I finished knitting three pairs of socks that had been languishing.  I finished The Mystery Socks, so a win all round.

November : I made an Advent Quilt.

December: This month I made three small quilts: a Thomas the Tank Engine, an A Very Hungry Caterpillar and one for my Aunt. (see above)

 

Ill Met By Daylight

At out house, there are The Well, and The Ill. I am the latter. I have a cold and a headache and so I have taken to the couch with my hot water bottle, my new quilt, Earl Grey Tea spiked with extra lemon juice and my Clayton's Cold Tablets: the one's you have when you're not having real cold and 'flu tablets. There's noting terribly wrong with me, just enough be very annoying and very boring.

I knew I wasn't going out for lunch when I stamped my foot and growled at The Labradors for nothing in particular this morning. Typical: the school holidays come along and I can't join in. Bah Humbug. Now Peri has a plastic bottle and she's chewing the lid off and Lorelai Gilmore is leaping from Otto to the couch and back again with just the squeak from a toy in her mouth: squeaking madly as she goes.

I am indulging myself by browsing the internet and making discs on my DVR, freeing up space. I don't trust myself to knit.

Luckily I had a back up recipe for my Monday Munchies!! Good planning never goes astray. I haven't taken a proper picture of my OPAM quilt, so I might make that my whole task for tomorrow!

Much Binding In The May-rch

I would just like to say that I am not old enough to have listened to this the first time around!!!

But there was much binding, I think about 20m worth. So MrsDrWho has two crawl rugs(?) for babies she knows, or is about to know, and I have my Fat Quarter Swap Quilt/OPAM project!! I was in The Zone and even though I was so tired, I kept sewing until it was all done. And dusted. I sit under my little quilt, and Peri and Lorelai Gilmore have a new blanket each. I bought one for Peri, because she loves being under her blanket and then Gilly was all sad and lonely and stealing the blanket from Peri. Last night she scared the willies out of herself when she hopped off the bed to come back out to the lounge room, and the blanket followed her, no matter how quickly she came. I had to rescue her from the blanket on her back. So now we have two blankets on the bed. But everyone is happy. Thus far.

Bells asked if The Labradors eat cabbage: they do. They eat all the vegetables I cook for them and some raw ones too. Vundy the German Shepherd would not. She would pick out the things she didn't like and arrange them around her plate Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor style. The way we did when we were little and ate stewed fruit: we picked out any stones or pips, and put them around our bowls and then to find out who we would marry we counted them and said: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief!! Here is Peri eating some boiled carrots in stock and Lorelai Gilmore eating Silver Beet.

 


I am tired this week, I have done too many things, things I wanted to do, but I must have a rest soon. Monday I was sewing, Tuesday I has a delightful lunch with Onyi, Judy-May and Mif, today I went to the Physio and had some more acupuncture, tomorrow I am having my haircut and going to Sewing and so Friday I think I will have a day in bed. Any more than two things, including dog walking, and I am pushing my limits, so I have been doing less craft lately.

One of my sewing friends is soon to be a grandmother so I knitted a baby hat today. It is the Aviatrix Hat, a free pattern designed by Jussi. I called mine The Nancy Bird Baby Hat. It used less than 90m of 8ply and it knitted up so quickly and easily. I knitted an extra short row repeat and a shorter strap after reading the Life Buoy Helpful Hints on The Ravelry. I also took notice of how many stitches I had to knit from the 'turn' to the next wrapped stitch. I made a list as I find it easier to turn and knit 13, than to knit to the last 12 stitches. You can see the wrapped stitches because I used a coloured wool, but I care not a jot!! I love this hat and I hope there are more babies any moment now so I can knit another!!


The Labrador food bin was emptied today and so obviously easier prey. I found t like this when I came home but missed my chance to take a snap of Gilly almost entirely inside, licking the crumbs!!

Now I have a lovely big plate of vegetables to eat for my tea and Gilly's nose sniffing hopefully at my side!!!

Gettin' Squares

No walks on Wednesdays, it is our Designated Day Off, as is Sunday. Yesterday there was quite a lot of running about at the dam. We could hear the wild goats bleating and it spooked Lorelai Gilmore.  Peri knows the sound so she wasn't worried at all. Gilly's running away while Peri surges ahead.

I am in the middle of a Fat Quarter Swap and today I sewed some some squares for the little quilt I am making myself. It is for sitting under on the couch when I watch TV. I am using five of the squares sent to me, which have green in them, and then I have four more from my Green Stash!!  The swaps are the four on the right. This also ties in with this month's OPAM goal: make a little quilt!! Two Birds. One Stone. Say no more.

Six squares was as long as I could work for. I have three more to go tomorrow, after I have been to the dentist to have my tooth fixed.

I am knitting up my Doctor Who Zippy Uppy Sleeve. I consulted my Ann Budd Book of Jumpers (Sweaters) and it was easy to rewrite the pattern and I am striping six rows because it is six rows between increases the further up I go, so I don't need to count.

I bought two giant drumhead cabbages at the supermarket. They weigh about 10kg together and @ $2 a cabbage that works out to 40 cents a kilo. The Labradors will be having a lot of cabbage in the foreseeable future!! On top is a large Brussel sprout. I am having Brussel sprouts with my tea tonight.

Last week I managed to buy almost a whole other set of Golden Hands. I have a complete set now and Onyi has almost a whole one. Ours were $1 each but Sharon found some on The Ebay for $18 a piece and I have seen them for $5 or $12. So instead of $324, I paid $18 so I feel well and truly bargained up. Onyi and I have both been spending some happy Golden Hands Hours perusing our books.

I am not feeling so full of ennui any more, which is a jolly good thing!!! Tonight I plan to knit my sleeve and catch up on some TV. I want to start a new cardigan ASAP so I have to fix the other two before I am allowed.

The weather is turning very cold: in the Highlands this morning the temperature you would experience was Minus 13*C. And snow is forecast down to 600m. Winter is almost here. Hooray!!!